Playing the Roll

By Todd Hartley

Agem of a layout designed by renowned course architect Robert Trent Jones, Jr., Rollingstone Ranch Golf Club plays along (and, on four holes, across) Fish Creek, offers up huge views of Mount Werner and Steamboat Ski Area from every hole and sometimes has distractions that most other courses don’t.

“There are some moose who live between the first hole and eighth tee,” says Andrew Donner, Rollingstone’s director of golf. “Many times we’ll a have a moose standing by the first tee, and we’ll have to accommodate it. They’re a little used to humans, though, and we haven’t had any issues with them.”

Bear and deer also frequent the course, and early in the season, when the creek is running high, you might have to delay a tee shot to let kayakers paddle by. But that just gives you more time to soak in the surroundings.

“The back nine is just stunningly beautiful as you get back toward Fish Creek Canyon,” says Donner. “It’s a great course, a lot of fun.”

Part of the Sheraton Steamboat Resort, Rollingstone is open to the public, but resort guests can save with stay-and-play packages, and property owners in Routt, Moffatt, Grand and Jackson counties are welcome to join a semi-private club that gets discounted golf and preferred tee times. rollingstoneranchgolf.com