Bandon Dunes 25th anniversary: Say hi to Shoe, the resort's director of outside happiness

30/04/2024 18:10

(Editor’s note: Bandon Dunes Golf Resort is celebrating its 25th anniversary and Golfweek Travel EditorJason Luskput together a comprehensive package for the occasion, complete with Q&As of pivotal people in and around the operation. To see the entire package of stories, click here.)

BANDON, Ore. – A former UPS and semi-tractor driver who had lived in the area for decades, Bob Gaspar arrived at Bandon Dunes Golf resort in the 1990s to make a delivery before the resort opened. He fell in love with the place.

Gaspar quickly jumped at the chance to switch careers when offered a job by the resort's first general manager, Josh Lesnick. Starting as caddie master, he transitioned to outside services, earning his title as director of outside happiness.

Handed the nickname Shoe by a former Golfweek editor, Gaspar handles plenty of golf bags flowing through the resort, but more importantly perhaps, he studies the guest list daily to better welcome players from around the world – he often arrives not long after midnight to read up on who is playing that day.

He provides a daily weather report via X (formerly Twitter; check him out @GolfShoeBandon), and many guests make it a point to snap a selfie with Shoe. He took the time to speak with Golfweek in the run-up to the resort’s 25th anniversary.

What was it like when you first came out to Bandon Dunes? 

I was probably the epitome of a gofer, you know. "Shoe, could you go here? Shoe, can you do this?" To me it was just fun. 

When it first appeared in the local Bandon paper that a Chicago businessman by the name of Mike Keiser was going to do us a huge favor by building a golf course out here, to a man everybody just said, "No, you know that's not going to work. Who's gonna come?"

But we were thinking small, you know, and Mr. Keiser thinks worldwide. He proved the world wrong, I'll guarantee you. … He's a brilliant person, first of all, and he's never been much for small talk. He's always watching, looking to see what the guest needs, what else can we do that will make their visit exceptional. 

How did the nickname Shoe come about? 

That came about in 1998. Josh Lesnick was acquainted with one of the writers, (longtime Golfweek columnist) Jeff Rude, so Josh invited him down since they were in this part of the country. The course was just playable and we weren't open yet, and Jeff came down with three or four other writers. 

(Longtime Golfweek editor) Dave Seanor was with them, also. They pulled up on a sand dune in a van, and I went to meet them. Dave jumped out first, looked at me and he said, "You remind me of jockey Bill Shoemaker." So from that day on they started calling me Shoe. 

It would have died out, but Josh wouldn't let it go. There was a house that came with the property, and it was a design center where all the work was done. They took out the water heater that was in there, and it was a small little closet thing, and Josh said to me, "There's your office." And he nailed a shoe above it. So basically the rest is just history. 

How did your Twitter handle come about, and giving the weather ratings?

Once again, Mr. Keiser. I didn't know anything about Twitter. One day, I think it was seven or eight years ago, he said, "Shoe, you ever thought about being on Twitter?" And I said, no. He said, "Why don't you think about it, and why don't you think about tweeting the weather every day?" 

Weather's been real important to me ever since opening day. The first car pulled up, the door opened up and before the foot hit the ground, it was, "What's the weather gonna do today?"

My rating score is based on wind and rain; it has nothing to do with the sun. If the sun never shines here and the wind is 4 to 5 mph, that would be a great day. It's a playability number, in other words. I do it on a scale of zero to 10. I've never given a zero and I'll never give a 10, because nothing's perfect.