June 2013 Issue

TaKE YOur BEST SHOT: What are the State’s Top Par-3 s?

coloradoavidgolfer.com

Nicaragua: Golf’s Next Great Destination

Elevating the Game.

aMELia EarHarT STaYS ON PLaNE How golf helped launch the high-f lying newscaster’s career

JUNE 2013 | $3.95

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Can Stem Cells Help Your Game?

WEStWard, HolES! The glories of Grand Junction,

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InsideContents

49

70

88

39

9

44

I n e v e ry I s s u e

F e at u r e s

6 Forethoughts A Tiger in Aurora

By Jon Rizzi 9 Gallery Team Golf with Erin Diegel and Keith Soriano, Emily Talley’s Big Break, Martis Camp, Golf By Numbers, more.

88 The Games of Golf U.S. Open Basket Cases

Sidebets 39 Fareways Monumental dining near Redlands Mesa.

By Gary James 44 Nice Drives Lexus LS460 AWD and Infiniti JX35.

By Isaac Bouchard

Player’s Corner 19 Home Course Blackstone Country Club.

20 Lesson Get to Know the Short-Shot Family. By Larry Rinker 24 15th Club Can Stem Cells Save Your Game? By Jon Rizzi 28 Play Away Nicaragua’s Golf Nirvana.

By Tony Dear

49

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Colorado AvidGolfer | June 2013

80

Colorado Getaways A golfer’s guide to the best of Telluride, Montrose, Grand Junction, Delta, Cedaredge, Steamboat Springs and Grand County.

70

Finding Amelia Earhart Named for her legendary aviatrix ancestor, the popular KUSA reporter goes full throttle on everything—whether that’s delivering traffic news, outdriving guys off the tee or flying around the world. By Jon Rizzi

80

The Colorado Par-3 Challenge They’re scenic, sinister and can have an incendiary impact on your round. Which ones are the most memorable? From Arrowhead’s 13th to Valley’s 18th, we present the state’s best one-hit wonders.

on the cover Photograph of Amelia Earhart taken by Todd Langley at the Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum hangar, Centennial Airport. coloradoavidgo lf e r.c o m

June 2013 Volume 12, Number 3

publisher

Allen J. Walters editor

Jon Rizzi associate publisher

Chris Phillips art director

Jeremy Cantalamessa editor-at-large

Tom Ferrell

automotive editor

Isaac Bouchard contributors

Sam Adams, Andy Bigford, Tony Dear, Lynn DeBruin, Sue Drinker, Dick Durrance II, Chris Duthie, Amy Freeland, Lois Friedland, Gary James, Barbara Hey, Ted Johnson, Kaye W. Kessler, Jake KubiĂŠ, Todd Langley, Kim D. McHugh, Emily Ritt, Bob Russo, Jerry Walters, Neil Wolkodoff digital and social media manager

Kate Stromberg office and operations manager

Cindy P. Nold projects and special events manager

Vanessa Van Horn

p r i n c i pa l s

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Alton Way #b-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 Š 2013 by baker-Colorado publishing, llC. All rights reserved. reproduction without permission is prohibited. postmaster: send address changes to Colorado Avidgolfer, 7200 s Alton Way #b-180 Centennial, Co 80112.the magazine welcomes editorial submissions but assumes no responsibility for the safekeeping or return of unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, artwork or other material.

m e d i a pa r t n e r o f c h o i c e :

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Colorado AvidGolfer | June 2013

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*restrictions apply, call for details

Forethoughts

A Tiger in AurorA

i

s it June already? Thanks to all that late spring snow, the 2013 golf season sort of snuck up on us. But now that we’re finally off the tee, it’s time to consider what has apparently become golf ’s most burning question: “Is Tiger Woods a good guy?”

Sergio Garcia raised it during the Players Championship, shortly after Woods apparently breached etiquette during Garcia’s backswing.

Until recently, I couldn’t care less. More often than not, when people ask me whether some noteworthy person I’ve interviewed is a “good guy,” I shrug, as if to say, “Does it really make a difference?” Besides, everyone’s nice to the guy who buys paper by the ton and ink by the barrel (or bandwidth by the terabit and storage by the gigabyte).

I tended to give Tiger a wide berth because of his transcendent talent.

That he dissed The International, cheated repeatedly on his wife and behaved aloofly towards his legions of fans bothered me, but on the golf course he was must-watch TV. But then Tiger dropped the ball. Actually, he dropped it twice—once at the Masters and again at the Players—and both times incorrectly. And he threw the marshals under the bus with regard to Sergiogate. It seems as though his above-the-rules approach to life is now leaking onto the course.

How can a guy play a game circumscribed by rules he’s technically supposed to enforce on himself when he bends them like he allegedly bent that tee shot on the 14th at Sawgrass?

Even so, I don’t think his Player’s win is tainted (he still double-bogeyed the hole); nor do I think he should have DQ’d himself from the Masters (a comedy of errors). I do think, however, that transcendent talent doesn’t transcend substandard behavior with regard to the rules of the game.

But, hey, Vail’s Lindsey Vonn, clearly thinks Tiger is a good guy.

It’s Father’s Day this month, and if you want to know a good guy, look no further than my 91-year-old dad. Closer to home, check out Lenny Ponte of Aurora. I call him my uncle because his late brother married my mother’s sister. While in the Air Force in Germany, Uncle Lenny asked a woman he’d dated only twice to marry him. He and Mechthild have been together 56 years, and throughout that time, he’s kept the same photo of her in his wallet—during more than 100 combat missions in Vietnam as an Air Force lieutenant colonel, during 30 years as a successful banker in Chicago and Denver, and as a patient with inoperable Stage 4 pancreatic cancer who has already outlived his prognosis by more than a year.

Uncle Lenny is a force of nature, a positive, energetic, fearless family man who still works every day. He loves golf, though he rarely plays now. However, he just returned from Florida, where he and his playing partner took second place in a tournament against 78 guys half their age, maybe younger. They might have won it, too, if he hadn’t incurred some penalty strokes. “Rules are rules,” he says. “You gotta live by them.” May he continue to do so a long, long time.

Oh, and to find out if Amelia Earhart’s a good person, see page 70.

—JON RIZZI

6

Colorado AvidGolfer | June 2013

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Offer valid 5/10/13 to 9/15/13 at Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort & Spa. Opening and Closing dates are weather permitting. Reservations are subject to availability and must be made at least 7 days in advance. Tee times must be set up in advance by contacting our Concierge at 1-970-827-6610. Package includes lodging for two, 2 rounds of golf including cart. Rate shown is based upon double occupancy, per room, per night, for standard room accommodations. Additional charges apply to room-type upgrades. Additional guests may be subject to additional hotel charges. Guest is responsible for all charges not included in package. No refunds for any unused portion of package. Promotional blackout periods may apply due to seasonal periods or special events, and normal arrival/departure restrictions apply. Hyatt reserves the right to alter or withdraw this program at any time without notice. Hyatt Hotels & Resorts® encompasses hotels managed, franchised or leased by subsidiaries and affiliates of Hyatt Hotels Corporation. The trademarks Hyatt®, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts®, Park Hyatt®, Andaz®, Grand Hyatt®, Hyatt Regency®, Hyatt Place®, Hyatt Summerfield Suites®, Hyatt Gold Passport®, and related marks are trademarks of Hyatt Corporation. © 2013 Hyatt Corporation. All rights reserved.

NEWS | NOTES | NAMES

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p h o t o by J a m i e S c h wa b e r o w / r i c h c l a r k S o n & a S S o c i at e S

YOUNG GUNS: Erin Diegel and Keith Soriano with Golf In Schools students at Arvada’s Indian Tree Golf Course.

a team effort

i

n 2011, when the PGa of America recognized the Colorado PGA Section with the Herb Graffis Award for pioneering growthof-the-game initiatives, then-Section President Tim Lollar said, “We like to think that there is no longer a box to think outside of.”

That philosophy recently led the Section to promote two of its rising stars, Erin Diegel and Keith Soriano, to director positions. Diegel, who founded the successful Girl Power Golf program, will serve as Junior Golf Director; Soriano, formerly Director of Golf at City Park Denver and a three-time winner of the Section’s President’s Plaque, is Player Development Director.

In addition to refining and expand-

co lo r a d o a v i d g o l f e r. c o m

ing Golf In Schools, which is currently at 65 facilities and has involved 23,000 students across the state, Diegel and Soriano are heading up a pilot program at the four Colorado Springs military courses called Team Golf, which aims to engage kids between the ages of seven and 14 and allow golf facilities to build successful junior programs.

“There has to be a clear next step after Golf In Schools,” says Diegel.

“Team golf will feed junior leagues and develop players at an influential part of their lives, between fourth and sixth grade, when they’re deciding which sport to do.”

A team can consist of two to six kids of any skill level from a facility.

The team competes against other

teams on 9-hole courses between 1,600 and 2,200 yards long. Plans call for 8-inch diameter holes, roughly twice the size of regulation ones.

They play a two-person best-ball or scramble, accumulating points for the team.

“The idea with team golf is it’s completely relaxed,” explains Diegel.

“One shot out of a bunker, and a nine-shot limit per hole. It’s not serious and competitive. It’s fun.” She envisions it turning into a family affair, with parents caddying or following kids as if it were a soccer or volleyball game.

If Team Golf is successful, the PGA plans to roll it out next summer at 27 different facilities with four tournaments in Colorado June 2013 |Colorado AvidGolfer

9

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Springs and Denver.

Diegel’s other ideas include a mentoring program with women executives and young female golfers, since so many women’s golf scholarships go unclaimed.

Although Soriano focuses primarily on adult player development through national PGA Play Golf America programs

such as the PGA Sports Academy and Get Golf Ready, he sees his job as tearing down the game’s barriers to entry across all ages. “We’ve done so much but we have such a long way to go,” he says. “It seems like everything we do makes us realize how much more we can do.” coloradopga.com

BREAKING BUFF: Talley hopes to shine on television.

Talley It Up

After rewriting the record books at the University of Colorado and leading the Buffs to their first NCAA Championship appearance, emily talley is competing on the Golf Channel reality show Big Break, which was filmed in Mexico’s Riviera Maya. Talley learned of her appearance shortly after just missing her own big break in Stage 3 of LPGA Tour

10

Colorado AvidGolfer | June 2013

Qualifying School. She ascribes her appearance to answering a question about what kind of foursome she would play with. “I said I’d play with a group of guys,” she explains. “They’re more fun, they bet and I like taking their money.

The producer’s eyes got really big, and I think he liked that answer so I thought I was in good shape.” The show will air through July 22, during which time Talley will be busy on the Symetra Tour.

Junior Development Every July, Lake Tahoe attracts a star-studded field of athletes and actors for the American Century Championship (July 16-22). This year another event might just steal a bit of the spotlight. On July 22-27 some of the world’s best upand-coming stars will take on Martis Camp Club in Truckee, California, for the U.S Junior Amateur Championship, which features a field of the best under-18 golfers in the world. Past champions include current and former PGA Tour stars, like Tiger Woods, Hunter Mahan, Brett Quigley, Johnny Miller and Gay Brewer.

Just like the competitors, Martis Camp Club is equally as poised to become one of the best private clubs in the country, having already been ranked #3 on Golf Digest’s list of the “Best New Private Courses of 2009.” The stellar 7,751-yard Tom Fazio creation blends into its High Sierra setting, offers plenty of stunning mountain views, incorporates towering stands of pines, craggy rock outcroppings and meandering streams, and features the kind of flawless grooming you would expect from a course worthy of any USGA event.

So after the big boys get done playing at Edgewood Tahoe, stick around and watch the kids. Besides, it’s more impressive to watch a 15-yearold break par than Charles Barkley break his tempo midswing. martiscamp.com

HAPPY CAMPERS: Martis Camp Club will host next month’s U.S. Junior Am.

at Cherry Hills will be up for grabs, thanks to George solich, the philanthropic entrepreneur and benefactor of the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy at CommonGround Golf Course. One spot will go to the player who utilizes the most Academy caddies during the 2013 and 2014 seasons; one will go to the winner of a lottery between the runnerups to the person who got the first spot; and a third will be raffled off. Raffle tickets are tentatively priced at $100. commongroundgc.com

75 years ago this month, Cherry Hills Country Club hosted its first major, the 1938 U.S. Open.

Ralph Guldahl defended the title he’d won the previous year at Oakland Hills. He defeated Dick Metz by six strokes after trailing him by four to start the final round. A World Golf Hall

Golf by Numbers 3 pro-am spots in next September’s BMW Championship

WRECK IT RALPH: Guldahl won one of his three majors at Cherry Hills.

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P H O T O G R A P H C O U RT E S Y O F F O R E S T D U N E S G O L F C LU B

UP IN MICHIGAN: The acclaimed Forest Dunes has a bridge to Colorado.

of Famer, Guldahl would win the 1939 Masters and three Western Opens (1936-1938).

This marked the furthest west the U.S. Open had ever taken place.

23 is where Michigan’s Forest Dunes Golf Club ranks on Golf Digest’s list of America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses Why do we care? The new owner, Lew Thompson,

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who rescued the club from financial brink and has elevated the lodging, also owns the resurgent Bridges Golf and Country Club in Montrose. Members of The Bridges will have reciprocal privileges to stay and play at Forest Dunes. Thompson’s purchase includes the seven luxurious appointed model homes on the property, as well as the 27-acre Lake AuSable for fishing, canoeing, and beach activities. The clubhouse has a spa, an exercise area, member’s locker

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Some courses may require a credit card to secure a tee time prior to play. If a tee time is cancelled, the golf course may charge for its discounted fee. Colorado AvidGolfer reserves the right to make reasonable modifications to the Golf Passport, effective upon notice by e-mail or first class mail to the Golf Passport member. A Golf Passport member may reject any such modification by responding in writing to Colorado AvidGolfer and returning the Golf Passport within ten (10) days. The Golf Passport member will receive a prorated refund. The Golf Passport member agrees that he or she is not entitled to any additional compensation. Colorado AvidGolfer disclaims all liability for damage or loss or property or injury to any person occurring while using the Golf Passport. The subscription expires with the Winter 2013 issue. One subscription per household. If ordered online, please allow up to 10 days for delivery of your Golf Passport.

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June 2013 |Colorado AvidGolfer

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COURSES | LESSONS | GEAR

player’sCorner

p h o t o g r a p h C o U rt E S Y o F b l aC k S t o n E C o U n t r Y C lU b

The AmAzing BlAcksTone BomBs away:The par-5 13th plays 643 from the tips.

F

or BaBy Boomers, the name Blackstone conjures images of television’s goateed grand illusionist. For Coloradans who like to boom long drives, Blackstone Country Club also casts a memorable spell. Nine of the 10 par-4s on the 7,313-yard Jay Morrish design tip out at 400 yards or longer, and the 13th clocks in at 643 yards—perfect for the famous vanishing ball trick.

But course length isn’t what members—most of whom negotiate it at a comfortably challenging 6,682 yards— find so magical about Blackstone. “It’s affordable,” says Mitch Harr, who joined with his wife, Tiffany, and their three daughters. He considered joining friends who were members at Valley, Colorado Golf Club or Cherry Creek, but the initiations (as high as $70,000) at those clubs were just “too huge to come up with.”

Harr could come up with the $3,000

co l o r a d o a v i d g o l f e r. c o m

for an Associate Golf membership, as well as the $190 in monthly dues and marginal green fees and $10 food minimum. “And we love the way the staff treats us the way the staff at any of those other clubs treat their members,” he says. “We’re out here at least four days a week. It’s our rec center.

We use the pool all summer, my kids like tennis, and I quit my gym because the fitness center is so good.” Harr, a 13-handicap, also admits he found the aesthetics of the 35,000-square-foot Tudor-style clubhouse so impressive that he joined before playing the course.

And as a member of a Canongate Colorado facility, Harr gets to play both Blackstone and Black Bear Golf Club in Parker. “The flexibility to play one or the other is great,” he says, “and I love the difference between the two courses.”

Blackstone members also love the difference between it and other clubs.

As part of Canongate family, they have privileges at properties managed

by Canongate’s parent company, Sequoia Golf. These include Fort Collins Country Club, some 27 clubs in Texas and Georgia and more than 450 private clubs around the country as part of the playawayclubs.com program.

Located south of the Aurora Reservoir off Smoky Hill Road, Blackstone has come a long way since it opened in 2007 as part of a 637-acre master-planned Lennar Homes community. Lennar’s gone, Richmond American is moving in, and Canongate’s involvement has brought a full roster of member benefits (in addition to the aforementioned, there’s top-notch dining and on-site daycare) at an exceptional price. While not exactly magical, there’s some wizardry involved in creating that kind of unprecedented value proposition in an upscale market. canongatecolorado.com; 303-680-0245 Cag June 2013 | Colorado AvidGolfer

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LESSON

HiT ’Em HigH, HiT ’Em LOw

A simple system for every short-game shot. By Larry Rinker

T

o be more proficient in your short game, you need to have a low and higher trajectory shot that you can count on.

Understanding how to change your set-up to hit those shots is key to becoming a better player inside 30 yards. Learn these skills and techniques first. Don’t worry about how close you hit it in the beginning. Get the contact and technique correct. Then work on your feel and controlling the distance. As the greens get faster and firmer, you will learn how to shorten your backswing to control distance. You want to accelerate on all shots in golf. This is a gradual acceleration, especially when the length of the swing is not full.

LOw-TrajEcTOry Pair

Both of these families start with the club face square. With the club face square to where you want the ball to start, and the shaft leaning forward, there is little to no bounce. Must hit the ball first.

1st family. putt-chip family. Ball position is in the middle of the stance, shaft leaning slightly more forward at address than your putter. Same lie angle as putter. Play ball off of the toe of the club.

2nd family. bump & run family. Ball position is on the inside of the back foot, shaft leaning more forward at address. Ball will fly lower and run further than the putt-chip.

Putt-Chip Ball middle

Bump & Run Ball back

Putter Lie Angle

LOw TrajEcTOry Pair

putt-chip family • Use your putter set-up and stroke with the ball in the middle of your stance. More shaft lean.

• The lie angle of the shaft is similar to your putter set-up, with the heel of the club head slightly off the ground. Hit down and trap this shot. Think low draw just like putting.

• Play the ball off of the toe of the club to hit it in the toe and dead every time.

• An 8-iron Putt-Chip will be about the same feel and distance as your putter. bump & run family (Variation of Putt-Chip) • Play the ball back, or off of the inside of your back foot, for lower and longer shots.

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player’sCorner

LESSON HigHEr TrajEcTOry Pair 3rd Family. long Blast Bunker Family. Open stance, open club face, with the ball position in the middle of the stance to your toe line. More vertical backswing than your golf swing.

4th Family. Flop or short Bunker shot Family. Ball position is more forward and stance more open.

Ball goes higher and shorter with same clubhead speed.

Long Blast Bunker (LBB)

Flop-Ball more forward

LBB-Open stance open club face

HigHEr TrajEcTOry SHOTS long Blast Bunker (lBB) shot Family Simply set up with your feet slightly open and the club face slightly open to the target and make your golf swing. The backswing will be more upright than your actual golf swing. “V” swing vs. “U” swing. This will help you to hit down. This is the most likely way you will play bunker shots and softer shots from around the green in the grass. It is a much higher percentage shot than the flop.

Flop Family (Variation of Long Blast Bunker with the ball more forward in the stance, and the stance more open) If you want to hit it higher, softer, and shorter with the same swing speed; open your stance more, and play the ball more forward. Aim the club face 5 degrees open to the target, just like the Long Blast Bunker. The club face should aim five feet right of the target for right handed players. When you open way up, your forward swing path is still five feet to the left of target for right handed players, again just like Long Blast Bunker. The three rods, black = club face, yellow = target, and red = swing path are the same for LBB and Flop.

With the ball more forward and the stance more open, the sand wedge has more bounce. You will use more bounce in flops. The more loft that you have at address and impact, the more bounce that you will have. More loft = more bounce. Less loft = less bounce. You want less bounce on hardpan or tight lies.

Short Game 101 1. You must hit down on the ball with your weight on your lead side (closest to target).You can’t hit down on it without your weight being on your lead side.

2. Release the club head and swing through. Rotating the arms and hands helps this.

Secret: Keep the lead shoulder low as you swing through.

Larry Rinker is director of Instruction at Red Sky Golf Academy. Excerpted from the e-book Rinker Five Fundamentals (larryrinker.com).

He competed in more than 500 PGA Tour events and regularly ranked among the Tour leaders in putting and sand saves.

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Colorado AvidGolfer | June 2013

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player’sCorner

15Th clUB

cAn sTem cells imProve yoUr gAme? When knees, hips or shoulders need replacement, a Vail doctor offers an alternative. By Jon Rizzi

l

ike most Boulderites, 61-year-old John Beeman leads an extraordinarily active life. He skis approximately 50 days a year and plays 200 rounds of golf—mostly on foot and mostly at Flatirons Golf Course, where, he jokes, he’s “an ugly 6.”

Until recently, “ugly” might have described Beeman’s knees. Old injuries and three surgeries had gutted his right ACL and MCL— “basically it’s bone on bone in there”—and 15 years ago he had reconstructive surgery on his left knee and gave up running. He would regularly ice both joints after 30,000-40,000 vertical-foot days on the slopes or after walking 18 holes with his daughter, Aly, who plays on the Boulder High golf team.

The pressure Beeman’s golf swing put on his knees also left them sore, so every

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Colorado AvidGolfer | June 2013

November, between golf and ski seasons, Beeman would see Scott Brandt, M.D. of Denver Pain Management. He would inject Beeman’s knees with a cocktail of lubricants to reduce the friction and buy time before what Beeman says he thought would be “an inevitable knee replacement.”

Last August, Brandt left DPM to start ThriveMD, a Vail-based center for restorative and regenerative solutions to stimulate the body’s ability to heal itself. For many years he had studied the potential for minimally invasive stem cell therapy to repair, restore, replace, and regenerate cells damaged by injury or normal wear. He saw Beeman as an excellent candidate for a breakthrough procedure to repair the tissue in his knees.

Beeman’s own research turned up nothing negative. The mesenchymal stem cells

would be his own, not the politically controversial embryonic ones (“Embryonic stem cells are like Ferraris,” says Brandt. “Powerful but hard to control”), and they would come from a half-cup of fat cells liposucted from his abdomen. Brandt would then spin the fat cells in a centrifuge to extract and wash more than 100 million progenitor stem cells of inflammation-producing red and white blood cells, which he’d combine with platelet rich plasma (PRP), which, the doctor says, serves “as a super-fertilizer for the cells.” Then, using live X-ray fluoroscopy, he would inject the stem-cell solution “to drive them precisely into the damaged areas of the joints, which are often the areas of most resistance and thus least likely to be treated passively.”

Beeman had Brandt treat his right knee over Thanksgiving. The entire process took coloradoavidgo lf e r.c o m

p h o t o g r a p h bY b a r r Y S tav E r

KNEE-To-KNow BasIs: Thanks to stem-cell treatment, John Beeman could walk 200 rounds this year.

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STEMMING PAIN: Scott Brandt at his Vail Clinic.

two hours. He then underwent a fortnight of muscle activation to correct any imbalances or abnormal gait motions, such as incorrect loading of his hip or ankle. A month later he received a booster shot of cell-stimulating PRP. During the Christmas holiday, Beeman skied seven consecutive days and never had to ice his knee. He’s already hoofed three-dozen painfree golf rounds this spring.

An MRI at the end of the summer will determine if his knee is generating new tissue. As of now, it feels “better than it has in a while.” He now regrets not having both knees done at the same time. The procedure cost $8,500, but the second knee would have only run $2,500 more.

Since the FDA requires adult stem cells to be implanted within 24 hours of removal, to have his left knee done, he’d have to go through the entire procedure and pay another $8,500.

Professional athletes such as Peyton Manning have received stem cell treatments for injuries.

PHP treatments helped repair Tiger Woods’ knee. An alternative to joint replacement surgery, stem cell therapy can be used on any joint.

Tendinitis or Achilles tendon injuries are also good responders to the treatment.

“Golfer’s elbow responds very well to this treatment,” says Brandt, who says the jury is out on back problems—the bane of many a golfer.

“I haven’t seen a study for disk disease, but if the problem is in the back’s synovial joints, we can help. This isn’t a cure-all for everything—it won’t repair a torn meniscus, for example—but the results for most people can be life-changing, without the long recovery time. Cag Jon Rizzi is CAG’s editor. Visit thrivemdvail.com; 970-766-8245 for more on stem cell therapy.

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player’sCorner

PLAY AWAY

P H O T O G R A P H by L A R R y L A m b R e c H T

NiRvANA iN NicARAguA

With Guacalito de la Isla, David McLay Kidd created a tropical heaven that could transform Nicaragua’s Pacific coast—and the country’s image. By Tony Dear

R

ead some of the highlights from the Moon Travel Guide description of Nicaragua’s capital city: “If Managua were a vehicle, it would be a battered 1960s school bus, dented and dinged on all sides, paint chipping through multiple layers of color… It is loud and architecturally uninspiring… Though relatively safe, it doesn’t feel that way.”

Why would anyone want to visit the place after reading that?

Yet the exact same text appears on the official Nicaragua Tourism web site. That the government allocated a budget of just $3 million for tourism marketing in 2012, with the country eager to emerge from neighbor Costa Rica’s sizable shadow, also seems a little puzzling. Yes, Nicaragua is the second poorest nation in the western hemisphere according to the U.S. State Department, but $3 million? That’s less than a third what the State of Colorado alone spent on tourism initiatives last year—after a $5 million cut—

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Colorado AvidGolfer | June 2013

and about one-sixth what Costa Rica will spend this year.

There’s more. In January 2012, the Minister for Tourism, Mario Salinas Pasos, posted a letter on the same web site saying that in addition to great beaches, one-of-a-kind fishing, and world-class surfing, Nicaragua boasted “top golf courses.”

At the time the letter was written, however, Nicaragua’s inventory of courses stood at three—a rather flat 18-hole private track near Managua called Nejapa, and two unremarkable nine-holers on the Pacific coast.

Señor Pasos’s job is to promote his country as best he can, but labeling its golf courses as “top” was stretching reality further than even the most bald-faced marketer would be prepared to go.

But get this: Tourism in Nicaragua has somehow increased by over 70 percent in the past decade; it was named one of the world’s top travel destinations for 2013 on NBC’s Today show; and in January The

New York Times ranked it third on a list of 46 places to visit this year.

For a country many people still associate with political unrest in the 1980s—remember Iran-Contra and the Sandanistas?—Nicaragua is making some serious noise in the travel trade.

The truth is, Nicaragua does have an awful lot going for it—something travelers are obviously beginning to discover.

The minister was right about the fishing for instance. You can cast your line deep into the ocean in search of marlin, sailfish, barracuda and dorado; fish inshore for bonito, snapper, grouper and roosterfish; or go out on Lake Nicaragua, the second largest lake in the Americas, hunting 100-lb. tarpon, or 40-lb. snook. There are 40 volcanoes down which you can try ash-boarding, a fast-expanding eco-tourism industry, scuba diving on untouched reefs, zip-lining in the forests, and surfing so good the 2012 ISA World Masters was held here, on a beach named coloradoavidgo lf e r.c o m

✑✍❚❁❐❆✿❄❉■❇❂❁▼▲✿❁❂❃❄❅❆❇❈❉❊❋●❍■❏❐❑❒▲▼◆❖◗❘❙❚❀✑✒✓✔✕✖✗✘✙✐✍✝✻✽✼✛✌✎✏ ✡✢✣✤✥✦✧★✩✪✫✬✭✮✯✰✱✲✳✴✵✶✷✸✹✺❞✁✠✃✄☎✾✆☛✈✉✿☞❛❝❜✚✓✜✞✟■ marriot_light_abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz`1234567890-=[]\;’,./ ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ~!@#$%^&*()_+{}|:”<>? å∫ç∂´ƒ©˙ˆ∆˚¬µ˜øπœ®ß†¨√∑≈¥Ω`¡™£¢ §¶•ªº–≠“‘«…æ≤ ÷≠ÅıÇÎ´Ï˝ÓˆÔÒ˜Ø∏Œ‰Íˇ¨◊„˛Á¸`⁄‹›fifl‡°·‚—±”’»ÚƯ˘¿ Á¸`⁄‹›fifl‡°·‚—±”’»ÚƯ˘¿|áéíóúâêîôûàèìòùäëïöüÿãñõÁÉÍÓÚÀÈÌÒÙÄËÏÖÜŸÑÃÕÂÊÎÔÛ ”“’‘ '" €$€£¥₩฿руб ≠ marriot_light_italic_abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz`1234567890-=[]\;’,./ ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ~!@#$%^&*()_+{}|:”<>? å∫ç∂´ƒ©˙ˆ∆˚¬µ˜øπœ®ß†¨√∑≈¥Ω`¡™£¢ §¶•ªº–≠“‘«…æ≤ ÷≠ÅıÇÎ´Ï˝ÓˆÔÒ˜Ø∏Œ‰Íˇ¨◊„˛Á¸`⁄‹›fifl‡°·‚—±”’»ÚƯ˘¿ Á¸`⁄‹›fifl‡°·‚—±”’»ÚƯ˘¿|áéíóúâêîôûàèìòùäëïöüÿãñõÁÉÍÓÚÀÈÌÒÙÄËÏÖÜŸÑÃÕÂÊÎÔÛ ”“’‘ '" € $€£¥₩฿руб ≠ marriott_med_abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz`1234567890-=[]\;’,./ ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ~!@#$%^&*()_+{}|:”<>? å∫ç∂´ƒ©˙ˆ∆˚¬µ˜øπœ®ß†¨√∑≈¥Ω`¡™£¢ §¶•ªº–≠“‘«…æ≤ ÷≠ÅıÇÎ´Ï˝ÓˆÔÒ˜Ø∏Œ‰Íˇ¨◊„˛Á¸`⁄‹›fifl‡°·‚—±”’»ÚƯ˘¿ Á¸`⁄‹›fifl‡°·‚—±”’»ÚƯ˘¿|áéíóúâêîôûàèìòùäëïöüÿãñõÁÉÍÓÚÀÈÌÒÙÄËÏÖÜŸÑÃÕÂÊÎÔÛ ”“’‘ '" € $€£¥₩฿руб ≠ marriott_med_italic_abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz`1234567890-=[]\;’,./ ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ~!@#$%^&*()_+{}|:”<>? å∫ç∂´ƒ©˙ˆ∆˚¬µ˜øπœ®ß†¨√∑≈¥Ω`¡™£¢ §¶•ªº–≠“‘«…æ≤ ÷≠ÅıÇÎ´Ï˝ÓˆÔÒ˜Ø∏Œ‰Íˇ¨◊„˛Á¸`⁄‹›fifl‡°·‚—±”’»ÚƯ˘¿ Á¸`⁄‹›fifl‡°·‚—±”’»ÚƯ˘¿|áéíóúâêîôûàèìòùäëïöüÿãñõÁÉÍÓÚÀÈÌÒÙÄËÏÖÜŸÑÃÕÂÊÎÔÛ ”“’‘ '" € $€£¥₩฿руб ≠ marriott_bold_abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz`1234567890-=[]\;’,./ ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ~!@#$%^&*()_+{}|:”<>? åç´ƒ©˙ˆ˚¬µ˜øœ®ß†¨¥`¡™£¢§¶•ªº–“‘«…æ÷�ÅıÇÎ´Ï˝ÓˆÔÒ˜،‰Íˇ¨„˛Á¸`⁄‹›fifl‡°·‚—±”’»ÚƯ˘¿ Á¸`⁄‹›fifl‡°·‚—±”’»ÚƯ˘¿|áéíóúâêîôûàèìòùäëïöüÿãñõÁÉÍÓÚÀÈÌÒÙÄËÏÖÜŸÑÃÕÂÊÎÔÛ ”“’‘ '" €�$€£¥₩฿руб marriott_bold_italic_abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz`1234567890-=[]\;’,./ ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ~!@#$%^&*()_+{}|:”<>? åç´ƒ©˙ˆ˚¬µ˜øœ®ß†¨¥`¡™£¢§¶•ªº–“‘«…æ÷�ÅıÇÎ´Ï˝ÓˆÔÒ˜،‰Íˇ¨„˛Á¸`⁄‹›fifl‡°·‚—±”’»ÚƯ˘¿ Á¸`⁄‹›fifl‡°·‚—±”’»ÚƯ˘¿|áéíóúâêîôûàèìòùäëïöüÿãñõÁÉÍÓÚÀÈÌÒÙÄËÏÖÜŸÑÃÕÂÊÎÔÛ ”“’‘ '" €�$€£¥₩฿руб marriot_condensed_light_abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz`1234567890-=[]\;’,./ ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ~!@#$%^&*()_+{}|:”<>? å∫ç∂´ƒ©˙ˆ∆˚¬µ˜øπœ®ß†¨√∑≈¥Ω`¡™£¢ §¶•ªº–≠“‘«…æ≤ ÷≠ÅıÇÎ´Ï˝ÓˆÔÒ˜Ø∏Œ‰Íˇ¨◊„˛Á¸`⁄‹›fifl‡°·‚—±”’»ÚƯ˘¿ Á¸`⁄‹›fifl‡°·‚—±”’»ÚƯ˘¿|áéíóúâêîôûàèìòùäëïöüÿãñõÁÉÍÓÚÀÈÌÒÙÄËÏÖÜŸÑÃÕÂÊÎÔÛ ”“’‘ '" € $€£¥₩฿руб ≠ marriot_condensed_medium_abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz`1234567890-=[]\;’,./ ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ~!@#$%^&*()_+{}|:”<>? å∫ç∂´ƒ©˙ˆ∆˚¬µ˜øπœ®ß†¨√∑≈¥Ω`¡™£¢ §¶•ªº–≠“‘«…æ≤ ÷≠ÅıÇÎ´Ï˝ÓˆÔÒ˜Ø∏Œ‰Íˇ¨◊„˛Á¸`⁄‹›fifl‡°·‚—±”’»ÚƯ˘¿ Á¸`⁄‹›fifl‡°·‚—±”’»ÚƯ˘¿|áéíóúâêîôûàèìòùäëïöüÿãñõÁÉÍÓÚÀÈÌÒÙÄËÏÖÜŸÑÃÕÂÊÎÔÛ ”“’‘ '" € $€£¥₩฿руб marriot_condensed_bold_abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz`1234567890-=[]\;’,./ ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ~!@#$%^&*()_+{}|:”<>? å∫ç∂´ƒ©˙ˆ∆˚¬µ˜øπœ®ß†¨√∑≈¥Ω`¡™£¢ §¶•ªº–≠“‘«…æ≤ ÷≠ÅıÇÎ´Ï˝ÓˆÔÒ˜Ø∏Œ‰Íˇ¨◊„˛Á¸`⁄‹›fifl‡°·‚—±”’»ÚƯ˘¿ Á¸`⁄‹›fifl‡°·‚—±”’»ÚƯ˘¿|áéíóúâêîôûàèìòùäëïöüÿãñõÁÉÍÓÚÀÈÌÒÙÄËÏÖÜŸÑÃÕÂÊÎÔÛ ”“’‘ '" € $€£¥₩฿руб ≠ AbadiMTStd-Light_abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz`1234567890-= [] \;’,./≠ ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ~!@#$%^&*()_+{}|:”<>? å∫ç∂´ƒ©˙ˆ∆˚¬µ˜øπœ®ß†¨√∑≈¥�`¡™£¢ §¶•ªº–≠“‘«…æ≤ ÷≠ÅıÇÎ´Ï˝ÓˆÔÒ˜Ø∏Œ‰Íˇ¨◊„˛Á¸`⁄‹›fifl‡°·‚—±”’»ÚƯ˘¿ Á¸`⁄‹›fifl‡°·‚—±”’»ÚƯ˘¿|áéíóúâêîôûàèìòùäëïöüÿãñõÁÉÍÓÚÀÈÌÒÙÄËÏÖÜŸÑÃÕÂÊÎÔÛ ”“’‘ '" € $‚Ǩ¬£¬•‚Ç©‡∏ø—Ä—É–± AbadiMTStd-LightItalic_abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz`1234567890-= [] \;’,./≠ ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ~!@#$%^&*()_+{}|:”<>? å∫ç∂´ƒ©˙ˆ∆˚¬µ˜øπœ®ß†¨√∑≈¥�`¡™£¢ §¶•ªº–≠“‘«…æ≤ ÷≠ÅıÇÎ´Ï˝ÓˆÔÒ˜Ø∏Œ‰Íˇ¨◊„˛Á¸`⁄‹›fifl‡°·‚—±”’»ÚƯ˘¿ Á¸`⁄‹›fifl‡°·‚—±”’»ÚƯ˘¿|áéíóúâêîôûàèìòùäëïöüÿãñõÁÉÍÓÚÀÈÌÒÙÄËÏÖÜŸÑÃÕÂÊÎÔÛ ”“’‘ '" € $‚Ǩ¬£¬•‚Ç©‡∏ø—Ä—É–± AbadiMTStd_abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz`1234567890-= [] \;’,./≠ ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ~!@#$%^&*()_+{}|:”<>? å∫ç∂´ƒ©˙ˆ∆˚¬µ˜øπœ®ß†¨√∑≈¥Ω`¡™£¢ §¶•ªº–≠“‘«…æ≤ ÷≠ÅıÇÎ´Ï˝ÓˆÔÒ˜Ø∏Œ‰Íˇ¨◊„˛Á¸`⁄‹›fifl‡°·‚—±”’»ÚƯ˘¿ Á¸`⁄‹›fifl‡°·‚—±”’»ÚƯ˘¿|áéíóúâêîôûàèìòùäëïöüÿãñõÁÉÍÓÚÀÈÌÒÙÄËÏÖÜŸÑÃÕÂÊÎÔÛ ”“’‘ '" € $‚Ǩ¬£¬•‚Ç©‡∏ø—Ä—É–± AbadiMTStd-Italic_abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz`1234567890-= [] \;’,./≠ ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ~!@#$%^&*()_+{}|:”<>? å∫ç∂´ƒ©˙ˆ∆˚¬µ˜øπœ®ß†¨√∑≈¥Ω`¡™£¢ §¶•ªº–≠“‘«…æ≤ ÷≠ÅıÇÎ´Ï˝ÓˆÔÒ˜Ø∏Œ‰Íˇ¨◊„˛Á¸`⁄‹›fifl‡°·‚—±”’»ÚƯ˘¿ Á¸`⁄‹›fifl‡°·‚—±”’»ÚƯ˘¿|áéíóúâêîôûàèìòùäëïöüÿãñõÁÉÍÓÚÀÈÌÒÙÄËÏÖÜŸÑÃÕÂÊÎÔÛ ”“’‘ '" € $‚Ǩ¬£¬•‚Ç©‡∏ø—Ä—É–±

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rEsT asHorE: Boats idle after a day of fishing.

30

Colorado AvidGolfer | June 2013

fields of banking, insurance, healthcare, media, auto, entertainment, agro-energy, rum, tourism, citrus and sugar.

But for Carlos Pellas’s acumen, resolve, and good fortune, however, the Pellas Group certainly wouldn’t be in the position it is today, and Mukul would never have happened. During the 1980s, Daniel Ortega’s leftist government nationalized much of Pellas’s business, and in 1989, Pellas and his wife Vivian were among just seven survivors when a plane taking them to the Honduran city of Tegucigalpa flew into a mountainside at 500mph.

Extreme events such as these tend to have a profound effect on a person’s temperament and approach to life so, in hindsight, perhaps it’s no surprise Pellas was intensely determined to restore his family’s assets once his body had healed sufficiently and Ortega had been replaced by conservative Violeta Chamorro who came to power in 1990. And so, between 1990 and 2000, he invested over quarter of a

billion dollars into the country’s economy.

At the end of 2006, however, Ortega’s re-election seemed to present a significant obstacle to Pellas’s future expansion plans. But Ortega’s politics had softened somewhat and he happily gave Mukul the green light and assisted Pellas by fast-tracking it through the permitting process.

At the same time as plans for Mukul were taking shape, Pellas was heavily invested in a luxury development across the border in the Costa Rican province of Guanacaste.

For the golf course at Santa Elena Preserve, Kidd had been Pellas’s first choice for designer. Pellas knew the Scot had built the impressive Nanea course in Hawaii for his fellow Stanford graduate Charles Schwab, and knew of Kidd’s policy of building sustainable layouts that sought to sit as naturally and seamlessly on the land as possible (the Castle Course in St Andrews and Huntsman Springs in Idaho not withstanding).

After a visit to Santa Elena, coloradoavidgo lf e r.c o m

p h o t o g r a p h bY l a r r Y l a m b r E C h t

Playa Colorado.

And, had he delayed his comments a year, Sr. Pasos would have had a leg to stand on (albeit a short one) with regard to golf courses.

Guacalito de la Isla, part of the super-luxurious Mukul Resort & Spa 20 miles north of the gorgeous coastal town of San Juan Del Sur and about 40 miles from the Costa Rica border, was designed by David McLay Kidd who has clearly now dispensed with his fondness for theatrical, some might say over-the-top design (The Castle Course in St. Andrews, Tetherow in Oregon) in favor of playability.

Indeed, the course he built here alongside senior associate Casey Krahenbuhl and eight more of his US-based staff, is playability itself.

The man behind Mukul, 60-year-old Carlos Pellas, is a multi-billionaire thought to be the wealthiest man in Latin America. A descendant of the Italian entrepreneur Francisco Alfredo Pellas, Carlos now oversees an empire that employs more than 25,000 people in the

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Pellas invited Kidd north to inspect a property he owned on Nicaragua’s Emerald Coast, right on the Pacific Ocean.

JOB #: FMG10350-33 “There was obviously a great golf course CLIENT: FLEMING’S underneath all the scrub,” Kidd says. “I DESCRIPTION: Colorado Golf Ad knew it would be a major undertaking to VERSION #: 1 OF 1 clear it all.”

TRIM SIZE: 4.75"w x 7.375"h Clearing brush while retaining the maBLEED: .125 ture trees would(4/0) be harder INK COLORS: 4CP still, however.

But Pellas made it clear PERSONALIZATION: that NOwas how it was going to be.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS: “Oh yes,INSTRUCTIONS: Don Carlos (Pellas is called Don REVISE Carlos in deference to his Italian roots) was very particular about the trees,” says Kidd.

“There are well over a dozen different speAvid Golfer Publication(s) cies in the :forest atColorado Guacalito and he can identify them all. He told us if we cut down Chris Kaye. 310-482-4455 DP Contact Info : a single tree we’d be fired.”

Construction on the course began in NoFMG10350-33 Job #: vember 2010 after it became clear govern4.75” w x 7.375” h Finished Size : mental approval for Santa Elena was proceeding at less than.25” snail’s pace. from trim Live Area Size : Kidd soon realized Nicaragua was actual1/8” lyBleed a peaceful country with friendly, welcomSize : ing people, and quickly established a good relationship with the locals by building a community baseball field, contributing to the nearby hospital, and hiring roughly 200 men to hack a path through all that brush.

“Many of them were well-skilled,” says Kidd. “So in the end, not only did they clear the brush, they were operating heavy machinery, building bridges, and performing a number of other important tasks.”

Kidd would visit the site every six weeks and stay for five or six days. In his absence, Krahenbuhl would run the show. “It all went relatively smoothly,” he says. “I became good friends with a few of the locals, and was really impressed with how hard they worked.”

The golf course was completed toward the end of 2012 without, Kidd insists, the removal of a single tree. “I’d get nervous every time I heard Don Carlos’s helicopter approaching,” he says. “But we became very good at moving them.”

To move the first big tree, Kidd had hired a firm from Dallas that charged $300,000.

Kidd observed how they did it and moved the rest—well over 100 trees—for something like $20,000. Shifting trees by themselves and deciding not to lay any drainage pipes — “When it rains here it’s so heavy there’s no way a pipe could handle it”—allowed Kidd and his team to come in $1 million under budget. “Saving $1 million probably wasn’t a big deal to Don Carlos,” says Kidd. “But it was to me.” coloradoavidgo lf e r.c o m

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HOYO BONITO: Guacalito’s 11th

34

Colorado AvidGolfer | June 2013

coloradoavidgo lf e r.c o m

P H O T O G R A P H by L A R R y L A m b R e c H T

The result did not strike visitors as a typical David McLay Kidd course. It isn’t easy by any means, but the emphasis is definitely on fun and showcasing the beauty of the land.

“I don’t think it’s a bold design,” says Kidd.

“But, unlike at the Castle Course or Huntsman Springs, it didn’t need to be. This is such a beautiful place, I just wanted to show it off to golfers without penalizing them too heavily for poor shots.”

There are several memorable holes, but the two most notable perhaps are the final two par 3s – the 184-yard 15th and 167-yard 18th.

Krahenbuhl had the idea for the peculiar, but entertaining, Redan/Biarritz green at the 15th, but it was God that came up with the 18th—Kidd just had the good sense to go with it. The tee shot is played from the trees to a green literally built on the beach. “When we built it, we would hole out, take our shoes off and just head right out on to the sand,” says Kidd.

A round at Guacalito costs $145. To stay in one of the 37 amazing accommodations (12 beach villas each with their own private pool, 23 bohios on the cliffs overlooking Playa Manzanillo, or even Casona Don Carlos or Suite Dona Vivian when the Pellases are not home) you’d probably expect to pay more than $1,000 a night. But the tariff is $550, a bargain when you consider lodging, shuttle from the airport in Managua (a two-hour ride), breakfast, lunch and an open bar are all included in the price.

And considering the open bar could mean a glass or two of Flor de Caña, a worldrenowned rum owned by Don Carlos (you can helicopter to the distillery near the San Cristóbal Volcano in the northwest of the country, then repair to Don Carlos’s plantation house for a lunch prepared by his personal chef ), the price just seems all the more reasonable.

What else might convince you Guacalito de la Isla and the Mukul Resort should become part of your travel plans (just get from Denver

TURF-N-SURF: The finishing hole

For further information about Mukul, mukulresort.com; 800-390-8844. Read more of Contributing Editor Tony Dear’s travel writing at coloradoavidgolfer.com.

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Colorado AvidGolfer | June 2013

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P H O T O G R A P H by L A R R y L A m b R e c H T

to Miami, Atlanta, Houston, or Fort Lauderdale for direct flights to Managua)?

How about a clifftop spa comprising six finely-appointed casitas, each with its own distinct architecture, interior design, and range of treatments? How about the superb Nicaraguan-inspired food on offer at La Terraza or La Mesa restaurants? How about the sort of efficient but friendly service you find in only a limited number of places around the world?

Other luxury golf resorts are in the pipeline for Nicaragua—Montecristo, designed

by Mike Young, is being built on the Pacific Coast an hour west of Managua, and Milagro Del Mar, a few miles to the south, will have 27 holes in play by 2015. It’s unlikely either can match Guacalito for sheer natural beauty.

Carlos Pellas could have retired long ago, but he felt compelled to leave a lasting legacy for the country he loves. After falling for the place, David McLay Kidd became just as committed to leaving his own gentle, but unmistakable, footprint. Building the first major golf course in a Central American nation with the hope it might inspire similar developments and thus bolster the country’s tourism industry and provide good jobs was something Kidd took very seriously.

“I knew what we did here would likely impact what came after it,” he says. “So it had to be environmentally sound and a course people would enjoy. I wanted to leave a benchmark; set the bar high. I certainly felt a burden of responsibility.” Cag

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FOOD | CARS

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FArewAys

rusTIC PErFECTIoN: The divine rosetta at Il Bistro Italiano.

monUmenTAl Dining The Grand Junction region now boasts eateries where the majesty of the food rivals the splendor of the surroundings.| by Gary James

T

his column gives me permission to obsess over food. Any kind of preoccupation can be unfortunate, and I aspire to stay this side of normal. But then I survey The Golf Club at Redlands Mesa in Grand Junction, one of our state’s most scenic courses, and look at the colors of the Grand Mesa, the world’s tallest flat-top mountain— the russet-brown soil dusted in milky-white late-spring snow with a sprinkling of evergreens and crispy shards of red rock peeking through—and all I can think about is a baked potato with sour cream, chives and bacon bits.

At least my compulsion tastes good. The gateway city to the Colorado National Monument, Grand Junction is also a home for some fine eats.

co l o r a d o a v i d g o l f e r. c om

il BisTro iTAliAno Raised in the small Italian village of Bibbiano, Brunella Gualerzi learned to cook at her mama’s knee. Her travels brought her to Grand Junction over 20 years ago, and as chef and owner of Il Bistro Italiano, she’s a stickler for authentic Italian cuisine, setting the standard for the Grand Valley’s most consistently excellent food.

She also offers featured events such as cooking classes, special Tapas Nights ($22 for all-you-can-eat small plates of assorted meat, vegetarian and fish dishes) and a “Split the Wheel” dinner where she gives a lesson on cutting a large wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese imported from her sister’s factory (it takes several difJune 2013 |Colorado AvidGolfer

39

BowLED oVEr: red rose’s Viet-alian offerings.

and entrenched staff, we drew the “young one,” Nicholas Moore, who has waited tables for several years while attending Colorado Mesa University (nee Mesa State College); Brunella displays his inspired scenic photography on the walls. My only regret was that I missed Mama puttering in the back of the kitchen—she visits from the homeland several times a year. I’d pay extra to be given the command: “Mangia!”

400 Main Street 970-243-8662; ilbistroitaliano.com

reD rose cAFe

Next door to Grand Junction is Palisade, a verdant valley floor celebrated for its fruit orchards (put me down for the best damn peaches in America) and vineyards. Set downtown, the Red Rose Cafe has long been guided by Tom and Rose Cassabona, who combined their roots to bring Italian and Vietnamese choices to the menu. But they’ve found it tough to operate during the winter months, like Palisade’s other independent restaurateurs (I’m thinking of the equally

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Colorado AvidGolfer | June 2013

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ferent knives—more like chisels—to crack them so the texture and structure remains intact).

My most recent experience at Il Bistro consisted of several spectacular courses. The Calamari, the signature appetizer, had an appealing citrus pop in the breading that rendered the lemon garlic cream sauce accompaniment moot. A plate of soft warm bread came with a delicious spread involving roasted red peppers, pimento, cream cheese, ricotta and a hint of red chili pepper.

Bunella is big on seasonal entrees such as Ossobuco di Bisonte, a Colorado bison shank slowly braised with tomatoes and white wine and served with saffron risotto. It was giving way on the menu to a spring dish, Capesante e Asparagi, combining bay scallops, fresh asparagus with roasted tomatoes, shallots, white wine and a touch of cream with garganelli pasta.

Of the standard entrees, the simple Scaloppina al Limone was my table’s favorite, an incredibly tender all-natural chicken breast sauteed in a lemon and white wine sauce, served with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and vegetables. But I stoned my fellow diners with the Rosetta—house-made pasta rolled with rosemary ham and provolone cheese, baked and served with spicy tomato cream sauce.

This kind of rustic, homemade Italian dish isn’t found in many Colorado restaurants, and it was spectacular.

Wines are researched by region, and the perfect accompaniment to my repast was a bottle of Scaia, made from the Corvina grape (also used in the production of Valpolicella); I couldn’t stop playing with the nifty glass stopper...or drinking, for that matter. I’ve been lucky to have enjoyed the wide variety of regional Tiramisu throughout Italy (it’s like their potato salad), and the recipe at Il Bistro Italiano tipped me into a classic ladyfinger/coffee/marscapone jag.

Everything about the meal worked that night. Of the well-versed

delightful Inari’s Bistro, which has discontinued its brunch and lunch service), and Tom has taken on a gig in Grand Junction. So now it’s the prickly Rose in the kitchen. When she ran the front of house, the service was a little unpredictable. But her Vietnamese cooking is excellent, and even if you look lost eating a rice noodle bowl, she’ll give “how to” tips. Kudos for a winning all-Colorado wine menu.

235 Main Street, Palisade; 970-464-7673

leon’s TAQUeriA resTAUrAnT

A number of Mexican restaurants populate the Grand Junction area, including fancier, more gringofied eateries like WW Peppers— and who wouldn’t eat crab enchiladas in white sauce? But for authentic Mexican food, make mine Leon’s. It provides the key values, from a slightly out of the way location to a family friendly atmosphere to fresh chips and salsa to Formica tabletops. Go for Taco Tuesday nights; stay for the waitress to tease you into speaking Spanish.

505 30 Rd #8; 970-242-1388

Courses at Courses The Red Canyon GRill at The Golf Club at Redlands Mesa accompanies its selection of wraps, sandwiches, burgers and salads with magnificent views of Grand Mesa, the Bookcliffs and Colorado National Monument. For optimal effect, dine alfresco. More Continental fare—and European ambience—awaits south on US Highway 50 at Cedaredge Golf Club, where WildfiRe Pizza turns out impeccable pies, such as the Capricciosa—a Margherita pizza baked with mushrooms, Kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, and topped with a thin layer of prosciutto.

Wildfire owner Curt Smelser imported the oven from Italy and fires it with apple wood from nearby orchards. He also flies in fresh salmon, branzino and red snapper daily. A post-round pairing of Snapper Livornese with a sangiovese or Peroni will put you under the Tuscan sun right in the Grand Valley.

red Canyon Grill

Cag

Gary James is a Boulder-based writer specializing in food and music.

wildfire Pizza Bar

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nice Drives

niche PerFecT Lexus LS460 and Infiniti JX35

…………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………

shoot to the head of their classes. By Isaac Bouchard 2013 lexuS lS460 aWd PRiCe aS TeSTed: $82,279

There is no way that the refreshed, 2013 LS flagship could be the complete gamechanger its illustrious, first-generation predecessor was in 1989. However, the class that vehicle helped define has substantially impacted what this latest model has become.

A thorough refresh of last year’s model, the new LS460 still manages to stand out a bit more when approaching thanks to its new, aggressive spindle grill. Departing the scene, though, it’s as anodyne as ever. Thankfully Lexus hasn’t messed up the sybaritic cockpit, which stands as a

44

Colorado AvidGolfer | June 2013

reminder of the way Lexus used to approach material quality before the bean counters took over. Everything you touch is sumptuous, and there are none of the downmarket materials or cheap finishes that mar the interiors of the otherwise sumptuous BMW 7-series or Jaguar XJ. However, the initially captivating Lexus infotainment system soon frustrates with its cluttered graphics and haptic-feedback controller that frequently overshoots its target. This means you spend too much time trying to find a song or switch functions with your eyes on the gorgeous 12.3inch monitor, and not on the road. Thanks to the Mark Levinson Reference audio system, at least when you find the track you’re looking for, you’ll be rewarded with some

of the most accurate playback available in a car, without the absurd price tags that others now charge for their upper end, “name brand” audio systems.

The LS460 has always been more about refinement than thrilling driver involvement. The original introduced a level of isolation henceforth considered imperative for success in the class, and the latest loses none of its oiled perfection, but adds a bit of attachment. Steering feel and precision are improved, body control better, and the ride (at least on the smaller standard wheels) still excellent. Whether the 460 can maintain these qualities on the outsized footwear becoming de rigueur in the class remains questionable.

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LuXury FLaGsHIP: The Lexus Ls460

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roLLING a sEVEN: The Infiniti JX35

to 386 horses, but the all-wheel-drive machines still have outputs of “only” 360hp and 347lb-ft, channeled through a slick eight speed tranny (another Lexus first, which almost all competitors have since adopted), giving 0-60mph in about six seconds and fuel economy that stays resolutely midteens in the city but can reach the higher twenties on the open road.

It is hard to find anything to criticize in the LS460, yet in some ways the Lexus has become a victim of its own success. Competitors have figured out how to recreate the sense of effortless progress it serves up, while imbuing their flagships with more character, visual appeal or driver involvement. This takes nothing away from the inherent goodness of the LS460, and for those who still value understated progress and exceptional reliability the Lexus still remains a compelling choice—all at a price that undercuts competitors by up to five figures.

2013 infiniTi Jx35

PRiCe aS TeSTed: $55,170 Exploiting a niche unfilled by competitors such as BMW and Lexus, Infiniti has

46

Colorado AvidGolfer | June 2013

brought the JX35—a true seven-passenger crossover—to market ahead of its rivals.

Fluidic forms and lots of sweeping chrome hide this rig’s true size and give it the upmarket pizzazz necessary to differentiate it from its less expensive platform-mate, the Nissan Pathfinder.

Inside, it welcomes occupants with the Rubenesque curves that have come to define Infiniti’s interiors, with more useable size and comfortable seating than its competitors. With three rows that can actually be inhabited by adults without dispatching them to immediate chiropractic care, the JX35 places itself ahead of the current Acura MDX, Audi Q7 and BMW X5.

Not everything holds up to scrutiny; many moldings are cheaper than the price point suggests, the dash top’s speaker grills don’t fit flush, and a forest’s worth of fake wood grate. The JX35 does offer, however, most every available technology to entertain, distract and save you from yourself.

In motion the JX35 is generally refined and quiet, soothing and polished. Initial ride motions are well damped, but not the bigger bumps. Roll control is tight, so it doesn’t lean much in the corners, and steering is accurate if numb. It comes close to the Mazda CX-9, still the dynamic benchmark in large seven-seaters, which is no small thing.

Powered by a newer version of company’s ubiquitous VQ-series V6, the JX35 has outputs of 265hp and 248lb-ft, channeled through a continuously variable transmission and either front or all-wheel-drive.

While generally loathed by enthusiasts, this is one of the best CVTs yet, with adequate throttle response in its Sport mode and no undue hunting for the right gear ratio.

0-60 arrives in a class-average 7.8 seconds, and real-world economy comes in at 18-19 mpg.

The JX35 is competitive in most every area and excels in interior space usage and accommodations. That it almost matches the class-leading Mazda dynamically is no small accomplishment. If its apparent interior quality doesn’t live up to an Audi’s or even Infiniti’s other products, then neither does its price—which comes smack between the mainstream Asian and American players and the higher end German offerings. Combined with the excellence of Infiniti’s post-sale service and the terrific reliability the company’s products have become known for, the JX35 actually has something unique to offer. Cag Read more of Contributing Editor Isaac Bouchard’s automotive writing at nicedrivz.com and coloradoavidgolfer.com. coloradoavidgo lf e r.c o m

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The Bridges

2013

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7

Unforgettable Trips A Golferâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Guide to

Telluride, Durango and Montrose Grand Junction and Delta Steamboat and Grand County

Nicklaus & Mother Nature . . . have created the perfect sanctuary!

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Play Great golf with spectacular views

Call 970.252.1119 to book your Stay & Play Package today! www.montrosebridges.com

The layout of the Bridges Golf & Country Club is dotted by lots of water—the historic Loutsenhizer Canal, fed by the Gunnison and Uncompahgre rivers, snakes through the course, which features 10 lakes and numerous water features spanned by 17 distinctive golf-cart bridges (one of which is covered), giving the course its name. Coincidentally Montrose’s other course, Cobble Creek, also has 10 lakes and a creek winding through it.

Golf / Where to Play

17 Telluride Ski and Golf Club

t

Tee It High, Let It Fly Hitting shots from elevated tees is the most exhilarating component of playing mountain courses with dramatic elevation changes, especially at Telluride Ski and Golf Club and Glacier Club. It looks like you’re hitting into a vista of 14,000foot peaks, and your ball seems to float in the air, suspended as if it was wearing a parachute before descending into a blanket of green. That sense of awe and majesty makes you feel like Tiger Woods, if not Hercules.

Montrose has found an entertaining way to generate revenue—by hosting concerts at the golf course, with performers ranging from the Wailers to the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

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t Glacier Club is con-

structing a new nine-hole golf course, designed by Hale Irwin, on land acquired from the Forest Service.

Once finished in spring 2014, 18 of Glacier Club’s 36 holes may be made available to the public.

Colorado AvidGolfer | June 2013

FEATURED COURSES The Bridges Golf & Country Club 2500 Bridges Drive, Montrose 970-252-1119 montrosebridges.com Dalton Ranch Golf Club 589 County Road 252, Durango 970-247-8774 daltonranch.com Divide Ranch & Club 117 Ponderosa Dr., Ridgway 970-626-5284 eqresorts.com Glacier Club 600 Glacier Club Dr., Durango 970-382-7800 theglacierclub.com Hillcrest Golf Club 2300 Rim Drive, Durango 970-247-1499 golfhillcrest.com The Links at Cobble Creek 699 Cobble Drive, Montrose 970-240-9542 cobblecreek.com Telluride Ski & Golf Club 136 Country Club Dr., Mountain Village 970-728-2608 tellurideskiresort.com

TIP FROM A PRO

Local Knowledge t The Bridges Golf and Country Club in

Telluride Durango Montrose

t Dalton Ranch Golf Club is a casual and ma-

jestic gem in Durango that may go private sometime in the future, so make sure to get out and play this Ken Dye design this summer.

For more information go to

coloradoavidgolfer.com

“The Bridges requires accurate tee shots. There’s a variety of challenges—several greens have water or bunkers in front and back— but you’re not going to be surprised. There are no blind shots, everything is in front of you. So put yourself in position off the tee.”

– Eric Feely, GM, The Bridges Golf & Country Club

Outside dining in Telluride.

• Remington’s at The Bridges’ new Executive Chef, Roberta Masden, purveys fresh Mediterranean dishes and award-winning desserts. 2500 Bridges Cir., Montrose 970252-1119 x2; montrosebridges.com • Enjoy mind-blowing views at Allred’s Restaurant, Telluride’s most popular happy hour destination, located onmountain at the gondola stop. 565 Mountain Village Blvd., Mountain Village; 970-728-7474; allredsrestaurant.com • Horsefly Brewing Co. features locally brewed beers on tap as well as homemade root beer, cream soda and even sarsaparilla for your inner Yosemite Sam. 846 E. Main St., Montrose; 970-2499-6889; horseflybrewing.com • The Chop House Restaurant in the historic New Sheridan Hotel is Telluride’s social epicenter. The oldest bar in town still has its original fittings from 1895. 231 W. Colorado Ave., Telluride; 970-728-9100; newsheridan.com • Find Telluride’s finest bistro fare at La Marmotte, where the menu changes nightly depending on the season. 150 W. San Juan Ave., Telluride; 970-728-6232; lamarmotte.com • The Creekside Restaurant at Cobble Creek serves woodfired pizzas, pasta, steaks, sandwiches and seafood. 697 Cobble Dr., Montrose; 970-249-5915; creeksidecobblecreek.com

Inspired by magnificence

free travel planner • 866-631-7009

www.durango.org co l o r a d o a v i d g o l f e r. c o m

@visitdurango June 2013 |Colorado AvidGolfer

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Lodging / Where to Stay

Telluride Durango Montrose

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boasts many amenities to rejuvenate and invigorate, notably 32 treatment rooms and body therapies (European-, Easternand even Native American-inspired), Ayurvedic body treatments, hydrotherand aromatherapy—even a meditation lounge and an oxygen inhalation bar.

Country Club Dr., Telluride; 970-7286800; thepeaksresort.com

▼

Old West Built in 1887, the four-story red brick Strater Hotel serves as a living history of American Victorian architecture, furnishings and appointments. The bar and dining areas all radiate the character of the Old West. If it feels like a setting from a Louis L’Amour novel, it should. He wrote most of them in Room 222. 699 Main Ave., Durango 970247-4431; strater.com

R&R @ B&Bs

▼ Apple Orchard Inn , a luxury b & b

near Durango, nestles on 4.5 acres of gardens featuring waterfalls, trout ponds, streams walking bridges and an apple orchard. 7758 County Road 203, Durango; 970-247-0751; appleorchardinn.com ▼ Canyon Creek , located in a 1909

house, mixes vintage furnishings with

For more information go to

coloradoavidgolfer.com 54

Colorado AvidGolfer | June 2013

Strater Hotel

seuse. 820 Main Street, Montrose; 970-2492886; canyoncreekbedandbreakfast.com

WORTH CHECKING IN • Boutique The Ice House Lodge 310 S. Fir St., Telluride; 970-728-6300; icehouselodge.com • Resort Durango Mountain Resort, 1 Skier Pl., Durango; 970-385-2100; durango mountainresort.com

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THE MOST

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FOR TELLURIDE’S BEST STAY & PLAY PACKAGES:

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Activities / What to Do

Telluride Durango Montrose

Telluride Bluegrass Festival

Lorum ipsum aldo lor vit lo vittil bords.

Lorum ipsum aldo lor vit lo vittil bords.

Lorum ipsum aldo lor vit lo vittil bords.

Lorum ipsum aldo lor vit lo vittil bords.

Lorum ipsum aldo lor vit lo vittil bords.

Lorum ipsum aldo lor vit lo vittil bords.

t

Festival Fun Telluride offers a summer full of popular festivals, from Mountainfilm to Blues and Brews to Jazz Celebration, Wine Festival and the world-famous Telluride Bluegrass Festival (telluride.com). Classical music fans enjoy Durango’s Music in the Mountains (musicinthemountains.com), while north of Montrose, the Olathe Sweet Corn Festival (olathesweetcornfest.com) is all ears.

Trains & Planes t All Aboard!

The historic Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad has been in continuous operation for 130 years, carrying passengers behind vintage steam locomotives. 877-872-4607; durangotrain.com t Easy Glider

From now through Oct. 1, the Durango Soaring Club Inc. offers scenic glider rides over the Animas Valley.

970-247-9037; soardurango.com For more information go to

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coloradoavidgolfer.com Colorado AvidGolfer | June 2013

14

For more on Durango visit: www.durango.org

GET OUT! • Ride a Bike. The 142-mile Tabeguache (TAB-a-watch) Trail connects Montrose and Grand Junction.

• Take a Hike. A halfhour drive from Montrose is the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, home of Colorado’s highest cliff, the 2,250-foothigh Painted Wall.

• Wet a line. Cast for trout on the Uncompahgre, Animas, Gunnison or Cimarron rivers.

Or ride the ripples.

99

The Golf Club at Redlands Mesa ranks No. 99 in Golf Digest’s 100 Greatest Public Courses. Surrounded by the Grand Mesa, Bookcliffs and, most notably, the pink and red sandstone of the Colorado National Monument, “it’s like playing golf in the Garden of the Gods or at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.”

Golf / Where to Play

The Golf Club at Redlands Mesa

National Recognition

August 16-18 in Grand Junction at Tiara Rado Golf Course and Bookcliff Country Club. rmogolf.org

TIP FROM A PRO t In case you need

clarification, the sign over the desk in the Tiara Rado pro shop says, “No work boots and no cowboy boots.”

For more information go to

coloradoavidgolfer.com 58

Colorado AvidGolfer | June 2013

Adobe Creek National Golf Course 876 18 1/2 Rd., Fruita 970-858-0521 adobecreekgolf.com Battlement Mesa Golf Club 3930 N. Battlement Pkwy, Parachute 970-285-7274; battlementmesagolf.com Bookcliff Country Club 2730 G Rd., Grand Junction 970-242-9053 bookcliffcc.com Cedaredge Golf Course 500 SE Jay Ave., Cedaredge 970-856-7781 cedaredgegolf.com Devil’s Thumb Golf Club 9900 Devils Thumb Rd., Delta; 970-874-6262; devilsthumbgolfclub.com

Tiara Rado Golf Course 2057 S. Broadway, Grand Junction 970-254-3830 golfgrandjunction.net

Local Knowledge a narrow valley at the foot of the Grand Hogback Range, only a few yards from RIfle Gap, where in 1972 the artist Christo draped his famous Valley Curtain.

FEATURED COURSES

Rifle Creek Golf Course 3004 Colorado 325, Rifle; 970-625-1093 riflecreekgc.com

Award-winning course architect Jim Engh’s masterpiece at Redlands Mesa put the Grand Junction region on the world’s golf radar, drawing attention to a stunning high-desert landscape that incorporates large rock outcroppings and multiple elevation changes (nine of the holes play downhill from elevated tees). In 2001, the year after Golf Digest voted Redlands Mesa No. 1 Best New Affordable Public Golf Course in America, Devil’s Thumb Golf Course, a dynamite Rick Phelps design in the Adobe hills near Delta, copped No. 2 in the same category.

t Dick Phelps wove Rifle Creek Golf Course into

Delta

Golf Club at Redlands Mesa 2299 West Ridges Boulevard, Grand Junction; 970-263-9270; redlandsmesa.com

t

t The 75th Annual Enstrom’s Rocky Mountain Open will take place

Grand Junction

Since Cedaredge sits on the south side of the Grand Mesa, all putts go toward Delta—that is, they break downvalley, particularly on the back nine. Also, don’t always hit driver here. Hitting distinct landing areas is more crucial to scoring than bombing it down the fairway.” – Larry Murphy, PGA Cedaredge Golf Course

Lodging / Where to Stay

“The Rifle Creek Golf Course is one of the most scenic and spectacular 18 hole championship courses in Colorado.”

-Kyle Daniell, Head Pro

Grand Junction Delta

Grand Junction Wine Country

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The Palisade area east of Grand Junction hosts 75 percent of Colorado’s premium wine grape vineyards—Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet and Sauvignon Blanc. Discover Colorado Wine Country at the Palisade Wine Valley Inn, which offers the amenities of an upscale hotel in a cozy, romantic setting. 970-464-1498 winevalleyinnpalisade.com

t

Grand Hotel The Grand Junction area features no shortage of well-known hotel chains.

Among the best is the Marriott-Downtown Fairfield Inn & Suites in historic downtown Grand Junction. It’s adjacent to Two Rivers Convention Center and more than 100 restaurants, theaters and boutique shops. 225 Main St., Grand Junction; 970-242-2525; marriott.com

R&R @ B&Bs t Los Altos, perched above Redlands Mesa, treats guests to views of Grand Mesa and Colorado National Monument, as well as to gourmet meals and luxury accommodations.

375 Hill View Drive, Grand Junction; 888-7740982; losaltosgrandjunction.com

For Stay and Play package info: riflechamber.com

t Fairlamb House, a beautifully appointed For more information go to

coloradoavidgolfer.com 60

Colorado AvidGolfer | June 2013

b & b in small-town Delta, offers gracious hosts and delicious food in a Victorian home. 700 Leon St., Delta; 970-874-5158 fairlambbb.com

FEATURED PROPERTIES • Melrose Hotel 337 Colorado Ave., Grand Junction 970-242-9636 historicmelrosehouse. com • Monument Inn 1600 North Ave., Grand Junction 970-245-5770 visitgrandjunction.com/ monument-inn .

UR REDS, WHITES & GREENS SHOWING OFF O

WAVING OUR REDS, WHITES & GREENS

Wine? Check. Red rock canyon views from the greens? Double check. We’ve got it all, plus the wine country lifestyle. But don’t just take our word for it. Come discover for yourself why people return again and again to golf at Tiara Rado Golf Course and The Golf Club at Redlands Mesa in Grand Junction.

golfgrandjunction.net

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Golf / Where to Play

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For the last two decades, Colorado Mountain Winefest has been the premier wine celebration in the state, with 50 local wineries in attendance to celebrate their award-winning wines and growing industry. 970-464-0111 winecolorado.org

Just Peachy The Palisade Peach Festival, one of Colorado’s original agricultural festivals, takes place every August at Riverbend Park. It celebrates the town’s world-famous peaches—no fewer than 15 varieties, including Redhavens and Coral Stars, grow here—with a peach-eating contest, live music, activities for kids, great food and more. 970-464-7458 palisadepeachfest.com.

Check it Out t Fruita Roll-Up

Fly fishing is at its best in Delta County. Cast your line to try and hook a big one on the Gunnison and North Fork Rivers, or find your own fishing hole on Grand Mesa’s 300-plus lakes. 970-874-9532

The area around Fruita and Grand Junction boasts a latticework of exhilarating mountain-biking terrain. The trails at 18 Road, Bang’s Canyon and Tabegauache rival anything in Moab. 970-241-0141 for rentals.

For more on Grand Junction visit: www.grandjunction.org

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Colorado AvidGolfer | June 2013

Delta FEATURED DINING The Ale House in Grand Junction is part of the Breckenridge Brewery chain, offering their assortment of beers and ales and good food. 2531 N 12th St., Grand Junction; 970242-7253; breckbrew. com/food/the-alehouse-grand-junction The Winery Restaurant is a Grand Junction institution, located in a 90-year-old building with romantic ambience, a superb wine list and top-notch steak, seafood, chicken and pork.

642 Main Street, Grand Junction; 970-242-4100; winery-restaurant.com Il Bistro Italiano Inspired cuisine from Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region. (See write-up on page 39) 400 Main St, Grand Junction (970) 243-8622; ilbistroitaliano.com

t

t Fish Story

Grand Junction

For more information go to

coloradoavidgolfer.com

626 on Rood is central for wine lovers with upscale food and wine pairings, wine flights and more.

626 Rood Ave., Grand Junction; 970-257-7663; 626onrood.com Blue Moon Bar & Grille has the feel of a real saloon where you can find cold beer and a Monte Cristo sandwich. 120 N 7th St., Grand Junction 970-2424506 bluemoongj.com

co l o r a d o a v i d g o l f e r. c o m

June 2013 |Colorado AvidGolfer

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Golf / Where to Play

130 During construction, Haymaker preserved more than 130 acres, or about 54% of the course, as natural open space, including 30 acres of undisturbed wetlands and 59 acres of native grasslands.

course in Colorado to achieve Audubon International Sigprogram protects the environment and preserves the natural heritage of golf.

Rollingstone Ranch Golf Club

▼

Ski Country USA isn’t quite Tee Country USA—yet. However, Steamboat’s golf offerings reveal the best of the area’s peaks (the rollicking Rollingstone Ranch),

take place at Haymaker on July 6 and 7; Clampett, who has a place in Steamboat, will teach. Another school led by one of Clampett’s Master Instructors will be held September 14 and 15.

▼ Each of Pole Creek Golf Club ’s three nines—

Ranch, Ridge and Meadow—delivers the distinct golf experience its name suggests.

For more information go to

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Colorado AvidGolfer | June 2013

Catamount Ranch & Club (private) Catamount Drive, Steamboat Springs; 970-871-9300; catamountranchclub.com Golf Granby Ranch 2579 County Road 894, Granby; 888-850-4615 granbyranch.com Grand Elk Golf Club 1300 10 Mile Dr., Granby; 970-887-9122 grandelk. com Grand Lake Golf Course 1415 County Road 48, Grand Lake 970-6278008 grandlakerecreation.com/golf Haymaker Golf Course 34855 U.S. 40, Steamboat Springs; 970-870-1846; haymakergolf.com

TIP FROM A PRO

Local Knowledge Headwaters Golf Course and, before that, as SolVista Golf Club, Golf Granby Ranch remains a mustplay mountain course.

FEATURED COURSES

Pole Creek Golf Club 6827 County Road 51, Tabernash 970-887-9195 polecreekgolf.com

County, to the east, lie forested fairways that have survived beetle-kill, some becoming more “linkslike” in the process, leading to courses that are more open and quiet.

The once-common soundtrack of shots plinking and plunking off lodgepole and ponderosa pines at Grand Lake, for example, has disappeared, and so has the protection from projectiles those evergreens once afforded.

▼ A Bobby Clampett Impact Zone School will

Grand County

Rollingstone Ranch Golf Club 1230 Steamboat Blvd., Steamboat Springs 970879-1391; rollingstoneranchgolf.com

Skis, Tees and Trees

▼ Formerly known as

Steamboat Springs

“Pick a tee that gives you playability. The farther your drive goes, the narrower the target gets—and it’s a lost ball if you get in the tall native grass. Keep the ball in play off the tee and the rest is easy. Your main target is the black-and-white barber poles at 150. Get it around there and you have a wider shot.” – Tom Taylor, PGA Haymaker Golf Course

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experienceTroon Golf At Rollingstone Ranch Golf Club

Rollingstone Ranch Golf Club is one of Colorado’s best mountain courses,

featuring an 18-hole championship course designed by Robert Trent Jones ll, that offers incredible views of the Yampa Valley.

Call the Sheraton Steamboat Resort at 970.879.2220 to book your next Stay & Play Package.

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4/24/13 2:01 PM June 2013 |Colorado AvidGolfer 65

Sheraton Steamboat Resort

t

A Steamboat Staple

Lodging / Where to Stay

2

Sheraton Steamboat Resort’s “Golf the ‘Boat” package includes green fees for two players at Rollingstone Ranch Golf Club and Haymaker Golf Course. “Golf ’Til You Drop” is the unlimited golf package for two players at Rollingstone Ranch.

2200 Village Inn Court, Steamboat Springs 970-879-2220 sheratonsteamboatresort.com

With its funny neon sign, the Rabbit Ears Motel may be Steamboat’s most iconic place to bed down, but for comfort, luxury and convenient access to the slopes, golf (Rollingstone Ranch was formerly the Sheraton Steamboat Golf Club), Strawberry Hot Springs, Flat Tops Wilderness, and the authentic shops along Lincoln Avenue and Yampa River Botanic Park, you can’t beat the Sheraton Steamboat Resort. Fresh from a $20 million renovation, the property features the Rocky Mountain Day Spa and three awesome restaurants—Fish Creek Grille (at Rollingstone Ranch), Saddles (which features one of the area’s best views from its deck) and the more formal Sevens.

Check it Out t Just minutes from the

slopes and fairways at Granby Ranch, Village Homes Signature Retreat Collection affords the opportunity to own a home, not just a few weeks a year in one, near Rocky Mountain National Park.

66

t Devil’s Thumb Ranch Resort and Spa doesn’t

offer golf, but its large, luxurious new High Lonesome Lodge could accommodate a full tournament field.

Colorado AvidGolfer | June 2013

t Standing on their hind legs, a stuffed full-sized polar bear and grizzly lord over the lobby of The Inn at Silver Creek in Granby. The 350 rooms all sit within easy access to Granby Ranch and nearby Grand Elk.

For more information go to

coloradoavidgolfer.com

Steamboat Springs Grand County FEATURED PROPERTIES AND HOMES Sheraton Steamboat Resort Nestled at the base of the Steamboat mountain, The Sheraton Steamboat resort provides the ultimate location to enjoy Ski Town USA in the summer. From rooftop hot tubs to the incredible conference amenities, this property is one of Steamboats’s best!

For stay-and-play packages, visit: sheratonsteamboatresort.com Village Homes “The Signature Retreat Collection” Leading the way in Grand County living, Village Homes offers many options for your mountain dream home.

Located within the coveted Granby Ranch community, the signature retreat collection are ski-in/ski-out and or fairway homes from the 400’s. villagehomes.com The Grand Lake Lodge Established in 1920, this special property is a registered National Historic Landmark. Surrounded on three sides by Rocky Mountain National Park, its a must for any family looking to enjoy one of Colorado’s most scenic lakes!

For more information, please visit: grandlakelodge.com

32

On July 13 and 14, the 32nd Hot Air Balloon Rodeo and Art in the Park will bring colorful artistry to Steamboat’s Bald Eagle Lake. The two-day event, a summer tradition involving competitions, runs from 6 to 9:30 both mornings—after which you head to West Lincoln Park for the art show. 970-8790880; steamboat-chamber.com

Dining / Activities

Steamboat’s Hot Air Balloon Rodeo

Steamboat Springs Grand County FEATURED DINING Trout Dinner You can always catch a trout dinner on the Yampa or Fraser River.

But you may have to release it.

Cafe Diva A stylish French restaurant and wine bar, has limited seating, so call in advance for your table.

1855 Ski Time Square Dr., Steamboat; 970871-0508 cafediva.com Creekside Cafe & Grill Serving breakfast and lunch, the Grill is a local favorite, known for its outdoor patio that sits right next to Soda Creek.

131 11th St., Steamboat Springs 970-879-4925 creekside-cafe.com

t

Have a Grand Time Approximately 80 miles and 4,100 vertical feet separate Steamboat Springs from Granby and the towns of Grand County. You can cover the distance in a day, like the cyclists in Ride the Rockies have done. Or, when you’re not chasing birdies on the golf courses, crisscross miles of biking and hiking trails. Or fish, tube and kayak on the Yampa or the Fraser. Plunge into the hot springs or swim or boat in Grand Lake.

Resaurants abound at every price point, as do quaint western shops and outfitters.

The list of possibilities is endless. Just remember to stop and smell the wildflowers along the way. They’re gorgeous and plentiful this time of year.

Check it Out t Rocky Mountain Ventures offers guided

half-day and full-day rockclimbing trips where kids 6 and up can thrill to several single- or multi-pitch climbs near Steamboat. 970-8708440; rmclimbing.com

t See Mt. Werner and Yampa Valley via an eightpassenger gondola car , which takes you halfway up the mountain. Hike, bike, or simply take in the panoramas. 2305 Mt. Werner Cir., Steamboat Springs 970879-6111; steamboat.com

t The Steamboat Springs Pro Rodeo Series has bulls, barrels,

bucking broncosand even a kids’ calf scramble. It starts at 7:30 p.m. (June 14-Aug. 17) at Steamboat’s Romick Arena. 970-879-1818; steamboatprorodeo.com

For more information go to

coloradoavidgolfer.com 68

Colorado AvidGolfer | June 2013

The Laundry Restaurant changes its interesting menus frequently, focusing on slow cooking and smoking and scratch cocktails. 127 11th St., Steamboat Springs 970870-0681 thelaundryrestaurant.com

Saddles Bar and Grill Mountain Modern symbolizes this cozy yet sophisticated lounge in the Sheraton Steamboat Resort.

Keep it Colorado by enjoying a cold one on saddle deck overlooking the slopes in the summer. 970 879-2220; sheratonsteamboatresort.com Maverickâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Grille specializes in straight-up comfort food. 15 E. Agate Ave., Granby 970-887-9000 mavericksgrille.com Carlâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Tavern. 700 Yampa St Steamboat Springs, 970-761-2060; carlstavern.com Crooked Creek Saloon & Creekside Eatery, 401 Zerex Street, Fraser, 970-726-9250; crookedcreeksalooncolorado.com

co l o r a d o a v i d g o l f e r. c o m

Saddles Bar and Grill

June 2013 |Colorado AvidGolfer

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Finding Amelia EarharT Named for her legendary aviatrix ancestor, the KUSA reporter goes full throttle on everything â&#x20AC;&#x201C;whether thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s delivering traffic news, outdriving guys off the tee or flying around the world.

by Jon Rizzi | portrait by Todd Langley

co l o r a d o a v i d g o l f e r. c o m

June 2013 |Colorado AvidGolfer

71

W

hen 17-year-old Amelia Earhart decided to spend the summer with her father, Glen, at his new home in southern Colorado, she could never have imagined the impact Pagosa Springs Golf Club would have on her life.

After all, growing up in eastern Kansas, the future newscaster—whose up-to-the-second traffic and weather reports on Colorado’s top-rated 9News This Morning get Denver to work on time—had never set foot on a golf course: Not in Tonganoxie, where she’d lived mainly with her mother, Debborah, since the age of 13; nor in nearby Atchison, the birthplace of her distant ancestor, the world-famous aviator Amelia Earhart, who disappeared near Fiji in 1937 as she attempted to circumnavigate the world.

Amelia’s first and last names were the same as her forebear’s.

“My mom said, ‘We have to name her Amelia. It’s a name nobody will ever forget,’” Earhart recounts—although for “a long time I tried to ignore any significance behind it.” She instead went by Amy. (Ask anyone with the same name as a famous person—remember “Michael Bol-

72

Colorado AvidGolfer | June 2013

ton” in Office Space?—and you can understand why.)

Still, her parents raised her to exemplify the spirit of her influential namesake, to experience life, push forward and not accept any limitations. “When I was growing up, my mother and I would have real conversations about what I could do when I got older,” she says. “I began to recognize the benefit of carrying that name.”

“Amy” was the name she used when she applied for a job at the club in 2000. Glen, a farrier by trade, had suggested she ap-

ful job,” she says. “You can’t hear anybody when you’re on the mower. I got a great tan, was in great shape, always on the go listening to Books on Tape.”

“She wasn’t timid about operating the machines,” remembers Course Superintendent Terry Carter, who says she, like many other “young ladies” have always been the most attentive operators of the TriFlex mowers, which can quickly scalp the turf if they’re not picked up right.

“She was always friendly and eager to do anything. She took a lot of pride in making the course

PRETTY FLY: Earhart in a ‘42 Boeing Stearman at Wings Over the Rockies.

ply there. “He wanted me to get exercise, to be outside,” she says.

“I think he was thinking cart girl or something in the pro shop but those jobs were taken. Then the golf pro looked at me—and I’m, you know, pretty girly—and said, ‘I don’t know if this is your style, but they’re hiring in the maintenance shop.’”

So began a summer of starting work at 5:30 a.m. and staying ahead of the golfers as she raked bunkers, mowed tees, fairways and greens and placed cups. “It was a really solitary and peace-

look good.”

Amelia got to reap the benefits of her hard work in the afternoons, when the staff could play the course for free. A member gave her an old mismatched set of clubs (including two drivers) and “because of the way I was raised, I assumed I would be good at it, even though I’d heard it was hard and, to be honest, I’m kind of a klutz.”

She took to it quickly, her height, posture, flexibility and long arms creating a powerful swing arc and long drives. “Be-

cause I played with the boys on the staff, I got in the habit of playing from the men’s tees,” she says. “I still do. It gives them a challenge. I’m not a competitive golfer or an angry golfer, but when I outdrive some of the guys, it becomes more playful.

I’m just a goofball, really.”

She’s a confident goofball, however, and that confidence blossomed that summer. She’s literally played hundreds of rounds at Pagosa, and has broken 100 numerous times, though she’s never carried an official handicap. “I love hitting driver-8iron-putter because I hate using my irons,” she says. Playing the forward tees instead of the back ones might give her that option, but it might not be as social. “To this day, I’ll play with anyone out there. We’ll have a good conversation and a good time.”

After graduating from Tonganoxie High School and while at the University of Colorado, she continued to work summers at the course in Pagosa. During the school year, she held a job at Coal Creek Golf Course in Louisville, working the pro shop with PGA Professional Keith Soriano, who remembers how far “Amy” could hit the ball with “really old clubs.”

More than 10 years later, she still trots out those sticks at charity golf tournaments and rounds with friends at Cherry Hills.

In addition to Coal Creek, she also held jobs on campus and as a server at the now-defunct Dolan’s Restaurant on Arapahoe Avenue—primarily to afford flying lessons. “When people would hear my name they’d ask if I was a pilot, and I was so sick of saying no,” she explains. “I always had a sense of adventure and felt an sense of obligation to do it and it turned out I really loved it. It was a huge confidence builder. I don’t think my parents had any idea of what it would lead to.”

At Dolan’s one evening, she animatedly related her story to a couple she regularly waited on— “they always ordered lobster”— coloradoavidgo lf e r.c o m

AIR TIME: Since coming out of the SKY9 chopper, Earhart has hit the ground running as a reporter.

and got a quizzical look. “The woman was dean of students and she passed the information to the campus press. The next thing you know, I’m a cute little human interest story on Fox News and on shows around the country.”

In 2004, a year before she graduated, KOA came calling an offered her a job doing traffic from a helicopter. KOA shared the reporting with 9News. “I never in a million years thought about working in news,” she

admits. “I always wanted to be a high school English teacher, to introduce kids to books that would change their lives and force them to see the world in a different way.”

Amelia was seeing the world in a different way—from the SKY9 chopper and from the cockpit of the planes she was learning to fly.

In 2009, she left 9News to report traffic on KCBS and KCAL-TV in Los Angeles. She took a second job at Angeles National Golf Club, primarily to play free golf, and she also

earned her pilot’s license, getting certified under Visual Flight Rules.

Meanwhile, back in Denver, 9News was looking for a morning traffic reporter. “We kept thinking we need someone who could do it like Amelia,” remembers KUSA President and General Manager Mark Cornetta.

“We were ready to hire someone else, and I’ll never forget asking News Director Patti Dennis, ‘Are we sure Amelia isn’t interested?’

Let’s call her and make absolutely certain.”

They’re glad they did. Amelia returned to Denver April 12, 2010, as part of the 9News Morning Show. “She hit the ground running,” Cornetta says. “She has a great attitude, is an expert on traffic, is getting a degree in meteorology and is willing to put the time and effort into everything she does.”

Meteorologist Becky Ditchfield echoes Cornetta’s sentiments. “Amelia’s such an adventurous and positive person,” she says.

“Her enthusiasm is genuine. The upbeat person you see on TV is the person she is. I haven’t had the opportunity to fly with her— or to golf with her—but whatever she does, including throwing my bachelorette party, she commits herself to.”

After going to sleep at 9 p.m., Amelia rises at 2:30 a.m. and arrives at work an hour later. At 4:30, she co-anchors 9News First with

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Gregg Moss and then from 5 to 9, reports on breaking news, weather and traffic to get you to work on time. She does the noon broadcast as well. Who knew those up-beforedawn summers in Pagosa would be such good training?

And when she flies, the self-reliant peace and solitude recall mornings on the mower, and when she provides traffic news, it’s like the commuters are golfers for whom she’s prepping the course. And golf course maintenance workers, pilots and meteorologists all need to respect the weather.

What Amelia loves about flying is “taking control of a situation. I’m responsible for saving my own life. When you take off you

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Colorado AvidGolfer | June 2013

STUDY ALL: Before going on air or in the air, Earhart prepares with thorough meticulousness.

have to land. You can’t be unprepared. Flying forces me to be completely single-minded.

I’m so focused. The door closes and I’m all instruments, radio. I’m pretty impressed with myself when I’m up there. I’m hyper-focused.

I have to know what I’m doing. It’s a lot of responsibility. It feels good to have mastered something like that. To be a safe pilot.”

Amelia’s respect for the woman whose name she carries is a healthy one. “Having this name has been an amazing gift,” the girl formerly known as Amy says now. Flying a Cirrus SR 22, she last year recreated Amelia Earhart’s 1937 transcontinental flight from Oakland to Miami as part of her instrument training hours. “We tracked the tail number of the plane and had her updating us,” says Cornetta. “It was incredibly popular.”

The popularity and historical significance of that flight will pale in comparison to Amelia’s intention next summer to retrace her ancestor’s trip around the world in a singleengine aircraft. She’ll have a co-pilot. If she completes the flight, she’ll be the youngest coloradoavidgo lf e r.c o m

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woman, at age 31, to accomplish the feat.

A pilot himself, Cornetta admits to having a “healthy nervousness” about his high-flying employee’s plan, but he believes her meteorological training is unique among pilots.

“Knowing the weather, forecasting, all those things are invaluable to a pilot,” he says. “In the Rockies the weather can change in an instant.”

Which is why Amelia will have her Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) rating well in advance of her historic flight. She was supposed to take her final exam in May “but thunderstorms keep delaying us,” she texts.

“Before a lesson on Amelia Earhart, a teacher told me one of her students asked, ‘Why do we have to learn about the traffic lady?’”

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Colorado AvidGolfer | June 2013

Embracing what the first Amelia Earhart represented, Amelia has involved herself heavily in the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum and has recently become a member of its board of directors. “She’s a great example of someone whose passion for flight has raised her game in all areas of life,” says the museum’s CEO Greg Anderson. “She’s a great community figure, a great news reporter, a great human being and a great pilot.”

Anderson relishes the way Amelia transcends generations and serves as a wonderful role model for young women. “She’s our ambassador to youth,” he says of the erstwhile English teacher. “She loves to inform and educate and inspire high standards. The rewards are great when you can share that kind of enthusiasm.

“We’re not trying to make pilots out of everybody,” he continues. “We believe in the importance of teaching kids to reach for the skies so they can explore new horizons.” It’s a given that Wings Over the Rockies will sup-

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PROPELLING CAREER: Earhart strikes a pose similar to the one made by her famous ancestor.

port Amelia’s world flight next year.

The flight will promote the future of aviation, which Amelia believes must feature more women pilots than just the current 7 percent. Two months ago, she founded the Fly With Amelia Foundation, which puts girls between the ages of 16 and 18 through flight school if their parents can’t afford it. “It’s not just about flying,” she explains.

“The idea is to have them make decisions based around responsibility and planning, to grow confidence in a different way.”

Substitute the word “golf ” for “flying” in the above quotation and you have the kernel of a mission statement for a youth golf program. The two activities are not dissimilar.

“I don’t find it surprising that Amelia’s a golfer,” says Anderson. “Like aviation, it’s the sort of avocation that brings out the best in people and gives them goals to shoot for.

It offers a continual sense of recreation and hope for improvement.”

And for Amelia, golf also offers a sense of humility. As high as she flies, she still stays grounded, thanks to her days working course maintenance. “Today, when I play golf, it’s usually a fancy-pants kind of day, but I can’t play a course without talking to the maintenance staff,” she says. “That job gave me a true appreciation for people who bust their butts so we can enjoy ourselves.

I was the girl in the baseball cap sitting on the mower.” Cag Jon Rizzi is the editor of Colorado AvidGolfer.

For more information on Earhart’s foundation, visit flywithamelia.com or wingsmuseum.org.

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C

-shotters, Call them one one-hit wonders, or, as one cyber-smartass put it, “the dumb

blondes of Golf Course architecture.” Par-3 holes can be beauties and beasts. simultaneously tantalizing and terrifying, each pulses with the possibility of an ace or an eight. they demand your best off the tee—or else.

Which are Colorado’s best? We put the question to our Facebook followers, trusted contributors, friends and experts. more than 50 holes made the list—including one at a course that’s currently closed and four different ones from the same course. herewith a 21-hole beauty pageant with a few camera-shy alternates thrown in.

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#11 Ballyneal Golf Club Holyoke 145-200 yards

An intimidating uphill shot that you don’t want to miss left (lost in the yucca) or short (it will roll back to you). Hit it deep into the ample green or—if the wind is howling—bail out right.

#2 Colorado Golf Club Parker 84-154 yards

The shortest hole on the host course of this August’s Solheim Cup requires a laser-perfect tee shot to a small severely sloping green ringed by bunkers.

#13 Arrowhead Golf Club Littleton 122-173 yards This is the archetype. Tee from a promontory framed by sandstone monoliths 92 feet above the green.

Your shot needs carry the brush yet stay dry—and heaven help you if the wind is blowing.

#3 Boulder Country Club Boulder 128-212 yards

Though some vote for #16, the four deep bunkers and Press Maxwell’s subtly moving greens defend this tree-framed classic.

#2 Country Club at Castle Pines

Castle Rock 110-202 yards

This is an all-carry shot to a cliff-hanging green split into two levels by a front-to-back ridge. An absolute bear of a second hole.

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#11 Mariana Butte Golf Course Loveland 102-172 yards

A 100-foot drop in elevation leads to a green bordered by fully mature trees and Big Thompson River. Like the hole? A bunkered variation of it comes three holes later on the picturesque 126-yard 14th.

#11 Castle Pines Golf Club Castle Rock 140-197 yards

The elevated tee box affords a great view of a multi-tiered green framed by towering pines and bordered by a bunker on the right, a stream and waterfall short, and a flowerbed to the left. While the 75-foot perch subtracts up to two club lengths, the trees next to the tee box can mask afternoon winds, so check the flag and hope your ball finds the green—and the right tier.

#15 Cherry Hills Country Club #7 Harmony Club Timnath 83-179 yards

With a roly-poly green that’s as long as a football field, this Jim Enghdesigned hole can carry as much as a five-club difference, depending on the day’s pin placement.

Cherry Hills Village 113-242 yards

While compelling cases can be made for hole Nos. 8 and 12, this hole sports a puny green guarded by bunkers on both sides. To the left, Little Dry Creek is closer than it looks from the tee.

#17 Country Club of Colorado Colorado Springs 115-187 yards

Bordered along the entire right side by Curr Reservoir and defined by expansive bunkers and a long, narrow green, this Pete Dye creation near Cheyenne Mountain leaves little room for error.

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#12 CommonGround Golf Course Aurora 107-219 yards

The angle on this hole makes alignment tricky but critical. And even if you carry the small creek and avoid the wetlands, you might find one of the bunkers that surround the green on three sides.

#5 Sanctuary Sedalia 120-188 yards

A climb to the back tee rewards you with a view of the entire Front Range, from Pikes Peak to Long’s Peak, and proper club selection from this 75-foot high perch will reward you with a chance at par.

Avoid the front right bunker fronted by a rock wall and hit it deep into the severely undulating green if you want to make par or better.

#10 Red Sky Golf Club (Fazio) Edwards 165-231 yards

Set against Vail’s back bowls, this bit of eye candy can turn quickly sour, depending on the wind and the pin position. You could hit a 3-wood or 9-iron to reach a putting surface 50 yards deep with a mound in the middle that tends to pour shorter shots to the front of green.

3 the Hard Way

#17 The Club at Rolling Hills Golden 128-217 yards

Classic and scenic, this intimidator features water and sand short, and bunkers left, right and long. The receptive green slopes right.

3.25 is the average PGA Tour player’s score on Par-3s through May 5 (pre-Player’s Championship and the 17th at Sawgrass). That’s higher than on Par-4s (4.05) and Par-5s (4.66).

June 2013 |Colorado AvidGolfer

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The

Penultimate Club

#17 The Golf Club at Bear Dance, Larkspur #17 Raccoon Creek Golf Club, Littleton #17 Plum Creek Country Club, Castle Rock #17 Eisenhower Blue, U.S. Air Force Academy #17 Meadow Hills Golf Club, Aurora #17 Lakota Canyon Ranch, New Castle

#3 Inverness Golf Club Englewood 143-219 yards Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no margin for mishits, as a lake guards the front and right of the green and bunkers pinch it left and right. Aim long and pray you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to chip towards the water.

#17 Riverdale Golf Course (Dunes) Brighton 115-204 yards Pete Dye made great use of water and bunkers on this visually intimidating penultimate hole. Going for the green risks the drink; bailing out left leaves you with a delicate chip towards the water.

#17 Murphy Creek Golf Club Aurora 138-248 yards Not only is the hole long, it has water to the right and a deep swale to the left. Possible salvation comes in a sizable green but it might take two shots to get on.

#17 Green Valley Ranch Golf Club Denver 114-199 yards

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This delicate balance of challenge and beauty insists on proper club selection not only because the putting surface tucks in amid bunkers and an environmentally sensitive area, but because the deceptively large green can leave you with a coloradoavidgo lf e r.c o m monstrously long putt.

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#17 The Golf Club at Redlands Mesa Grand Junction

BettInG holes

89-218 yards Climb to the tips and let ‘er rip. One of Jim Engh’s finest holes drops 150 feet from a tiny tee to a green surrounded by a rock amphitheater and fronted by a deep bunker to the right.

Well Worth a Shot (or Three)

#12 Haymaker Golf Club, Steamboat Springs #15 Red Rocks Country Club, Morrison #18 Valley Country Club, Centennial #16 Blackstone Country Club, Aurora #11 Fossil Trace Golf Club, Golden #16 Red Sky Golf Club (Norman), Wolcott #10 Columbine Country Club, Littleton #11 Ironbridge Golf Club, Glenwood Springs #5 Keystone Ranch Golf Club #7 Pole Creek Golf Club (Ranch 9), Winter Park #7 The River Course, Keystone #7 Lakewood Country Club, Lakewood #12 The Ridge at Castle Pines North, Castle Rock #8 Fox Hollow Golf Club (Canyons), Lakewood

#4 The Broadmoor (East)

#11 Eagle-Vail Golf Club, Vail

Colorado Springs 100-170 yards

#14 Red Hawk Ridge Golf Club, Castle Rock

Ask Meg Mallon about this hole. Leading in the final round of the 1995 U.S. Women’s Open, she tripled it after spinning her tee shot into the pond. Like most holes at The Broadmoor, just hitting the green is no guarantee of par.

#10 Lone Tree Golf Club, Lone Tree

#11 Wellshire Golf Course, Denver

#16 The Golf Club at Ravenna Littleton 132-240 yards

Plunging from atop the Dakota Ridge Hogback, this dramatic hole has a hidden tee midway from the green for those looking for a wager.

Did we miss your par-3 choices? Chip in on Facebook or go to coloradoavidgolfer.com. Cag

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games Golf

TRIVIA

| PUZZLERS

of

BASkET CASES

Our national championship comes with wicker shock.

T

his month, the U.s. open returns to Philadelphia’s Main Line for the first time in more than three decades. Feared to be possibly too short for today’s power players, Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course is famous for

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the exploits of Bobby Jones and Ben Hogan, as well as for the iconic red and orange wicker baskets that prevent players from gauging the wind around the green. How well do you know the history of the club and the event?

For answers, visit coloradoavidgolfer.com.

If Webb Simpson wins at Merion, he will be the first repeat U.S. Open Champion since... a) Tiger Woods b) Jack Nicklaus c) Curtis Strange d) hale Irwin

The 2005 U.S. Amateur at Merion, commemorating Bobby Jones’ win during his 1930 Grand Slam, was won by... a) Ricky Barnes b) edoardo Molinari c) Richie Ramsay d) Buddy Marucci

At Merion who became the first Australian to win the U.S. Open? a) Greg Norman b) David Graham c) Geoff Ogilvy d) Ian Baker-Finch

Which player did not win a U.S. Open at Merion? a) Lee Trevino b) David Graham c) Jack Nicklaus d) Olin Dutra

Who won the first U.S. Amateur held at Merion? a) Chick evans b) Francis Ouimet c) Bobby Jones d) henry Stetson

At 6,996 yards, Merion will be the shortest U.S. Open course since... a) Bethpage (2009) b) Southern hills (2001) c) Oakland hills (1996) d) hazeltine (1991)

When Ben hogan miraculously won the 1950 U.S. Open after a near-fatal accident, whom did he defeat in a playoff? a) George Fazio and Lloyd Mangrum b) Cary Middlecoff and Sam Snead c) Julis Boros and henry Picard d) Lloyd Mangrum and Dutch harrison

Scottish immigrant hugh Wilson, the architect of Merion, had a hand in designing the the final four holes at which course? a) Aronimink b) Oakmont c) Pine Valley d) Philadelphia Cricket Club

Colorado AvidGolfer | June 2013

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