Sand Valley, Rome strike ‘when the pan is hot’
Rick Bakovka and the town of Rome, Wis., gambled on Sand Valley Golf Resort in 2015, and that bet has paid off for all involved. Now Bakovka and Rome appear ready to double down.
The news Sept. 5 was that Tom Doak and the Keiser family – who first teamed up to build Pacific Dunes at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in 2001 – would reunite to develop a fourth course at Sand Valley. Doak’s concept is for a 6,000-yard course filled with par 3s and drivable 4s – an alternative to the resort’s two regulation-length courses and the par-3 course.
A day after that news broke, Bakovka, president of the Central Wisconsin Regional Economic Growth Initiative, met with Rome’s five-member Community Development Authority to discuss a new round of financing to support Sand Valley’s expansion.