With Broomsedge Golf Club ready to write its next chapter as a destination property, Michael Keiser knew just the person to take the reins at the South Carolina sandhills retreat that has an approach uncommon in the U.S.
Baker Thompson helped Keiser, the son of Bandon Dunes founder Mike Keiser, finance and build out the real estate component as head of development at Sand Valley, the six-course resort in central Wisconsin. He was also the first “captain” of The Lido, appointed by Keiser, successfully implementing a version of the U.K. private club model in the American Midwest.
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Now, Thompson is taking over as the Managing Partner and CEO of Broomsedge, becoming the key decision-maker at a club that quickly gained widespread recognition following its debut in late 2024. Thompson’s focus is to build out Broomsedge, most notably the addition of 20 four-bedroom cottages, a restaurant, clubhouse and, eventually, a second golf course to better position the property as a true multicourse golf destination.
The other part of Thompson’s expertise – his successful execution of the private-public marriage at The Lido — lends to balancing Broomsedge’s private club status with its continued welcome of public play like many of the top clubs in Scotland and Ireland. As captain, Thompson was instrumental in not only coordinating member events, but helping create the club’s culture and traditions.
“We created a really fun place where the members love to come but also there’s public play there five or six days a week,” Thompson said of The Lido. “When the opportunity came for Broom(sedge), Michael kept pushing me and saying, ‘Hey, you know this needs a real estate piece, which is cottages and a great restaurant.’ Those are all things I learned from being up in Sand Valley on the development side, master planning all that, building them off the ground, and making sure that the real estate makes sense and the economics of it makes sense.
“The club aspect of the Lido was the other side of the Broomsedge deal, and getting to marry those two things together,” Thompson added. “He was like, ‘Look, you’re the perfect guy to go execute.’”
Baker Thompson grew up playing the game at The Dunes Club in Michigan, where his father was a founding member and friends with Mike Keiser Sr. Thompson has known Michael Keiser, the developer of Sand Valley and a number of other Dream Golf properties, since he was about 10 years old.
Nicole Thomas
Keiser, who will act as a senior advisor to the project and provide the resources of his team, says Thompson is uniquely suited for the role.
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“He understands how to uphold that foundation while continuing to thoughtfully evolve the club,” Keiser said. “There’s no reason the welcoming nature of the great clubs overseas can’t work here.”
Private Club, Public Access
One of the distinctive flagsticks at Broomsedge, which opened in the South Carolina sandhills in 2024.
Carolina Pines
Broomsedge has, and will be, different from the traditional American private club defined by exclusivity and limited guest play. Instead, Thompson is leaning into a hybrid private-public model he experienced at acclaimed clubs like Royal County Down in Northern Ireland and North Berwick in Scotland.
“One of the things I love about that European model is that the golf course is shared,” he said. “You’ve got this incredible club environment, but when members aren’t using it, others can come experience it too.”
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Access for non-members will initially be more limited than at The Lido – particularly because there’s currently no resort presence – as Broomsedge builds out the infrastructure needed for overnight stays.
“The missing piece right now is the ability to stay — cottages, a great restaurant, a great bar. That’s what brings it all together,” said Thompson, who has known Michael Keiser since he was about 10 years old. Thompson’s father was a founding member of The Dunes Club in Michigan created by Mike Keiser Sr. and the families went on regular father-son golf trips in his youth.
New Cottages and Clubhouse
The first phase of Broomsedge’s growth under Thompson includes the development of 20 four-bedroom golf cottages for overnight stays along with a restaurant and clubhouse.
Ryan Barnett
The initial lodging at Broomsedge is designed primarily for members and their guests. The 20 cottages – with 80 total beds — will be compact and subtle units purpose built for golfers that will embrace “the energy” of the place, Thompson says, and be set into the background. “They’re built for four guys on a trip — a place to hang out, cook, sit by a fire pit. That’s what people love.”
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The restaurant and clubhouse will follow, positioned at a high point on the property where multiple holes converge, creating a gathering place where the game remains constantly in view. For Thompson, the communal atmosphere at Broomsedge is intentional and essential.
“Some people want a golf club, a golf course, all to themselves. And I understand that. There’s a lot of places like that where you can get that,” said Thompson. “What I like about it is the energy of having several groups on the golf course, several groups waiting to tee off, several groups in the bar talking or catching up after the round. All that energy is what I feel like people are attracted to, and what keeps them coming back. It’s that magic we all feel when we’re on a golf trip.”
Second Golf Course
A key part of the growth plan at Broomsedge is the construction of a second 18-hole golf course across the street from its original Mike Koprowski design. Several architects have already visited the property for preliminary routing discussions.
Carolina Pines | Billy Richards
As for more golf, the club has identified 160 to 200 acres across the street as a potential site for a second course, with early routing discussions already underway. A number of architects have already visited the site.
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“If we’re going to grow, that’s how we do it,” Thompson said, adding that while it’s not yet set in stone, he’s optimistic it will happen. “The future plan entails going across the street and building more golf.”
With his ties to the Keiser family as well as Sand Valley and more broadly within the Wisconsin resort golf landscape, Thompson knows full-well how multiple courses make a destination.
That might be particularly relevant in South Carolina’s Sandhills, which has seen a surge of high-end development with recent additions of nearby private clubs Old Barnwell and Tree Farm as well as the plans for a multicourse public destination in Candyroot about an hour north of Broomsedge.
“The more variety you have, the more people can compare,” said Thompson. “A high tide raises all ships.”
Broomsedge will continue to put a focus on allowing limited public play in concert with its private membership approach. Thompson is eminently familiar with this U.K. model not only from his time spent on golf trips overseas, but as the first captain at The Lido (Sand Valley), where he was responsible for helping create the culture and traditions for member events.
Ryan Barnett
For Thompson, the opportunity and challenge at Broomsedge is one he’s excited about after spending much of the past three golf seasons at Sand Valley. While he lives in Chicago with his wife and three daughters, Thompson said he spent about 85% of his time from May to October in Wisconsin.
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“We have gotten over the hump and so it made sense for me to figure out what was next,” said Thompson. “This Broomsedge opportunity, we’ve been tracking it for a while. Michael and I had gone down there before it even was built. Then we just kept following along and it morphed into what it is now, which is pretty exciting.”
While former owner Cody Sundberg will stay on as a partner at Broomsedge, he’s turned control fully over to Thompson, who is eager to build on the experience he had implementing culture and traditions at The Lido. And just as importantly, to share that with other golfers – not just members.
After three years overseeing real estate and development at Sand Valley, as well as helping guide the private club aspect of The Lido, Baker Thompson is taking over the reins at Broomsedge to lead the club through its next stage of growth.
Ryan Barnett