The Nature of the Game: Links Golf at Bandon Dunes and Far Beyond

Essential reading for every golfer from the sport’s most acclaimed course developer--a comprehensive, firsthand account of restoring the inherent satisfactions of this centuries-old game, from the beauty of natural courses to the joys of walking the course

＂Mike Keiser is the best thing to happen to golf since the Big Bertha. He’s the guy who single-handedly saved us from the Fake 100-foot Waterfall Era. He gave us back nature, walking and buddy trips. This is a fascinating read on how in the world he did it.＂--Rick Reilly, golf writer

An avid golfer with a demanding career in the greeting card business, Mike Keiser found a new calling on the authentic links courses of Scotland and Ireland. Seized by the beauty of the landscape and the holes running through it, he determined this was how golf was meant to be: inclusive, not private; played on foot, not riding a cart; the courses natural, neither lavish nor contrived. Vowing to transplant this experience to the States, Keiser entered the golf business and, ignoring the advice of experts, built a true links course in Oregon. Bandon Dunes has redefined the game here and become a destination for golfers everywhere.

Those same convictions have now produced other top-ranked courses by Keiser--in Wisconsin, Nova Scotia, Tasmania, and elsewhere--whose magical allure demonstrates what the world’s most gifted golf course architects can accomplish by working on designs that hew to the natural landscape. Keiser’s further commitments--to the caddies, greens crews, and staff at his resorts; to the communities in which they’re located; and to deep environmental stewardship--enhance the singular appeal of these immensely popular courses.

At once an account of inventing a new, life-changing business, a guide to historic course design, and a paean to the sport that has recently experienced a surge of growth, The Nature of the Game is essential reading for every golfer.

MIKE KEISER founded (in 1971) Recycled Paper Greetings, which became the country’s fourth-largest card company--a great success then surpassed by his achievements in the golf world over the past thirty-five years. He lives in Chicago, Illinois.

STEPHEN GOODWIN’s Dream Golf: The Making of Bandon Dunes (2006) has sold more than 50k copies. He is also the author of three novels; has published short stories, essays, and articles in a wide range of quarterlies and newspapers; and served as the director of the Literature Program at the National Endowment for the Arts and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. He lives in Manassas, Virginia.