June 2016 Colorado AvidGolfer

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Elevating the Game.

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CONTENTS | June 2016

84

FEATURES

76 What's on Your Bucket List?

Twenty-five golfers share their dreams.

Plus: Our 18-Point Colorado Golf Checklist

76

SIDE BETS

By Jon Rizzi

43 Fareways

Filling the Bucket.

12 ’net Score

Adelitas on South Broadway.

By Gary James

contests and more.

46 Tapping In

Golf course hit-and-runs; bucket lists,

14 Golf 101

The Rise and Rise of Thomas Pagel.

17 The Gallery

Moving Day Upgrading or downsizing? Building a home on a golf course or buying a vacation place? Real estate decisions affect every stage of life. By Kim McHugh

DEPARTMENTS 10 Forethoughts

84

How Local is Our Beer? By Cody Gabbard

90 Memory Upgrades Why summer golf trips with your buddies aren’t really about golf at all. By Ted Johnson

50 Nice Drives

Cadillac CT6 & Range Rover Td6.

By Isaac Bouchard

Omega Psi Phi Tournament, First Tee of Pikes Peak at Valley Hi, more.

96 The Games of Golf

Keeping up with Steve Jones.

PLAYER’S CORNER 28 Tee to Green

The Keystone Combo. By Jon Rizzi

32 Lesson

53

COLORADO GETAWAYS What to do in Colorado Springs, Crested Butte, Gunnison, Durango, Montrose, Grand County & Steamboat Springs.

How to Straighten Your Drive.

By Trent Wearner

34 Gear

The Swing Wizzard. By Jon Rizzi

38 Gifts

Ideas for Father's Day. .

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

ON THE COVER Bucket o’ Golf Dreams

Photographed by EJ Carr, CommonGround Golf Course, Aurora.

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53 coloradoavidgolfer.com

A G r e At S tAt e D e S e r v e S A G r e At O p e n

CoBank is proud to be the title sponsor for the Colorado Open Championships.

As the state’s largest financial services institution, we look forward to continuing a great Colorado tradition – where legends begin.

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CoBank Colorado open: July 21-24, 2016

CoBank Colorado Women’S open: August 31-September 2, 2016

NEW 2016 RANGE ROVER EVOQUE

June 2016 | Volume 15, Number 3 publisher

A llen J. Walters editor

Jon Rizzi SALES, MARKETING & ADVERTISING associate publisher

Chris Phillips account manager

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office and operations manager

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projects and special events manager

Ryan McLean

ART & EDITORIAL art director

Jani Duncan Smith editor - at- large

Tom Ferrell

automotive editor

Isaac Bouchard contributors

Sam Adams, E.J. Carr, Tony Dear, Denny Dressman, Sue Drinker, Dick Durrance II, Chris Duthie, Gar y James, Ted Johnson, Kaye W. Kessler, Todd Langley, Kim D. McHugh, Jerr y Walters principals

Ray L . Baker, C. Don Baker, Dick B. Baker advertising inquiries : cindy@coloradoavidgolfer.com editorial inquiries and letters : jon@coloradoavidgolfer.com customer service and subscriptions :

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Colorado AvidGolfer (ISSN 1548-4335) is published eight times a year by Baker-Colorado Publishing, LLC, and printed by American Web, Inc. Volume 15, Number three. 7200 S. Alton Way #A-180, Centennial, CO 80112. Colorado AvidGolfer is available at more than 250 locations, or you can order your personal subscription by calling 720-493-1729. Subscriptions are available at the rate of $17.95 per year. Copyright © 2016 by Baker-Colorado Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.

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AN EASY WAY TO

WHEN MY KIDS were little, I joked that the three words that struck fear into every parent’s heart were collect them all.

With the release of every new series of Happy Meal toys, I found myself bouncing from one set of Golden Arches to another in search of another Barbie or Beanie Baby. To pacify my three-year-old daughter after failing to find a missing character in her Disney collection, I actually resorted to drawing a dot on the beak of a duplicate Daisy Duck and renaming her Cindy (as in Crawford) Duck, Daisy’s “cousin.”

My daughter came by her collecting honestly. I spent my youth building baseball card, stamp and coin collections. I couldn’t care less about their market value; their worth came in completing the set and in the knowledge I derived while doing so. Philately, for example, spurred curiosity about U.S. and world history, geography and politics. It turned me into a different kind of collector— one who amassed copious facts and information. Trivial Pursuit, anyone?

Golfers are inveterate collectors. I’ve written about guys with hundreds of putters and vintage golf clubs. What self-respecting golfer’s man cave doesn’t have displays of golf balls from courses he’s played? One frugal friend amasses golf-course pencils; another has close to 200 golf hats hanging off nails in his office.

The more aspirational golfer collects bag tags, often displaying them conspicuously to prompt inquiries like, “Hmm. Cypress Point?”

Of course, you can’t just book a flight to Monterey, drive to Cypress and expect to tee off. The hunt’s the thing; the tag, a trophy mount. More accurately, getting on is like closing a business deal, getting to “yes,” like finally convincing someone to trade you that Nolan Ryan card you coveted.

But “collecting courses” differs from checking items off your bucket list.

If Cypress Point was always on this guy’s bucket list—a lifelong dream—then I’m happy for him. But if it’s just a matter of checking the box on a list of America’s greatest courses—or worse, a matter of bragging rights and a chance to spout off about whom he had to know to finagle the accomplishment—then he should be hauled off to the golfer’s gallows.

For this issue, we asked a cross-section of Colorado golfers what populated their bucket lists. We proscribed the clichéd response of playing Augusta and/or attending the Masters, and we edited out fantasies, no matter how cool they sounded (“Play golf with U2 in Ireland.”)

The responses, which begin on page 76, ranged from the hubristic to the humorous to the philosophical. “It’s about the people, not the places,” Colorado Open Foundation Founder and Oakwood Homes President Pat Hamill told me. “Those are the experiences on my bucket list.”

With that in mind (and since Father’s Day is this month), topping my bucket list is playing one last round with my 94-year-old dad, even if his neuropathy limits him to riding and watching. I also want to play every course in Colorado with the regulars who give each place its character.

I want to collect them all—public, private, resort, sand-green—but not just to say I did it. As with the stamps of my youth, I want to use them as an entry point into learning about what informs and animates each place. It might take another 20 years, by which time I’ll be 74 and close to accomplishing the admittedly cliché bucket list item of shooting my age. Doing so at Augusta would be nice but unnecessary. ­— JON RIZZI

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Hit and Run

COURSE RAGE: The epic scene from Sideways.

IN APRIL, PROSECUTORS filed a second-degree-assault charge against a man, Richard Ponds, accused of using a golf cart to run down and strike a fellow golfer at Wellshire Golf Course. The victim told police he got into an argument with Ponds because he was sitting in a cart in the middle of the course despite being done playing golf. According to an arrest warrant, Ponds then drove the cart “full speed” at the victim, who said he tried unsuccessfully to dive out of the way; then Ponds kept driving toward the course’s parking lot.

What are the craziest things you’ve ever seen on a golf course? Have a story? Let us know at facebook.com/ ColoradoAvidGolfer!

What’s on your Bucket List?

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WE’VE SHARED golf bucket list items in this issue.

What’s yours? Tweet us or write us on Facebook with a golf bucket list item you would add. We’ll share the best answers and award prizes.

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Golf 101 THE CGA’S SECOND CENTURY

No Doubting Thomas WHEN THE BEST PLAYERS in the world vie for the U.S. Open championship this month at Oakmont Country Club, Rules of Golf questions will invariably arise. And when they do, a 37-year-old Colorado native and former intern with the Colorado Golf Association will respond.

The USGA’s Senior Director of Rules of Golf and Amateur Status Thomas Pagel grew up behind the 4th green of the Par 3 Course at South Suburban in Centennial. He started caddying at Glenmoor Country Club at age 14, and while a junior at Colorado State University he applied for a summer internship with the Colorado Golf Association.

“I didn’t get the job!” he says. That changed when he graduated from CSU in 2002. He applied for the USGA’s P.J. Boatwright Internship, which provides grants to state and regional golf associations to hire young men and women as interns who are interested in a career in golf administration. The CGA offered one.

“I emailed my resume and followed up with a phone call,” Pagel remembers. He wound up speaking with Executive Director Ed Mate.

“Are you the guy who applied the year before?”

Mate asked. “I like your perseverance!” Pagel’s Boatwright internship turned into a seven-year career with the CGA in which he rose to assistant director of rules and competitions and, later, assistant executive director.

In 2008 Pagel left the CGA for greater administrative responsibilities, becoming the executive director of the Utah Golf Association.

He served in that role for two years and earned an MBA at the University of Utah. But when an opportunity to work for the USGA came around in 2010, he took the leap and applied for the job.

“I interviewed with long-time USGA staff members Mike Davis and Jeff Hall for the job of senior director of Rules of Golf and amateur status,” Pagel remembers. “I joined the USGA staff in January of 2011 at the same time Executive Director David Fay was retiring and Mike Davis was promoted to executive director.”

For five years now, Pagel has overseen Rules operations and amateur status for the USGA. He’s responsible for working with the USGA Rules Committee and the R&A to write and interpret one set of rules for golfers around the world. “It is truly one of the greatest assets of the game,” he says.

“The same Rules are used by players at all levels, from the professional tours all the way to juniors being introduced to the game.”

That’s an opinion he shares with Pete Lis, another former CGA Boatwright intern who now works as the manager of Rules and competition for the LPGA Tour. Pagel frequently appears on COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN MUMMERT/USGA

How a CGA intern rose to become the senior Rules director at the U.S. Open.

RULERS: Pagel, left, with USGA President Tom O’Toole, Jr. at the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay.

USGA Rules videos, as well as television and radio, where his Rules expertise shines.

Regarding the U.S. Open, Pagel says some of his fondest memories of working at the CGA “were conducting USGA Qualifiers in May where we would welcome the best golfers in Colorado who would eventually have an opportunity to play with the best players in the world.”

His first experience working inside the ropes at a U. S. Open came at Congressional Country Club in 2011. “The display Rory McIlroy put on was tremendous to watch,” he remembers. “The crowds that followed him win his first major title by eight strokes ahead of Jason Day was a thrill to witness up close. I keep a print of his gallery surrounding the 10th Tee on Sunday in my office to remind me of the experience.”

As to which player will win at Oakmont, Pagel prefers to remain unbiased. He is, after all, a USGA staff member. “As we’ve seen with

14

other past champions, the winner will be the person who makes smart, strategic decisions on the course,” he diplomatically explains. “They will have to have a short memory, hold things together and move on to the next challenge on each hole.”

For him, however, the challenge of qualifying for the event—something he oversaw during his CGA and UGA days—makes the U.S. Open even more special: “I love knowing that almost 10,000 golfers from throughout the world, including hundreds in Colorado, will have attempted to participate in the U.S. Open to be crowned our national champion.”

Of course, it should come as no surprise that Pagel, who went from CGA intern to USGA senior director in less than ten years, would appreciate the journey as much as the destination.

“Golf 101” will run regularly during the Colorado Golf Association’s 101st year. coloradogolf.org coloradoavidgolfer.com

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The Gallery NEWS | NOTES | NAMES

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOSEPH ROYBAL

The Frat Pack LIKE A FAVORITE COLLEGE t-shirt, the eternal brotherhood between most fraternity members inevitably fades after graduation. And given the haze of activities that traditionally define Greek life, that’s probably for the best.

Happy exceptions exist, of course, and one of those, Omega Psi Phi, will host its 19th Annual Holmes/Omega Scholarship Golf Tournament July 8 at Black Bear Golf Club in Parker. “We have a unique perspective in that we’re more active as post-graduates than we were while we were in college,” says Greg Labrie, an Adams County civil engineer and director of public relations for the fraternity’s eight-state 8th District. “I think its because our frontal lobes have developed since then,” he adds, giving Golf Committee CoChairs Chip Boykin and Earl Conway a good laugh between sips of coffee in Black Bear’s dining room.

They are three of 200 Denver Metro area men who belong to the first international fraternal organization founded on the campus of a historically black college. Omega Psi Phi, whose motto is “Friendship Is Essential To The Soul,” started in 1911 at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and its “Cardinal Principles” of “Manhood, Scholarship, Perseverance and Uplift” have shaped and inspired hundreds of thousands of Brothers, including Langston Hughes, Michael Jordan, Jesse Jackson, Shaquille O’Neal and former Virginia governor Douglas Wilder.

Local Omegas include ex-Bronco Wesley coloradoavidgolfer.com

Woodyard and the late Clarence F. Holmes, a prominent Denver dentist, co-founder of the Colorado-Wyoming branch of the NAACP—and the man after whom the Holmes/Omega Scholarship takes its name. Since the scholarship’s inception in 1965, Denver-area students have received more than $200,000 in four-year scholarships, and the Omegas are currently assisting six students at a level of $1,500 per student per year.

This year, a total of at least $6,000 will go to five applicants, as always, on the basis of academic performance and promise, financial need, extracurricular activities, well-rounded personality and strength of character. Students have to maintain a B average for the scholarship to renew every year.

The scholarship is just one of a plethora of ways the organization makes what Boykin calls “an investment in our young people.” The Omega Leadership Academy, which has 15 to 25 middleand high-school students signed up on a regular basis, mentors them through visits to colleges, large and small businesses and community organizations. The Omegas regularly engage in community service projects like painting homes and performing yardwork for the elderly.

A healthcare executive with a Masters in Public Policy from the Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Boykin also sees the golf tournament as a way to invest in community wellbeing. He’s working with potential sponsors to set up free screenings for

17

THE OMEGA MEN: Greg Labrie, Chip Boykin and Earl Conway (l-r, below) look to raise funds and health awareness at their Holmes/ Omega Scholarship Tournament.

hypertension, diabetes and certain cancers and other diseases. “It’s preventative for everyone in the community—black, white, Asian, Latino,” he stresses. “Getting people to come in and get tested is one of the biggest challenges in the healthcare industry. What better way to do it than to attract people through their love of golf?”

Labrie and Boykin both credit Conway, an Aurora-based financial advisor, for keeping the tournament going through the economic downturn. They kid him that it’s because he wins every year, but having had a fraternity scholarship help pay for his education at Mississippi College, Conway knows the value of the event. “The most important investment any of us can make,” he says, “is in human capital.” holmesomega.org/golf June 2016 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

The Gallery

Now on The First Tee: Valley Hi

the golf course, and this facility gives families a place to conduct family business.”

The par-3 course and short-game area will welcome the public when The First Tee program is not using it. In addition, on Fridays First Tee participants can do free activities on Valley Hi’s full course and new short course. They also get discounted tee times on the 18-hole course.

The new course resulted from a successful $250,000 capital campaign. Sponsors include the Anschutz Foundation, Colorado Golf Foundation, Colorado Section PGA, Daniels Fund, El Pomar Foundation, Olson Family Foundation, Redstone, Inc., the World Golf Foundation and the First Tee of Pikes Peak Board Members.

“This is a part of a broader outreach to create safe and healthy spaces for families and for young people to connect over the game of golf, and to build community over quality time,” Albert said as attendees competed in skills contests during the dedication ceremony. thefirstteepikespeak.org

VALLEY HI FIVE: The First Tee of Pikes Peak camps now have a four-hole course.

ON MAY 25, 11 months after he cut the ribbon on The First Tee of Pikes Peak short-game practice area at Valley Hi Golf Course, Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers arrived at the city-owned facility with scissors again, this time to dedicate The First Tee of Pikes Peak’s new four-hole par3 course. More than 100 volunteers, participants and sponsors came to celebrate the course designed by Redstone Golf’s Ric Buckton and

constructed by Jay Benson to serve The First Tee of Pikes Peak program and the local community.

“The course will greatly expand our capacity for programming for the 260 participants we’re anticipating this summer and the 800 we expect to serve this year,” explains The First Tee of Pikes Peak Executive Director Mattie Albert. “But it’s an even bigger investment for the southeast region of the city. We all know business gets conducted on

Golf with a purpose

A place for all and all the game teaches.

www.commongroundgc.com | 303-340-1520 COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

© 2016

CommonGround features a Tom Doak-designed18-hole championship course, a short course devoted to junior golf and community programs and the CGA’s promise of affordable and inclusive golf.

18

coloradoavidgolfer.com

The Gallery

Lynx Golf LED BY CENTENNIAL’S Mackenzie Cohen, the Memphis-Based Rhodes College Lynx won the NCAA Division III Women’s championship at Houston’s Bay Oaks Country Club May 13. Cohen, who took the 2012 Colorado High School 5A Girls title as Cherry Creek won the team championship, fired a 3-under 69 in the third round en route to a T3 individual finish. Nine holes into the fourth round, the First Team All-American was tied for second with teammate Sarahanne Vaughan until a lightning storm forced cancellation of the round, making all three-round totals final. Taking their second national title in three years, the Lynx officially won by 15 strokes, although when play stopped, the team led by 23 strokes and was on pace to break the championship’s 72-hole record.

DOMINATORS: Cohen (center) and the National Champions.

GOING FLOW: The Blue River runs through The Shores.

A Shores Thing in Breck LOCATED ON A STRETCH of Blue River, just across the street from the Jack Nicklaus-designed Breckenridge Golf Club, The Shores is getting back the radar of buyers looking for a mountain home.

After being slowed by the market turndown between 2007 and 2013, the resort community recently received approval from the town of Breckenridge to begin constructing 2,250-square-foot single-family residences in addition to its existing paired home offerings.

Once complete in 2018, the community will consist of 56 residences, all with unprecedented access to the Blue River. “Surrounded by open space, the community’s location offers recreation from fly-fishing, to mountain biking to hiking on the nearby Colorado Trail,” says Noah Hahn, managing partner of Boulder-based Meriwether Companies, which owns the community in partnership with San Diego-based Pathfinder Partners LLC. Hahn says the resurgence in homebuyers in mountain towns reflects an improved home market, a healthier overall economy and consumer demand for destinations that offer year-round outdoor activities. Recent data reveals that the average prices in Colorado mountain towns such as Frisco, Copper Mountain, Dillon, Keystone and Breckenridge have risen every year since the economic downturn, with prices in certain areas growing at a faster rate than Metro Denver. Also fueling The Shores’ success, he says: pent-up demand for new construction in mountain towns. shoresbreckenridge.com

Magnificient

views, unparalleled

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challenging

GOLF

await you in

Lakewood.

Tee times at LakewoodGolf.org Fox Hollow 303.986.7888 | Homestead 720.963.5181 COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

20

coloradoavidgolfer.com

The Gallery

Catch the Rising Stars

Hurricanes Hannah and Katrina

Hannah Wood (left) Katrina Prendergast (l-r)

ALTHOUGH NO NCAA DIVISION I women’s team from Colorado qualified for this year’s NCAA Championships, the University of Colorado came painfully close, finishing just one shot behind the University of Virginia, the sixth and final school from the Stanford Regional to advance. Two-time CWGA Player of the Year Jennifer Kupcho of Wake Forest University qualified as an individual for the National Championships, which were held at Eugene Country Club in Oregon May 20-25, after this issue went to press. The Regionals featured notable performances by two other players with Colorado ties.

In the Bryan Texas Regional, University of Oklahoma sophomore Hannah Wood of Centennial came within a stroke of forcing a playoff for the final individual spot. She went into the final round in fourth place but shot a 77, dropping her to 12th overall. Wood’s 72.92 season stroke average was a team-best for the second straight year. As of May 18, she was 113th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

In the Stanford Regional, Colorado State freshman Katrina Prendergast, competing as an individual, led the 96-player field after the first round with three-under 68, only to follow it with a 9-over 80 on Day 2 en route to a T33 performance. It capped off a stellar first collegiate season for the Sparks, Nev. native, who finished second at the Mountain West Championship in April and earned a spot on the AllMountain West second team. Her 73.69 stroke average set a CSU record.

Note: As this issue went to the printer, both Kupcho and Wood qualified on May 16 for the U.S. Women’s Open, which will be held July 7-10 at CordeValle in San Martin, Calif. Kupcho, the 43rd-ranked amateur in the world, won the 36-hole qualifier at The Heritage Golf Course at Westmoor; Wood qualified by winning a three-person playoff for second place at Shady Oaks Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

W E N

LAST JUNE’S INAUGURAL AJGA Hale Irwin Colorado Junior saw winner Reese Ramsey of Austin, Texas, shred CommonGround Golf Course en route to a course-record 10-under-par 61 in the final round. In the Girls Division Sydney Youngblood of Durant, Oklahoma, led wire-towire, winning with a 1-under-par 212.

This year’s event, which will take place June 6-9 at Highlands Ranch Golf Club (with qualifiers on June 5), will feature players from as far away as Myanmar, Japan and Thailand, as well as 17 states and Canada. On the men’s side, notable Colorado competitors in the 68-player field include Luke Trujillo, AJ Ott, Isaac Petersilie, and Davis Bryant. The 22-players girls’ field includes Charlotte Hillary and Caroline Jordaan, as well as 14-year-old Hailey Schalk of Erie, who in May qualified to compete in the IMG Academy World Junior Championship in San Diego.

A week after playing in the AJGA, many of these same players will vie to become the first “major” champion in the history of the newly formed Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado.

The Junior Amateur Championship—once known as the CGA and CWGA Junior Stroke Play Championships—will take place June 13-15 at Eisenhower Golf Club in Colorado Springs. ajga.org; coloradojuniorgolf.org

TWILIGHT MEMBERSHIP

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

• Membership only $40 per month • Access 7 days a week • 1 Large Bucket of Practice Balls every day • Free Green Fees After 2:00 PM (Cart Rental Required) • $12 Cart Fee Including One Beverage at Twilight • $10 Cart Fee Including One Beverage at Super Twilight

22

coloradoavidgolfer.com

An Erie Occurrence JOHN JACOBS’ GOLF SCHOOLS and Academies have set up shop at Erie’s Colorado National Golf Club. Established in 1971 by World Golf Hall of Fame member John Jacobs and award-winning instructor Shelby Futch, the instructional program can take advantage of the club’s 5,500-squarefoot indoor/outdoor facility with two putting greens, four driving range hitting bays, fairway and greenside bunkers. “Having a world-class golf instructional program like John Jacobs’ Golf Schools & Academies clearly elevates the stature of Colorado National Golf Club,” says the club’s PGA General Manager & Director of Golf Matt Schalk. Also elevating the stature are rumors about the club hosting a professional tournament.

“We have drawn an incredible level of interest from the Champions Tour and the Web.com Tour,” Schalk says. “We may host a pro tournament as early as June 2017.” coloradonationalgolfclub.com

Colorado National

SPHERES OF INFLUENCE: Buckley AFB’s “golf ball” radomes.

Golf By Numbers 4,218

feet would be the height of an average golfer hitting one of the six giant “golf balls” visible from I-225 at Buckley Air Force Base. The geodesic spheres, called radomes, actually protect satellite antennas and sophisticated telemetry, tracking, and communications equipment used to detect missile launches and other global activity. We based our Land of the Giants scenario off a 72-inch-tall man and a 1.62-inchdiameter golf ball. Each radome measures 95 feet (1,140 inches) in diameter, making its volume 385,650,224 times that of a ProV1’s. However, each radome also weighs a whopping 126 tons, some 2.49 million times that of a golf ball. That disproportion means even our Not-Quite-Mile-High golfer would have to generate some serious swing speed to get the ball off the tee.

50

thousand dollars—the same amount as last year—is the total purse for this year’s CoBank Colorado Senior Open, which takes place June 1-3 at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club.

The winner’s share is $8,500. Among the luminaries in this year’s field are defending champion Greg Bruckner, former PGA Tour player Larry Rinker, former champions Mike Zaremba and R.W. Eaks, and Colorado Golf Hall of Fame members John Olive and Kent Moore (competing as amateurs) and pro Ron Vlosich. coloradoopencom.com

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M-T anytime, F-S-S after 11

Yes

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$75

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M-T anytime, F-S-S after 11

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$40

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$32

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$26/$30

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M-F after 11, S-S after 1

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1 P/S = 3

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$36/$51

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Yes

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Green Valley Ranch, Denver EXCLUSIVE $35 $40 $35 SS: M-T before 9; after 12, F-S-S after 2 Yes

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$34/$40

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Yes

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Highland Meadows, Windsor*

$34

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M-T anytime, F-S-S after 12

Yes 3

Highlands Ranch Golf Club, Highlands Ranch $47/$58 $57/$68 $47/$58 M-T anytime, F-S-S after 12 Yes SS: 2,

PS: 1 = 3 The Homestead Golf Course, Lakewood

$38

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The Greg Mastriona at Hyland Hills Gold Course, Westminster EXCLUSIVE

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CommonGround offer: Must be CGA, CWGA or Golf Passport Plus member to get rate Family Sports: 9 Hole Executive Course * Some seasons may vary

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$56

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M-T after 11, F-S-S after 12

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$69

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$45

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$33/$38

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M-T anytime F-S-S after 12

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1/1 - 5/31 6/1 - 8/31 9/1 - 12/31 AVAILABLE TEE TIMES $12

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Player’s Corner TEE TO GREEN

R & R in Keystone The Ranch and River courses make the perfect double-play combination. By Jon Rizzi

THE RANCH COURSE “The course incorporates three distinct styles because the land requested it,” Jones explains.

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

“There are the parkland—or core—holes that spread out in a western way; the mountain holes that thread through the lodgepole pines; and the marshy, or heathland holes that feel almost linkslike.”

To Jones’ credit, the course transitions seamlessly without any multiple-personality disorder. Overall, it feels, appropriately, ranch-like.

Your round begins in the lodgepoles with a shortish par 5 and straightforward par 4 before moving into the “heath” that includes the 190-yard par-3 fifth, handicapped at number 2 on the card, with three of the course’s 68 bunkers surrounding the green and old ranch buildings behind it. It’s followed by a tough par 5, where the stream crossing the fairway complicates your chances of reaching in two.

The stream connects to the course’s two lakes, the larger of which spans nine acres and provides the axis around which the course pivots.

You’re also required to carry part of that lake on the 368-yard ninth. That’s no easy feat when the wind kicks up.

That hole and many others reveal stunning views of the Continental Divide, Ten Mile Range and Buffalo Mountain. The back nine starts with what the scorecard claims is the course’s toughest hole, a 463-yard par 4, though my vote would go to No. 17, 422 yards with a long, forced carry over native grass and wetlands, or its successor, the longest hole on the course at 589 yards, with the lake running along the entire left side of the fairway.

28

THE RIVER COURSE From the tips, the par-72 Ranch’s 72.3 rating/141 slope is higher than the par-71 River’s 71.3/137, but the River rates a slightly sterner test from the reds, whites and blues.

It also cost about 12 times more than the Ranch to build and features six more bunkers, greater mounding on the fairways, larger greens and an additional 300 feet in elevation change.

A precipitous drop comes on the very first hole, a 551-yard par 5 that plunges 100 feet from tee to fairway and plays toward the Continental Divide. Two holes later, you’re crossing the Snake River to get the 222-yard par-3 third, the tee shot for which Dana Fry calls “probably the single hardest shot on the golf course” and earns the no. 1 handicap ranking. Bunkers guard the right and left sides of the green and anything pushed—or long—is swimming.

Water factors into the fifth, sixth and seventh holes—the last of which, a beautiful 195-yard par 3 with the Snake River flowing in front of the green, provides the resort with “hero shot” marketing material. A heroic shot of your own needs to account for the prevailing wind and find the middle of a green cordoned by hazards.

At 408 yards, the plummeting par-4 10th doesn’t require a driver—unless you enjoy hitting approaches from downhill lies. Go with a long iron off the tee.

The same holds true for many of a number of other tee shots. “I have to say, because of coloradoavidgolfer.com

PHOTOGRAPH BY ALLEN KENNEDY, COURTESY OF VAIL RESORTS

SCORE IT JONES-TO-HURDZAN-TO-FRY. It may have taken the trio 20 years to turn the double play at Keystone Resort, but their slick efforts have made golf a whole new ballgame in Summit County.

The three are, quite naturally, golf course architects. Robert Trent Jones II, as prolific and prodigious as his paternal namesake, designed the 7,090-yard Keystone Ranch Course in 1980, at a time when 7,000-yard courses weren’t the norm —nor were they built at 9,340 feet above sea level. In 2000, after three years of construction and seven of planning, the team of Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry completed The River Course at Keystone, a 6,886-yard rollercoaster that peaks at the identical 9,340 feet as the Ranch course.

To be sure, the same kinds of steeps that make Keystone a great ski destination give the resort’s golf courses some of their character. interestingly, too, the USGA has selected courses authored by Keystone’s designers to host U.S. Opens (Jones’ Chambers Bay in 2015 and Hurdzan/Fry’s Erin Hills in 2017).

However, the similarities between the two courses pretty much end there. “The Ranch and the River are within a couple of miles of each other,” says The River Course at Keystone’s Head PGA Golf Professional Philip Tobias. “And the difference between them is like night and day.”

HOME HOLE: The River Course’s dramatic finale.

the elevation, most of our guests who pull driver never find their balls,” Tobias says. “There’s value in laying up.”

However, it’s hard to ignore the Big Dog on the par-4 16th. The hole drops a total of 194 feet—half of it from tee to fairway, the other half from fairway to green. A memorable par awaits.

And speaking of memorable…the back tee box on the 520-yard par-5 18th presents a topof-the-world view of Colorado. Watch your tee shot hang forever as it plummets 130 feet to a fairway squeezed by 12 bunkers.

“With the views, the golf almost becomes secondary,” Dana Fry says. “It’s just a great mountain experience.”

THE GUEST EXPERIENCE The Ranch and River courses can challenge even the best players, but they don’t preclude coloradoavidgolfer.com

higher handicappers from having fun. Tobias and the Keystone staff make sure of that. “Our main focus has been to make the courses more playable for the less powerful,” says Tobias.

“We’ve taken the Ranch’s forward tees from 5,500 yards to 4,800 yards. Our overall goal is to have a golf course that’s accommodating, fun and for all abilities of players.”

To that end, Keystone has also developed junior sets of tees that shrink both courses to about 2,200 yards. On the Ranch, they’re called the Hogan tees; on the River, they’re the Jacks. Tobias says it’s not just juniors who play from those up tees. It’s newcomers and those at charity or corporate events who are looking for something different. “I have to say, 18 holes of short-course golf in a mountain setting is a real kick in the pants,” Tobias laughs.

This “inclusion on all levels” approach has also led to programs like Birdies and Bet-

29

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHAD SCHMIDT, COURTESY OF VAIL RESORTS

PHOTOGRAPH BY JEFF ANDREW, COURTESY OF VAIL RESORTS

KEYSTONE ARCH: The Ranch’s 3rd green (top) and 19th hole (right); the River Course’s sinuous par-3 7th (left).

CABIN FEVER: The Ranch’s par-3 5th hole.

June 2016 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

Player’s Corner TEE TO GREEN

BEYOND GOLF

tys Playdays for women on Wednesdays. “It’s a playday, not a league, welcoming fun and social,” Tobias explains. They alternate courses and change formats weekly. “It’s noncommittal. You can be a resort guest or just someone coming up from Denver. We do it so person who shoots 120 can compete with a scratch player.” The success of the women’s playday has spawned a similar concept for men on Mondays.

In addition, Tobias takes great pride in his Bettys Free Golf Week, a complimentary program that runs June 27- July 1 and takes women from the basics of stance and grip through

pitching and chipping all the way to full swing.

Juniors get to play for free with a paying adult after 5 p.m. Keystone also hosts a free junior golf week in June and the PGA Junior league will conduct six matches in June and July at Keystone Ranch.

Other enhancements include golf carts with USB ports for music and phone-charging at Keystone Ranch; a free custom Keystone Golf app that features tips, GPS, hole descriptions, and scoring; and a stay and play package that provides a voucher for a free nine holes when you check in.

Jon Rizzi is CAG’s editor. For more on Keystone Resort: keystoneresort.com; 855-603-0049.

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COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

30

coloradoavidgolfer.com

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF VAIL RESORTS

APRÈS-GOLF: River Run Village spans Keystone and Dillon.

Keystone has also renovated the golf shop at the Ranch Course and rebranded its fabulous Keystone Ranch Restaurant as a Colorado steakhouse. The fine-dining experience remains; it just doesn’t have to be a seven-course experience. An appetizer, entrée and bottle of wine work just fine, and Chef Steven Vlass’ menu, which debuted during ski season, offers more than its share of upscale possibilities.

On the less pricey side, Haywood Cafe and Inxpot are great for breakfast, and you can’t go wrong with lunch or dinner at Ski Tip Lodge, Kickapoo Tavern, Pizza 101, Zuma, Luigi’s or New Moon Café. Throw back some drinks at Snake River Saloon.

Options are at the core of the Keystone experience. The resort’s extensive summer programming includes the ever-popular Kidtopia, summer snow-tubing on Dercum Mountain, Keystone Bike Park’s 56 lift-serviced single-track biking trails and festivals such as the Blue Ribbon Bacon Tour (June 25-26); Keystone Wine and Jazz Festival (July 16-17); River Run Village Art Festival (July 30-31); 20th Keystone Bluegrass and Beer Festival (Aug. 6-7); Mountain Town Music Festival (Aug. 20); Keystone Oktoberfest (Sept. 3) and Taste of Keystone (Sept. 4).

Even with two spectacularly different courses, golf isn’t the only play in Keystone during the summer.

NATURAL BEAUTY AT PLAY

With a course designed to highlight the spectacular high-alpine surroundings, the Beaver Creek Golf Club offers a mountain golf experience like no other. Known for narrow, challenging fairways and stunning scenery, the course designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr., sits high above sea level – for a chance at record-setting drives. And equally thrilling views just beyond the greens.

THE ULTIMATE MOUNTAIN GOLF EXPERIENCE Our Stay & Play packages combine upscale lodging and exclusive golf access.

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Player’s Corner LESSON

Driving School

How to take control of your tee shots. By Trent Wearner LIKE IT OR NOT, the driver often sets the tone for your entire round. Such will be the case during this month’s U.S. Open at Oakmont, where the winner will be the one who consistently finds the fairway off the tee.

Most players can hit 75% of their clubs pretty well—but not their driver. Unlike those other clubs, the driver requires you to approach the ball from well inside the target line while hitting up on the ball.

Research shows that with your driver if you hit down 5 degrees on the ball compared to hitting up 5 degrees, you will lose 20-25 yards off your tee shots. So how do you take control of your tee ball?

THE PROOF Next time you’re out practicing, ask the golf shop for 3-4 impact stickers and see what they reveal. You’ll probably see one of three things:

THE SMUDGE

This golfer’s club head swings across the ball (outside-in) where they lose lots of ball speed and creating sidespin that makes the ball slice. If you always find yourself on the right edges of holes, You needed help yesterday!

THE VISION Our bodies work incredibly well when we have an image of what accurately needs to be occurring. The image below should be stamped into your mind, this shows the ascending approach the driver should take. Imagine hitting a ball off of each tee as the club moves up into the ball. This picture also shows how much the club should be swinging from inside the target line (yellow sticks) as it approaches the ball. If you don’t do this you’ll struggle.

This golfer is somewhat close but still swings down too steeply. Notice how the dimples are more oval-like which means the ball is rolling up the face creating too much spin.

His drives sometimes take off low, while other times they pop straight up. Look for scars on top of your clubhead and a lot of broken tees.

You need help now!

MONEY

This impact shows that the club is hitting up on the ball from the inside because the dimples are perfectly circular. You can let ‘er rip!

WRONG

CORRECT

THE BODY MOVEMENT Golfers too often try to generate power at the start of their downswing. However, doing so forces them to open up too soon (above left). The shaft goes too far outside, which will produce shots that follow the one-third theory—one-third left, one-third right and one-third in the middle—with some shots off the heel of the club, some off the toe and some in the middle.

The golfer in the photo to the right has properly pushed off the ground so that his hips have moved laterally toward the target without spinning open. This pertinent move allows the club to drop lower/behind you, which will help the club hit up on the ball from the inside.

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

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Twice named Teacher of the Year by the Colorado PGA and four times rated the #1 Teacher in Colorado by his peers and Golf Digest, Trent Wearner, PGA regularly appears on Golf Channel Academy and is the author of Golf Scrimmages.

At his Trent Wearner Golf Academy at Meridian Golf Club in Englewood, he teaches both juniors (many of them state champions) and adults.

303-645-8000; trentwearnergolf.com.

To watch a video of this lesson, visit coloradoavidgolfer.com.

coloradoavidgolfer.com

PHOTOGRAPHS BY EJ CARR

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Player’s Corner GEAR

Nobody Beats the Wizz

A homegrown golf product reveals the plane truth.

By Jon Rizzi

1. SET UP with a pair of aimsticks on the ground pointing to your target.

KEITH ROGERS ISN’T A GOLF PRO, but he plays one on TV. Not quite, but the Littleton native does appear in an infomercial for his invention, the SwingWizzard— a training aid so effective that world-renowned instructor Jim McLean endorses it and uses it at his schools. “The first time I saw the SwingWizzard, I was sold,” McLean says. “You can see how the shaft is working, the positions you need to be in to develop a consistent strike.”

Rogers says he was consistent—consistently bad, a 20 handicap—but a determination to get his swing on plane sparked an epiphany. By joining two clubs together at the grips, he created a mirroring device that enabled him to see and feel the club position on his backswing and downswing. Using a pair of aimsticks on the ground to reference club position throughout the takeaway and back through impact, he grooved his swing over the course of a winter. A few months into the season, he sported a 4 handicap.

“The SwingWizzard isn’t meant to hit balls,” Rogers says. “Involving balls would take away the intent. It is supposed to help you build your swing mechanics, developing a kinesthetic sense—a feel—of your proper swing plane.” Which is why you should do the following drill deliberately and repeat it over and over.

3. HALFWAY BACK Using the aimsticks as your guide, check the entire length of the SwingWizzard to make sure your club is parallel to the ground.

4. BOTTOM CLUBFACE PARALLEL Instead of looking behind you to check club position, you can gauge it by the bottom clubface.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY EJ CARR

2. TAKEAWAY Slowly initiate a one-piece takeaway, keeping the clubhead on line with the aimstick.

5. WEIGHT TRANSFER During the weight transfer initiated on the downswing, keep the position of the bottom clubface aligned to the aimstick.

7. IMPACT As you go through the point of impact, if you break down, flip your wrists or chicken-wing it, the other end of the club will remind you not to. It will not allow you to flick at the ball.

6. WRIST HINGE The weighting and balance of the product naturally moves you into the right position.

Just let the club drop and fall back into the impact zone, notice the parallelism of the SwingWizzard and the ground.

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

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coloradoavidgolfer.com

Player’s Corner

GET ATTACHED: The Tour Stroke aids in smoothing your release.

GEAR

PHOTOGRAPH BY EJ CARR

This spring, Rogers debuted the Chip Wizard, which attaches to the Swing Wizzard and encourages the proper hands-forward position required for accurate chip shots. He also came up with the three-piece Wizard Putting System.

1. Tour Stroke: An attachment to a putter face that cradles the ball so it releases correctly, promoting a long, smooth stroke.

2. Putter’s Edge: A hole-reducer featuring a removable insert to accommodate side-breaking putts.

3. True Line: a string alignment tool that creates a visual path to the hole on breaking putts.

Chances are, like the Swing Wizzard, you’ll be hearing—and seeing—more about all these products. wizardgolf.net

DENVER | 191 INVERNESS DRIVE WEST | 303-768-0827

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

36

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Player’s Corner GIFTS

< ARCCOS OF A DRIVER Using a wee tracking device in the grip end of each club, Arccos instantly delivers data on every bit of Dad’s golf game via his SmartPhone, iPhone or Apple Watch. It also offers personalized course management via GPS 2.0, mapping his every shot on more than 35,000 courses. $300 arccosgolf.com

It’s a Dad, Dad World

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PAPA’S BRAND NEW BAG

High-quality Links & Kings drawstring leather pouches hold Dad’s tees and balls—or his cellphone and wallet, so he never leaves either in the golf cart again. They come in 20 different colors and you can have it custom-embroidered. $55 linksandkings.com

Gift ideas for the family’s golfer-in-chief. > DIAL IN THE DISTANCE The Tour V4 Slope represents the latest, most compact and accurate rangefinder from Bushnell. Easy to grip with 5x magnification, it focuses quickly and vibrates upon locking on the target. The slope version compensates for elevation changes—a feature Dad can and must disable during competition, per USGA Rule 14-3/.05. $399 bushnell.com

A MAJORS PURCHASE

<

> GET HIM WAISTED

World-renowned golf artist Walt Spitzmiller spent eight years painting signature moments from Nicklaus’ record 18 major championship titles. Oversized Giclée prints of those paintings comprise Jack’s Majors, a limited edition of 100 museum-quality numbered portfolios signed by both Nicklaus and Spitzmiller. Numbers 1-18 and 100 run $7,500 each, while numbers 19-99 sell for $5,000. waltspitzmiller.com

A wardrobe staple at old guard private clubs, a surcingle belt not only keeps up khakis but appearances. This needlepoint canvas version suggests an aerial view of a course, with a leather strap that should match Dad’s loafers. $165 ($200 if monogrammed). smathersandbranson.com

< THINKING MAN’S THERMOS Golfers certainly contribute their share of the 50 billion plastic bottles that annually enter U.S. landfills. S’well’s mission: reduce that number.

Suitable for the links or the slopes, 17-ounce S’well bottles keep drinks cold for 24 hours, hot for 12, and come in dozens of cool styles and patterns. $45-$55 swellbottle.com COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

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HIT THE LINKS IN LUXURY at the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort and Spa Pack your golf clubs and discover the natural beauty and exhilarating design of golf in the Rocky Mountains. If you love the game of golf, Beaver Creek Mountain is a refuge for the soul. Beaver Creek Golf Club and Red Sky Ranch offer breathtaking courses designed by legends of the game. To find out more, visit parkhyattbeavercreek.com

The Park Hyatt® trademark and related marks are trademarks of Hyatt Corporation. © 2016 Hyatt Corporation. All rights reserved.

PRIVAT E P R O L E S S ON

Player’s Corner

> MY FATHER, MY SELF

GIFTS

In 1981, 40 years after crooner Bing Crosby had appeared in his second U.S. Amateur, his son Nathaniel won the event at Olympic.

In 18 Holes with Bing, Crosby fils anecdotally shares 18 golf and life lessons learned from a father who fit in a film and music career around his obsession for golf. $23 harpercollins.com

<

WRISTY BUSINESS

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TUNED IN

Dad may not play like Rory McIlroy, but he can practice like him. Compatible with iPhone and Android phones, Bose’s QuietComfort 20 Acoustic Noise Cancelling headphones will let Pops find his rhythm on the range. $300. bose.com

French-cuff shirts always make a statement, as do the cufflinks that distinguish them. Made of sterling silver with swivel findings, these sleek accessories feature vintage golf balls to add a classic yet playful note. $175 tokens-icons.com

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Side Bets | FAREWAYS FOOD | BEER | CARS

South of the Border on South Broadway LET’S FACE IT, the most popular Mexican restaurant food is hard to swallow if you’ve ever had the real deal—those booming burrito chains are far from authentic. Culinary teams obsessed with holding the line are worth celebrating, and Brian Rossi, who had managed Mezcal and El Camino in town, finally has a thriving Mexican restaurant of his own—Adelitas Cocina y Cantina.

“I wanted my own business, for my family and for a passion project,” Rossi says. “With Adelitas, I’m immersed in Mexican food and culture.

It makes life easy!”

His festive little oasis on Broadway is in its own league. Much of its appeal lies in the ambiance. The stylish bar design features a mirrored background and shelves for liquor that reach all the way to the ceiling. The vibrant colors and local artwork on the walls are commanded by a mural of La Adelita, a chesty female warrior in the Mexican Revolution.

Chef Sylvia Ayala is an adelita in her own way (the word has come to refer to brave, altruistic women). Rossi’s partner in the restaurant, she cooks classic family dishes from scratch; the recipes come from her homeland in the state of Michoacán, located on Mexico’s southern Pacific coast.

“It’s a big area with a lot of different landscapes, from dry barren desert to mountainous to tropical,” Rossi says. ”It allows the access to lots of diverse fruits, vegetables and chiles.” coloradoavidgolfer.com

43

PHOTOGRAPHS BY PHIL MUMFORD

The colorful, spirited flavors of Michoacán shine brightly at Adelitas Cocina y Cantina. By Gary James

COMPADRES: Partners Brian Rossi and chef Sylvia Ayala toast Mexican culture with Denver’s best margaritas.

June 2016 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

Side Bets | FAREWAYS

COLORFUL COMIDAS: Clockwise from above, Adelitas’ superb Ceviche, Margaritas, Mole Michoacano, Chili Con Puerco Colorado and Tacos al Pastor.

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

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coloradoavidgolfer.com

PHOTOGRAPHS BY PHIL MUMFORD

The latter are quite crucial to the ruddy house mole sauce. Typical moles are dark, thick and rich, and even an “easy” mole is crafted from, oh, 15 ingredients. Sylvia’s secret recipe doesn’t use peanuts or unsweetened cocoa/chocolate, so it’s less dense, but it’s abundant in spicy flavor.

“It’s all about the chiles, guajillos,” Rossi explained. “The source that we originally used was unable to get them, and the mole changed. So we tracked them all the way down.”

Ayala’s Michoacán fare focuses on fresh ingredients, some flavors from citrus and an awareness of presentation—dishes such as the tamalitos and ceviche appetizers look as pleasing on the plate as they taste on the tongue. Pozole, the traditional Mexican stew, is constituted of hominy and oversized chunks of pork laced with those chile guajillos and served with a plate of fresh cabbage, chopped radishes and cilantro-sprinkled onions for crunch. ¡Fantastico!

Molcajete cooking involves putting meat, vegetables and sauce in a piping-hot bowl carved from volcanic rock, a variation on traditional clay pot cooking. Adelitas’ Mar, Tierra y Cielo Molcajete (“land, sea and air”) brims with flank steak and shrimp, with the chicken being the air (okay, chickens don’t fly, but the unbeatable flavor jus-

“I AM VERY ACTIVE. I LIKE TO PLAY GOLF AND RIDE MY BIKE; I COULDN’T DO A LOT OF THOSE THINGS BEFORE I DID THIS PROCEDURE. NOW I CAN, AND I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER!” — ­ BILLY THOMPSON FORMER NFL PLAYER, DENVER BRONCOS RING OF FAME

tifies the artistic license). Besides the meats, the immense bubbling cauldron (which could serve two) contains portions of green onions, Mexican white cheese and sliced nopales (cactus pad).

The perfectly seasoned Carne Asada (Ayala’s marinade is a secret, natch) can be ordered as a plate or as a layer in the Chavindecas appetizer, a type of quesadilla (two corn tortillas traditionally filled with spinach and mushroom).

The Puerco Con Chile Colorado serves ohso-tender pork covered in a flavorful sauce (yep, those guajillos again) that begs to be sopped up with a warm tortilla. I’d eat Adelitas’ mole sauce on a Kleenex, but the chipotle crema is equally sublime.

The vibrant energy of the restaurant is especially appealing on $1 Taco Tuesdays, and the friendly staff makes warm recommendations, like the pineapple-topped Tacos Al Pastor. The bar serves as headquarters for a bevy of reasonably priced tequila options. The award-winning house margaritas, a bargain at five bucks, are well-balanced—not cloyingly sweet or revoltingly tangy— with fresh-squeezed lime juice, agave syrup and triple sec, and you know there’s some Cimarron tequila in them.

There are also enchanting cocktails—try the Down in Laredo, a mash-up of whiskey and tequila. Rossi and his masterful mixologists are also bent on associating mezcal with old-world spirits.

“I get to various spots in Mexico at least four times a year and tour a lot of mezcal distilleries in Oaxaca,” he enthuses. “Mezcal is tequila’s grandfather, produced for over 500 years. All of these small villages and families have never been able to make money on mezcal until the last couple of years; they just trade for food or labor. Truthfully, mezcal is not a product but a culture, a lifestyle.

“I also try to get my staff down there as much as possible. If you’re here a year, I’ll get it done. I took my manager to Jalisco for a week visiting producers, the first raicilla (a fire-roasted cousin of mezcal) trip on record. It brings out everyone’s spirit—having a restaurant like ours where you feel like you’re in Mexico!”

1294 S. Broadway 303-778-1294; adelitasdenver.com

Use your own stem cells to possibly relieve pain • Lumbar Spine • Cervical Spine • Knees • Shoulders • Elbows • Hips • Hands • Feet • Ankles

be in the know Get CAG in your inbox every week. Access new and exclusive content, unbelieveable golf and travel deals, enter contests, giveways and more subscribe to our newsletter at coloradoavidgolfer .com

Read more of Contributor Gary James’ Fareways columns on coloradoavidgolfer.com. coloradoavidgolfer.com

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June 2016 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

Side Bets | TAPPING IN

How Local Is Our Beer?

Two Colorado companies redefine “homegrown talent.” By Cody Gabbard “SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BREWERY” is one of the more ubiquitous mantras in our beer-soaked state. But if a brewery gets all of its hops from Washington, its grains from Wisconsin and yeast from California, would you still consider it a local product?

By producing world-class ingredients that are helping make all-Colorado beers possible, a couple of Colorado companies—the fourth-generation Colorado Malting Company and Denver’s two-year-old Inland Island Yeast Laboratories— are rendering that question moot.

COLORADO MALTING COMPANY (CMC) In the 1930s, Ray “Pappy” Coody moved his family from Oklahoma to Alamosa in the San Luis Valley. What started as a homestead grew into a grain business that would produce barley for Coors for about 50 years.

Along the way, the family name shortened to “Cody,” and the business expanded. In 2007, Ray’s grandson, Wayne, and his oldest son, Jason, converted an old dairy barn into a malting facility.

They now sell malt to Coors.

Simply defined, malt is what grain ultimately becomes before being used by a brewer. Malting develops the enzymes required to modify a grain’s starches into sugars, which feed yeast to produce alcohol and carbon dioxide.

After malting, the grain is dried and kilned at various temperatures. The higher the temperature, the darker the malt. Base malts like pale ale are dried at lower temperatures for grainy, breadlike flavors and a light coloring; specialty grains are heated at higher temperatures for caramel-like flavors and deep amber colors; and more highly roasted varieties are used to produce the roasty flavors and dark brown colors in porters and stouts.

Barley thrives in the San Luis Valley, according to Jason Cody, the current President of CMC. “It is the perfect climate for growing malt barley because of its dry desert-like climate and its warm summer days, combined with cool nights.

This helps the barley stay healthy and minimizes mold growth and plant disease as well as pest and insect damage.”

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

STIRRING IT UP: CMC malts the barley (above); Inland Island’s yeast produces the award-winning Prost Weissbier (right); a San Luis Valley barley field (below).

By being one of the few grain producers that’s also a maltster, CMC can control the quality from seed to malt. “We have small batches that are hand-crafted, and we don’t use growth additives,” Cody explains. Being hands-on has enabled CMC to do multiple custom batches for New Belgium in Fort Collins, as well as a custom batch of Pale Malt for New Glarus Brewery in Wisconsin.

Despite having customers across the country, Cody said that over eighty-percent of their business is through Colorado breweries and distilleries. Customers include big names like New Belgium, Ska and Upslope, to smaller breweries like Our Mutual Friend and Beryl’s. They also provide malt to distilleries, including Laws Whiskey House, winner of gold and silver medals for their Secale Straight Rye and Four Grain Straight Bourbon respectively at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition this past March. Also a homebrewer, Cody cultured his own yeast, Spontane, which is available through CMC. “It is a 100 per-

46

cent Colorado yeast that is wild and indigenous to the state,” he says. “It is a typical farmhouse-style yeast that imparts a nice Belgian-style flavor.”

INLAND ISLAND A true brewer will tell you that he doesn’t make beer; he makes wort “and yeast makes beer.”

For years, beer’s true maker has been available through only a handful of sources, specifically two

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Side Bets | TAPPING IN

FUN GUYS AND FUNGI: Colorado Malting’s Bobby, Jason and Josh Cody; some of Inland Island’s yeast varieties.

on the West Coast, Wyeast and White Labs.

However, John Giarratano and Matthew Peetz of Inland Island Yeast Laboratories are propagating high-quality yeast right here in Denver. While growing yeast for the biofuel industry, they established such a following among local home brewers that they struck out on their own in 2014 and now produce yeast for dozens of Denver-area breweries as well as several homebrew shops.

Yeast is a fungus found essentially everywhere in nature, so a yeast producer has quite a bit of latitude when it comes to gathering and propagating a variety of cultures. “You can get them out of unfiltered beers,” explains Giarratano.

“Yeast strains are not something you can patent or trademark unless you can prove genetic modification, which nobody in the brewing world is doing.

Yeast is a wild organism just like lions, and you can’t trademark lions.”

Having a local yeast lab makes a huge difference in quality for brewers. As living organisms, yeasts can lose their ability to consume sugars as their food sources deplete. “Merely being local allows me to deliver yeast as fresh as it could possibly be,” says Giarratano, whose previous job afforded insight into how yeast changes over time.

“I was in-charge of yeast propagation, and I saw that time is really hard on yeast. Temperature changes during shipping really harm them.”

In addition to delivering fresh yeast, Inland Island prides itself on special propagation methods that provide yeast with higher cell counts than its competition. In addition to wort, the sugary liquid made from soaking malt in hot water, Inland Island uses what Giarratano calls “media,” a “secret sauce of different sugars and different nutrients that we’ve developed to give us the highest yield and highest viability possible. It will go in and immediately start consuming sugars.”

Working directly with brewers allows Inland Island to customize yeasts to fit certain flavor profiles, such as the ever-popular “sour beer” genre. “Brewers are really good with malts and really good at blending and making recipes,” Giarratano says, “and they’ll spend insane amounts of money on malts and adjuncts and fruit and all these things to make their beer unique. But they’re not as adventurous with COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

48

yeast, and we really do see the next push being blending yeast.”

One of Inland Island’s largest clients, Prost Brewing in Denver, relies heavily on characterful yeast since they focus on German-style beers.

Certain styles such as weissbier (aka hefeweizen), which Prost has previously won a gold for at the Great American Beer Festival, derive their signature flavors from yeast. Without a healthy strain, the flavors could be overpowering or the beer could stall, but when cared for properly a great hefeweizen will pick up banana and clove flavors as a byproduct of a good fermentation.

Other customers include Joyride Brewing of Edgewater and Mockery Brewing in Denver, as well as the homebrewers shopping at Altitude Brewing Supply in the River North area of Denver.

The superlative yeasts come highly recommended for their ability to jumpstart fermentation, a desirable characteristic, as you want your brew producing alcohol as fast as possible in order to ward off beer-blighting microbes.

This specialization and consumer commitment sets Colorado Malting Company and Inland Island companies apart from their national counterparts. Moreover, they both bring a personal touch to an industry that thrives on personality.

Contributor Cody Gabbard regularly writes the Tapping In column. coloradoavidgolfer.com

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Side Bets | NICE DRIVES

LONG, LIGHT AND LOW: The Cadillac CT6.

An Alternate Reality

Welcome to the new world of Cadillac sports sedans and diesel-powered Range Rovers. By Isaac Bouchard 2016 CADILLAC CT6

EPA ratings: 18/27mpg 0-60mph: 6.7sec (est.)

Price as tested: $63,910 Cadillac’s new large sedan, the CT6, is so unapologetically athletic that it seems as though we now live in some kind of alternate reality— one where BMW builds cruisers for cities and the open interstate, and Caddy makes sports sedans to blaze pretzel-like alpine passes and tear up race tracks.

In the CT6 we see Cadillac chamfering off the sharpest of its edgy styling. Yet it still displays real street presence thanks to it being really wide, low and long.

Exterior adornment is discrete but thoughtfully executed. This refined theme carries through inside, where the material quality— even on a fairly basic model—is excellent, with wrapped dash and doors and some fresh detailing like the bronze mesh accenting the beautiful wood veneers. Front and back seat space is very spacious and the seating firmly serious. This COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

is also the first production car with a rearview mirror that will display a camera’s image; if this isn’t desired, it also acts a conventional reflective surface.

The Cadillac’s instrumentation is a mix of clean, classic analog and configurable screen for the driver, and the latest version of the much-maligned CUE system, which seems ready at last for prime time. Its large, high-resolution screen responds nimbly, augmented by a Lexus-style mouse pad. While some drivers will still prefer the wheel-controlled, Germanic system, this interface no longer exasperates as it once did. It also integrates better with Apple CarPlay than anything else tested.

As alluded to, the CT6 drives like it looks, only more so. Steering is linear, responsive and accurate and the body is very well controlled.

Lean, sway, large vertical motions and fore-aft pitch are snubbed right down; the trade off is a ride that can verge on harsh over really bad pavement. In compensation, it feels much more entertaining than larger Bavarian machines, with intuitive, sharp turn in, a result of the careful mass distributions and ultra-rigid new structure.

50

Being 90 percent aluminum makes the CT6 very light for its size, meaning it responds quickly to all its controls, including the firm, easily modulated brakes. There is some high-strength steel employed in the pillars and other areas (similar to what BMW did on the 7-series with its “Carbon Core”) to control noise. Whatever the reasons, this is one quiet car, even for Cadillac.

The CT6’s low mass also means the AWD model’s base engine, an updated, 335hp V6, doesn’t feel or sound strained, despite only having 285lb-ft of torque. The intuitive eight-speed automatic ably deploys this serenity; paddle shifts are there for fun. The CT6 hits 0-60 in the mid-sixes. For those who want to get there faster, there is a 404hp, turbocharged model.

Another intriguing option is the Active Chassis package, which includes adjustable, magnetic damping and four-wheel steering. Equipped thusly, it makes a BMW 550i feel ponderous and sterile. Yet even the basic CT6 is very much a driver’s machine; while the Bavarians may own the tagline about being the Ultimate version of such a car, there is no doubt that in this new reality, Cadillac now has the more focused lineup. coloradoavidgolfer.com

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COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

2016 RANGE ROVER & RANGE ROVER SPORT TD6

EPA ratings: 22 /29mpg; 25mpg combined 0-60mph: 7.1-7.4sec (mfg) Prices as tested: $82,625 (Sport); $106,325 (fullsize) With VW’s “dieselgate” well underway, it would seem the timing of Land Rover’s release of diesel versions of the full-size and Sport Range Rovers is off. I disagree. I tend to see it as a positive for the British company, as it means that prospective shoppers now have an alternative to the Audi, Porsche and VW SUVs. The first thing they’ll probably want to know is that this Td6 engine complies with our emissions laws. After testing the engine for quite some time, the EPA has ensured it is clean burning, and emits the fewest Oxides of Nitrogen (NOX) as are permitted.

Next, how does it run? Superbly, it turns out. America (and Colorado in particular) suits turbodiesel engines, whose bountiful low-end torque (440lb-ft at 1750rpm) make them great for launching from stoplights and the typical urban traffic melee, mountain driving and towing up to 7,200 pounds. This is also one efficient powerplant, too, with EPA ratings and real world numbers in the 20s—staggering for something of this mass.

Very careful tuning of active engine mounts and acoustic treatments mean it is very quiet both idling and under load, though there’s a touch of vibration through the wheel at idle.

At cruising speed, the sound is only a whisper. Credit for the performance and economy

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owes to the eight-speed ZF transmission and its programming, which is about the best on the market right now.

Since this Td6 is actually lighter than the Range Rovers with gasoline engines, on-road handing and ride are unaffected. The Sport is the more dynamic of the two, with sharp, instinctive steering and excellent handling. Minor secondary ride patter on some surfaces is the Sport’s only demerit; the full-size Range Rover is smoother over broken blacktop but gives up some cornering precision.

Both Rangies display an unmatched off-pavement virtuosity, and the brilliance of Land Rover’s engineering heritage is evidenced in the new All-Terrain Progress Control, which selects a vast number of parameters to make it possible for even fearful ninnies to tackle the worst obstacles just by setting the off-road cruise control speed, thus allowing you to focus entirely on proper vehicle placement over obstacles.

All the other mod cons are onboard or in the offing, such as the faster, more intuitive InControl infotainment system and a hands-free tailgate whose opening height you can set of so as not to whack the garage roof.

All said, this is exactly the blend of attributes that the rest of the world has readily embraced. Half of all Range Rovers are diesel powered, and finally having access to them here is a boon.

Automotive Editor Isaac Bouchard is president of Englewood-based Bespoke Autos. Read more of his reviews at coloradoavidgolfer.com and bespokeautos.com. Reach him at isaac@bespokeautos.com. coloradoavidgolfer.com

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June 2016 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

E P E P Discover the unbridled majesty of Flying Horse, Colorado Springs only northern resort lifestyle community.

With homes priced from the mid to upper $300s to custom homes in the millions, there's something for everyone in Flying Horse.

LodgeAtFlyingHorse.com Our lavishly-appointed guest rooms and meeting rooms offer unparalleled comfort for any occasion. Whether you’re here for a business meeting, corporate event, or a landmark family gathering, you’ll find our service impeccable and our accommodations unsurpassed.

FlyingHorseClub.com Play like never before. With private fitness facilities, gourmet dining, social events, and our Tom Weiskopf signature golf course, you not only have the opportunity to play the fairest of fairways, you have the opportunity to become a member of one of the finest Clubs in the world.

FlyingHorseColorado.com Each of our neighborhood villages has its own unique personality. Its own architecture, its own way of life. Yet all speak to the heart when it insists, “I want to be part of something special.” Fall in love with the home of your dreams. Live your life in Flying Horse.

Real Estate: 719-886-4800 Club Membership: 719-494-1222 Luxurious Guest Lodging: 844-768-2684 Steakhouse Reservations: 719-487-2635

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The Steakhouse at Flying Horse

The Lodge at Flying Horse

THE ENVIABLE AMENITIES at The Club at Flying Horse (flyinghorsecolorado.com; 719-494-1222) are no longer exclusive to members. Last fall, the northeast Colorado Springs property opened The Lodge at Flying Horse, comprised of a 40-room luxury guest lodge and four plush two-bedroom villas. Guests have access to the Tom Weiskopf-designed golf course, as well as myriad sports, fitness equipment and classes in the 50,000-square-foot athletic club. Four pools, nine indoor clay tennis courts and one of the top spas in the state complete the experience.

Play Time Eat & Drink STEAK OUT: Open to the public and ensconced within the club’s majestic clubhouse, The Steakhouse at Flying Horse (flyinghorsesteakhouse.com) sizzles with elegance. Chef Ketil Larsen’s perfectly turned hand-cut steaks highlight a menu dripping with creativity and flavor. The wine list—and four-story wine tower—are equally memorable.

TEST YOUR GAME on the 7,056 yard Pete Dyedesigned Country Club of Colorado at Cheyenne Mountain Resort (cheyennemountain.com; 719-5384000) which borders a 35-acre lake. Need a lesson?

National PGA Award Winner Ann Finke will sharpen your game. After golf, relax with a massage at the resort’s Alluvia Spa & Wellness Retreat, then hang at the resort’s rollicking beach club.

HIKE THE TOUGHEST MILE in Colorado. The Manitou Incline (manitouincline.net) climbs 2,000 vertical feet up the ties of old cable-car track in neighboring Manitou Springs. Parking is as challenging as hiking, so take the free shuttle from town.

STAY AND BUFFET: Cheyenne Mountain Resort’s Mountain View Restaurant (cheyennemountain. com) presents breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets worthy of the restaurant’s panoramic views.Sundays take brunch to another level.

THE GEOLOGICAL MARVELS in the Garden of the Gods Park (gardenofgods.com) never cease to amaze, especially when viewed through a camera lens in late afternoon, when the Siamese Twins, Kissing Camels, Balanced Rock and other formations look most striking.

BEER HUNTING: Craft brewery pioneers Phantom Canyon (phantomcanyon.com) and Bristol Brewing (bristolbrewing.com) accompany their brews with quality food and lively scenes. Great Storm Brewing (greatstormbrewing.com) serves only its great beer.

THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY of the Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (ppihc.com) takes place June 26. You can also get the thrilling “Race to the Clouds” history at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb Experience at the Penrose Heritage Museum at 11 Lake Circle.

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

Alluvia Spa & Wellness Retreat, Cheyenne Mountain Resort

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Get an eagle’s-eye view Too many irons in the fire this summer? Load them in the trunk and drive to one of Colorado’s best golf experiences at Cheyenne Mountain Resort. Once you’ve made the rounds on our Pete Dye championship golf course, have a round on us by the pool or tee up some relaxation at our new Alluvia Spa and Wellness Retreat. Play more.

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durango

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What To Do GET OUT: Durango is an outdoor paradise oozing with activities. Hardbodied single-trackers thrive on the steep Horse Gulch Trail and five-star-rated Colorado Trail. Hikers abound; so do anglers on the Animas River. And, of course, 40 miles west of town lies Mesa Verde. Before heading out, fuel up at Nature’s Oasis Market (naturesoasismarket. com). Visit durango.org for tourist information.

Glacier Club

LOCATED 18 MILES north of town on 1,100 acres adjacent to the San Juan National Forest, the Glacier Club is Durango’s only private community. Available ½- to 2-acre lots currently range from $150,000 to $600,000. Existing homes average 2,900 square feet and cost $1.35 million. Besides golf, the club offers tennis, swimming and tons of activities. Club membership ($70,000) comes with every lot or home purchase. A three-day, two-night discovery package costs $1,250. theglacierclub.com; 866-521-8575.

Play Time NINE MORE HOLES, designed by Hale Irwin, will open at the Glacier Club (glacierclub.com) this fall, bringing the club’s total to 36. The club plans to reserve the Irwin / Todd Schoeder Glacier 18 for members, while Arthur Hills’ Cliffs 18 may go semi-private next summer, when the club debuts The Cliffs restaurant.

THE SNOWSPORTS HAVEN of Purgatory Resort (purgatoryresort.com) keeps the fun going all summer with a mashup of activities (among them a ropes course, alpine slide and mountain biking) and festivals (Great American Lager Festival, Purg Jam) for the whole family—dogs included—to enjoy.

Glacier Club golf

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

DURANGO PUPORTS TO HAVE more restaurants per capita than San Francisco does. Favorites include Ken and Sue’s (kenandsues.com), Seasons (seasonsofdurango.com) and Eolus (eolusdurango.com).

Oscar’s (breakfastdurango.com) rocks French Toast, and The Irish Embassy (theirishembassypub.com) does the same with pub fayre.

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ON AND OFF THE RAILS: Relive history as you wind through the spectacular canyons of the San Juan National Forest aboard the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (durangotrain. com ) The coal-fired, steam-powered locomotive has run continuously since 1882 and now offers multiple adventure packages, including rafting, horseback riding, ATV tours, as well as events such as Wine & Rails and the Dinosaur Train. coloradoavidgolfer.com

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crested butte

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PHOTOGRAPH BY ALEX FENLON

Donwtown Crested Butte

The Club at Crested Butte

NOW MANAGED BY Troon Golf, the privately owned Club at Crested Butte (theclubatcrestedbutte.com; 970-349-6127) stands to enjoy the same benefits that have helped elevate awareness of Crested Butte Ski Resort among Front Rangers. A hidden gem set on 160 acres with stirring views of the Elk Mountain range, the semi-private club, which costs $20,000 to join and $4,680 in annual dues, is now one of the more than 70 private clubs in the Troon Privé worldwide network.

LOCO FOR LUPINES: Every summer brings an explosion of color to the wilderness surrounding Crested Butte. The Crested Butte Wildflower Festival (crestedbuttewildflowerfestival.com) will celebrate its 30th anniversary July 11-23 with exhibits, hikes, tours, art, food and photography.

WORK IT OUT: The Club at Crested Butte’s twostory Health & Wellness Center offers members and guests the latest in fitness equipment, including high-tech HD-interactive Peloton Bikes and classes ranging from Barre to Zumba.

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

ORIGINALLY KNOWN as Skyland, The Club at Crested Butte (theclubatcrestedbutte.com) boasts a fantastic 7,208-yard Robert Trent Jones Jr. layout that nonmembers can play after 12 p.m. The club also offers a stay-and-play package with The Lodge at Mountaineer Square. For $389, two people receive a night of lodging and a round of 18 holes.

SKIERS REPRESENT the core of The Club at Crested Butte’s membership, which is why three years ago it opened SlopeSide, the only private lodge at Crested Butte Mountain Resort. Located by the Red Lady Lift, SlopeSide offers members two stories of ski-in / ski-out access, 120 spacious lockers, ski valets and concierge services, a plush lounge and a full-service bar serving breakfast, lunch and après-ski on a patio warmed by a generous firepit.

INSPIRED BY JAPANESE scroll art, Robert Trent Jones Jr. designed the golf course to harmonize with the stunning surroundings. The 84 cloverleaf bunkers, he says, resemble “the patterns of snow melting in the mountains, and the shapes of the fairways and greens echo the alpine landscape, which reveals itself on every hole.” The course opened in 1982.

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PHOTOGRAPH BY ALEX FENLON

NO STOP LIGHTS: Downtown Crested Butte is a designated U.S. National Historic Landmark District, with many of the buildings preserved since the town’s mining-town heyday. Residents proudly cite the lack of a single traffic signal, chain restaurant or Starbucks.

PHOTOGRAPH BY TOM STILLO

Beauty and the Butte

Clubbed Right

SlopeSide

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YOUR ADVENTURE STARTS HERE

STAY AND PLAY $389 18-holes for two and one night of lodging $289 9-holes for two and one night of lodging CALL 1.844.508.1576 to book

THE CLUB AT CRESTED BUTTE www.theclubatcrestedbutte.com 970.349.8601 Tax not included. Prices based on double occupancy. Subject to availability.

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On the Move

Hike from Crested Butte to Aspen

LESS THAN 25 MILES separate the erstwhile mining towns of Crested Butte and Aspen, but that’s as the crow flies. Without wings, it’s a 104-mile drive or an 11-mile hike from trailhead to trailhead. The strenuous, six-hour route takes you past streams, wildflowers and over Maroon Pass (12,490 feet in elevation), home of the Maroon Bells. Heading to Aspen, you’ll gain 2,357 feet in elevation; returning to Crested Butte adds another 908. Arrange for a return ride back or stay in Aspen and head back the next day. Also, Dolly’s Mountain Shuttle (crestedbutteshuttle.com) drops off and picks up at both trailheads. Dress in layers. Snow can fall even in midsummer.

THE VIEW FROM THE TOP of Crested Butte Mountain takes in the entire Gunnison Valley.

At Crested Butte Mountain Resort (skicb.com), the Silver Queen chairlift rewards you within a short hike to the peak, while the Red Lady Express deposits mountain bikers and their bikes near the many trails, single track and back roads on the mountain.

Food, Wine & Song CHOW TOWN: Savor pre-golf lunch with a view at The Club at Crested Butte’s Brush Creek Grill (theclubatcrestedbutte.com), which welcomes the public. Otherwise, downtown overflows with dining options. Breakfast at Izzy’s, McGills or Paradise Cafe.

Camp4 Coffee (camp4coffee.com) pours the best java.

Secret Stash (secretstash.com) serves some crazygood pizzas, while foodies will find steaks at Elk Ave Prime (elkaveprime.com), French cuisine at Soupçon (soupcon-cb.com) and Italian at Marchitelli’s Gourmet Noodle (marchitellisgourmetnoodle.com).

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

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Crested Butte Food & Wine Festival

CULTURE CLUB: The Center for the Arts (crestedbuttearts.org) features summer outdoor concerts with everything from classic rock to reggae to bluegrass to hip-hop. The show also affords an up-close look at Knight and Dragon, the huge public sculpture composed mainly of recycled auto chrome.

FOODFEST: The annual Crested Butte Wine & Food Festival (crestedbuttearts.org) runs July 28-31. Highlights include wine hikes, gourmet picnics, pairing lunches and seminars with sommeliers and chefs such as James Beard Award-winner Jennifer Jasinski. coloradoavidgolfer.com

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CATCH A BIG ONE: The Gunnison Valley is home to Colorado’s state-record brown, rainbow, kokanee salmon and lake trout and offers some of the best river, stream and lake fishing in the state. The headwaters of the Taylor River regularly produce the valley’s largest trout, while the the Gunnison and East Rivers see the largest kokanee salmon run in the U.S. They start their spawning run in Colorado’s largest body of water— Blue Mesa Reservoir, just ten minutes west of Gunnison. Blue Mesa Fishing (bluemesafishing. com) is one of many area guides.

FLOAT AND DINE: Located between Gunnison and Crested Butte in Almont, Three Rivers Resort (3riversresort.com) offers a scenic, seven-mile float down the Gunnison River to the popular Italian restaurant Garlic Mike’s (garlicmikes.com), which not only provides a fabulous meal but a voucher for up to $30 per adult and $10 per child under 10.

SWEET VALLEY HIGH: Gunnison sits downhill from Crested Butte and the Monarch Ski Area, making it a great base from which to go biking, hiking, climbing, camping and four-wheeling.

The nearby BLM land known as Hartman Rocks is popular. For kayaking, rafting or floating on the Gunnison River, contact Scenic River Tours (scenicrivertours.com).

coloradoavidgolfer.com

PHOTOGRAPH BY JEFF IRWIN

Rollin’ on the River

Dos Rios Golf Club

Gunny’s on the Money THE TREE-LINED GUNNISON River briefly forks as it passes just south of downtown Gunnison, giving Dos Rios Golf Club (dosriosgolf.net; 970-641-1482) its “two rivers” name. At 6,512 yards from the tips, the course doesn’t reward length as much as it does accuracy. Water factors into all but one of the holes designed by John Cochran (who completed the first nine in 1964) and Dick Phelps (1980). Mature trees, tight fairways and prime conditioning help make for a wonderful test of golf. The club recently added a 1,100-square-foot patio to its Dos Grill.

MEMBERS OWN DOS RIOS Golf Club, but the club welcomes public play throughout the season. The club is currently selling ownership certificates for $650, with annual dues of roughly $1,200 for an individual, $1,500 for a family. Green fees are $75 for 18 holes with cart. Dos Rios has stay-and-play deals with local hotels, including the Water Wheel Inn (waterwheelinnatgunnison.com)

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June 2016 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

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montrose

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Black Canyon Golf Club

The Bridges Golf & Country Club

IN ADDITION TO HAVING a remarkable 7,207-yard Jack Nicklaus layout and the best restaurant in Montrose, The Bridges Golf & Country Club (montrosebridges.com; 970-252-1119) offers lodging right on premises. Four spacious, beautifully appointed suites—ranging in price from $100 to $165 with breathtaking views of either the San Juan Mountains or Grand Mesa—occupy the second floor of the clubhouse. Book one and your green fee drops to $65, including cart, range balls and club storage.

Golf & Beyond On and Off the Course FOR THE LOVE OF MUNI: The par-70 Black Canyon Golf Club (blackcanyongolfclub.com) clocks in at 6,323 yards, with a hilly tree-lined parkland front nine and a more open, links-like back. The $30 green fee gets you a wonderful walk on a 57-year-old course purchased two years ago by the City of Montrose.

SWING GROOVE: For the fourth straight year, the patio at The Bridges Golf & Country Club (montrosebridges.com) will hold Friday night concerts throughout the summer. This year’s highlight comes July 29 when Restless Heart performs a fundraising concert. Tickets to that show—which has previously drawn 3,000 people to see headliners Firefall, the Wailers and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band—cost $25. Proceeds benefit the Montrose Community Foundation.

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

NOT ONLY DO THE MAJESTIC San Juan Mountains provide a stunning backdrop for a round at the The Links at Cobble Creek (cobblecreek.com; 970240-9542); the peaks also provide gorgeous views from the homes and homesites in the surrounding 530-acre community, which features ten catchand-release lakes, two tennis courts, Creekside Restaurant and access to the Rio Grande Bike Path.

Real estate ranges from quarter-acre ($65,000) lots to 4,000-square-foot homes ($500,000+).

JUST NORTHEAST of Montrose spread the 62,844 acres of the Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area, home to Gold Medal trout fishing and whitewater rafting, as well as hiking, riding and biking on primitive trails that wind through adobe badlands and sandstone canyons. Test your technical skills on the expert-level single-track Sidewinder Trail that snakes 20 miles through the area’s cavernous western flank.

HIKES ALONG THE GORGEOUS North and South Rims of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (nps.gov/blca) are great to celebrate the National Park Service Centennial. Feeling bold? Take the steep, rocky, strenuous Gunnison Route to the inner canyon.

Just remember: what goes down must come up.

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Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

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The Bridges Golf & Country Club

One-Stop Shop ON IN ONE: The City of Montrose has put together a program called Tee It Up Montrose (teeitupmontrose.com) that packages tee times at the city’s three courses—Black Canyon, The Bridges and Cobble Creek—with lodging and other activities. Two-night, three-round packages start at $340 per person and include green fees, cart fees, range balls and select accommodations.

The Links at Cobble Creek

THE FIRST TWO PAR 3S, holes nos. 3 and 5, differ from the other 16 holes on The Links at Cobble Creek (cobblecreek.com) in that no water comes into play. The course, completed in 2003, stretches almost 7,000 yards from the tips and demands precision to keep the ball dry and in play, especially on the 276-yard 15th, an eminently reachable par 4 with water crossing in front of the green. Members from the surrounding community get preferred rates and tee times, but the course welcomes the public at all times. The aptly named Creekside Restaurant and Tavern provide the perfect après-golf setting.

So Many Choices PLAY FARE: Golf course cuisine doesn’t get much better than Remington’s at The Bridges (montrosebridges.com), which bridges casual and fine dining with a wine list worthy of the coveted Wine Spectator Award of Excellence. An “Eat Local Eat Healthy” restaurant that uses local produce and Rocky Mountain Beef, Remington’s also treats guests to spectacular views of the golf course and San Juans.

GET WET: Consisting of 1,000 feet of flowing water from the Gunnison and Uncompahgre rivers, Montrose Water Sports Park (cityofmontrose.org) is one of the largest manmade aquatic facilities in Colorado. Located at Riverbottom Park, it attracts everyone from waders to kayakers looking for a leisurely run with natural obstacles.

Shavano Valley Petroglyph Park

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

READ THE ROCKS: Led by docents from Montrose’s Ute Indian Museum, tours of the Shavano Valley Petroglyph Park (blm.gov) in the canyons west of Montrose reveal primitive life through rock drawings.

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Horsefly Brewing Company

BREWS NEWS: Horsefly Brewing Company (horseflybrewing.com), Montrose’s first and best brewpub, accompanies its mouthwatering food (the 50/50 burger is equal parts beef and bacon) with a variety of site-made beers ranging from pale to porter. The Irish-style Tabano Red enjoys the greatest popularity. A festive patio with live music complete the picture. Black Canyon Golf Club’s Brews & Bogeys also has Horsefly on tap. coloradoavidgolfer.com

Montrose, Colorado

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With jaw dropping views of the majestic San Juan Mountains, Cobble Creek is a golfing experience you will not forget. Rated by golfers as “Best in the Valley” five times, our 6,982 yard, par 72 course offers a challenging venue for the low handicap golfer. Our wide fairways and ample greens provide the occasional golfer a great experience as well.

Our full service on-site restaurant is open for dinner featuring wood fired pizza, steak, seafood, pasta and more . Visit the Creekside restaurant for a look at our

complete menu. The Tavern features all of your grilled favorites and a classic bar menu. Located in the Clubhouse, it is always open for lunch or to grab a quick snack or beverage on the turn.

Thinking of relocating to God’s Country? Cobble Creek is the premier residential golf community in Montrose with available homes ranging from low $200’s to $700’s and home sites from the mid $30’s to $80’s. We can build your dream home to your specifications.

TEE TIMES: Golf Pro-Shop (970) 240-9542 | ONLINE: cobblecreek.com CREEKSIDE RESTAURANT: (970) 249-5915 | ONLINE: creeksidecobblecreek.com REAL ESTATE: cobblecreek.com or call (970) 964-4947

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grand county

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Pole Creek Golf Club

Grand Elk Ranch Style Golf Villa

THE SAME SWEEPING VIEWS of the Continental Divide that make Granby’s Grand Elk Golf Club so inspiring also enhance the community around the course. Priced from the high $300s, Koelbel’s new Ranch Style Golf Villas in Grand Elk (koelbelatgrandelk.com; 970-726-5177) represents the first of numerous offerings that will include river cabins and custom sites near fishing on the Colorado and Fraser rivers. Grand Elk lies 20 minutes from Winter Park, Lake Granby and Rocky Mountain National Park.

Around the Course Where Golf Is Grand POLE POSITION: Twenty-seven holes of mountain golf define Pole Creek Golf Club (polecreekgolf.com; 970-887-9195) in Tabernash.

Any 18-hole mix of the Ridge, Ranch and Meadow nines will challenge your game. Most consider the 3,603-yard Ridge tougher than its slightly mellower companions, but the MeadowRanch combo slope-rates a high 71.1 /144.

BETTER THAN BEFORE: Lost to beetle-kill, the pines that once lined the fairways at 52-year-old Grand Lake Golf Course (grandlakegolf.com; 970-627-8008) now mark tees and control cart traffic on what has become a dazzling links-like layout adjacent to Rocky Mountain National Park.

Set at an altitude of 8,420 feet above sea level, the impeccably maintained Henry Hughes-Dick Phelps design offers tough, tiny greens and sensational mountain views.

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

1982 MASTERS CHAMPION Craig Stadler made more than 50 visits to Granby during the construction of Grand Elk Golf Club (grandelk.com; 970-887-9122), the course he co-designed with Tripp Davis in Granby.

Grand Elk eschews the usual high-tee, low-green approach of mountain golf in favor of a layout evocative of Gleneagles in Scotland.

ACROSS HIGHWAY 40 and a few miles south of Grand Elk sprawls the four-season Granby Ranch (granbyranch.com; 888-850-4615), where the 7,196yard golf course competes for attention with multiple hiking and mountain-biking trails, fly fishing on the Fraser River and other summer activities.

FOUR CONSECUTIVE CAGGY Awards for “Best Mountain Course” have gone to Tabernash’s stellar Pole Creek Golf Club (polecreekgolf.com). The international fare at the club’s cleverly named Bistro 28 is easily as memorable as the 27 holes of golf that came before or after it.

THE FOX IN ITS LOGO suggests the animal activity at Grand Lake Golf Course (grandlakegolf.com). Elks, moose, bears and other critters often share the course.

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Grand Lake Golf Course

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One GRAND County, 4 Great Mountain Courses

www.polecreekgolf.com

www.grandelk.com

www.granbyranch.com

www.grandlakerecreation.com

50 MILES OF EVERYTHING! From Winter Park to Rocky Mountain National Park, Koelbel resort communities are in the middle of it all.

Rendezvous Colorado in Winter Park and Grand Elk in Granby.

GOLF & MORE

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Trail Ridge Road

What To Do NICE DRIVE: The two hours spent on Trail Ridge Road (visitgrandcounty.com) could be the most memorable drive of your life. The highest (12,183 ft) continuously paved road in the U.S. (48 miles) gets better as you rise above treeline between Winter Park and Estes Park, taking in sweeping views of dramatic peak, valleys and the chance moose, bighorn sheep and mountain goat.

Rendezvous Colorado

A FOUR-SEASON MOUNTAIN home that’s accessible to skiing, snowshoeing, fly fishing, golf, mountain biking and miles of hiking and running rails—that’s the dream you can live at Rendezvous Colorado (rendezvouscolorado.com; 970.726.5177), a Koelbel resort community between Winter Park and Fraser. Properties include luxury townhomes (from the mid-$400,000s), shared and luxury cabins (mid-$500s to $800s) and custom lots between .6 and 1.5 acres (low-$300s to mid-$900s).

So Many Choices THE MILES OF trails in the Rendezvous Colorado (rendezvouscolorado.com) community tie into Rocky Mountain National Forest trails and the Grand County trail system. They lead to remote mountain meadows teeming with wildlife and, in winter, welcome cross-country skiers and skaters. A private back bowl rewards the adventurous skier.

THE ISLEY BROTHERS, Kirk Whalum, Hazel Miller, Dotsero, Gerald Albright and other notable musicians will perform at the Winter Park Jazz Festival (jazzwinterpark.com) July 16-17 at Hideaway Park.

Tickets run $50-$70, with children 12 and under free with a paying adult.

Winter Park Jazz Festival

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

COMPRISING APPROXIMATELY 415 square miles, 150 lakes, 350 miles of hiking trails and 60 miles of road bicycling, Rocky Mountain National Park (nps. gov) turns 101 this year. Hike to Timber Lake, Haynach Lakes or up Longs Peak (start early) for the full outdoor experience in one of America’s treasures.

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Drowsy Water Ranch

SADDLE UP: For more than 90 years, the 700acre Drowsy Water Ranch (drowsywater.com) has provided guests with quality Colorado Dude Ranch vacations. The Fosha family owns 100 horses, which carry riders of all skill levels through the backcountry. The cozy, well-maintained accommodations coupled with mountain-top breakfasts and open-hearth barbecues make this all-inclusive vacation spot a family favorite.

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E VERY BOT TLE YOU PURCHASE SUPPORTS P U R E WAT E R CAUSE S Finlandia wouldn't exist without pure water. That's why we donate 1% of US sales to pure water initiatives. This World Water Day, March 22, enjoy Finlandia and join us in our commitment to pure water.

LIVE MAGNIFICENTLY. DRINK RESPONSIBLY. www.Finlandia4PureWater.com ©2015 Finlandia Vodka Worldwide Ltd., Helsinki, Finland. Finlandia Vodka 40% Alc./Vol. Imported by Brown-Forman Beverages, Louisville, Kentucky USA.

GOLF & MORE

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Hot Air Balloon Rodeo

Haymaker Golf Course

IN ADDITION TO BEING A SKI TOWN, Steamboat Springs enjoys a reputation for ranching and mining. All three elements factor into the city-owned Haymaker Golf Course (haymakergolf.com; 970-870-1846), which presents views of iconic Mount Werner from the site of a former rock quarry and hayfield. The 7,308-yard Keith Foster layout rolls like a links layout, with rock walls, deep bunkers, native grasses and fiddly greens forcing you into decisions where the rewards appear to outweigh the risks—but do they? Find out. Green fees max at $62.

Rock the ’Boat Fun is in the Air FULL CALENDAR: Bright colors will fill the sky July 9-10 at The 35th Annual Hot Air Balloon Rodeo & 42nd Annual Art in the Park. The events represent just one of many signature summer happenings in Steamboat. Others include the Steamboat Wine Festival (Aug. 10-14), Steamboat All Arts Festival (Aug. 15-21) and the Wild West Air Fest (Sept. 3-4). steamboatchamber.com SOAK YOURSELF: The relaxing 104-degree mineral waters at Strawberry Park Hot Springs (strawberryhotsprings.com) bubble from a vast elaborate network of pools. Open until 10:30 p.m. Sun.-Thurs. and until midnight Fri.-Sat., the facility features private-pool watsu massage, lodging in quirky cabins, private massage huts, tipis and picnic areas. Alcohol and glass are prohibited.

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

RIDE THE GONDOLA at Steamboat Ski Resort to the 9,100-foot-high outdoor deck of Thunderhead Lodge, where the Sunset Happy Hour takes place most Thursday and Sunday nights throughout the summer.

The $12 lift ticket includes $5 towards food and drink.

WET A LINE in the Yampa River. Or the Stagecoach Tailwater. Or Sarvis Creek, the Elk River or Stagecoach Reservoir. Steamboat overflows with choice fly-fishing spots. Visit steamboatflyfisher.com or steamboatspringsflyfishing.com for current information and conditions.

BRING THE KIDS to the Coca-Cola Adventure Zone (steamboat.com) at the base area of the ski resort.

Open June 9 through September 25. Activities include Slingshot Bungee Jump, Climbing Wall, Water Walkerz, Ropes Course, Mechanical Bull and much more.

TAKE A HIKE on Steamboat’s many trails. High points include Thunderhead Trail, which climbs nearly four miles to the top of the gondola, where you can hook up with the Vista Nature Trail. Fish Creek Falls, Spring Creek Trail, Emerald Mountain and Howelsen Hill are also good walks unspoiled (simplysteamboat.com).

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Coca-Cola Adventure Zone

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On Your Own Steam 18 YEARS: Since 1998 Café Diva (cafediva.com) has dominated the Steamboat dining scene. Located in the Steamboat Mountain Village, the intimate restaurant changes its menu seasonally, with twists on haute classics sharing space with truly inspired gluten free, and vegetarian /vegan dishes.

AT HOME ON THE RANGE: Downhill from the Steamboat Mountain Village, the town of Steamboat remains an authentic Colorado mountain town, with parades and chili festivals and myriad shops, restaurants, art galleries and spas. Downtown Steamboat Springs (mainstreetsteamboat.com) also boasts F.M. Light & Sons, which for five generations has outfitted cowboys, cowgirls and their families with functional and fashionable western products.

Rollingstone Ranch Golf Club

Two to Know FOR MORE THAN 40 YEARS, the Robert Trent Jones II-designed course at Rollingstone Ranch Golf Club (rollingstoneranchgolf.com; 970-879-1391) has treated golfers to incredible views of the Yampa Valley and Flat Tops Wilderness while also challenging them with upwards of 70 bunkers, the majority of them protecting the glass-like greens that break away from Mount Werner. Fish Creek snakes through seven holes, and pines and aspens frame every fairway. Troon Golf manages the course for the Sheraton Steamboat Resort.

STEAMBOAT’S OLDEST COURSE, the nine-hole Steamboat Golf Club (steamboatgolfclub.com), dates to 1964.

Built by locals and owned by 100 members, the scenic and short (an 18-hole round tips out at 5,826 yards) course borders the Yampa River and always welcomes the public. Generous fairways, small target greens and water on all but two holes make this a fun un place for families to spend a couple of hours. It’s eminently walkable and affordable ($31 for nine holes; $45 for 18).

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NOT THEIR FIRST RODEO: The most successful weekly rodeo in the country, the Steamboat Springs Pro Rodeo Series (steamboatprorodeo.com) takes place Friday nights at Brent Romick Rodeo Arena at the base of the Howelsen ski jump hill. The famous pre-rodeo barbecue runs from 6:00 to 7:15 p.m. Then it’s on to the regular roster of events, including team roping, bareback riding, steer wrestling, cowgirl and junior barrel racing and the wildest and most perilous eight seconds in sport—bull riding.

June 2016 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

“The first thing that comes to mind, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do it, is go to Nepal and muster with sherpas at base camp on Mount Everest. It’s a spiritual place, like Stonehenge, which is also on my list and probably more doable.”

— MARK WIEBE, Colorado Golf Hall of Famer and 2013 Senior British Open champion

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

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What’s On YOUR Bucket List?

We know the usual suspects. Play Augusta.

Play St. Andrews. Attend the Masters. Make a hole in one.

But what if you’ve already checked those boxes—or didn’t want to be a cliché? We pressed some Coloradans of note.

“I want to shoot my age someday for 18 holes. There are two advantages to this idea.

On the one hand, if I shot a round when in my 60s I’d be psyched to score that low since I have yet to break 80. On the other hand, if I live to be 90 and shoot bogey golf, I’m psyched to still be playing golf at 90. Win-win if you ask me.”—ADAM AIJALA, Guitarist, Yonder Mountain String Band “I want to join—or start—a women-only club that addresses all the amenities men-only golf clubs have—exclusivity, preferred tee times, amazing locker rooms, adaptive course design, outstanding apparel offerings, superior service and programs catered toward women’s interests.”— LANA ORTEGA, Director, Lana Ortega Golf

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PRESENTED BY Michael Trinen in Fort Collins of

TWO PGA PROS WHO CAN “TALK” A GREAT GAME.

Stan Fenn and Doug Perry at KCOL 600 and iHeart radio

EVERY SATURDAY MORNING from 7-9am on radio, computer or phone.

“I’d like to invent and host a Golf Game Show. Which could actually then feed my greatest golf appetite—a schedule that would allow for traveling the world, with an itinerary filled with tee times.”

“I’ve played golf all over the country, but never in Europe. Like everyone else in the world, I want to play the Old Course, but I’m just as excited about hanging around the beautiful town of St. Andrews, with its university, shops and rich history.”—RUSS MILLER, Director of Golf, The Broadmoor “Break par on a championship course while playing with my pals with a few friendly bets out on 18!”—GEORGE SOLICH, Co-Founder, Solich Caddie and Leadership Academy “Shoot my age? I’m hoping to shoot my cholesterol.”—GARY JAMES, Food writer, Colorado AvidGolfer “Aside from going to Northwest Ireland for the 13th time—yes it’s that good— the top of my list is going scuba diving in Palau.”— JIM ENGH, Course Architect (Sanctuary, Fossil Trace, Redlands Mesa)

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—TOM GREEN, Host, KWGN-Channel 2’s Daybreak “I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve shot my age, gotten to play with Palmer and Nicklaus and have played so many great courses. I wanted to play every course in Colorado, but then they built courses faster than I could play them. My goal is to play golf in every state of the union. I’m 15 states shy.” —GARY POTTER, Member, Colorado Golf Hall of Fame “After making a hole in one when I was 39, I want to have one in my 40s, 50s and 60s.

I’m hoping to just be alive in my 70s. I also want to play a bogey-free round. It could be at Wellshire, a country club—doesn’t matter.

I’ve shot a 68 but it wasn’t bogey-free.”

—KYLE KEEFE, Altitude Sports “With my son now married and my daughter in college, if I’m fortunate to have grandkids, I want to play golf with them and have them learn the traditions and coloradoavidgolfer.com

Beach—the 106-yard 7th—with monster wind in my face and a driver in my hand. Yes, a driver.”—VIC LOMBARDI, Altitude Sports “I’d love to open my own learning center. There’s a specific way I’d want it—I won’t do it halfway—and there’s a pretty good expense to that. Meanwhile, I’m very happy on ‘Finke Hill.’”—ANN FINKE, Director of Instruction, The Country Club of Colorado & Member, Colorado Golf Hall of Fame “I want to make a midnight a tee time in Alaska or Scandinavia. I don’t think I’d want or be able to play for 24 straight hours, but that could happen too.”—SCOTT RADCLIFFE, President, Colorado Golf Hall of Fame

values the game teaches. Golf courses aren’t important to me. Spending time with family and friends on the course is what I value.”

—EDDIE AINSWORTH, Executive Director, Colorado Section PGA “I want to be able to tee off on that short par 3 along the Pacific Ocean at Pebble

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

“Playing St. Andrews by myself… teeing off at 9 p.m. on the longest day of the year and getting in 18 holes before dark.”

—ED MATE, Executive Director, Colorado Golf Association “I want to have one of my junior students go on to do something great in the game or just have a nice professional career.”

—LARRY RINKER, Director, Red Sky Ranch Golf Academy, Wolcott

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“After playing in five U.S. Amateurs, I always had competing in a professional major at the top of my bucket list. Now, it’s to play the great courses. Last year, I took 11 members to Scotland to play the Old Course, Dornoch and others. This year, the same group will go to Ireland to play Ballybunion, Lahinch and Waterville.”—JOHN OGDEN, PGA Head Professional, Cherry Hills Country Club “My bucket overfloweth with great and unusual golf course adventures, but there’s always room for more, and that’s to play Handara, Bali’s first course, designed in 1974

by Peter Thompson in a blown-out volcano.

I went in 1997, when I was in Indonesia with my daughter Kris, but the course was booked solid for four straight days so all I got was a look. It’s bugged me ever since.”

—KAYE KESSLER, Member, Colorado Golf Hall of Fame “I don’t actually have a bucket list. I said two years ago during an Alaska fishing trip that if I had a bucket list, that trip would have been on it. I’ve never been to New Zealand and my wife and I are planning to go there next year.” —CRAIG STADLER, 1982 Masters Champion and Colorado Golf Hall of Fame Member

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“I have a few. One is golf at St. Andrews with my dog Sammy. A few years back I went to St. Andrews and saw the locals walking up the 18th Hole of the Old Course with their trusted friends at their side. I was so jealous. Two is to have my wife Amy and I play golf at Roaring Fork and learn to fly-fish the same day. I’ve always wanted to learn to fly-fish. Three is to play the Hirono Golf Club in Japan and experience the true full day of golf. And four is to play Cypress Point with my friend BC and Clint Eastwood

“I want to caddie at the Masters. I’ve caddied for Gary Hallberg in many Tour events and for Jack Nicklaus and Chauncey Billups in pro-ams, but the Masters for four days (or two) would be the topper. As far as getting on, I want to play Shinnecock, National and Maidstone on three straight days.

I’ve always wanted to parlay those three top-rated courses together with visits to the Hampton beaches every afternoon.”

and have a Sam’s Special in the grill after the round.”—SCOTT SAVLOV, Executive Producer and Host, “Celebrity Bucket List” “My son Brandon, who wants to go pro and shoots in the 60s and 70s, and I, who wants to break 90 consistently, have a friendly competition that I would just once like to win.“—GERALD ALBRIGHT, Award-winning jazz saxophonist “Play a round with Donald Trump’s caddie as I hear he has never had a bad lie!

Seriously, though, I would love someday to put myself in a position to shoot a round under par. It would be an amazing experience not only to challenge my game, but I’m sure the last few holes would be a mental grind like I haven’t experienced on a golf course.”

—JOSH KROENKE, President and Governor, Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche

THE COLORADO CHECKLIST Here are 18 state-centric golf experiences worth having before checking in with the starter at Heaven’s Gate.

1. GO EAST. “Inland links” may be an oxymoron to golf traditionalists, but how better to describe Ballyneal, a purist’s delight designed by Tom Doak on Colorado’s Eastern Plains?

A two-and-a-half-hour drive from Denver, the walking-only course roils across huge dunes with firm, fast fescue fairways and greens, no tee or yardage markers (caddies are a must), and wind reminiscent of the seashores that spawned the game (and even affects putts). Ballyneal allows limited public play by overnight guests who stay in one of its four plush lodges. ballyneal.com

—KEVIN LAURA, CEO, The First Tee of GVR/CoBank Colorado Opens

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BUCKET TOPPER: Ballyneal is a 36hole-a-day feast.

2. SHOOT A RARE BIRD. Also known as an albatross, a double-eagle occurs roughly 200 times less frequently than an ace, making it about a 2,600,000-to-one shot. Think about it. Even a 20-handicap can luck into holing a 120-yard tee shot. But can the same player reach a 525-yard par-5 in two, let alone jar one from the fairway?

Bonus: You don’t have any drinks to buy.

Kambeitz Chiropractic Health & Wellness Center, P.C. has a variety of services to help you achieve your best golf game.

Personal Training Corrective Exercises Active Isolated Stretching Massage Therapy Chiropractic Care Computerized Nerve/ Muscle Scans Digital X-Rays Laser Therapy 8 weeks to Wellness Program

3. GET ON SANCTUARY. Built in Sedalia by RE/MAX founders Gail and Dave Liniger exclusively to raise money for charity, Sanctuary is one of Colorado’s toughest tickets. The spine-tingling Jim Engh-designed course annually hosts only two-dozen tournaments, with the average group raising $190,000. Foursomes have gone for as “little” as $1,600 and as much as $10,000. sanctuarygolfcourse.com 4. SHAKE IT UP. Playing the private Castle Pines Golf Club is a treat in itself, but a pint of Häagen-Dazs spindle-mixed into a creamy milkshake at the turn makes the experience that much sweeter. During The International’s 20-year run, there wasn’t a PGA Tour pro that didn’t rave about the vanilla or chocolate shake.

5. PLAY ‘EM ALL. Between 1990 and 2009, close to 100 golf courses opened in Colorado, bringing the current checklist to a daunting 250 courses (hey, it could be worse; imagine playing Florida’s 1,103). Private clubs have become more accessible as they look to sell memberships but Castle Pines, Denver and Cherry Hills can become your white whales.

6. DO THE COLORADO COMBO. Late March and all of April present the best opportunities for a ski-golf doubleheader. Hit A-Basin or Loveland, which stay open late into the season, for some morning runs.

Then, to ensure enough daylight for 18 holes, stay on the west side—Deer Creek, Fossil Trace, Applewood, Raccoon Creek.

7100 S Clinton St, Suite 110 Centennial, CO 80112 (303) 790-6000 kambeitzchiropractic.com COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

7. TURN A TRIPLE PLAY. Why live in Colorado if you don’t savor the great outdoors? Bookend a round of golf with a morning run and a late afternoon of hunting, fishing, hiking, biking or sailing.

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8. PLAY IN THE SAND. Before improvements in irrigation and grass seed came along, many golfers competed on sand green courses. Yuma’s Steve Jones, the 1996 U.S. Open Champion, won the Colorado state sand-greens championship.

Oiled silicate, raked smooth, still serves as the putting surface at such eastern Colorado courses as Plainsman in Kirk and the Prairie Golf Course in Cope.

9. BE THE KING. To drive the green à la Arnold Palmer on the first hole at Cherry Hills, you of course first have to be invited to play. That said, more than a half-century of equipment innovations have allowed hundreds of lesser players to match Arnie’s 1960 U.S. Open feat, but it still takes a mighty poke to drive it 346 yards. chcc.com 10. GO OFF THE GRID. You want private? There’s a nine-hole course east of Greeley, that doesn’t appear in any golf guide. It’s one of the many amenities at Eagle’s Nest Ranch, a 45,000-acre retreat owned by Philip Anschutz that also features two spectacular lodges, a working cattle ranch, bird hunting, river fishing and lavish accommodations for up to 12 guests (mainly corporate retreaters). Eagle’s Nest Ranch partners on a limited basis with another Anschutz property, The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. eagles-nest-ranch.com 11. GET SPRINKLED WITH STARDUST. They chip and putt among us, the athletes, newscasters, musicians and personalities we all recognize. And not all are country club members. For example, former Nugget J.R. Smith, a regular player at City Park, once got paired with Mike Wolf, a friend of the magazine, who proceeded to dunk his firstever hole in one. Your best bet at a brush with celebrity? Sign up for a pro-am with famous guests.

12. PAY IT FORWARD. CommonGround Golf Course does uncommon good. It’s home to The Solich Caddie and Leadership Academy, a two-year program that creates opportunities for young people to develop leadership skills and enhance character. So take a caddie. coloradoavidgolfer.com

The Colorado Golf Foundation pays them, it costs nothing but the time spent helping a young person while enjoying something you love. But pay it forward and tip anyway. commongroundgc.com 13. PAY IT BACK. More than 2,500 people signed up to volunteer for the 2014 BMW Championship at Cherry Hills. Assignments can range from taking tickets to stocking merchandise, but the overall experience affords an intimate look at a championship operation and allows you to give back to the game. The next big local opportunity will come when The Broadmoor hosts the 2018 U.S. Senior Open. Apply early. 2018ussenioropen.com 14. FORE-TEENER! Environmentalists will gnash their teeth, but could anything be more Colorado than smacking a biodegradable golf ball from one of our 54 14,000-foot peaks? GolfTEC’s Steve Bauerle is summiting all 54 for charity, but he’s just taking swings when he arrives, Leaving No Trace. 14ergolf.com

The Secret to Stopping Neck, Shoulder and Rotator Cuff Pain Is it hard to turn your neck fully? Do

15. EXPERIENCE THE BROADMOOR. It’s not just the thrill of playing the legendary East and West courses. It’s the entire five-star, five-diamond package—from the attentive service and exquisite cuisine to the diverse accommodations and activities—that elevates the iconic Broadmoor to “must-do” status. broadmoor.com 16. GET THE LEAD (AND COPPER) OUT. With tees at 10,152 and 9,863 feet above sea level, Mount Massive and Copper Creek respectively rank as the highest nine- and 18-hole courses in North America. Only a half-hour drive separates the two, and the combined elevation exceeds that of base camp at Mount Everest. mtmassivegolf.com; coppercolorado.com 17. WIN SOMETHING. Whether it’s the CGA Stroke Play, CWGA Niblick or the D flight of your Thursday night league championship, the thrill of victory at a sport so challenging delivers the fleeting sense of accomplishment that the Jordan Spieths of the world feel all the time.

18. INVEST IN YOUR GAME. Colorado rates as one of the most progressive PGA sections in the country. GolfTEC started and headquarters here. We have AimPoint experts like Stan Sayers at Colorado Golf Club; nationally recognized instructors like Don Hurter (Castle Pines), Trent Wearner (Meridian) and Ann Finke (Country Club of Colorado); and the renowned club-fitting expert Brian Gott (CommonGround).

So, what’s on YOUR Bucket List? Tell us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Or email to info@coloradoavidgolfer.com. coloradoavidgolfer.com

you have pain, discomfort and limited range of motion in your shoulders? Do you have numbness or tingling in arms and hands?

Have you been told you have a herniated, bulging, protruding or slipped disc?

Dr. Jim Kambeitz

We have found that these problems

will either stay the same, or more likely progressively get worse if not treated. With our state of the art technology and noninvasive treatments and therapies, we specialize in locating the root of the cause of your neck and shoulder pain so we can get you back on the course pain free. Over the last 18 years we have helped thousands of people overcome their neck and shoulder pain and get back to enjoying the sport they love. Now is the time to take back control of your game.

7100 S Clinton St, Suite 110, Centennial, CO 80112 (303) 790-6000 | kambeitzchiropractic.com

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PHOTOGRAPH BY JOSEPH ROYBAL

MOVING

FAMILY FUN: The Eckhardts frolic at Colorado Golf Club.

Some choose to be within walking distance of the clubhouse; others decide to live near, but not within, a golf community. On the list of “must haves” with everyone interviewed were views of the mountains.

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | June 2016

HOME SWEET HOME: Castle Pines Village.

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DAY

Upgrading or downsizing?

Building a home or buying a vacation one?

Real estate decisions affect every stage of life.

BY KIM MCHUGH

D PHOTOGRAPH BY JOSEPH ROYBAL

NICE NESTS: Mike and Tracy Brown of Flying Horse; the Rosses’ second home at Rendezvous in Granby.

ENVER’S REAL ESTATE market continues to fire on all cylinders. According to Zillow.com, Denver, which tops its “Hottest Housing Markets for 2016,” is expected to see home values increase 5 percent annually for the next several years. Three Colorado cities—Denver, Boulder and Colorado Springs—rank Nos. 4, No. 13 and No. 18 respectively on Realtor.com’s “20 Hottest U.S. Markets 2016,” which indicates that online real estate listings are viewed two to five times more often than the national average and homes move off the market 44-78 days faster than they do in other cities.

Stats compiled by the Colorado Association of Realtors in the first quarter of 2016 show that prices for single family homes along the Front Range are up 8 percent compared to last year at the same time, while prices for condos and townhomes are up 12 percent. With interest rates for mortgages remaining at historic lows—between 3.6 and 4.45 percent—the opportunities for those looking to buy may only be tempered by low inventory in certain communities or being beat out by a higher bidder on a property. Few believe the real estate market will cool down in any significant way in the foreseeable future.

We broke down purchasing into four categories, speaking with people familiar with the process based on their experiences. Some chose to be within walking or a short cart ride distance from the clubhouse and the first tee, while others decided to live near, but not within a golf community. On the list of “must haves” with everyone we interviewed were views of the mountains, which resonated in particular with buyers moving to Colorado from out of state.

FIRST-TIME HOMEBUYERS/UPGRADERS Castle Pines Village, Castle Rock With nearly 11 miles of walking and biking trails winding through it, the Taylor Morrison master-planned devel-

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opment of Castle Pines Village appeals to active families, first-time home-buying couples and energetic empty nesters. But that isn’t the only reason.

“What draws people is the topography, the pine trees, and the feeling that you are living in the mountains, even though you’re just south of Denver,” says Brian Cartwright, vice president of sales and marketing for Taylor Morrison. “We see people relocating from out-of-state and from mountain towns like Vail and Breckenridge because this community provides all of what Colorado’s outdoors has to offer.”

Buyers are attracted by the added sense of security from being a gated community as well as by amenities that include a clubhouse, an Olympic-size swimming pool and kiddie pool, four tennis courts, a 60-yard playing field, a sand volleyball court, and a playground area.

Residents have access to a significant fitness club with a lap pool and hot tub, group exercise rooms, a cardio room, free weights, and locker rooms.

“One of the nicest things about this community is that you aren’t paying a premium for living on a golf course, yet you are so close to so many courses,” adds Cartwright. “The Country Club at Castle Pines, The Ridge at Castle Pines North, Bear Dance, Red Hawk Ridge and Plum Creek are all just a short drive.”

In addition to numerous outdoor activities homebuyers considering purchasing at Castle Pines Village can select from floorplans that include ranch styles and two-story options ranging in size from 2,600 to 3,600 finished square feet with optional finished basements.

Inspired by research conducted by Taylor Morrison by way of interviews and surveys from previous buyers, the homebuilder created floorplans based on the active lifestyles of today’s families.

Only 52 homes are being offered in this enclave with buyers being able to select “move-in ready” residences or choosing a June 2016 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

EMPTY NESTERS/DOWNSIZERS Flying Horse, Colorado Springs As Mike and Tracy Brown’s youngest son approached college graduation, the pair started giving serious thought to downsizing from their home at Flying Horse in Colorado Springs. With their children out of the house, it made sense to go smaller.

“Our current home is 5,000 square feet with two stories and a basement,” Mike says.

“It is located in a neighborhood more oriented to young families and about two-and-ahalf miles away from the golf course. We’re moving into a 3,800-square-foot patio home that is only a half-mile from the golf course and it is completely maintenance-free.”

Originally from Southern California, Mike and Tracy decided to move to—and ultimately retire in—Colorado because of the lower state income tax, the lower cost of living and bluer skies. The couple explored six different golf communities in the area before choosing Flying Horse and opting to work with Classic Homes.

“There were about six models available in our price range so we had a great deal of flexibility,” adds Tracy. “We found a floor plan that we really liked, found a lot that floor plan would fit on and then the building process began.”

Located in a neighborhood comprised of mostly empty nesters, their new residence—also known as a “lock and leave” or patio home—includes a three-car garage, and was modified to include a large office, a junior master suite for guests and the expansion of the outside patio. Depending on the builder you select that kind of tweaking is usually allowed.

Having worked with Classic Homes on their first Flying Horse residence in 2008 made it easy for the retired couple to choose the builder a second time.

“It was a logical choice because of the home warranty and the overall quality of the home construction,” Mike explains.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOSEPH ROYBAL

home site and a floorplan, and then having their home built. Families with school-aged children, like the Cartwrights, find this master planned community especially attractive given that it is within the highly acclaimed Douglas County School District.

“We lived in Charleston, South Carolina, and when we moved back to Colorado we wanted the mountain views and the pine trees,” he explains. “But we also wanted the top-rated schools. Buffalo Ridge Elementary, Rocky Heights and Rock Canyon High School are among the best in the nation.”

LOCK AND LEAVE: The Browns’ Flying Horse patio home.

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10 QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT BUYING A HOME We asked agents at Madison & Company Properties, a Denver-based realty firm, to share 10 questions often asked about buying property.

1. W hy should I work with a realtor when I can find houses online?

2. What things should I consider when choosing a realtor?

3. How should I select a mortgage lender?

4. Should I have the home inspected before I buy?

5. How concerned should I be about radon and/or shifting soils?

6. H ow can I determine the solvency of the Home Owners Association (HOA)?

7. Will my home (or home site) retain its value in years to come? . Can or should I waive an appraisal 8 objection?

9. Given current market conditions and competition from other buyers how can I make my offer stand out?

10. Are the golf communities I’m considering on solid financial ground?

Since the Browns elected to have their home built from the ground up they needed to factor in the six to eight months necessary to get to the “move-in ready” stage. The couple was prepared for potential weather delays, but Mother Nature cooperated. After four meetings with their builder rep, a number of visits to the Classic Homes Design Center, and pulling the required permits—all done over approximately six weeks—the house went up as planned and even finished ahead of schedule.

“We now have snowcapped mountains, fresh air and you can see the stars at night,” said Tracy. “There are fewer people than in California and, to be honest with you, the people here in Colorado are nicer.”

CUSTOM-HOME BUYERS Colorado Golf Club, Parker Having a home built from scratch is quite an adventure. Just ask the Eckhardt family. Grant and Stacey, lifelong residents of Douglas County, were living in Canterberry Crossing with their two young daughters. But the family dreamed of having a custom home built within a golf course community.

“We really wanted a community built around golf, but one that had a social aspect and amenities like a swimming pool,” says Grant. “Colorado Golf Club gave us the best of both worlds. We have a championship golf course, but also the Par-3 course that’s great for the kids to learn the game.”

Equally important to the Eckhardts, the community was gated and their children could remain in the same school district. After exploring Castle Pines, Castle Pines North and Pradera, they decided Colorado Golf Club was the best fit. Next came the decision to select a home site, choose a builder, hire an architect and start building.

“It was very important to get the girls involved right from the beginning,” Stacey comments. “We wanted to engage them in the process and make them excited for this rather than have them disappointed with the idea they were having to move away and make new friends.”

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The hunt for a home site took about two-and-a-half years and it began when Stacey was pregnant with their second child.

After looking at five lots in three different cul-de-sacs near the Par-3 course, the couple bought one with a primarily east-facing view, even though they preferred one with mountain views.

“We were looking for a treed lot at least an acre in size or more towards an acre and a half,” explains Mike of the decision to forsake the western views. “And we wanted to live on a cul-de-sac because we wanted the kids to be able to run around and play without us worrying about them being in traffic.”

But with the economy leaking oil in 2011, Grant and Stacey saw an opportunity to sell their original home site and buy one that had the west-facing views they so desired. It was also closer to the clubhouse and, because of its sloping topography, allowed for a walkout lower level. What followed was the selection of a builder and the hiring of an architect.

“It turned out that our architect was on the design review committee at the golf club,” Grant says. “This helped in terms of getting our design plan approved.”

John Mink, founding partner of Architectural Partnership Inc. in Cherry Creek,

worked for six months on designs and, after four review committee meetings, the plans got the green light. Along the way, all members of the Eckhardt family were contributing to the effort with the daughters finding inspiration on Pinterest.

“There were many nights that I would see the girls looking on their iPads or going through magazines,” Stacey comments. “Our girls picked out our main staircase, which is a turret that goes all the way from the basement to the very top. It was really nice to have everyone in the family contributing.”

SECOND-HOME BUYERS Rendezvous, Granby During a vacation to Winter Park in her college years Ohioan Cathy Ross fell in love with Colorado. Some years later she married, had children and the love affair with the mountains accelerated, eventually leading to the purchase of a vacation home.

“I lived in Winter Park for eight years after graduating from college and my heart was always in Grand County,” said Ross.

“So living in Denver and having a second home in Winter Park was the best of both worlds.”

Since the family loves golf, boating and fishing on Lake Granby, and skiing at Win-

ter Park, a getaway place made sense. The Rosses bought land outside Tabernash with the thought of having a home built, but opted to buy a cabin instead. Four years later, Rendezvous, a master-planned community developed by Koelbel debuted, and the family ended up buying a custom home there.

“Although we belong to a golf club in Parker, golfing in the mountains is spectacular,” explained Ross. “We love being close to Pole Creek Golf Club and enjoy the proximity to Winter Park. The Rendezvous ski shuttle is a huge benefit to us. We put the kids on the private shuttle in the morning for their ski programs, and we have time to relax, enjoy some coffee in the morning after a crazy workweek and head to the ski area at our convenience. We also love the proximity to the rec center and the quick access to the great trail system for mountain biking and hiking in the National Forest.”

While price certainly ranked as a consideration for the family, equally important was the design of the home. The Rosses sought a ranch style home with spacious, open living areas for family gathering as well as a master bedroom on the main level.

Mountain views, Cathy says, were an absolute must.

They also factored in historically in-

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creasing expenses like HOA dues and property taxes. Ross, who has worked in the real estate and hospitality industry for most of her career and currently serves as CEO of Exclusive Resorts, recognizes that a builder having a reputation for construction quality and service critical parts of the equation in the second home buying process. So was working with a very capable realtor.

“Availability and response time is important to me, as I have a very hectic professional life,” she explains.

“At Exclusive Resorts, our high touch, personalized service is the backbone of our club, so my expectations for service are high.

I also believe that the realtor who stays connected with the clients post-closing will be the most successful. Newsletters are great, but the personal touches are what is memorable to a client.”

TEEING YOURSELF UP If you’re considering the purchase of a home or a home site, it is worth going to school on the experiences of the aforementioned people.

Brian Cartwright suggests working with Taylor Morrison’s online home consultant, noting that the complementary service can help point shoppers in the right direction.

coloradoavidgolfer.com

Buyers can engage in a live chat online or speak to the consultant over the phone.

In selecting a builder, the Eckhardts recommend interviewing two or three as well as two or three of that builder’s clients, asking if they had it to do over again would they use the builder. Having a well-defined contract is also a must-have.

Mike and Tracy Brown preach flexibility. They listed their original home, but it didn’t look as if it would sell within the timeframe they’d imagined. The deposit on their new home was contingent on that sale, so they had to adjust their finances and expectations. They had to consider the possibility of renting their first home until the real estate market strengthened.

Cathy Ross suggests that, instead of immediately falling in love with a home take your time—and make sure that the home aligns with your lifestyle. She and her husband looked at dozens of homes over a two-year period before making their decision to purchase at Rendezvous. Also do your homework on annual operating costs.

Kim McHugh, a Lowell Thomas award-winning writer and member of the Golf Writers Association of America, is a Contributing Editor for Colorado AvidGolfer. He is also a resort real estate marketing consultant.

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“Although we belong to a golf club in Parker, playing golf in the mountains is spectacular,” Ross explains.

“We love being close to Pole Creek Golf Club and enjoy the proximity to Winter Park.”

TEED UP: Cathy Ross at Pole Creek.

June 2016 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

Why summer golf trips aren’t really about golf at all.

I

BY TED JOHNSON

HAVE TRAVELED THE WORLD playing golf. Not as a tour player but as a travel writer.

The best job in the world, it included having the fortune of experiencing Scotland’s famed Muirfield like a member—18 holes in a fourball (or best ball) match in the morning, after which we changed for lunch (tie and jacket required). After that we put our golf togs back on for a fast two-ball (alternateshot) match in the afternoon.

On the other end of the spectrum, I became stranded with just my golf bag in Vung Tao, Vietnam, my suitcase 90 miles away in a Ho Chi Minh City hotel. After showering, I had to wear my stinky, sweatsoaked clothes to dinner, but at least the local

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bar had very hot spicy shrimp. Now I always carry a toothbrush in my golf bag.

I’ve had pelicans the size of Great Danes cross in front of me in Australia, withstood three 36-hole days in scorching Thai heat and experienced an Irish storm strong enough to prevent the rain from hitting the ground. It just came in sideways and stayed that way. Or so it seemed.

Hitting the road with the sticks has been a way of life, and thus I feel I know what it takes to make a memorable golf experience.

For starters, the golf course isn’t all that important. Seriously. It’s incidental to the ultimate goal: making memories.

Firing a laser-like approach over the coloradoavidgolfer.com

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF VAIL RESORTS/RICK STOVALL, PHOTOGRAPHER

Memory Upgrades

Pacific Ocean to Pebble Beach’s famous No. 8 green, which Jack Nicklaus merely called the best second shot in the world, is indeed something to cherish. Having your best buddy there to share it, commemorate it, or curse it because it won the front-nine bet?

Well, that’s the raison d’être.

Experiences live on when shared, relived and recounted. Like holes in one, they need witnesses. From my experience, they need a few other items as well.

THE SITE Aside from providing accommodations and access to food, the site should have more than one course within close proximity.

Variety increases enjoyment and allows you to see more of the area.

Choose a place with courses unlike the ones you play all the time. Vacations allow you to explore and experience something new with your friends.

Also, many of us feel we don’t get to play enough golf. A golf trip is the chance to saturate ourselves in it. Having more than one course to play will happily exhaust you.

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ACCOMMODATIONS Condos that sleep four or more are nice because it makes it easier to set up Headquarters—that place where people congregate, eat, catch up on current events and talk. In other words, where the bar is.

If the group of four or more has to stay in a hotel, try to get connecting rooms because on these trips keeping groups of that size connected is difficult. Since the tee sheet breaks people into groups, Headquarters reignites that we’re-here-together feeling.

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FOOD If possible, make arrangements for an outdoor grill. Firepits don’t count, though they do satisfy our primal urge to gather around the flames with marshmallows.

Yes, there are always the local restaurants, but few things bring people together like preparing provisions over fire.

The act stimulates conversation, opinions and criticism. Remember, every guy thinks he can do three things better than the next: start a fire, manage a hotel and grill a steak.

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At home, I’m a golf purist. I walk and carry, play it down and observe the rules. All that goes out the window on summer golf trips.

The focus is fun, and this is where the benefit of carts comes into play. They make it easy to carry snacks, drinks, cigars, butane

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Across the State

Summer Golf Trip Suggestions Bandon’s great. So is Pebble. And there’s always Myrtle Beach and the Robert Trent Jones Trail. But these Colorado-centric locations offer enough variety to keep things interesting.

SUMMIT COUNTY. Breckenridge, just 80 miles from central Denver, is the only city in the U.S. that boasts a 27-hole, Jack Nicklaus-designed municipal course, Breckenridge Golf Club. (breckenridgegolfclub.com) Moreover, as a ski destination, Breckenridge (gobreck.com) offers plenty of housing possibilities, including condos, which makes the pre- and post-golf gatherings so much easier. Less than 14 miles north of Breckenridge on Highway 9 perches The Raven at Three Peaks (ravenatthreepeaks.com).

For those who prefer an onsite stay with two courses, Keystone Resort (keystoneresort. com) is a perfect fit. The expansive Robert Trent Jones II Ranch course, with its first-rate restaurant, and the Hurdzan/Fry rollercoaster at The River Course make it a one-stop-shop in one of Colorado’s most beautiful spots.

Massive Drives.

Thin Air.

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VAIL VALLEY. Known worldwide for its back bowls, the Vail Valley also drips with golf opps.

Again, thanks to nearby ski resorts, there are plenty of group housing options.

Accommodations at designated Vail Resorts properties (vailresorts.com) give access to Red Sky Golf Club (redskygolfclub.com), 20 minutes west of Vail, where Tom Fazio and Greg Norman each designed a beauty of a course.

Closer to downtown is another Vail Resorts property, Beaver Creek Golf Club (beavercreek. com), a tight, scenic Robert Trent Jones Jr. layout with stay-and-play packages for groups.

Two nearby courses–as well as Vail’s Eurovillage—are nearby. The enforced 4:07 paceof-play at Vail Golf Club (vailrec.com) might irk the Ben Cranes in your group, but it’s fabulous golf. Also, EagleVail Golf Club (eaglevailgolfclub. com) has a par-3 course that suitable for a fun betting round—or a brisk game of FootGolf.

Southwest of Edwards, The Lodge and Spa at Cordillera (cordilleralodge.com) gives you golf variety with three 18-hole courses and a ninehole Dave Pelz Short Game Course. For groups, you can’t beat Cordillera’s luxury rental homes.

Thirty-five miles west of Vail in Eagle sits the Arnold Palmer-designed Eagle Ranch Golf Club (eagleranchgolf.com). Stay-and-play pack-

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lighters, rangefinders and cell phones for videos and pictures. Sitting next to a fellow participant for a couple of hours allows you to bond and talk trash—which among friends amount to the same thing.

It almost goes without saying that in this environment some form of competition should be mandatory, which brings in wagering. Bets sharpen focus. But the wager doesn’t have to be for much. It’s not the money that counts. It’s the act of making the other player dig for that money—even a quarter. Of course, the next best thing about winning is reminding your fellow competitors that you indeed won.

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MUSIC A few years ago the idea of someone playing music while playing golf seemed anathema.

Now, satellite radios, cart speakers and smartphones make tunes part of the course.

Having experienced it, I have to say that slow but steady backbeat in Little Feat’s “Dixie Chicken” offers a compelling way to slow my takeaway. I also know some who cannot play without Willie Nelson in the background. I try to avoid fans of AC/DC or Metallica. I haven’t met anyone who listens to Beethoven on the course but I hear waltz music is good… for… tem…po.

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Friends have gone on golf trips as an excuse to play poker all night. Others have used it to explore local culinary delights, craft breweries, local trails or gentlemen’s clubs.

Still others just do it for tradition—you know, getting the old gang together again. Does it matter? No. Not when all are involved.

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LITTLE THINGS 1. Particularly with groups larger than four, do everything you can to mix and match the groups every round. I advise switching cart mates every nine holes just to keep the conviviality flowing.

2. A post-round or post-day assessment of the worst shot of the day. Require the honoree to stand up and explain how it happened in painful detail.

3. Add contests aside from the usual closest-to-the-pin and longest-drive competitions. A unique format like “Rotating Tees” is a good place to start. It requires the group to play from the back tees on the first hole, the middle tees on the second hole and from the most forward on the third. Repeat throughout the round. Yes, sometimes the short knockers have to play a 480-yard par4, but do the longer hitters know how not to coloradoavidgolfer.com

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Broadmoor Cottages

ages are quite attractive for those who prefer fewer tourists with their golf excursion. And just 15 miles further west is the Pete Dye-designed Gypsum Creek Golf Course (gypsumcreekgolf. com). At a peak price of $60 per round with cart, it’s one of the best deals in Eagle County.

ASPEN. On the edge of town is the scenic Aspen Golf Club (aspengolf.com). With 14 holes having water in play, it requires your attention, and as the only public course within 30 miles, it requires booking way ahead. A half-hour north in Carbondale sits River Valley Ranch Golf Club (rvrgolf.com), a Jay Morrish design along the Crystal River. Continue north towards Glenwood Springs for a shot at Ironbridge Golf Club, or, head west on I-70 to New Castle’s Lakota Canyon Ranch Golf Club (lakotacanyonranch.com).

Golf groups can find great deals in Carbondale and the tourist mecca of Glenwood Springs.

GRAND JUNCTION. One of Colorado’s most photogenic golf experiences is Redlands Mesa Golf Club (redlandsmesa.com), a Jim Engh opus that threads through mesas, ridges, buttes and sere vegetation with views of the Colorado National Monument and Grand Mesa. Tiara Rado Golf Course (golfgrandjunction.net) is not nearly as dramatic, but the course’s conditioning makes it worth the time. Devil’s Thumb Golf Course (devilsthumbgolfcourse.net) in nearby Delta, plays through the moonscape known as the Adobe Hills. At $59 for 18 holes with a cart on weekends, it remains one of Colorado’s top values. In addition to a latticework of hiking and biking trails, as well as a Grand Junction’s downtown, there’s plenty of locally produced wine to try in Palisade. The lodging is as reasonably priced as the golf.

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EASTERN PLAINS. You want a special trip?

Head to Holyoke, home of Ballyneal Golf Club (ballyneal.com). Tom Doak’s masterwork heaves through the sandy “chop hills” created by ancient oceans and mighty winds. Though private, the property receives golf guests in their lodges. Want more? Cross the border into Nebraska and drive three hours to Valentine, where you’ll find The Prairie Club (theprairieclub.com) and its superb troika of courses, tasteful accommodations and excellent cuisine.

COLORADO SPRINGS. Few destinations in the world—let alone the state—boast the magnificence of The Broadmoor (broadmoor.com). Its East and West courses have hosted national USGA events, and the Broadmoor Cottages along the East’s 18th fairway treat golf groups like champions with up to eight bedrooms and the world-class amenities you’d expect from a five-star, five-diamond resort. A veranda, outdoor fireplace and other comfortable appointments make for a homey headquarters. coloradoavidgolfer.com

try to drive a short par-4 green?

4. Many trips call for 36 a day. The second round should always have an added feature, benefit or rule. Here’s one from famed sports writer Dan Jenkins: Every person is allowed once a round to throw the ball. That’s right, pick it up and throw it as a stroke. It makes getting out of tough greenside bunkers much easier.

5. Play for speed, not for rules. Nothing takes the fun out of golf like draggy pace of play. It’s past the OB stakes? Drop and hit, let’s go. Or, if it’s an irretrievable dog of a shot, just call a FIDO—Forget It, Drive On. (Note: Among friends, a one-syllable, family-unfriendly expletive serves as an acceptable first-word substitute.)

2016

Three Events.

Three Unique Colorado Experiences.

JUNE 13, 10am THE CLUB at PRADERA

4-person SHAMBLE— $150 per player

THE ALL-AT-ONCE On every trip stage at least one all-group golf event. It can be as tame as a putting contest during cocktail hour or as crazy as, well, let’s just say that time of day breeds all kinds of guerilla formats—including the brisk, ever-so-fun “One-Club-Two-Holes,” wherein you learn that putting with a 5-iron is not only possible, but preferable because it a) enables you to walk and carry your drink and b) gives you less to carry as you escape security.

Although course managers tend to look down upon eightsomes roaming the course, it can be done if cleared ahead of time. On one trip, with the approval of the resort owner, we closed out the day with a 12-player skins game. It was nine holes of glorious madness: four or five players teed off at a time as carts swept down and crossed fairways like Patton’s Fourth Army during the Battle of El Guettar. Balls flew overhead and skipped along on the ground.

Approach shots landed within feet of rolling putts as shouts of fore! and hey! constantly rang out amidst the peals of laughter.

It was fast, fun and memorable. The perfect end to a golf trip.

JULY 25, 10am BLACKSTONE COUNTRY CLUB

2-person BEST BALL— $125 per player

SEPTEMBER 7, 1:30pm THE RIDGE AT CASTLE PINES NORTH SCRAMBLE—$110 per player

REGISTER TODAY! coloradoavidgolfer.com/events For more information and to register contact Ryan McLean at 720-493-1729 ext. 15 or ryan@coloradoavidgolfer.com

Ted Johnson is a California-based CAG contributor. coloradoavidgolfer.com

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The Games of Golf TRIVIA | PUZZLERS

Keeping Up with the Jones THIS MONTH’S U.S. OPEN commemorates the 20th anniversary of Coloradan Steve Jones’ career-defining win at Oakland Hills in 1996. At the time, the product of Yuma High School and the University of Colorado hadn’t won a PGA Tour event in seven years—three of which he’d spent sidelined after a 1991 dirt bike accident. He had to go through sectional qualifying to earn a spot in the event, which he won by one shot. Steve Jones is in both the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame and the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.

How much do you know about him and the event he won?

1.

Although raised in Colorado, Jones was born in which state? a. Wyoming b. New Mexico c. Arizona d. Nebraska In 1996, he was the last Sectional qualifier to win the U.S. Open since a. Orville Moody b. Andy North c. Tom Kite d. Jerry Pate

7.

8.

After Jones, who was the next Sectional qualifier to win the U.S. Open? a. Lucas Glover b. Webb Simpson c. Michael Campbell d. Justin Rose

2.

3.

His 1-stroke victory edged which two players? a. Tom Lehman and Davis Love III b. Payne Stewart and Tom Lehman c. Colin Montgomerie and Loren Roberts d. Greg Norman and Bob Tway

9.

What was Jones’ share for winning the U.S. Open? a. $425,000 b. $500,000 c. $450,000 d. $600,000

4.

How many PGA Tour events did Jones win after the U.S. Open? a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4

5.

He shot a 26-under 258 to win which 1997 event by 11 strokes? a. Phoenix Open b. Bob Hope Chrysler Classic c. AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am d. Quad City Classic

10. He was the first player ever to lead CU in scoring average

four consecutive years. What was his cumulative average?

a. 73.83 b. 73.82 c. 73.30 d. 73.51

6.

In which year did he win the Colorado Open? a. 1988 b. 1987 c. 1990 d. 1986

11.

How many times has Oakland Hills hosted the U.S. Open? a. 5 b. 6 c. 4 d. 3

How many shots was Jones behind going into the back nine in the final round? a. 5 b. 1 c. 2 d. 3

ANSWERS: 1-B, 2-D, 3-A, 4-C, 5-A, 6-A, 7-C, 8-B, 9-A, 10-B, 11-D

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