Play Away

THE ROBERT TRENT JONES JR. course at the Club at Crested Butte, snuggled up against the steep granite cliffs shielding the slopes of the ski area above, is perhaps the “best unknown” mountain course in Colorado. Opened back in 1984, Trent Jones Jr. didn’t force the layout into the mountainside, though the signature 13th plummets roughly 200 feet. The designer, fortuitously, had a free hand sketching the course before the surrounding Skyland neighborhood was built, and his touches include bunkers that emulate melting snow, plenty of water hazards, and mostly unspoiled views of the butte, the Elk Mountain Range and the surrounding valley. But even with the formidable 9,000-square-foot Skyland clubhouse, an aquatics center, tennis courts, fitness facility and trout-stocked ponds, its remote location and short golf season left it to struggle for decades to fill the membership rolls. Through two owners and into the current third, selling out the 395 memberships called for in the bylaws came to be viewed as something of an impossible dream. That is until the club finally decided to fuse itself to the ski slopes looming above it in a way that’s unique in Colorado—and even the country. The club’s second owner had snapped up for members, which until then were primarily two pieces of prime real estate at the base of retired couples from Texas and other points south the ski area, back when it was still relatively af- who summered in Crested Butte. By the 2012fordable. Plans to redevelop were scuttled by the 13 season, they’d persuaded the owners to turn Great Recession, and the property sat largely idle. a tiny portion of the structure into a “temporary” Then along came Mike Swan, who arrived in spring ski meeting place for members. With a robust 2006, fresh off graduation from Virginia Tech, im- response, that 800-square-foot nook eventually probably imagining a career as both a golf and grew to the fill entire building, which now houses ski pro. First brought on to handle carts and bags, by 2011 he’d worked himself up to head pro, while still spending his winter “off-seasons” teaching skiing at Crested Butte. Swan would look fondly upon the club’s unused 11,000-squarefoot building, sited 50 yards from the Red Lady PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF THE CLUB AT CRESTED BUTTE Express Lift, as he made his ski rounds. Teaming with club GM Brad Bogard, they envisioned what a high-end, basearea ski club might mean THE ONE AND ONLY: The Club at Crested Butte is the only golf course in town.

a restaurant, lounge, and 265 lockers on three floors, with private parking for 115 cars outside. The four-season operation provides year-long employment for the club’s food and beverage staff, including the chef, and the cart barn employees serve as ski valets. The sudden appeal to families dramatically increased demand, and the club is now at 375 members and nearing its cap in selling $75,000 refundable memberships ($52,000 non-refundable), a price of admission that places it in the upper tier of Colorado clubs. “The reason they are writing the checks is the ski club,” says Swan, who is now the club’s director of golf and ski, and guides club members on mountain tours. “When you combine the two, it becomes a no-brainer.” By appealing to ski families who play golf— but not enough to justify a golf membership—the club created a lucrative new market with no competition. It effectively doubled its “in-season” appeal and value, with golf mid-May through early October and skiing late November into early April. The model is unlikely to be duplicated: Acquiring prime base real estate at a major Colorado destination ski resort typically involves the outlay of tens of millions of dollars. And the Club represents the only golf course in town; the closest is the Dos Rios Country Club 30 miles downvalley in Gunnison, where there is also an airport. Crested Butte does allow limited outside play, but that opportunity has now been winnowed to afternoons between 12:30 and 2 p.m. Many of Colorado’s private courses saw unprecedented increases in rounds played during the COVID-19 summer, often by 50 percent and more, and spiking membership sales, with some raising initiation fees. Despite losses in food and beverage, the cancellation of outside corporate events, and the furloughing of employees during the peak of the pandemic, most clubs are in better shape financially than they’ve been in many years. Golf nationwide also jumped, with public course play up 12 percent and an even larger 20 percent hike at private clubs. All of this is even more remarkable considering that many were closed when the pandemic first arrived in the spring. Eddie Ainsworth, who stays in constant

touch with PGA professionals across the state in his role as the CEO of the Colorado PGA section, expects Colorado to be shatter that pace in 2021. It’s also brought new challenges: It’s the first time in his long tenure that he witnessed PGA pros huddling to crack down on golfers utilizing software that can be programmed to reserve those precious daily tee times as soon as they become available online. Back on the Western Slope, the pandemic accelerated the Club at Crested Butte’s upward trajectory. With the mass exodus from urban centers, local real estate sales jumped 36 percent, hitting $400 million; limited housing inventory also led sales of vacant land to increase by 40 percent. Potential buyers also knew that if they became a Club at Crested Butte member, they didn’t need a pricey ski-in, ski-out property. Crested Butte, roughly four hours from Denver, has long been the off-the-beaten-path favorite of both Front Range free-spirit skiers/riders and travelers from the south, with 15 lifts serving 1,547 acres of terrain, a third of it double black diamond. Ironically, the ski area whose marketing campaign 20 years ago positioned it as the “anti-Vail” is now owned by Vail Resorts, and is part of the mega-popular Epic Pass. Locals reacted with fear and loathing to the purchase, but so far Vail has upgraded ancient lifts and infrastructure while leaving the character alone. The ski area is turning the corner toward a sustainable balance, drawing more skiers—but not too many. The town’s residents and many of the visitors aren’t just alpine skiers; in fact, they are as likely to spend time on the 50k of groomed trails maintained by the Crested Butte Nordic Center, which bills itself as the “Nordic Ski Capital of Colorado,” or in the abundant nearby backcountry. The biking, hiking and fishing during summers is arguably just as good. Topping it all off is the funky vibe of Crested Butte, settled in the 1880s as a mining supply hamlet and today lined with colorful Victorian storefronts. Its distinction as the “last real mountain town,” coupled with the “best unknown” golf club and the powdery slopes above, creates an appeal that’s difficult to beat.