BANDON DUNES, Ore. – Ignore, for a second or two, or even three, that it is a challenge to get to. Ignore, also, that you might be tired or hungry and that after all that effort to get from wherever you came from to these bluffs overlooking the Pacific, you are there without the comforts of home and all of a sudden, a wee bit of wind is in your kisser . . .

Good gracious, laddie. Snap out of it. You’ve arrived at a bit of golf heaven, and you know it by the face that greets you as you step from the shuttle.

Shoe is warmth.

Shoe is comfort.

Shoe is home.

“Shoe” is Bob Gaspar, who will turn 80 years old November 26 and if, on that day, everyone who has visited Bandon Dunes could stand and raise a toast of good cheer to this wonder of a man, well, the earth might tilt off its axis, but oh, the harmony the golf universe would feel.

For how many of us would proclaim: Few are like Bob Gaspar and no place is like Bandon Dunes.

Which isn’t to suggest that Bob Gaspar – aka “Shoe” – is responsible for Bandon Dunes. Not a chance. That honor belongs to the developer of this mecca, Mike Keiser, and Bob Gaspar is quick to point out: “My vision is limited; Mike Keiser’s is unlimited.”

But even Keiser once called Gaspar the face of Bandon Dunes and when you think of it, it’s an accurate statement. After all, golfers by the thousands flock to Bandon Dunes here on the southern coast of Oregon and at some point, they hop off a shuttle at the main lodge and when they do, Shoe is likely to be the first face they see.

He is often called the Director of Outside Happiness and we should all tackle our job as passionately as Gaspar. His concession for approaching 80? “I’m going to just work half-days,” he said. “From 1 (a.m.) to 1 (p.m.).”

Yes, he’s at his post by 1:30 a.m., pouring over the tee sheets for each of Bandon’s five courses – Bandon Dunes, Bandon Trails, Pacific Dunes, Old Mac, and Sheep Ranch, plus the 13-hole par-3, The Preserve. “I like being prepared for the day,” said Gaspar.

Another 18-hole course is planned, plus another short course and Gaspar concedes he can envision a day when it’ll be too much to keep up with. But for now, “it’s a joy to go to work every day,” said Gaspar, “and it keeps me young at heart.”

If his is the face of comfort at Bandon Dunes, his story is one of charm and incredible happenstance. How this former UPS driver shed the hectic pace of his native Southern California and became intrigued by Bandon, Ore., while visiting his parents is difficult to explain, but easy to embrace.

There is a sense of calm and simplicity when you’re in this area of Oregon and Gaspar has always loved that. Even when the recession hit in the 1980s and Gaspar couldn’t find a job, he loved the Bandon area and satisfied himself with “salmon fishing and crabbing.”

Eventually, he settled into another job with the teamsters, this time with a freight company. And it was while working in that capacity when Gaspar was delivering a massive order of mulch to this project going on, something about a golf course being built in the sand dunes high above the ocean.

“I got to walk up over the dunes, took a look around and thought, ‘This thing bears watching,’ ” said Gaspar.

Short time later, Gaspar joined local dignitaries for a walk along the property where the first course, Bandon Dunes, was being created. “I started at the No. 10 tee, took one step off the tee and knew that this is where I had to be. I thought, ‘This is amazing. Somehow, I’ve got to be part of it.’

Oh, has he ever. Made a part of Bandon Dunes’ small staff as the first course was being constructed in 1998, Gaspar was showing around a few writers from Golfweek when his nickname was born.

“Dave Seanor (then the editor of Golfweek) saw me and said, ‘You look like The Shoe,” meaning famed jockey Willie Shoemaker. Gaspar loved it, because as a diminutive boy growing up near Santa Anita racetrack, he dreamed of being a jockey like Shoemaker.

The name stuck and “now, it’s very foreign to hear someone call me Bob.”

In the dirt to watch the first of Keiser’s courses built, Shoe has witnessed the birth of four more 18-holers. He has been an integral team member, from starting as caddie master, to being a ranger, a starter, and even helping to shape bunkers, Gaspar has immersed himself in this place where golf pilgrimages happen daily.

But as 80 approaches, the man who laughs that “I’m no spring chicken,” is also quick to point out why he’s at his post by 1:30 a.m. “Retirement, I wouldn’t do very well.”

Still, Gaspar is no curmudgeon. He is showing an uncanny ability to change with the times. The man has more than 6,900 followers on Twitter (Shoe@GolfShoeBandon) and he feels blessed with great health which is why he still performs his job with a time-honored purpose.

“I give ‘em a wave and a smile and treat people like they want to be treated,” said Gaspar. “It’s a given that we have great golf courses at Bandon Dunes, but people are what this place is all about.”