The State of Oklahoma is deep into talks with Dream Golf, the builder of Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, about developing a similar destination in the Oklahoma Panhandle.
Dream Golf’s latest proposal — the product of discussions that started two years ago — involves four possible panhandle sites and design alternatives that include both redevelopment of an existing course and starting from scratch.
Dream Golf — which has visionary Mike Keiser and his sons Michael and Chris at the helm — is known for building top-of-the-line golf resorts on sandy terrain. The panhandle’s sandy landscape is remarkably similar to that of the Nebraska Sandhills region on which Coore-Crenshaw built the Sandhills Golf Club in 1994. That course, perennially ranked in the top 100 U.S. courses, spurred other golf developments in north-central Nebraska.
People in Oklahoma’s golf industry are calling the possible Dream Golf deal “the game changer of all game changers” for golf tourism in the state.
Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell said state officials hope to “lock down a deal” soon. Tom Ferrell, Dream Golf’s vice president of communications, called the panhandle’s terrain “fantastic” for golf course-construction and said the ball is now in state officials’ court.
“This would be a tremendous boon to the State of Oklahoma and we look forward to hearing back from them,” Ferrell says.
In addition to the acclaimed Bandon Dunes Resort on Oregon’s southern coast, Dream Golf has developed multi-course destinations in Wisconsin (Sand Valley) and Florida (Old Shores), and will open 36-hole projects in Colorado (Rodeo Dunes) and Texas (Wild Spring Dunes) next year.
The news comes less than a month after Oklahoma state officials announced the launch of the new Oklahoma Golf Trail, an array of 18 public-access courses that spans the breadth of Oklahoma. The only question is why the Sooner State didn’t do it … well, sooner.
Oklahoma has a rich golf history and enjoys an incredibly diverse landscape that varies from wetlands and verdant Ozarks-like hills in the east to the semi-arid panhandle in the west. About a third of the trail’s courses are in or near Oklahoma City or Tulsa. The rest are in small clusters in smaller towns.
For golf architecture buffs, the trail includes three courses designed by Perry Maxwell, one of the giants of golf architecture in the first half of the 20th century. Maxwell is known for his undulating greens and a minimalist’s use of the land’s flow. His best-known design, Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, has hosted three U.S. Opens and five PGA Championships.
The Maxwell designs on the trail are: Dornick Hills Golf & Country Club (Maxwell’s first, with a Tom Doak restoration) in Ardmore; Cherokee Hills Golf Club in Catoosa; and Oakwood Country Club in Enid.
Two other courses Maxwell had at least some involvement in, according to his Wikipedia page, are also on the trail: The East Course at Lincoln Park Golf Club and the North Course at Lake Hefner, both Oklahoma City municipal courses.
Ken MacLeod, publisher of Golf Oklahoma magazine and a member of the volunteer state commission that oversees the new trail, said out-of-state players will be surprised by the diversity of golf in Oklahoma.
“What visitors will really enjoy is the wide variety of terrain these courses are set in. From the lakeside views at Shangri-La Resort on Grand Lake to the Cross Timbers [a region with a mix of forests, savannah and prairie] where many Maxwell courses reside, to the craggy western setting of The Territory in Duncan,” MacLeod says.
In addition to Maxwell’s designs, the new trail includes courses by Randy Heckenkemper, Floyd Farley, Donald Sechrest and Brad Pittman. Heckenkemper is probably best known for the Champions Course at TPC Scottsdale.
Nick Sidorakis, who ran Southern Hills for 29 years, now heads up two 36-hole Tulsa municipal properties. He said he hopes improved conditioning of one of them, Page Belcher Golf Course, will warrant its inclusion in the new trail as early as next month. The legislation that created the trail authorizes inclusion of up to 25 courses.
The initial 18 Oklahoma Golf Trail Courses are:
- Bailey Ranch (Owasso)
- Boiling Springs (Woodward)
- Canyons at Blackjack Ridge (Sand Springs)
- Cherokee Hills (Catoosa)
- Chickasaw Pointe (Lake Texoma)
- Dornick Hills (Ardmore)
- KickingBird (Edmond)
- LaFortune Park (Tulsa)
- Lincoln Park (Oklahoma City)
- Oakwood Country Club (Enid)
- Patricia Island (Grove)
- Peoria Ridge (Miami)
- Riverside (Clinton)
- Shangri-La (Afton)
- The Coves at Bird Island (Afton)
- The Territory (Duncan)
- WinStar Golf Resort (Thackerville, 2026)
- Winter Creek (Blanchard)