Matt Ginella discusses the second course being built by David McLay Kidd at Sand Valley Golf Resort with David Kidd of DMK Designs and Josh Lesnik of KemperSports.

http://www.golfchannel.com/media/david-kidd-design-2nd-course-sand-valley/

Town of Rome — The bald eagle circled lazily over the handful of people standing atop a sand dune, seemingly checking out the strange interlopers, then banked and disappeared over a stand of jack pine.

It was a fitting end to a spectacular day of "wilderness golf."

Last week, about a dozen founding members of Sand Valley got their first look at what could be the most ambitious golf project ever undertaken in Wisconsin.

If all goes according to Chicago developer Mike Keiser's plan, someday there will be five courses and lodging on 1,500 acres a few miles south of Wisconsin Rapids — a resort that would provide hundreds of jobs in depressed Adams County and further enhance Wisconsin's reputation as a world-class golf destination.

Over the last two decades golfers have been fortunate to live through a renaissance period in terms of golf course architecture. One of the key figures in this era has been a Chicago businessman with an intense love for the game of golf, Mike Keiser. After selling a very successful greeting card company Keiser decided to try his hand at golf course development and quickly discovered he had a knack for it. Over the last two decades Keiser has helped introduce golfers toBandon Dunes in Oregon, Cabot Links in Nova Scotia and Barbougle Dunes in Tasmania . . . not a bad resume. Mike and I caught up a few days ago to chat about his new project in Wisconsin, Sand Valley, as well as golf in general. The following is the transcript from our conversation. 

he story of Sand Valley begins with an apology.

While on a weekend hike with his wife, a construction executive named Craig Haltom came upon an area in central Wisconsin with giant sand dunes. He thought: This would make for a great golf course.

He contacted Mike Keiser, the Chicago greeting-card magnate who had turned a remote stretch of Oregon coastland into one of the world's great golf destinations by celebrating the origins of the game — walking with caddies, links play affected by the elements.