D'Amato: How Sand Valley Golf Resort is transforming central Wisconsin

Gary D'Amato | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

TOWN OF ROME – Not unlike an oasis in the desert, the Sand Valley Golf Resort has sprung from an inhospitable landscape and is in the process of transforming a region.

The still-evolving golf resort, in just its second full year of operation, has brought tourism dollars to one of the most depressed counties in Wisconsin, raised surrounding property values, created hundreds of jobs, spurred an airport expansion and invigorated local businesses.

And that’s just the golf piece. Which is only half the story.

Sand Valley also is the centerpiece of an 8,900-acre restoration project. The land, once blanketed by agricultural red pines planted in rows and harvested for the region’s paper mills, eventually will revert to the unique ecosystem nature intended it to be – sand barrens flowing in and out of black oak and jack pine savannas and home to the endangered Kirtland’s warbler and Karner blue butterfly.

Sand Valley golf project is part of a 8,900-acre restoration project Architect Bill Coore talked about the unique aspects of the property where the Sand Valley golf project was being built in central Wisconsin in 2016.

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Just as golfers are coming from far and wide to play world-class courses, people will flock to the conservation property for bird-watching and primitive camping and to hike its hundreds of miles of trails. Eventually, the restoration project could encompass 100,000 acres.

“It’s important to do whatever we can to get people outside,” said Michael Keiser, who along with his brother Chris manage Sand Valley for their father, Mike Keiser, a noted Chicago developer who built the acclaimed Bandon Dunes resort on the Oregon coast. “If it’s playing golf, great. If it’s hiking, great. If it’s fat-tire biking, great.

“We want people to be connected to the ground and to be excited about the habitat and landscape.”

Coming from anyone else building a multi-course golf resort, those words might be taken with a grain of salt. Golf courses are not known for their environmental stewardship.

The Keisers, however, are lifelong outdoor enthusiasts from Chicago with a track record for being good stewards of the land at Bandon Dunes and at other golf developments in which they have been involved, such as Cabot Links in Nova Scotia and Barnbougle Dunes in Tasmania.

“Our grandfather was an Eagle Scout and he always talked about anywhere you visit, leaving that place better off than how you found it,” Chris said. “That really stuck with us.”

The Keisers have hired Madison ecology consultant Jens Jensen to oversee the restoration project. Jensen, 36, is the great-great grandson and namesake of famed Chicago landscape architect Jens Jensen.

“That amount of sand in the middle of the U.S. is pretty unique,” Jensen said. “It’s this kind of sand barrens-oak savanna-sand prairie continuum. If you can imagine after the glaciers receded 12,000 years ago, plants started colonizing the land. What we’re trying to do is restore that diverse mosaic of plants.”

Jensen said he’d never been involved in a project so massive in scope.

“It’s an incredible opportunity, and we’re just sort of starting,” he said. “The Keisers are still building up their organization. We’re looking at grants and research projects and partners. It may be something that could even employ people. It could go in a lot of different directions. (Mike Keiser) has tossed around that 100,000-acre dream.”

Just as tens of thousands of red pines were removed for the building of the golf courses, hundreds of acres south of Badger Avenue are being cleared for a recreation park that will include a community garden, beehives and chicken coops as well as hiking and biking trails and primitive campsites.

“I certainly would say it’s exciting to see the progress they’ve made in such a short amount of time,” said Wisconsin Rapids Mayor Zach Vruwink. “We’re all amazed and wowed by the natural landscape on display not only for resort guests but for the local community.”

Chelsea Sorbo, whose father Darryl Sorbo is the head professional at nearby Lake Arrowhead Golf Course, is field operations manager for the Sand Valley Restoration Trust.

“People here love it,” she said. “They’re so excited this is coming to the area. It feels like it’s bringing the community even closer to Sand Valley, which is what it’s here for. It’s here for the community to enjoy.”

Perhaps it’s time to talk about the golf.

Sand Valley’s first course, designed by noted architects Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore, opened May 2, 2017, though there had been limited preview play for founding members the previous fall. The course, with its sand blow-outs, bouncy fescue turf and panoramas that evoke Montana or Idaho, is like nothing else in Wisconsin.

The opening tee shot is struck from the top of a sand knob dubbed “The Volcano” and the course spills out in every direction, filling first-time visitors with a sense of awe. There are no formal tee boxes; the teeing grounds naturally bleed into the fairways. The greens are massive and fast and reward short-game imagination. Nothing about the course feels forced or contrived.

Word spread quickly about the Keisers’ newest gem in remote central Wisconsin. Like Bandon Dunes, it was an adventure just to get to Sand Valley, with cars fishtailing on the sand road (since paved) leading to the resort off Hwy. 13. It was easy to drive right past the nondescript entrance and wind up at Lake Petenwell.

“It’s off the beaten path, in the middle of nowhere,” said state Rep. Scott Krug (R), whose legislative district includes the resort. “You get here and it’s totally unexpected and you fall in love with it."

Sand Valley was named best new course of 2017 by Golf Digest magazine. While golfers were still trying to find it on a map, work already was under way on the second course. Mammoth Dunes, designed by David McLay Kidd, opened May 31 to similar rave reviews.

Kidd, a gregarious Scot whose work reflects his playful personality, said his goal was to build a course that the average hacker could play without losing a golf ball, make a couple pars and retire to the 19th hole feeling good about himself.

Mission accomplished. If you can’t have fun at Mammoth Dunes, take up a different sport. Some of the fairways are 100 yards wide and there are no water hazards, out of bounds or long forced carries. The course includes a couple of drivable par-4s – one with a massive boomerang green – and a short par-3 which requires a nerve-wracking shot over a deep chasm of sand.

Also new to Sand Valley is the Sandbox, a par-3 course designed by Coore and Crenshaw. Everything about the 17-hole course is unorthodox and fun, from its wildly contoured greens to its forward tees, from which the only club a golfer needs is a putter.

On July 30, the Sandbox will host the first statewide par-3 tournament for top amateurs. The course has proved so popular that some groups have canceled rounds on one of the big courses to play it again.

“I don’t know if that’s good or bad,” Michael Keiser said with a laugh.

Everything is in keeping with the Keisers’ philosophy to appeal to the retail golfer, the “buddy” groups of four, eight or 12. The resort has a laid-back, casual vibe and every facet of the operation is geared toward providing guests with a golf experience they can’t find anywhere else.

“It can be very tempting to go for corporate (clients) because they pay more,” Michael said. “But we’ve learned from our dad that our focus is on satisfying the buddies groups or the families. The retail golfer, not the corporate golfer. So we don’t market to them. It’s very deliberate.”

With 1,700 acres set aside for golf, the question everyone asks is how many more courses will be added at Sand Valley. Demand will determine the answer, but so far there is no sign that the resort is nearing the saturation point. Michael Keiser said the 2018 target for the three courses, which must be walked (caddies are available), was 50,000 rounds “and we hope to push into 60,000.”

On-site lodging includes 65 rooms and 113 beds, with more on the way. The resort is booked to near capacity for the remainder of the year.

“It’s been overwhelming,” Michael said. “Last year was great and now we’re sold out for the year. We did not expect that. We’re at something like 97% occupancy. We have some Sunday nights and Monday nights (availability) but we’re essentially full.”

Course architects Tom Doak, Gil Hanse and Mike DeVries have submitted routings for course Nos. 4, 5 and 6, though the Keisers are noncommittal about how many of the courses will be added and in which order the architects will be selected.

“Chris and I would be tickled pink to work with all three of them on this property,” Michael said. “Then there’s additional property, so who knows? We could keep going. There’s no limit to the supply of fabulous golf terrain in the Town of Rome. The demand will dry up before the supply does.”

The way Sand Valley has been built is ingenious. The first course was financed by founding members, dozens of whom paid $50,000 before the first shovel of dirt was turned. Many based their decision to invest solely on the Keisers’ reputation for building world-class golf. The list of founding members includes Bo Ryan, Barry Alvarez, Jerry Kelly, Andy North and Ted Kellner.

In June 2015, Gov. Scott Walker signed into law Assembly Bill 123, giving the Town of Rome the authority to make cash grants or loan subsidies to the developers through a tax increment financing (TIF) district. That’s how Mammoth Dunes and the Sandbox were built. The TIF also would finance course No. 4.

“We’re in a different financial position than our dad was when he built Bandon,” said Michael, whose father made millions in recycled greeting cards. “So we’ve had to come up with different ways to finance it. We’re getting crafty and working with partners and collaborating with the landowners, the Town of Rome and investors so that we can do it.”

Initially, locals were understandably distrustful about Chicagoans moving in on their turf with grandiose plans for a fancy resort that would cater to the well-heeled but would distance itself from the community.

Instead, the opposite has occurred. The Keisers, personable young men, have been visible in the Town of Rome and Adams County and often can be found wolfing down burgers and drinking beers with locals at The Lure Bar & Grill on Lake Petenwell, or stopping for coffee at Pritzl's Trading Post on Hwy. 13. The resort has purposefully involved local businesses, such as bakeries, in its day-to-day operations.

“We realize we’re outsiders from Chicago, so we’re not going to get anything done if we come in here with a heavy hand,” Michael said. “But also, it’s enjoyable. We want to get to know this place. The only way we’re going to be successful is if we’re successful with the community.”

Mike Miller, the administrator for the Town of Rome, said skepticism among locals was high early but that Sand Valley was winning converts daily.

“When they first started there was a lot of, ‘Yeah, sure, some rich guy is going to come in and do this,’” Miller said. “But then the town went through the process of getting the TIF and Sand Valley started developing and people saw the quality and how they’re engaging the community. The town board certainly is on board with it. The community, if they aren’t there, they’re getting there.”

With 500 employees (most of them seasonal), Sand Valley already is the biggest employer in Adams County, where 11.6% of the population lived below the poverty rate in 2009.

“That’s the one thing that I think has been understated by people who are still skeptical, is they don’t see the job market change as quick as it has,” Krug said. “There are 400 to 500 new jobs here in Adams County, one of the three most-depressed counties in the state.”

In September 2017, the Joint Finance Committee approved $4 million in improvements to Alexander Field, a small airport in Wisconsin Rapids which has seen an influx of private jets since Sand Valley opened. The funding, slipped into the state budget, was controversial because it came after the Keisers donated $25,000 to the state Republican Party in February.

“The $4 million we got in the last state budget for the airport wasn’t just for nothing,” Krug said. “It’s because those jets are landing in Wisconsin Rapids. There was a lot of skepticism when Sen. (Patrick) Testin and I pushed for those dollars to go to that ‘small little airport in the middle of nowhere,’ as the (Associated Press) called it.

“Even in a tight transportation (budget) like we had, to be able to get $4 million for our sleepy little airport shows that Sand Valley is on the radar in the legislature."

Most golfers, however, drive to the resort from throughout the Midwest, with Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin license plates dominant in the parking lot.

Though most golfers stay at the resort, many venture off-site to patronize local bars and restaurants, which are busier than ever, according to Krug. Many have added staff. Even hotels in Wisconsin Rapids have seen an uptick in business.

Krug, a realtor, said property values in the area have risen 20% over the last three years.

“Sellers are just ecstatic right now,” he said. “Some sellers are holding on because the value is still going up. Inventory is a little tight but buyers are excited to come in and pay the prices. It’s never a dull day in real estate. I’ve never been this busy.”

Land restoration, jobs, rising property values, tourism dollars, an improved business climate ... it’s hard to believe one golf resort can do all that. But then, Sand Valley is more than just a golf resort.

“The Keisers have lived up to their word and we’re excited about the prospectus for what might be on the horizon,” Vruwink said. “We’re hoping this is just the beginning.”