New award-winning course in South Carolina adapts 'welcoming private club’ model

Baker Thompson has known Michael Keiser Jr. since he was 10 years old. They’d spend summers together as neighbors near The Dunes Club in New Buffalo, Mich., the first golf development of Keiser’s father, Mike, which launched his career that would redefine destination golf with public access.

Now Thompson and Keiser Jr. are themselves redefining what private golf could look like. Over the past decade or so, Thompson helped Keiser realize his vision for a “welcoming private club” with the development of The Lido, the recreation of the old C.B. Macdonald course on Long Island. The Lido is technically private, but similar to how the elite courses of the British Isles handle access to outside visitors, it allows limited availability to Sand Valley resort guests. Thompson helped Keiser with the financing and planning for real estate around the resort and became The Lido's first captain.

Now Thompson is taking those ideals from The Lido in an acquisition of Broomsedge Golf Club in Rembert, S.C., and will assume the role of managing partner and CEO, with Keiser along as a senior advisor. Current majority owner Cody Sundberg will become president. Broomsedge will also embrace its role as a “welcoming private club” with Thompson overseeing the development of new guest cottages and a full food and beverage program to open some time in 2027.

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The ideas of bringing private-club quality golf to the masses is what drives Thompson and Keiser.

“We’ve been quick to put up walls in the private club scene, and I get that. It’s just traditionally what golf’s been like here,” Thompson said. “But the idea of sharing your course with as many people as possible and then knowing being a member is special because then you get to share it with like-minded golfers who are talking about your golf course, that’s also special.”

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Broomsedge Golf Club, about 40 minutes from Columbia, S.C., earned runner-up honors in Golf Digest’s Best New Private awards in 2025. Its Mike Koprowski and Kyle Franz design is a standout among a plethora of new private clubs being developed in South Carolina, sitting inside two hours from Old Barnwell, The Tree Farm, 21 Golf Club, Kawonu, New Holland and Candyroot (also being designed by Koprowski, which is slated to open for preview play later this year). But Broomsedge needed new ownership to usher it into its next phase. In addition to having food and beverage and lodging on-site, Thompson said the ultimate goal is to expand to land across the street to build a second course, though that would be a future state.

Thompson pointed to his experience as the first captain at The Lido as how successful that model has been. In his first meeting with members at The Lido, a group of 50-60 members gathered in the snow, played a 36-hole alternate shot event, and gathered after to discuss the new traditions of the club.

“Michael introduced me up there and said, ‘Here’s your new captain.’ And I told everyone, we’re at an unbelievable place in time here. We’re all here together. And we have a new club, and we’re starting new traditions here. And we started things that’ll hopefully last forever, and part of that is sharing what we have at The Lido with others.”

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Now Thompson brings that same ethos to South Carolina. And at the core, it’s an embracing of that vision Keiser helped him see at The Lido. Maybe it’ll spark some change in how the industry looks at private golf in general and make it look more like how it is across the pond.

“At the end of the day, the goal is creating something special for the members that can be proud of, but then the idea of sharing it with the world,” he said.

“It's just something that hasn't been common practice in the U.S. yet.”