2018 Winter Colorado AvidGolfer Magazine

21 HOLIDAY GIFT IDEAS—STARTING WITH THE GOLF PASSPORT

(see page 7)

Elevating the Game.

coloradoavidgolfer.com

KAUA‘I Par for Paradise From

A to Z in AZ PLUS:

Sun-Filled Rounds in NEWPORT BEACH, SOUTH AFRICA, CABO and Beyond

DILLON STEWART, THE “DREAM CRUSHER” ARE YOU READY for the NEW RULES?

WINTER 2018 | $3.95

12 >

0

74470 56556 7 COLORADOAVIDGOLFER.COM

The Ocean Course at Hokuala, Lihue, Hawai‘i

LIVE ULTRA

ENJOY RESPONSIBLY © 2018 Anheuser-Busch, Michelob Ultra® Light Beer, St. Louis, MO 95 calories, 2.6g carbs, 0.6g protein and 0.0g fat, per 12 oz.

95 CALS

2.6

CARBS

THE DESERT IS HOT Absolutely blazing.

AbsolutelyScottsdale.com

CONTENTS | Winter 2018

29

52 Free Yourself in Tucson The region’s 40-plus courses inspire the same boundless spirit engendered by the city of Tucson itself. By Name Name

60

DEPARTMENTS

FEATURES

6 Forethoughts

42 Kaua‘i

What in the World?

By Jon Rizzi

12 ’net Score

Welcome to the new

ColoradoAvidGolfer.com

14 The CGA

Ready for the New Rules of Golf?

21 The Gallery

South Africa has spawned some of the world’s greatest golfers, yet pitiably its stunning courses remain largely unheralded.

By Tony Dear

The beautiful wildness of Hawai‘i’s Garden Isle is as good as it gets for golf.

By George Fuller

46 Spell of the Pelican

The Colorado Golf Hall of Fame’s new class, Kupcho conquers Q-School, George Hoos, Doug Rohrbaugh, more

Newport Beach’s cosseting Resort at Pelican Hill dares visitors to resist its soignée charms.

By Ted Johnson

64 Blind Shot

48 Take it A-Z

Silver State Playbook

PLAYER’S CORNER 29 Profile

Junior phenom Dillon Stewart of Fort Collins chases his dream.

By Jon Rizzi

54 Golf in the Rainbow Nation 58 Q’d in Cabo Led by Aspenite Ryan Elston, the private golf enclave of Querencia has undergone a $60 million, family-friendly reinvention. By Jon Rizzi

60 Can’t-Miss Mississippi After taking a while to germinate, public golf in the Magnolia State is now in full, glorious bloom.

By Tony Dear

An alphabetical arrangement of Arizona’s greatest hits—from the fairways of Ak-Chin Southern Dunes to the post-golf margaritas at Z’Tejas Grill. By Jon Rizzi

32 Gift Guide

21 items to give golfers this holiday.

By Suzanne S. Brown

SIDE BETS 38 Nice Drives

The latest BMW X4 and X5, Infiniti QX80 Limited, Ford Mustang Bullitt and Expedition Platinum. By Isaac Bouchard COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

ON THE COVER Ocean Course at Hokuala in Lihue, Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i. Hole 14. Photograph courtesy of Ocean Course at Hokuala.

2

38 coloradoavidgolfer.com

The Garden Isle of Golf With dramatic landscapes and diverse layouts, Kaua‘i shines bright as a golfer’s paradise

Napali Coast

Ocean Course at Hokuala

Po‘ipu Bay Golf Course

Princeville Makai Golf Club

This Jack Nicklaus Signature Design features more oceanfront holes than any other course in Hawai‘i.

Situated on the sunny south shore of Kaua‘i, this championship design formerly hosted the PGA Grand Slam of Golf.

Makai means “towards the ocean.” Enjoy six oceanfront holes immaculate conditions, and simply unforgettable views.

Puakea Golf Course

Wailua Golf Course

Scenic views of Mt. Ha‘upu and lush ravines throughout the course, which served as the backdrop to the original “Jurassic Park” movie.

This municipal course, just three miles from Lihu‘e Airport, has been recognized as one of the top golf courses in the state of Hawai‘i.

For more info visit GoGolfKauai.com, our Facebook and Instagram pages and gohawaii.com/kauai

Winter 2018 | Volume 17, Number 7 publisher

A llen J. Walters editor

Jon Rizzi SALES, MARKETING & ADVERTISING associate publisher

Chris Phillips

digital strategist and content manager

A lex Rajaniemi

Even a well-built 401(k) can get a bit rusty Give that old retirement plan the attention and upkeep it deserves. If you’ve changed jobs or left a 401(k) behind, we can help. We’ll explore all of your options and help you get your retirement planning outlook into optimal condition.

office and operations manager

Cindy Palmer

projects and special events manager

Melissa Holmberg ART & EDITORIAL art director

Jani Duncan Smith editor - at- large

Tom Ferrell

automotive editor

Isaac Bouchard real estate editor

Mar tin Yeager contributors

Sam Adams, Andy Bigford, Suzanne S. Brown, E.J. Carr, Clarkson Creative, Tony Dear, Denny Dressman, Sue Drinker, Dick Durrance, Chris Duthie, Scott Gardner, Gar y James, Ted Johnson, Kaye W. Kessler, Kim D. McHugh, Phil Mumford

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

720-493-1729

Call today for a complimentary consultation.

mailing address : 7200 S. Alton Way #A-180, Centennial, CO 80112 fax : 720-482-0784 newsstand information : 720-493-1729 follow us on facebook colorado avidgolfer twitter @ coloavidgolfer and instagram colorado avidgolfer

Tom Gunnersen Vice President – Investments

coloradoavidgolfer .com

5613 DTC Pkwy Ste 1000 Greenwood Village, CO 80111 Direct: (303) 200-9523 Thomas.Gunnersen@wellsfargoadvisors.com https://home.wellsfargoadvisors.com/thomas.gunnersen

Colorado AvidGolfer (ISSN 1548-4335) is published eight times a year by Baker-Colorado Publishing, LLC, and printed by American Web, Inc. Volume 17, Number seven. 7200 S. Alton Way #A-180, Centennial, CO 80112. Colorado AvidGolfer is available at more than 250 locations, or you can order your personal subscription by calling 720-493-1729. Subscriptions are available at the rate of $17.95 per year. Copyright © 2018 by Baker-Colorado Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.

Postmaster: Send address changes to Colorado AvidGolfer, 7200 S. Alton Way #A-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. magazine partner of choice :

Investment and Insurance Products:  NOT FDIC Insured  NO Bank Guarantee  MAY Lose Value

Colorado Section

Wells Fargo Advisors is a trade name used by Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC, Member SIPC, a registered Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC. All rights reserved.

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

4

coloradoavidgolfer.com

RioVerdeArizona.com

Rio Verde is my perfect fit.

“The people are so welcoming, you just feel like you’re at home within a short time of being here.”

Chris & Diane McMullen

TAILORED TO YOU To learn more about RioVerdeArizona.com

Susan Martin (480) 471.3410 │ smartin@rioverdecc.com

Golf – Tennis & Pickleball – Bocce – Pool - Fitness – Arts – Hike – Bike - Trails

GCSAA

Forethoughts

What in the World?

Rocky Mountain Chapter

FRED DICKMAN, CGCS Director of Golf Maintenance, The Broadmoor

and

BARRY KENDALL, Superintendent, Green Valley Ranch Golf Club

Winners of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame’s 2018 DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD for their heroic efforts in restoring their courses to championship conditions after devastating storms.

PHOTOGRAPH BY MIC CLIK

Congratulates

NOBODY WILL ever confuse me with Joe Passov, the prolific, peripatetic “Travelin’ Joe” of Golf magazine and, on occasion, this publication. Joe has more facial hair and frequent-flyer miles than I do, as well as a lower handicap. But we share a passion for golf, as well as the first two letters of our names.

To call myself “Travelin’ Jon” would be akin to Arnold Palmer’s grandson calling himself “Slammin’ Sammy” Saunders. But in the context of our annual winter travel issue, I’ll temporarily appropriate the nickname.

I didn’t grow up taking exotic vacations. The furthest we’d venture from our New York home was to visit relatives in Florida—basically Long Island with palm trees—and the closest we ever came to crossing the Mississippi was a weekend in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Trips with my father usually involved getting my passbook stamped at the bank, not my passport stamped at customs.

For the last four decades, I’ve more than compensated for my destination-deprived youth. I’ve been fortunate enough to visit six continents and all but a couple of U.S. states.

For 20 years—the last 17 of them as editor of this magazine—many of these excursions have involved golf.

That’s because the game is inherently itinerant. Golfers love to “collect” courses from all over. Plus, everything from the PGA to the JGAC has a “Tour,” and all 50 states and the vast majority of United Nations members—including such unlikely ones as Eswatini, Vanuatu, Uzbekistan and North Korea—feature at least one course. From Aalborg to Zhailjau, the sun never sets on the golf empire.

Moreover, no two courses are ever identical. Like skiing, rock climbing, road running or bicycle racing, terrain and design differentiate one golf course from another, informing the strategy, appeal and perceived quality.

It’s great to play legendary courses, but the experiences and stories that golf produces can happen anywhere. I’ve personally almost decapitated Mikhail Barishnikov with a thin iron shot in the Dominican Republic; chased a runaway driverless golf car in Japan before learning the caddie remote-controlled it; and my wife and I buttonholed Rudy Giuliani at the Jigger Inn adjacent to The Old Course at St. Andrews. “You want a picture?” he asked.

On that trip, we also spent hours touring the must-see British Golf Museum with its bonny assistant curator Hannah Fleming. I followed it the next day at The Old Course with one of the most enjoyable rounds and best times of my life, thanks to my host John Boyne and caddie Colin Roberts. They not only helped me navigate the idiosyncrasies of the ancient links and surreptitiously photographed me in action, but also translated the rapid-fire Glaswegian patter of the jaunty couple in our group.

Travel, even to an English-speaking country like Scotland, exposes you to different terms and perspectives. At St. Andrews, for example, every bunker escape inspired a “well out” rather than a “good out,” and at Melville Castle in Edinburgh, I spied a poster celebrating the 2012 Ryder Cup “Miracle at Medinah,” not the “Massacre at Medinah” we Yanks remember.

As winter sets in, this issue should provide some perspective for your next golf trip. Beginning with our cover story on Kaua‘i (page 42), we take you to such blissful warm-weather locations as South Africa, Cabo, Newport Beach, Mississippi, Arizona and Nevada.

And if none of these gets your juices going, take the advice of Travelin’ Jon and just let the world be your golf course.

rmgcsa.org #thankasuperintendent COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

6

coloradoavidgolfer.com

MEMBERSHIP HAS ITS PERKS LIKE DISCOUNTS ON GOLF, FREE BEER, FREE BALLS, FREE GOLF CLUB, FREE FOOD AND MORE

2019

GOLF PASSPORT coloradoavidgolfer.com

PRE S E N T ED BY

MAKE THE TURN >>

SAVE UP TO 65% ON 18 EXCLUSIVE DEALS. DENVER REGION Applewood, Golden Broadlands, Broomfield Broken Tee, Englewood Buffalo Run, Commerce City Coal Creek, Louisville EXCLUSIVE Colorado National, Erie CommonGround, Aurora EXCLUSIVE Eagle Trace, Broomfield Family Sports, Centennial Foothills, Denver Fox Hollow, Lakewood Green Valley Ranch, Denver EXCLUSIVE Heritage Eagle Bend, Aurora Homestead, Lakewood The Greg Mastriona at Hyland Hills Gold Course, Westminster The Greg Mastriona at Hyland Hills Blue Course, Westminster EXCLUSIVE The Greg Mastriona at Hyland Hills Par 3 Course, Westminster Indian Tree, Arvada EXCLUSIVE Inverness, Englewood Legacy Ridge, Westminster The Links, Highlands Ranch

WHICH GOLF PASSPORT MEMBERSHIP IS RIGHT FOR YOU?

Littleton Golf & Tennis Club, Littleton Lone Tree Golf Club & Hotel, Lone Tree The Meadows, Littleton Murphy Creek, Aurora EXCLUSIVE Omni Interlocken, Broomfield Plum Creek, Castle Rock Raccoon Creek, Littleton The Ridge at Castle Pines, Castle Pines EXCLUSIVE South Suburban Par 3, Centennial Thorncreek, Thornton Todd Creek, Thornton EXCLUSIVE University of Denver Golf Club Walnut Creek Golf Preserve, Westminster

2019

GOLF PASSPORT coloradoavidgolfer.com

$59.95 GOLF PASSPORT MEMBERSHIP includes

up to 65% savings on golf at 63 courses, one Warrior Custom Golf Wedge or Hybrid, two dozen Warrior Custom Golf balls, two Preferred Clientele Dining memberships, special discount offers from PGA TOUR Superstore and GOLFTEC and digital subscription to Colorado AvidGolfer. For $30 more, UPGRADE TO THE GOLF PASSPORT PLUS which includes all benefits listed above PLUS membership to the Colorado Golf Association and official USGA GHIN Handicap.

PRE S E N T ED BY

$79.95 OUR MOST POPULAR MEMBERSHIP

includes everything provided in the Golf Passport membership including one dozen Callaway Chrome Soft Golf Balls, each one good for playing and a FREE BEER or MARGARITA at any Otra Vez, Tavern or THG location. For $30 more, UPGRADE TO THE GOLF PASSPORT PLUS DELUXE which includes all benefits listed above PLUS membership to the Colorado Golf Association and official USGA GHIN Handicap.

Proud Sponsor of Great Drives

Official Moving Day Sponsor

GOLF AT 63 COURSES. ALL INCLUDE A CART. FRONT RANGE/NORTHEAST REGION

SOUTHERN REGION Antler Creek, Falcon EXCLUSIVE Cheyenne Mountain Resort, Colorado Springs EXCLUSIVE Country Club at Woodmoor, Monument EXCLUSIVE Four Mile Ranch, Cañon City EXCLUSIVE King’s Deer, Monument EXCLUSIVE Perry Park Country Club, Larkspur EXCLUSIVE Sumo Golf Village, Florence Walking Stick, Pueblo

Pelican Lake Golf Club, Windsor Quail Dunes, Fort Morgan

MOUNTAIN REGION Breckenridge, Breckenridge Cedaredge, Cedaredge Devil’s Thumb, Delta Eagle Ranch, Eagle EXCLUSIVE EagleVail, Avon Golf Granby Ranch, Granby Grand Elk, Granby Grand Lake, Grand Lake Haymaker, Steamboat Springs EXCLUSIVE Keystone Ranch, Keystone Pole Creek, Tabernash Raven at Three Peaks, Silverthorne The River Course at Keystone, Keystone Vail Golf Club, Vail

WESTERN SLOPE REGION The Bridges, Montrose EXCLUSIVE Ironbridge, Glenwood Springs Redlands Mesa, Grand Junction Tiara Rado, Grand Junction Yampa Valley, Craig* EXCLUSIVE

FOR COMPLETE DETAILS, or to BUY NOW visit

coloradoavidgolfer.com/golf-passport or call us at 720-493-1729 ext. 18

Every Golf Passport membership includes two Preferred Clientele memberships which entitle members to 120 restaurant offers such as a 25% discount or 2-for-1 offers.

Do you want your Golf Passport membership in your hands today?

Purchases can be made at

Since 1987

MILE

colorado

avidgolfe

HIGH

GOLF

AT $ 5 2.8

0: 16 UNRE

AL D EAL

S

(see pag e

11)

r.com

Welco me ba Elevatin

g the Gam

e.

ck,

JACK!

The gre

atest the last 100 yea golfer of rs returns where his lega to celebrate cy began to a century Colorado of golf.

BRONC BOSS OS

Golf Passport PLUS members receive their Official USGA GHIN Handicap for tournament play.

EllisJoe 45

Pages Warm-of Weath Golf Des er tination s The Bro Gets theadmoor 2018 U.S. Sen ior Ope n The Anc Ban: Wh horing Putter at’s a to Do? 0

74470

COLOR

Golf Passport PLUS members receive a membership to the Colorado Golf Association

Every Golf Passport membership includes an offer for one FREE Warrior Custom Tomahawk Edge Hybrid or Wedge. Valued at $249 (Hybrid) or $149 (Wedge). Warrior is also offering two dozen golf balls. S&H not included. While supplies last.

FREE digital subscription to Colorado AvidGolfer

FALL

2015 | $3.95 09 >

56556

ADOAV

IDGOL

7 FER.CO

M

12 Callaway Chrome Soft golf balls good for playing and FREE BEER or MARGARITA at any Otra Vez, Tavern or THG location included with the $79.95 and $109.95 Golf Passport membership options

JAGUAR LAND ROVER FLATIRONS

PERFORMANCE RUNS IN THE FAMILY

THE DIFFERENCE IS REMARKABLE Every Jaguar and Land Rover combines uncompromising performance and capabilities with impeccable luxury and sophisticated design. That is why drivers from Denver and beyond who demand the best in all things choose Jaguar Land Rover Flatirons.

Get a FREE Golf Passport when you test drive a new Jaguar or Land Rover.

Valid only at Jaguar Land Rover Flatirons. Visit your dealer for offer details.

JAGUAR LAND ROVER FLATIRONS 11420 Via Varra, Broomfield, Colorado 80020 303.554.3000 JAGUARFLATIRONS.COM LANDROVERFLATIRONS.COM

’net Score INFO | BLOGS | DIALOG

A Site to Behold IN THE LAST ISSUE we teased the launch of our BRAND NEW WEBSITE. Well, folks, the tease is over!

We’re proud to announce we have debuted the new and improved ColoradoAvidGolfer.com! We’ve refined your online experience to showcase the very best of CAG: our events, travel experiences, the latest in Colorado golf news and, of course, The Golf Passport.

You’ll see more video and more pictures of your experiences with us on and off the course. Most significantly, we’re presenting the content you want in an easier-to-consume fashion with pages dedicated to the content you’ve come to expect from CAG. Take a few minutes today to explore the site. We’re confident you’ll be hooked from the start.

We’d like to thank our digital partners at Quadshot for putting together a fantastic website and if you feel like sharing feedback on your new online experience, email us at info@coloradoavidgolfer.com

On Moving Day, Count On Us

Serving Colorado since 1968 FAMILY OWNED The Official Moving Day Sponsor of the Golf Passport

THE RECOMMENDED MOVER COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

Schedule your move with us and get a FREE Golf Passport!

303-789-2200 • 4535 S Santa Fe Drive, Englewood • cowboymoving.com

12

coloradoavidgolfer.com

unspoiled. unrivaled. unlike anything you’ve ever played.

A VICI GOLF PROPERT Y | VICIPROPERTIES.COM

In terms of both experience and impression, Cascata occupies the pinnacle of golf in North America. It is attainable by those with high aspirations and even higher expectations. Playing Cascata feels truly special and comes with a subtle sense of accomplishment. Though not a private facility, it sure feels like it. cascatagolf.com

The CGA SERVING ALL COLORADO GOLFERS

The Rules of Assuagement Starting next year, golfers will receive much-needed relief from some of the game’s more archaic penalties. By Ed Mate, Executive Director, Colorado Golf Association WHEN THE FAMOUS Times Square ball drops on New Year’s Eve to welcome 2019, for the first time

For video explaining the many changes, see Ed Mate’s “Ready for the 2019 Rules” at coloradoavidgolfer.com and coloradogolf.org.

it will be dropped from knee height! Yes, the much-anticipated 2019 modernization of the Rules of Golf will take effect January 1, 2019. One of the biggest changes is the dropping procedure, which will be lowered from shoulder height to knee height. This change symbolizes the overall theme of the newly “modernized” code that governs the game: Bring the rules down to earth to make them easier to read, easier to understand and more intuitive. We’ve summarized the major changes.

ON THE TEE I make a stroke (intent) on my tee shot, graze the ball and it falls off the tee but remains in the teeing ground. I pick it up and re-tee it.

One-stroke penalty (stroke and distance).

2019 No penalty.

2018

2019

I tap down a clear spike mark on my line of putt.

General penalty (two strokes in stroke play; loss of hole in match play).

No penalty.

I hit my putt too hard and it strikes the flagstick, which has been removed from the hole and is laying on the green. (Unintentional)

General penalty (two strokes in stroke play; loss of hole in match play). Play it as it lies.

No penalty. Play it as it lies.

My caddie touches my line of putt to show me where to hit my putt.

General penalty (two strokes in stroke play; loss of hole in match play).

No penalty.

While reading my putt I walk to the halfway point of my putt and lightly touch the green on my line of putt.

General penalty (two strokes in stroke play; loss of hole in match play).

No penalty.

My caddie marks and lifts my ball (without my express authority).

One-stroke penalty.

No penalty.

While waiting my turn to putt, I mark and lift my ball while another ball is in motion rolling toward my ball.

General penalty (two strokes in stroke play; loss of hole in match play).

No penalty.

I mistakenly mark and lift my opponent’s ball on the putting green.

One-stroke penalty.

No penalty.

After marking and replacing my ball on the green, the ball moves ever so slightly due to gravity.

Depends on committee verdict on what caused ball to move.

No penalty. Replace.

After marking and replacing my ball on the green, the wind moves it.

No penalty. Play it as it lies.

No penalty. Replace.

ON THE GREEN

2018

2019

I strike the flagstick after a 3-foot putt and the ball goes in the hole.

General penalty (two strokes in stroke play; loss of hole in match play) and ball is holed.

No penalty.

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

14

coloradoavidgolfer.com

ILLUSTRATIONS BY DAVE PALMER

2018

ON THE GREEN

JACK DANIEL’S TENNESSEE RYE

The CGA IN A BUNKER

2018

My ball in a bunker, I touch the sand with my club several feet away and not in a manner that tests the condition of the bunker.

General penalty (two strokes in stroke play; loss of hole in match play).

No penalty.

My ball comes to rest in a very bad lie in a bunker. I want to remove it and drop behind the bunker for a two-stroke penalty.

Not allowed. DQ for serious breach.

Allowed.

2019

IN A WATER HAZARD / 2018 PENALTY AREA

2019

I ground my club in a water hazard/penalty area.

General penalty (two strokes in stroke play; loss of hole in match play).

No penalty.

While playing out of a water hazard/penalty area, I touch a loose reed on my backswing.

General penalty (two strokes in stroke play; loss of hole in match play).

No penalty.

During a round I play a practice stroke from a water hazard/ penalty area.

General penalty (two strokes in stroke play; loss of hole in match play).

No penalty.

My ball is in a lateral water hazard. I want to drop it on the opposite margin of where it last crossed the margin of the hazard.

Allowed.

Not allowed unless local rule in effect.

I slam my putter against my foot bending the shaft slightly.

I tap in a putt with the damaged club and continue to use it.

I remove a loose impediment from a bunker in which my ball lies.

2018 General penalty (two strokes in stroke play; loss of hole in match play).

2019 No penalty.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY DAVE PALMER

CLUBS 2018

IN A BUNKER

2019

Disqualification.

No penalty.

A fellow competitor throws a club in anger, striking my bag and breaking my wedge.

I can replace the club.

I can replace the club.

ACCIDENTAL SITUATIONS

2018

2019

After marking and replacing my ball on the green, I accidentally move it with my putter head.

One-stroke penalty, unless local rule in effect. Replace.

No penalty. Replace.

My ball in motion accidentally hits the foot of my caddie who is attending the flagstick.

General penalty (two strokes in stroke play; loss of hole in match play). Play it as it lies.

No penalty. Play it as it lies.

I accidentally kick my ball during search.

One-stroke penalty, unless ball is covered by leaves in a hazard or in GUR. Replace.

No penalty. Replace.

While playing a short shot out of the rough I accidentally strike the ball more than once.

Stroke counts + penalty stroke.

Play ball where it lies.

Stroke counts. No penalty.

Play ball where it lies.

MISCELLANEOUS

2018

2019

My caddie stands behind me to line me up on a shot off of the green and moves before I play the stroke.

No penalty.

General penalty (two strokes in stroke play; loss of hole in match play).

CLUBS I break my 6-iron on my follow-through while playing a stroke.

2018

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

16

I can replace the club.

2019 I cannot replace the club.

coloradoavidgolfer.com

The CGA

DROPPING I drop my ball from knee height.

2018 Must redrop.

2019

DROPPING 2018

2019

I drop my ball within one club length of my nearest point of relief. The ball lands within the club length but rolls out of the one-club-length area but less than two club lengths, no closer to hole.

Ball is in play.

Ball must be redropped.

I measure my dropping area with my long putter and drop my ball more than a driver’s length from my nearest point of relief.

No penalty.

General penalty (two strokes in stroke play; loss of hole in match play).

I drop my ball from shoulder height.

Ball is in play.

Must be redropped.

After a drop and re-drop my ball rolls closer to the hole than my nearest point of relief.

Place on spot it landed on second drop.

Place on spot it landed on second drop.

RELIEF SITUATIONS

2018

2019

My ball comes to rest in a hole dug by a dog.

No relief.

Free relief.

My ball comes to rest in casual water. The ball is visible and easily retrievable. I don’t want to get my new shoes wet so I substitute a ball when taking relief.

General penalty (two strokes in stroke play; loss of hole in match play).

No penalty.

My ball embeds in the rough.

No relief unless local rule is in effect.

Free relief. Can drop the ball within one club length.

I mark and lift my ball for identification and don’t announce my intent nor give my fellow competitors the opportunity to observe.

One-stroke penalty.

No penalty.

Ball is in play.

I find my ball after searching for three minutes but before five.

2018 No penalty.

My ball comes to rest close to, but not on, a wrong putting green. In order to play my next stroke I will be standing on the wrong putting green.

2019 Ball is lost.

MISCELLANEOUS I play a stroke and my ball strikes my opponent or his/her equipment.

2018 I have the option to play the ball as it lies or replay without penalty.

2019 No penalty. Play the ball as it lies.

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

No relief.

Free relief.

My ball imbeds in the earthen “lip” of a bunker.

Ball is in the bunker. No relief.

Ball is NOT in the bunker. Free relief under embedded ball rule.

CONDUCT OF COMPETITION

2018

2019

In stroke play, my group decides to play “ready golf” to catch up after a lost ball.

Disapproving looks from the committee.

Committee applauds!

The committee uses USGA Tournament Management Software (Golf Genius) as an electronic scorecard, allowing s players to sign and attest the card electronically.

Not allowed.

Permitted.

Not allowed. Not a water hazard.

Allowed. Penalty area.

A desert golf course marks the desert area surrounding every hole as a lateral hazard.

I use my distance-measuring device in my club championships.

18

DQ unless local rule in place.

No penalty unless local rule prohibits. coloradoavidgolfer.com

ILLUSTRATIONS BY DAVE PALMER

MISCELLANEOUS

Come experience both of Troon North’s Monument and Pinnacle courses for the best desert golf in Arizona. Please visit www.TroonNorthGolf.com for best available rates and 36-hole packages. After your round, stop in at the Dynamite Grill where you can enjoy great food with a view. Mention “Colorado Avid Golfer” by phone and get 10% off the already best available rate through 2019.

CALL 4 80.585.7700 OR VISIT TROONNORTHGOLF.COM M ENT I ON “ CO LO R ADO AVI D G OL F E R” TO B O OK TODAY

Congra tu (l- r : A lations to Pla llen W alters, y to Win W Jon R izzi, N inners N or or m F ranke, m a nd Lis a Lisa F ranke Fra nke. and C hris P hillips)

Congratulations to All About Fun Winn

THANK YOU

ers Bret and Ron Litra

to all who joined us for

THE BEST Golf Weekend of the Year!

We appreciate our players, sponsors and The Club at Cordillera for making the Cordillera Golf Experience the annual tradition it has become.

We want you to join us in September 2019!

Details coming soon.

OFFICIAL BEER

The Gallery

The Hall also honors...

NEWS | NOTES | NAMES

Distinguished Service: Fred Dickman and Barry Kendall THE SUPERINTENDENTS, respectively, of The Broadmoor and Green Valley Ranch Golf Club, Dickman and Kendall heroically restored their courses before major championships. In the case of The Broadmoor, a devastating hailstorm hit two weeks before the U.S. Senior Open, but you’d never know it from the conditions during the event. At Green Valley Ranch, torrential rain, hail and winds forced the cancellation of the first round of the CoBank Colorado Open, but around-the-clock work of Kendall’s crew allowed the event—shortened to 54 holes—to commence without a hitch.

HOWE TO CHIP: Lauren Howe, then 13, and her father, PGA Professional WInston Howe.

AT ITS ANNUAL Induction Awards Dinner at Denver Country Club on June 2, the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame will induct one new member: the former junior star, veteran LPGA player and instructor Lauren Howe.

Howe moved to Colorado Springs in 1973 at the age of 14, a year after becoming the youngest winner of the San Francisco Women’s City Championship at Harding Park. With her father, Winston Howe, as the first head PGA golf professional at the Country Club of Colorado, Lauren soon found herself playing alongside Colorado Golf Hall of Famers Judy Bell, Barbara McIntyre and Dow Finsterwald—all of whom wrote letters of recommendation to the Hall of Fame on her behalf.

Howe also found herself playing #1 on the St. Mary’s High School boys’ golf team for three years, during which time she won the 1974 Colorado Girls State Match Play, 1975 Colorado Women’s Golf Association’s Stroke Play, 1976 Mexico Women’s National Amateur and was stroke-play medalist in the 1976 USGA Junior Girls Championship.

At 16, she qualified for and made the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open Championship. Determined to become a professional golfer, she graduated high school a year early in order to season her game collegiately at the University of Tulsa, where she played alongside Nancy Lopez. After a year in which she won the Women’s Western Amateur Championship, Howe left Tulsa and became the youngest player to win the LPGA Qualifying School.

She would go on to earn $236,084 in an LPGA Tour career highlighted by a victory in the 1983 Mayflower Classic at the Country Club of Indianapolis and a playoff loss to Amy Alcott in the Mazda Hall of Fame Championship in 1986—her best season on the tour, with five top-10 finishes and nearly $90,000 in earnings.

In 1991, Howe dedicated herself to teaching golf. After becoming certified in Neurolinguistic Programming and Neurotic-Associative conditioning, she created the short- and mental-game program, Scoring Tools Workshop. She taught for five years at the World Golf Village in Florida, and three years ago co-founded GREAT Girls & Golf—a nonprofit that prepares Denver and Colorado Springs girls for the high-school golf season. She currently teaches at the Hale Irwin Player Program at CommonGround Golf Course. coloradogolfhalloffame.org coloradoavidgolfer.com

21

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF CENTER FOR SACRAMENTO HISTORY, SACRAMENTO BEE COLLECTION

Lauren Howe, Hall of Famer

Lynn and Mark Cramer

Lifetime Achievement: Lynn and Mark Cramer OVER THE COURSE of 25 years, the Cramers have owned and operated the Denver Golf Expo, transforming it from a quaint trade show to the annual kickoff to the golf season that draws hundreds of vendors and more than 10,000 people.

Golf Person of the Year: Jennifer Kupcho AS A WAKE FOREST University junior, the Westminster native won the NCAA Division I championship and played on victorious Curtis Cup, Palmer Cup and World Amateur Team Golf Championship teams. She also won the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the No. 1-ranked player in the 2018 World Amateur Golf Ranking and qualified for the LPGA Tour.

Winter 2018 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

The Gallery

Fossil Ridge

Montrose

Aspen

High School Highs Lauren Lehigh

Stars Are Born THE JUNIOR GOLF Alliance of Colorado’s Players of the Year and Colorado Golf Hall of Fame’s Future Famer awards will both go to the same high-school seniors: Dillon Stewart and Lauren Lehigh.

Stewart, from Fossil Ridge High School in Fort Collins, not only earned medalist honors in the Junior Americas Cup, he also led Team Colorado to its first victory in the event’s 45-year history. He won this year’s 5A High-School Championship and notched titles in two AJGA events—the Hale Irwin Junior and the AJGA Junior at Big Sky. Lehigh, a Loveland High student who’ll be teeing it up for the University of New Mexico next year, won three JGAC events, including one major: the Colorado Junior Match Play. She was one of 12 girls worldwide named to the Transamerica Scholastic Junior All-America Team by the AJGA.

COLORADO’S 3A, 4A and 5A boys’ high school golf championships took place October 1 and 2. Two teams won for the first time, while a third repeated, as all three divisions saw first-time individual medalists.

In the 5A at Colorado Springs Country Club, Fossil Ridge High School’s Dillon Stewart came up huge down the stretch to secure a victory for himself and his Fort Collins-based teammates. The senior, whose opening-round 72 put him four shots behind leader Connor Jones of Mountain Range, fired a 66, highlighted by clutch birdies on holes 17 and 18. Those two shots provided the margin of victory for Stewart. They also helped propel the Sabercats—comprised of Stewart, Owen Cornmesser, Charlie Wang and Colin Cazier—to its first-ever team title.

Behind the play of medalist Micah Stangebye, the Montrose High School Indians repeated as Class 4A champions at The Club at Flying Horse in Colorado Springs. The junior shot a 4-under-par 140 (69-71) to finish five shots ahead of runner-up Mac Konrad of Ponderosa High. Despite having Strangebye as the only player in the top ten overall, the Montrose team of Strangebye, Jordan Jennings, Dawson Hussong and Ryan Lords finished at 19-over par, six strokes better than Steamboat Springs, to capture Montrose’s second consecutive 4A team title.

At Boulder Country Club, a team of Skiers won its first 3A Championship. Led by Jack Hughes, who finished three shots behind medalist Jackson Klutznick of Kent Denver, Aspen High School beat perennial power Kent by nine strokes. Jack Pevny, who tied for fourth, Dawson Holmes and Dominic Lanese IV comprised the squad of Aspen High Skiers. chsaanow.com

Mulligans On page 48 of the Fall issue, we misidentified the photograph of the golf course at Rio Verde Country Club. Here is what Rio Verde looks like: PERFECT TEN: Team captain Kyle Heyen, second from left, with his squad of PGA REACH runners.

Marathoners Rio Verde Country Club

On page 53, we erroneously stated that Tonto Verde’s many amenities included tennis courts— which they do not.

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

CAPTAINED BY PGA Head Professional Kyle Heyen of Hiwan Golf Club, a 10-person charity team representing the PGA REACH Foundation ran in November’s New York City Marathon, raising more than $50,000 for programs that impact the lives of youth, military, and diverse populations through golf. The pros (left to right) from across the country are: Nathan Kalin, Heyen, Jeff Adkerson, Bill Troyanoski, Michelle Murphy, Tim Burr, Nick Knee, Jason Epstein, Joe Sutter and Trent Rathbun. pgareach.com

22

coloradoavidgolfer.com

T EE IT UP T EE IT UP

AT M A U N A L A N I

EXPERIENCE HAWAII AT ONE OF THE WORLD’S FINEST VENUES AT AT M MA AU UN NA A LLA AN NII

You are invited to Experience Experience Mauna Mauna Lani.

Lani. Mauna Mauna Lani, Lani,meaning meaning“mountain “mountainreaching reachingheaven,” heaven,”is

EXPERIENCE EXPERIENCE HAWAII HAWAII AT AT ONE ONE OF OF THE THE WORLD’S WORLD’S FINEST FINEST VENUES VENUES

a resort oasis setset upon thethe famed Kohala Coast on on Hawaii Island.

Located north of the istropical a tropical resort oasis upon famed Kohala Coast Hawai‘i Island.

Located north of Kona International Airport, Mauna Lani ResortCoast, features 45 holes of golf including Mauna the Kona International Airport on the Kohala Mauna Lani features the Mauna LaniLani’s Bay You are invited to Mauna Mauna Lani, meaning “mountain famed and South GolfLani Courses, along with Lani’s the WikiWiki short Since opening in 1981, You are invited toExperience Experience Mauna Lani.

Mauna Lani, meaning “mountain reaching heaven,” Hotel &North Bungalows, Mauna Spa Lani. and Mauna Francis H. I‘icourse.

Brown reaching North andheaven,” South is a tropical resort oasis set upon the famed Kohala Coast on Hawai‘i Island.

Located north the Mauna Lani courses have collected numerous “Best Courses You Can Play” awards from is a tropical resort oasis set upon the the famed Kohala on Hawai‘i Island.

Located northof of Golf Courses.

Since opening in 1981, Mauna LaniCoast golf courses have collected numerous the Kona International Airport on the Kohala Coast, Lani Mauna Golfweek, Golf Digest and GOLF Magazine and was a Mauna 10 year hostfeatures venue ofthe the SeniorLani Skins Game the Kona International Airport on thefrom Kohala Coast, Mauna Lani features the Mauna Lani Bay “best courses you can play” awards Golfweek, Golf Digest and GOLF Magazine andBay was Hotel &&Bungalows, Mauna Lani Spa and Mauna Francis H. Brown North and South — hosting many of golf’s greats, including Arnold Palmer, Jack Lee Trevino and Gary Hotel Bungalows, Mauna Lani Spa andGame Mauna Lani’s Francis H. I‘i Brown North and South a 10 year host venue of the Senior Skins —Lani’s hosting manyNicklaus, ofI‘i golf’s greats, including Player.

Golf is the centerpiece to the Mauna Lani Resort that features the Fairmont Orchid and Golf Courses.

Since opening in 1981, the Mauna Lani golf courses have collected numerous Golf Courses.

1981, the Mauna LaniPlayer. golf courses numerous Arnold Palmer,Since Jack opening Nicklaus,inLee Trevino and Gary Now is have your collected time to Experience

coming in lateFor 2019, the re-imagined Mauna Lani Bay that will reopen as the Mauna Lani, Auberge “best courses you can play” awards from Golfweek, Golf and Magazine and “best courses you can play” awards from Golfweek, Golf Digest andGOLF GOLF Magazine andwas was Mauna Lani. reservations or information, visit us atDigest www.MaunaLaniGolf.com.

Collection.

Both of which serve up unique and memorable stay and play packages. aResorts 10 year host venue of the Senior Skins Game — hosting many of golf’s greats, including a 10 year host venue of the Senior Skins Game — hosting many of golf’s greats, including Arnold Palmer, Jack Lee and Gary Player. is your Experience Arnold Palmer, JackNicklaus, Nicklaus, Lee| Trevino Trevino and Gary Player.Now Now is yourtime timeto to Experience Now your Lani. orW information, K O His AL A Ctime O A StoT,Experience H A W A I I Mauna 808 . 8 8 For 5 . 6reservations 655 | WW . M A U N A Lvisit A Nus I Gat O L F. C O M Mauna Lani.

For reservations or information, visit us at www.MaunaLaniGolf.com.

Mauna Lani.

For reservations or information, visit us at www.MaunaLaniGolf.com. www.MaunaLaniGolf.com.

E X P ER IENCE M AUN A L A NI GOL F STAY & PLEAY AGE INCLUDES: EXXPPACK PER ER IENCE IENCE EXPERIENCE THE FF MMAUN > ACCOMMODATIONS AUNAA LLAANI NIATGOL GOL MAUNA L ANI GOLF MAUNA L ANI BAY HOTEL &

STAY && PL STAY PLAY AY PACK PACKAGE AGE INCLUDES: INCLUDES: BUNGALOWS BOOK O NLI NE A T

WWW.M AU ALAN I GTHE O LF. C OM AT 4-ROUNDS OFNGOLF PER >> ACCOMMODATIONS ACCOMMODATIONS AT THE

USE PR OMO COHOTEL D E “HA& WAI MAUNA LLANI BAY FOUR-NIGHT STAY MAUNA ANI BAY HOTEL & I4 5 ” BUNGALOWS TO R ECEI V E $ 1 0 O FF BUNGALOWS DAILY BRE AKFAST FOR T WO AT OUR BEST AVAI L AB LE R AT E! 4-ROUNDS OF PER THE BAY TERR ACE RESTAUR ANT 4-ROUNDS OF GOLF GOLF PER

FOUR-NIGHT FOUR-NIGHT STAY STAY CALL 1.800.367.2323, AND MENTION THE DAILY AKFAST AT Must be aBRE Troon Rewards FOR Member to receive DAILY BRE AKFAST FOR TTWO WO AT rate. ”TRGOLF” PACKAGE, OR VISIT Become a Troon Rewards Member when THE BAY TERR ACE RESTAUR ANT THE BAY TERR ACE RESTAUR ANTyou WWW.MAUNALANIGOLF.COM/PACKAGES check in for your round. Start earning points towards complimentary rounds of golf.

FOR DETAILS. CALL CALL1.800.367.2323, 1.800.367.2323,AND ANDMENTION MENTIONTHE THE

> >> >>

”TRGOLF” ”TRGOLF”PACKAGE, PACKAGE,OR ORVISIT VISIT WWW.MAUNALANIGOLF.COM/PACKAGES WWW.MAUNALANIGOLF.COM/PACKAGES FOR FORDETAILS. DETAILS.

KKO OH HAALLAA CCO OAASST, T, H HAAW WAAIIII || 880088..888855..66665555 || W WW WW W..M MAAU UN NAALLAAN NIIGGO OLLF. F.CCO OM M

M A U N A L A N I G O L F I S M A N A G E D B Y T R O O N G O L F,® THE LE ADER IN UPSCALE GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT ®®® A UNN LAN ANN IGG LFFIISS I SM EDDBBB F, M AAU AAALLA II G OOO LLF AAA N AAA GGG EED YYYTTT RRR OOO OOON MM UN MM NN NNGGGOOOLLLF, F, N EGOO GLLOFFL C FCOO CUU ORR USS REES M EMA M AAA NGG AEE GM EE M ETN TTH HTEEHLE LEELAAEDDAEEDRRE IR IN NI U UPPUSSPCCSAACLLAEELG AN N M EN N TT

MaunaLani_8x10.indd 1

1/22/18 7:33 PM

The Gallery

Playing Their Cards

Bye, George ON THE SAME weekend that Castle Pines founder Jack Vickers passed away, Colorado golf lost another influential figure when George Hoos succumbed to leukemia at the age of 84. For 30 years, Hoos coached the golf teams at Boulder’s Fairview High School, leading the Knights to the 1973 5A Boys State Championship behind the play of future PGA Tour player Bob Byman.

“It seemed like I won every event I entered back then,” Byman recalls. “And a lot of that had to with George. I started with him when I was 15 and he was one of the top 10 players in the state. I was pretty decent but my fundamentals were such that they were not going to let me develop. George got me to swing in a more fundamental manner. He came up with some very significant ideas—such developing as a neutral grip—that enabled me to express myself as a golfer. We worked on things it would have taken me years to figure out on my own. He was a tremendous time compressor.”

Hoos left similarly indelible impressions on thousands of people, including University of Colorado golf coach Les Fowler, for whom Hoos played from 1953 to 1955. A member of the Buffs team that won the 1954 Big 7 Conference title and shared it the following year with Oklahoma, Hoos also competed in the NCAA Championship Finals both of those years.

He became a teacher at Fairview, which was then located across the street from his house in Boulder. He coached the boys’ and the girls’ golf teams—the latter of which he started—and built a workroom on his property to build, repair and re-grip clubs so kids on his team who lacked money for golf gear would always have access to equipment. The second floor housed his collection of golf memorabilia and family photos, many of which COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

include one, two or all three of his children—Jon, Eric and Kristine.

The Hoos kids all played golf for their dad in high school. Jon became a PGA professional before pursing a career as an aerospace engineer. Eric, who won a Nike Tour event, spent 15 years as the head coach of University of Denver men’s golf team and now coaches Kristine’s son, Walker Franklin, at Prospect Ridge Academy in Broomfield. Kristine, who played on the Japanese LPGA Tour (where George once caddied for her) before starting a family, returned to the amateur golf ranks by winning this year’s CGA Women’s Senior Stroke Play more than three decades after capturing the 1986 CWGA Stroke Play.

“They made the game fun for me,” George told the magazine in 2003. “They were all good kids. And when they weren’t, I’d take away their clubs. It was good leverage.”

George took his “readymade foursome” on golf trips to destinations as far away as Ireland and Scotland.

At the beginning of the golf season, Coach Hoos brought his Fairview teams to all the courses on the schedule— including where the state championship would be held.

So beloved was Hoos by his players that in 1990 they threw him a retirement party at Flatirons Golf Course and bought him and his wife Jean a Hawaiian extravaganza. “He was the most influential, impactful coach in my lifetime,” former player Jim Kauvar says. “A great mentor and friend forever.”

“He’s affected so many people’s lives in such a positive way it’s unbelievable,” Eric Hoos posted on Facebook. “He was a great teacher and mentor and will be sorely missed but never forgotten.”

24

Not only did the No. 1 amateur woman golfer in the world—Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster—qualify for the LPGA Tour during November’s inaugural Q-Series at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina, she did so convincingly, shooting a 17-underpar 559 over eight rounds to finish second by one stroke to South Korean professional Jeongeun Lee 6. Thanks to a new rule allowing qualifying collegiate players to defer becoming LPGA members until they finish their current school year, the Wake Forest senior won’t turn pro until after she graduates in May. Taking a different route, Robyn Choi, a CU junior from Australia, who finished “on the number” (T45) with a 10-over 586, will forsake her senior year of eligibility to compete professionally. Not having to make that decision is 28-year-old Becca Huffer, the 2013 CoBank Colorado Women’s Open champion and Symetra Tour player who qualified by finishing 10th place (3-under 573).

2

students from Kent Denver, Jackson Klutznick and Charlotte Hillary, captured the fourth and final major of the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado season—The JGAC Tour Championship at Denver Country Club. For Klutznick, a senior, it followed by days his win in the 3A High School Championship; for Hillary, a junior, it represented her second victory in the event’s three-year history. juniorgolfcolorado.org coloradoavidgolfer.com

The Gallery

70%

Golf by Numbers

Grady Ortiz

8

Jim McLean Golf Schools (JMGS) now dot the globe, with the opening of the newest at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in Denver. Recognized by U.S. News and World Report, CNN and Travel + Leisure as the #1 Golf School in America, Jim McLean Golf Schools have groomed thousands of players, including PGA and LPGA stars Keegan Bradley, Lexi Thompson, Gary Woodland and Cristie Kerr.

“We are passionate about providing guests and members exceptional offerings and continue to deliver first-class experiences,” said Pat Hamill, course owner and CEO of Oakwood Homes. “The Jim McLean Golf School will further distinguish GVR as the premium destination for golfers in the metro area.” gvrgolf.com

3

Caitlyn Chin

Chunya Boonta

Colorado juniors will head to Augusta National in April to compete in the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals. All three won their gender/age divisions at the Regional Qualifier held September 23 at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, site of the 2018 PGA Championship. Grady Ortiz of Colorado Springs won the Boys 7-9 division; Caitlyn Chin of Greenwood Village took the Girls 10-11; and Chunya Boonta of Centennial edged Ali Perry of St. Joseph, Mo., by one point (131-130) in the Girls 12-13 division. This will mark the second trip to Augusta for Chin, who qualified in the girls 7-9 division in 2016.

Eagle’s Taylor Hale, who finished second to Chin, will be an alternate. Chin and Boonta are both members of the Hale Irwin Player Program at CommonGround Golf Course. drivechipandputt.com

of the groups at the Country Club at Castle Pines played on pace in 2018, an 18 percent improvement over prior year. Overall, rounds on the Jack Nicklaus Signature course accelerated by 11 minutes and more than 90 percent of all groups finished within 10 minutes of goal time, even during peak season.

This pace-of-play progress resulted from the implementation of state-of-the-art geo-tagging and pace algorithms provided

by Tagmarshal, an international golf course intelligence and pace-of-play management solution company that works with private, public and resort courses.

“Our experience with Tagmarshal and its unique functionalities, together with the implementation into our operation, has been exceptional,” says the club’s PGA head professional Andrew Hedrick. “The data provided is an asset in our day-to-day operations. Our members have embraced the system and are often asking our on-course staff to review their live statistics and get an accurate status on their group.”

Tagmarshal clients include such venues as Pinehurst Resort & Country Club, Carnoustie, Valhalla, Erin Hills, Whistling Straits and more than 200 other courses in nine countries. tagmarshal.com

Taste the Season Make your holiday celebration a testament to the finer things in life with outstanding wine and extraordinary cuisine. Be prepared for Chef Tony to wow with his new, locally inspired menu – it changes with the season.

191 Inverness Drive West, Englewood, CO 80112 | 303-768-0827 FlemingsSteakhouse.com/Denver COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

26

coloradoavidgolfer.com

IN FOR TWO: Doug Rohrbaugh (left, with Colorado PGA Awards Chair Bobby Quaratino) won both Player of the Year and Senior Player of the Year.

4 of the top playing awards in the Colorado PGA Section went to three players. Doug Rohrbaugh captured both the Dow Finsterwald Player of the Year and the OMEGA Senior Player of the Year—the first time any player has accomplished the double feat. In 2018 he won eight events, as well as the U.S. Senior Open Qualifying, and tied for second in the Colorado PGA Professional Championship. Sherry Andonian earned the section’s inaugural Women’s Player of the Year on the strength of her two victories in CPGA events, becoming the first of two Colorado women to qualify for the national PGA Professional Championship and finishing 29th out of 264 players in the national Senior PGA Professional Championship. She also qualified for the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Chicago Golf Club. Ben Lanting of Bear Creek Golf Club, who won the National Car Rental Colorado Assistant PGA Professional Championship, was named Associate Player of the Year. coloradopga.com

coloradoavidgolfer.com

27

2 native Coloradans have joined the PGA TOUR: Wyndham Clark of Denver and Jim Knous of Basalt. Clark, a former Valor Christian star who played in eight PGA Tour events after graduating from the University of Oregon in 2017, earned $187,817 in prize money this year, good enough for 16th on the money list and a PGA TOUR card for the 2018-19 wraparound season.

Since graduating from Colorado School of Mines in 2012, Knous has played on mini-tours, won a number of local opens and qualified for a couple of PGA TOUR events, including last year’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas, where he made the cut and finished 41st. In the fourevent Web.com Tour finals, he finished 25th—the last spot to qualify for a PGA TOUR card. Inextricably linked by their duel in the 2010 CGA Amateur Championship at Boulder Country Club, in which Knous’ final-round 60 forced a playoff that Clark would win, the pair played in in the PGA TOUR’s 2018-19 season-opening Safeway Open, with Knous shooting a 10-under 278 to tie for 10th and Clark finishing T33 at 6-under. PGATour.com

Winter 2018 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

Dilly Dillon

Player’s Corner PROFILE

Playing his own brand of golf, JGAC Player of the Year Dillon Stewart is crushing it as he chases his dream. By Jon Rizzi

PHOTOGRAPH BY EJ CARR

COWBOY UP: Stewart will join a stacked Oklahoma State golf team this fall.

coloradoavidgolfer.com

29

WHEN THE JUNIOR Golf Alliance of Colorado’s Player of the Year Dillon Stewart says he can’t wait to play at the next level, he literally means it.

On December 21, a month after signing his National Letter of Intent to attend Oklahoma State University in 2019, the Fort Collins native will graduate early from Fossil Ridge High School.

His reason? “To play in national and worldwide amateur tournaments and get used to playing against those fields.”

The 5-foot-6, 165-pound Stewart, who turns 18 in May, got a taste of that quality of competition this year.

On the positive side, he won two American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) events—the Hale Irwin Colorado Junior in June and the AJGA Junior at Big Sky in September. In between, and most impressively, he took first place in the Junior America’s Cup—an elite three-round, 18-team collegiate-style event featuring the top four boy golfers from 12 western states, two Canadian Provinces and Mexico. Stewart’s 16-under-par medalist performance in Montana propelled Colorado to its first team victory in the event’s 46-year history.

On the not-so-positive side, the week before the America’s Cup, Stewart failed to make it out of the stroke-play portion of the US Junior Amateur at Baltusrol. Then, at October’s Ping Invitational—a highly selective AGJA event at OSU’s Karsten Course in Stillwater—Stewart tied for last place in a field of 40 on his future home course just days after winning the Colorado State High School 5A championship.

These less-than-stellar showings came in the presence of his future OSU head coach Alan Bratton, who led the Cowboys to their 11th NCAA National Championship in June.

“At the Ping Invitational, Coach Bratton said I was getting a little ahead of myself,” Stewart says. And at Baltusrol? “You deserve to be out there,” Bratton told Dillon as they followed fellow OSU recruits Hazen Newman and Rayhan Thomas. “He also told me, ‘You need to be a dream crusher. When you play against someone, you have to beat them by so much that they don’t want to play anymore.’”

Stewart chuckles a bit at the memory, but he understood, as Jack Nicklaus did, that when you get an opponent down you keep him there with your foot on his throat.

The thing is, nothing—not even a DFL at the Ping Championship—can crush Dillon’s dream of becoming a professional golfer. “He doesn’t need to be more competitive, and there isn’t a shot he doesn’t have,” says Michael Riggs, a Windsor-based sports psychologist who counsels Dillon. “He doesn’t just want to play on the TOUR; he wants to wear the green jacket—and not the kind you buy at Men’s Wearhouse.”

Inspired initially by his father, Scott Stewart, a PGA professional now working as a bank loan officer, Dillon caught the golf bug early, tooling around Pelican Lakes Golf Club with his dad.

By age three, he had a set of Snoopy beginner clubs. By six, he Winter 2018 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

Player’s Corner PROFILE

DILLON RISING: From left, with his first ace (Ptarmigan, hole 4) at age 13; clad for Halloween, age 6; at the 2018 Junior America’s Cup with Walker Franklin and Davis Bryant.

dressed up as Payne Stewart for Halloween.

By 10, he was winning Rocky Mountain Golf Tour events. “We did that until the Junior Golf Alliance (of Colorado) came along,” Scott says. “His trajectory has gone pretty high ever since. He was a better golfer at 14 than I’ve ever been. He hits the snot out of the ball.”

But Dillon’s physical skills as a golfer had outpaced his emotional maturity to deal with a game that, as sports psychologist Bob Rotella famously said, is not about perfect. “And I used to try to be perfect,” Dillon says. “I didn’t accept a bad shot.” This would lead to anger, which led to inconsistent play—an execrable cycle.

“Dillon would get angry really fast on the course,” explains Riggs, to whom Scott entrusted his son’s mental game two years ago. “You can channel anger in the NFL, but in golf, if you get pissed because you don’t make a birdie, you’re going to tighten up. You have to recognize emotional stress and how to control it.”

A former graduate student of Rotella’s at the University of Virginia, Riggs has worked with Dillon for the last two years. “He’s a great student and totally dove into the process,” Riggs commends. “He understands that talent only takes you so far. You need tools, strategies and plans.

Scoring lower is a byproduct of maturity, of taking ownership of everything you do.”

“Mike has really helped me,” Dillon says.

“Last year he showed me a pie chart and asked me to draw slivers who I played for. I think I did 70 percent me, 20 percent family, 10 percent coaches. ‘No,’ he said. ‘You play 100 percent for you.’ That gave me a different perspective. In high school you want to fit in and have social status.

Things will follow if you are yourself.”

Working with Riggs, Highland Meadows Golf Club PGA Professional Brian Lindstrom and fitness coach Kelly Allen, Dillon this season blossomed into a supremely mature and confident COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

30

player. Not only could he drive it 300 yards, hit 15 greens in regulation and get up and down from a manhole, but he didn’t make excuses or get angry when he struggled.

“It’s not being arrogant or cocky,” he says.

“It’s knowing you’ve done the work and that if you execute, everyone else in the field is going to be competing for second place.”

“For Dillon, it’s about the four Cs—commitment, confidence, composure and concentration,” says Riggs.

Or what Scott and his son call “Dillon Golf— going out there and being yourself and not needing to prove anything to anyone else.”

“Dillon Golf” showed up numerous times this summer. One exception was the first day of the Colorado 5A High School Championship—the same tournament he’d lost in 2017 despite leading after the first round.

“I put too much pressure on myself and didn’t putt well,” he says of this year’s opening round at Colorado Springs Country Club. This resulted in a 2-over 72 that left him tied for third, four shots back.

The next morning, Dillon told Scott, “Dad, I need to care less but not be careless.” He then fired a 66 to win the event by two strokes. Dream Crusher? Maybe. Dillon Golf? Indeed.

Unlike many elite junior players, Dillon has a regular job. He works in the kitchen and buses tables at Ptarmigan Country Club. “He’s not a silver-spoon rich boy,” Scott says. “He gases his own car and buys his own lunches. He has great time-management skills and is friends with everyone at the club. Some members have even offered to sponsor him if he goes pro.”

For Dillon, there’s no if, just when, and college comes first. He’s consulting with Coach Bratton and Assistant Coach Donnie Darr about which events to enter over the next seven months. During that time, for eight hours every day, he’ll practice golf like it’s his livelihood— because that’s what he wants it to be.

“He’s so driven,” Scott says with admiration.

“But he’s fun-loving, too. I don’t see him getting burned-out.” coloradoavidgolfer.com

Player’s Corner GIFT GUIDE

A Gifted Player

Items to equip the golfer on your holiday list.

By Suzanne S. Brown

▲ TUNED IN Golfers who like to hear music or need to take an occasional phone call while on the course now have a product that can let them listen. TrekzAir by Aftershokz uses bone-conduction technology to transmit audio waves to the inner ears bypassing the eardrums.

Bone conduction is a natural part of the hearing process as sound travels through our eardrums and bones simultaneously. Aftershokz headphones are comfortable and keep sound from leaking. You place them on your cheekbones, just in front of your ears. This leaves your ear canals open, allowing you to remain aware of ambient sounds and the voices around you. Bluetooth connectivity allows you to make and receive phone calls. The product comes in four colors and is $150 at aftershokz.com

▲ CARRY ON Whether or not she has a locker at the club, a woman always has items— cosmetics and grooming products, shoes, a change of clothes—she needs to carry to the golf course. That’s where the need for a well-designed bag comes in. New York executive Joanna Lau originally started her company Jemma to offer a workbag that would accommodate a professional woman’s needs in a clean and elegant way. Later came the need for similarly stylish and functional gym and golf bags. Clean-lined and well-designed, the Italian nylon and faux-leather trimmed Birdie bag features a shoe compartment, a large center pocket for clothing and a water bottle, inner pockets for accessories and a separate matching cosmetics bag and drawstring bag for shoes or laundry. It has a suitcase handle sleeve that zips shut when not needed, plus an adjustable cross-body strap with shoulder pad. In three colors, it retails for $198. jemmabag.com ▲ KEEPING SCORE You’ll look like one of your favorite pros when you pull a handsome yardage book/scorecard holder out of your pocket during a round with friends. In hand-stitched leather, this crocodile-embossed holder comes with five elastic bands to hold the scorecard, yardage book, hole location sheet and pencil.

Measuring 7 inches by 4½ inches, it easily fits into your back pocket and comes in several colors, $55.

The company makes a variety of yardage book styles, as well as other accessories, and can personalize the products with laser engraving as well. sunfishsales.com

▲

FORE PLAY Think of it as cornhole for golfers, a game that lets you practice your short shots while socializing with pals in the backyard, the office or anywhere you travel. Brendan McAuley and his partner Matt Moss created Chippo and a year after its successful Kickstarter campaign, it was named the PGA Best New Product in 2018.

A set comes with two slanted Chippo boards, two mats and six foam balls, $190. Order the deluxe Bundle version for $235 and you get the full Chippo set, a travel satchel and a dozen extra balls because, like in real golf, you know you’re going to lose some. Get more details, including rules for several different games and ways of scoring, at chippogolf.com

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

32

coloradoavidgolfer.com

99

$$

lf o G & Room

CasaBlancaResort.com 877-438-2929 One Night Stay and Play 18 Championship Holes at CasaBlanca or Palms Golf Club!

Player’s Corner GIFT GUIDE

▲

CLUB CHOICE Want to hit it longer off the tee and shave strokes off each round?

Get clubs personally fit for you. That’s the specialty of Club Champion, which has 39 locations across the country. In the Denver area, fittings are done by appointment at the company’s location at 2670 E. County Line Rd., Littleton. What makes this service a great holiday gift is that if a golfer books and completes his or her fitting before Jan, 31, 2019, he or she will receive 50 percent off a full bag fitting or 33 percent off any other custom club fitting. A full bag fitting at the reduced rates is $175; a driver or iron fitting is $99; and a putter fitting, $66. The prices are for the fitting only; clubs are available for purchase and the company stocks all the major brands of clubs, shaft and grips, which allows for 35,000-plus equipment combinations for custo¬mers to test. They can also optimize your current clubs. Gift cards are available online at clubchampiongolf.com or by calling 888-340-7820.

▲

APP HAPPY Tech-savvy golfers are fond of apps that help them navigate a course, keep score, track stats and set goals. 18Birdies does that and more, such as enabling golfers to book tee times at thousands of courses. While many of the app’s features are free, upgrading to a premium membership that costs $5 a month or $45 a year offers access to a digital caddie that provides machine learningbased club recommendations, strokes-gained analysis, a library of side games, the ability to run single or multi-round tournaments with live leaderboards and video lesson plans.

18birdies.com

▲

COVER STORY An avid skier and tennis player, Helena Stanton started playing a lot of golf while working in the craft beer industry in Boulder. She found that the game really lacked interesting headcovers that would lend style to a player’s game. She decided to create knit covers combining both traditional elements and bold details and colors that would appeal to younger golfers. That was 15 years ago. Today, Stanton’s company, Rocket Tour, works with 300-plus NCAA golf programs as well as corporations and consumers to create colorful, functional headcovers in striped, solid and argyle designs— many with pom-pom accents—for drivers, fairway woods, hybrids and putters.

Putter covers are $30; single club covers for hybrids and drivers are $39-$43; sets for two clubs are $88; and three clubs, $127. Gift cards are also available; rockettour.com

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

34

coloradoavidgolfer.com

Golf

ON THE EDGE OF THE WORLD

#1 Golf Course in Utah for nine consecutive years and #54 in the nation rated by Golfweek.

STAY & PLAY $169 Per person. 2 person minimum.

1 Night Stay at the Resort 27 Holes of Golf -18 Holes on the Championship Course - 9 Holes on the Links Course

Call 435-656-GOLF and mention the code "GolfUtahBest" when booking.

For Sale

VACATION RENTALS | CHAMPIONSHIP GOLF | OUTDOOR ADVENTURES

sandhollowresort.com | 5662 W. Clubhouse Dr. Hurricane, UT | 435-656-GOLF

Player’s Corner

YES, SIR!!

GIFT GUIDE

▲ INSIDE TRACK Looking for a way to improve your game when you’re not able to get out and play during the snowy winter months? It might be time to try Golftec, which offers swing evaluation and a variety of lesson plans as well as club-fitting services at its nine Colorado locations. The process begins with a Golftec coach measuring your swing, recording it on video and explaining what you can do to improve. The coach then creates a lesson plan to meet your goals. The company is offering a holiday package that includes a 60-minute swing evaluation, three 30-minute lessons, three 30-minute practice sessions and one club-fitting session for $395. golftec.com

▼ CHECKING THE BOX For the guy who would rather spend time on the course than worrying about what to wear during a round, Short Par 4 has come to the rescue. The subscription service, which can be ordered as a gift for durations of three, six or 12 months, or on a monthly or bi-monthly basis, customizes clothing, accessories and gear for golfers based on the preferences they specify in their profiles. The basic monthly Fairway membership is $50, for which subscribers get two apparel items as an outfit or one item and two accessories, and it has a retail value of $100.

The Executive membership is $100 monthly and includes multiple pieces of apparel and accessories. There are also Tour Experiences endorsed by PGA pros Rickie Fowler and Wesley Bryan, which feature items from their sponsor brands. shortpar4.com

In Play By Play, the avuncular Verne Lundquist colorfully and candidly narrates his 55-year journey in sports broadcasting.

Legendary for his calls in football and basketball, figure skating and, of course, the Masters, the Steamboat Springs resident describes the events that transpire behind the camera with the same authority and flair with which he has called some of sports’ greatest moments.

Golf fans learn why he asked legendary CBS Sports producer Frank Chirkinian (“the most profane man I have ever known”) for “relief from the hazard” that was the embittered Ken Venturi. He reveals the identity of the former Colorado football star and CBS broadcaster who made $17,000 in the production-crew Calcutta when Jack Nicklaus improbably won the 1986 Masters (an event that produced Lundquist’s famous “Yes, Sir!” after Nicklaus’ birdie on 17). For his famous “In Your Life…” call of Tiger Woods’ 16th hole chip-in at the 2005 Masters, Lundquist credits technology and the skill of cameraman Bob Wishnie, who zoomed in on the ball as it rested on the edge of the hole for 1.8 seconds before dropping, its Nike swoosh as “big as a boomerang on your TV set.”

Those only represent a fraction of the golf tales, which in turn only represent a portion of the stories told by a man who not only witnessed some of the notable events in sports history—among them Christian Laettner’s 1992 buzzer-beater against Kentucky and the 1994 Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding Olympic saga—but provided our soundtrack for them. $29 harpercollins.com

▲

IN THE BAG A functional carrier for your clubs is a necessity but it doesn’t have to be boring or predictable. Vessel Bags, which has created custom bags for professional golfers since 2012, now offers designs for the rest of us. The bags are made from proprietary microfiber synthetic leather chosen for its durability as well as abrasion- and heat-resistance. Like leather, the material is soft to the touch but easier to clean. Offerings come in solid and two-tone color combinations. Stand bags range from $245-$290; cart bags start at $375; and custom bags start at $550. The company also offers travel bags, totes, backpacks and everyday bags for men and women. See the lineup at vesselbags.com

Contributor Suzanne S. Brown is the former fashion and features editor for The Denver Post. She also contributes to Mountain Living and Colorado Expression.

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

36

coloradoavidgolfer.com

CHASE54.COM

C O M F O R T D E S I G N E D T O P L AY The Spring 2019 collection includes the brand’s signature performance t e c h n o l o g i e s t h a t a l l o w f o r a d r y, c o o l a n d c o m f o r t a b l e r o u n d , w h i l e b l e n d i n g i n custom prints and textured fabrics for a stylish transition from the course.

Found at these fine golf properties:

Side Bets | NICE DRIVES

Fast-Forward to 2019 BMW, Infiniti and Ford spin their classics ahead, including a hot rod made famous in the movies.

By Isaac Bouchard

2019 BMW X5

BMW X4

2019 BMW X4 EPA: 22 /29/25mpg 0-60mph: 6.0sec (est.)

Price as tested: $61,545 BMW was first with a crossover coupe, the X6. In the decade since, the market has begun to embrace such machines, despite the seeming contradiction inherit in their very nature as smaller, more expensive versions of so-called “utility” vehicles.

This second iteration of the X4 is a superb example of the company’s recent refocus on vehicles that are extremely rewarding to drive yet also practical and cutting edge technologically. The X4 has more responsive steering and more biddable handling, along with better isolation of road and wind noise and a superb ride.

There’s a sense of engineered precision to all the BMW’s controls and a real verve, even in four cylinder form, where its snappy, 248hp 2-liter allows it to hit 60mph in about six seconds. Perhaps even more relevant today, the X4’s interior feels like it belongs to a luxury vehicle, with a much higher quality mien and intuitive, useful tech.

BMW’s latest iDrive system is amongst the only ones that reliably translates voice commands into action. Likewise the driving aids, such Stop & Go, one of the best adaptive cruise control systems available.

But with these traits also available for less in the X3, why go for the coupe? Frankly, the X4 looks genuinely better than its near twin. Its leaner, more lithe form is highlighted by more pronounced fenders and a tapering tail whose horizontally configured LEDs reduce visual mass. The cargo area loses 10 cubic feet of capacity, but as crossovers replace sedans, having more variants has become essential to sales success. Not everyone needs the amount of haulage the X3 allows; just as generations of car buyers have been willing to pay more for fewer doors and more svelte sheet metal of a coupe, the fastback X4 capitalizes on emerging trends to become increasing relevant.

2019 INFINITI QX80 LIMITED 0-60mph: 5.9sec; 13/19/15mpg Price as tested $91,950 The venerable QX80 has always been good value, based on its combination of bombproof reliability, rumbling 400hp V8 and extremely well-built interior. Infiniti is exploring new pricing territory with the Limited model, whose recently updated body is now accented by satin finish metal, unique fascia trim and some complex, forged 22-inch footwear.

Inside, the changes are copious and dramatic; Alcantara and semi-aniline (that’s really soft

Want to one-up the X4? The X5 is all-new as well and its numerical superiority continues with length, width and wheelbase increasing over the old one by 1.1, 1.0 and 2.6 inches respectively.

Wheel diameters from 19 to 22 inches fill out flared fenders and the kidney grills are bigger and canted forward. Inside, two 12.3inch hi-res screens grace a cockpit of exceptional loveliness and comfort.

The big Beemer drives better too, with standard adjustable dampers, improved steering and a stronger structure.

Weight is down, power is up and both six and eight cylinder models rip. LED or optional laser lights make sure no one will miss the latest BMW. Starting at $60,700.

to you and me) fluted leather in high contrast grays and black frame silver-stained wood trim, the boldest choice I’ve seen inside a vehicle in years.

Infiniti’s Hydraulic Body-Motion Control suspension, which replaces antiroll bars with interconnected fluid-filled lines and reservoirs, improves ride and handling and brings the QX80’s dynamics up to the level of the Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator. Despite its higher price tag, the Limited still clocks in ten grand less than those domestic stalwarts.

WARNING: DO NOT CURB! “Curb rash”—the deep scratches that come from touching cement curbing and sidewalks while parking—can be machined out, making wheels look just like new. The cost is between $90-125 per wheel. However, should one lack parallel-parking acumen while behind the wheel of the QX80 Limited, experts warn that the exclusive, dark gray rims with complex, machine-finished accents will be almost impossible to return to their former glory.

Infiniti QX80 Limited

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

38

coloradoavidgolfer.com

Side Bets | NICE DRIVES

2019 FORD MUSTANG BULLITT EPA: 15/25/18mpg 0-60mph: 4.2sec (est.)

Price as tested: $49,690

Ford Mustang Bullitt

A lot has changed in the 50 years since Steve McQueen slid and jumped a 390 Mustang into movie history, including a gradual erosion of the social acceptability of fast, loud cars. This Ford, the third to pay homage to Bullitt, does an absolutely terrific job celebrating the joys of such machines and the thrills they make possible. Moreover, it succeeds in engaging people of all demographics. Classic hot-rodding techniques like increased flow of gases into and out of its bigger-displacement, higher-compression-ratio Coyote V8 result in outputs of 480hp and 420lb-ft, making it the most powerful Mustang crossplane engine yet.

Spent gases flow through the audiophile-grade, active valve exhaust system, creating sounds so symphonic that several people commented in traffic on how glorious the noise was. Likewise, I noticed at least a dozen people stop to walk around the car when it was parked at various locals, just to take in all the Bullitt-specific detailing like the de-badged nose and Dark Highland Green paint job. To me, this encapsulates the joy of the Bullitt experience: it’s a combination of the intoxicating vocals, burgeoning acceleration and (almost) discreet good looks.

The Bullitt builds on the fine work Ford has done turning the Mustang into a true driver’s tool, with accurate steering, a cue ball-topped manual that is sweet to stir through its six ratios (with computer-controlled rev matching that overcomes pedal placement which makes heal-toe downshifts almost impossible for those of us with inflexible ankles) and real stick in the corners—almost too much to slide the Mustang around—and stout, Brembo brakes. It also is refined, rides well, thanks to adjustable magnetic damping, and is comfortable inside. About the only thing missing is the GT model’s stiffer Performance Package suspension, which actually rides and handles even better.

2019 FORD EXPEDITION PLATINUM EPA: 17/22 /19mpg 0-60mph: 5.7sec (indep. test) Price as tested: $81,815 Built on an all-new, aluminum intensive structure, the Ford Expedition and even longer MAX version have interior accommodations to match their footprints. This differs from their competitors, which are less commodious inside than modern, large crossovers. Even in its “short” length, the Ford has massive amounts of room for people and gear; a split, power-fold third row is actually comfortable for adults, too.

The Ford’s new, lighter structure combines a low step-in height with the loftiest seating in the class. Up front the Expedition is chock full of the latest Ford tech, including the fast n’ friendly Sync 3 infotainment interface with Alexa and Waze, superbly rendered adaptive cruise, lane-keep-

CHASING TALES Modern digital techniques make a mockery of the incredibly skilled stunt driving (including McQueen’s) of former times. In addition to Bullitt, here are five of the best car-chase scenes from the analog era: • Ronin • The French Connection • Smokey and the Bandit • The Bourne Identity • Vanishing Point

Ford Expedition Platinum

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

40

coloradoavidgolfer.com

NEW 2018 RANGE ROVER VELAR

TAKE CENTER STAGE WITH EVERY TURN

The Bullitt has more power (480hp) and torque (420lb-ft) than the regular Mustang GT. In this regard it follows in the tire tracks of the previous two Bullitt special editions: the 2001, with a then-whopping 265hp; and the 200809, with 315. This 50th anniversary homage, with “Coyote” V8 is the most powerful, normally-aspirated Mustang yet, aside from the GT350 track car.

To get to almost 100 horses per liter without forced induction required an increase in displacement from 4,951 to 5,038cc, a bump in compression ratio to 12.0:1, and port and direct fuel injection. The GT350 “Voodoo” motor contributed its higher rise, longer intake runner-equipped manifold, 87mm throttle body and more open air filter. All this fires the Bullitt past 60 a tenth or two faster than the GT.

ing assist and blind spot monitors that can be set to include a trailer, enhancing the Expedition’s 9,300lb. (best-in-class) hauling abilities.

Alas, Ford’s tendency to cost-cut means lovely matte-finished wood and soft leather mixes with shiny, hard plastic throughout.

All Expeditions are powered by the latest EcoBoost 3.5L twin turbo; Platinum models get served an extra dollop of horsey sauce for a total of 400 ponies and 480lb-ft of torque. Funneled through the superb 10-speed automatic, the Ford really scoots, running to 60mph in under six seconds, and more importantly, maintaining that shove even over high mountain passes. The Expedition handles well too, with adaptive dampers and the independent rear suspension giving it precision belying its size and heft.

Although the ride suffers atop the gorgeous 22-inch rims of the top models, it hasn’t been enough to slow Expedition sales, which have necessitated the expansion of the factory where it is built. It certainly deserves to succeed, as the Ford brings many new attributes to a class that had grown increasingly complacent.

6160 SOUTH BROADWAY LITTLETON, CO 80121

Contact CAG Automotive Editor Isaac Bouchard at Isaac@bespokeautos.com to save time, money and hassle when buying or leasing a vehicle. coloradoavidgolfer.com

SALES: (720) 549-9143

41

HOURS MONDAY - FRIDAY: 9AM-8PM SATURDAY: 9AM-7PM SUNDAY: CLOSED

Winter 2018 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

A Beautiful The island of KAUA‘I is as good as it gets for golf.

By GEORGE FULLER ROBERT TRENT JONES JR. has been designing golf courses in Hawaii for close to 50 years, first as an assistant to his father on the seminal Mauna Kea Golf Course on Hawaii Island in the early 1960s, before setting out on a solo career that includes some of the Aloha State’s best original layouts.

When asked to define what makes golf in the islands stand apart, Jones answers without hesitation: “There’s a beautiful wildness to Hawaii.

And a wonderful spirit of aloha everywhere you go. Best of all, most of the courses have ocean views. The combination of these things makes playing golf in Hawaii unique in the world.”

The “beautiful wildness” Jones describes is most easily found on Kaua‘i, an island defined by majestic green mountains ribbed with knifelike ridges that plunge to the Pacific, thick and colorful foliage that has provided the ideal COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

tropical background for films including South Pacific (1958), Elvis Presley’s Blue Hawaii (1961), Jurassic Park (1993), The Descendants (2011) and Jurassic World (2015), and adventures from horseback riding to zip-lining to ocean sports.

And yes, the golf is darn good too.

A PERFECT LANDSCAPE FOR GOLF “Kaua‘i is a perfect landscape for golf,” Jones says.

“Although everyone immediately recognizes the dramatic beauty of the ocean, Kaua‘i also has spectacular inland views of the rugged mountain ranges.”

In addition to owning a home on Kaua‘i’s north shore for many years, Jones has stamped his signature on some of the island’s best designs, including the Princeville Makai Golf Club in Princeville and Po‘ipu Bay Golf Course in Koloa.

42

Both of these designs take full advantage of those panoramic ocean and mountain views Jones describes, and while both are resort-style courses, make no mistake: these are championship-quality challenges.

“The three pillars of our club are oceanfront beauty, immaculate conditions, and unmatched aloha,” says Doug Sutter, general manager of Princeville Makai Golf Club. “These pillars give our entire team the utmost pride in our product and passion for delivering the best guest experience possible.”

The course is a joy to play. Traversing rolling landscape above the Pacific, Princeville Makai boasts six oceanfront holes—three on the front and three on the back.

The most spectacular stretch might be holes six through eight, all of which play along coloradoavidgolfer.com

Wildness oceanfront cliffs. After your drive on No. 6, you play towards the ocean on your second shot to an infinity green that appears to spill over the cliff and into the ocean. Whales are sometimes seen offshore from this vantage point, and soaring albatross showcase their seven-foot wingspan as they gracefully glide to their nearby nesting areas.

Makai No. 7 rates as one of the best par-3 holes in the state, playing from a cliffside tee box to a putting surface on the other side of a chasm.

When staying on the north shore, consider The Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas, a low-key property that offers studio, one- and two-bedroom villas adorned with Hawaiian touches and all the comforts of home.

SUNNY SOUTH SHORE Po‘ipu—on the south shore of the island—not only dishes up a really good golf course with Poipu Bay Golf Course, but offers some of the best beaches, local shopping, and dining on the island. Two of coloradoavidgolfer.com

the premier accommodation choices in this sunny area are the Sheraton Kaua‘i Resort and the Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i Resort & Spa. Set on 210 acres of dramatic headlands above the Pacific, with several holes playing right along the cliff ’s edge, Poipu Bay Golf Course is where the PGA Grand Slam of Golf was played from 1994 to 2006. Greg Norman won the inaugural major-winners-only event in 1994, and his successor as number-one player in the world, Tiger Woods, dominated from 1998 through 2002. Phil Mickelson set the course record with a remarkable 13-under-par 59 on the final day of play in 2004.

This Jones II-designed track ranks among Hawaii’s most beautiful, although it can also rank among the Aloha State’s toughest when the wind is blowing off the Pacific. No. 15 is an awesome hole: A 477-yard par-four, the tee box is situated on an elevated bluff with a steep cliff plummeting down to the Pacific Ocean on the left. Your tee shot typically plays downwind to a wide fairway.

43

OCEAN’S 18: The Ocean Course at Hokuala, as seen from Hokuala – A Timbers Resort, in Lihue.

Favoring the right side (as the ocean is on the left) a decent drive leaves players a mid-iron approach to the green backdropped by the Grand Hyatt and a sweeping view of the cliffs and water.

Players also encounter a number of significant historical sites that are protected and maintained by Poipu Bay staff, including several ancient Hawaiian heiau (places of worship) and handmade stone walls that date back an estimated 500 years.

A GOLFER’S PARADISE In Lihue, adjacent to the island’s main airport, players find the magnificent Jack Nicklausdesigned Ocean Course at Hokuala (formerly known as the Kiele Course at Kaua‘i Lagoons).

The front nine is a big hitter’s dream with wide fairways and memorable holes, such as the par-3 fifth, where your tee shot must traverse a gaping canyon filled with towering mango trees.

But it’s the back nine where the scenery really kicks into high gear. In fact, Hokuala features the Winter 2018 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

HOT TIPS • PRINCEVILLE RANCH—2,500 acres of authentic adventure, including horseback riding to hidden waterfalls, zip-lining from mountain ridges, ATVs, more, in the land where Jurassic Park was filmed.

• WAIMEA CANYON STATE PARK—14 miles long, a mile wide, and more than 3,600 feet deep, Mark Twain called it “The Grand Canyon of the Pacific.” Drive to the top and look out at rugged crags and deep valley gorges, or hike the Waipo’o Falls Trail through the canyon.

THE GARDEN ISLAND: Clockwise from left, Wailua Falls north of Lihue; the par-4 16th at Po‘ipu Bay on the south shore of Koloa; the par-3 7th at Princeville Makai on Kaua‘i’s north coast.

• NA PALI COAST—Spring storms washed out the road leading to this 17-mile stretch of 3,000-foot-tall cliffs accented with green valleys and sea caves, but you can still take an air or boat tour of this must-see area.

• JO2—One of the best restaurants on the island, JO2 is Chef Jean Marie Josselin’s delightful eatery in Kapaa. Think lemongrass sesame-crusted mahi mahi, lots of creative veggie options, and local banana cream pie with a scoop of banana gelato.

• KILOHANA—A vintage, 16,000-squarefoot 1935 sugar baron’s plantation house is the centerpiece of this step-back-intime experience, complete with a working plantation railway, Gaylord’s Restaurant, and Koloa Rum Co. • LAPPERT’S—No visit to Kauai is complete without a visit to Lappert’s for ice cream.

With three locations, it’s easy to find and hard to forget. The caramel coconut is divine, but the white chocolate macadamia nut runs a close second. They also ship to the Mainland!

longest continuous stretch of oceanfront holes in Hawaii—Nos. 12 through 16—and they are at once extremely scenic and great fun to play.

Hole 14 is a dynamic par 3 that plays from a blufftop tee to a blufftop green, with shots missed left standing a good chance of landing in the Pacific. The hole is ringed by swaying coconut trees, with as-good-as-it-gets ocean and mountain views.

Number 15 is a new hole along the same bluff, playing to a green in the shadow of the recently opened Timbers Kaua‘i Ocean Club & COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

Residences, where some of the newest and most coveted real estate on the island is located.

Then there’s No. 16. As fun a hole as you’ll ever play, you fire your tee ball toward the crest of a blind fairway that careens downhill to a putting surface next to a picturesque lighthouse. It plays less than 285 yards from the resort tees, and with the downhill run you stand a chance of getting close. But birdie, par, or “other,” the picturesque beauty of this hole overlooking Nawiliwili Harbor does truly outweigh your score.

The golf course is managed nowadays by Timbers Resorts, as are Hokuala’s shopping areas and residential units.

Nearby Puakea Golf Course opened as an 18-hole course in the summer of 2003, after several years as “the best 10-hole course in the world” as Sports Illustrated called it. Designer Robin Nelson created a routing that plays around deep ravines and streams, with dramatic mountain views so stunning that even the most obsessed of golfers pause to take them in. A fun

44

daily-fee course, Puakea is preferred by many local players. Actor Craig T. Nelson, who has a home in Princeville, calls it one of his favorites, and rates here are under $100.

Another favorite of locals is Wailua Municipal Golf Course, a layout that fronts the ocean on several holes and has hosted three Amateur Public Links Championships over the years. A golf shop and restaurant are available to serve golfers and the public, and the course is a lot of low-key fun to play. Non-resident rates on this walkable layout range from $48-$60.

There is a phrase in the islands, Hawai‘ i no ka oi … Hawaii is the best. Ask any golfer who has experienced his or her favorite game in the beautiful wildness of Kaua‘i, and they are likely to strongly agree.

George Fuller is a Hawaii-based writer and president of Flagship Communications.

For more information, visit GoGolfKauai.com, gohawaii.com/kauai, or call 800-262-1400. coloradoavidgolfer.com

Seven Canyons | Sedona, AZ

PURSUE YOUR

Passion for Play Discover Seven Canyons, a Tom Weiskopf-designed par 70 course offering 18-holes and four sets of tees ranging from 4,986-6,780 yards.

Golfers of all skill levels will enjoy a challenging and scenic experience.

Stay at Enchantment Resort and enjoy unlimited same-day play.

Reserve online at enchantmentresort.com or call 877.916.8659 and mention promotional code GLFPRO.

Che Ah Chi, Enchantment Resort | Sedona, AZ

sevencanyons.com

625 Golf Club Way, Sedona, Arizona 86336

Spell of the IN THE MAIN LOBBY of the Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Beach the high windows facing the Pacific Ocean dilute the glare—the better for your eyes to take in the magnificent Tuscan Order columns and muted, hand-coated tan plaster walls supporting the 25-foot-high ceiling known as the Oculus. Who knew architecture could immediately soothe and ground you?

That same calming influence comes with the views from every balcony of the 204 bungalows and 128 villas, many with panoramic vistas of the Pacific, which, coupled with the large beach lounges, create a gravity belt that sucks your body onto the cushions for a Nirvana-like antidote to emails, tablet screens and other modern-world pressures.

If the “Escapability Factor” is what makes some getaways so rejuvenating, Pelican Hill steeps you in it. A stunning property whose main structures are built upon the principles of famed Italian architect Andrea COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

Palladio, the resort opened in 2008, filling out 504 acres on the bluffs overlooking some of Southern California’s best beaches. The Irvine Company intended it to be a warmer, Palladian alternative to Pebble Beach.

Pelican Hill’s two top-rated, Tom Fazio-designed golf courses, its world-class spa, miles of hiking trails and its rental bikes for trips down the hill to Crystal Cove Beach across Pacific Coast Highway provide plenty of sources of physical and spiritual recreation.

You’ll find the highest culinary standards in the resort’s three main restaurants, with the Northern Italian-inspired Andrea the right call for its tableside-prepared risotto and wine collection (including a 1995 Chateau Margaux for $1,500). The café and market feature handmade gelato. All pasta is made on the premises.

The location, the views and the weather have made Pelican Hill a very popular wedding location. The resort limits celebrations

46

to one a day in the “Wedding Estate” that includes the La Cappella chapel with its own bell tower and the iconic, soaring-dome Rotunda perched on the bluffs against the Pacific backdrop.

Luxury abounds. Mercedes SUVs ferry guests about. At the circular driveway next to the golf shop, local dealers drop off Ferraris, Rolls-Royces, Lamborghinis and Porsches.

The resort refuses to say who and how many times, but celebrities frequent the resort. Staff will admit to Mark Wahlberg because his visit aired on TV. Sightings have also included President Bill Clinton and Golden State Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson.

If all of this sounds too elitist or pricey, consider that a stay at Pelican Hill shaves about five hours and beaucoup dollars off a Caribbean or Mexican vacation, and DIA-toJohn-Wayne Airport flights are plentiful and inexpensive.

That translates into more time in a coloradoavidgolfer.com

Ocean North Course, hole 17

Ocean South Course, hole 18

Pelican PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF THE RESORT AT PELICAN HILL

Newport Beach’s cosseting RESORT AT PELICAN HILL defies visitors to resist its charms. By TED JOHNSON luxurious environment. That saved money gets transformed into more enjoyment of your risotto with Parmesan grated from Andrea’s 50-year-old cheese wheel. That’s more spa time in the 22 treatment rooms to go along with steam rooms, saunas and saltwater Roman soaking tubs.

That means more time soaking up the sun next to the Colisseum Pool, unique in that it is 136 feet in diameter, four feet deep and bedazzled by 1.1 million glass mosaic tiles. The surrounding terraced decks with private cabanas and fabulous ocean views invite you soak it all in.

That also translates to more time on the North and South golf courses that demand pictures on their signature holes—the par5 17th and par-3 16th, respectively—whose greens hang impossibly on the horizon.

Resort guests pay $275 a round, and first-timers will appreciate paying an additional $45 each for a forecaddie. Both courses coloradoavidgolfer.com

are built on rolling terrain where uphill and downhill are often difficult to discern. Without local knowledge, you’ll be moaning about a lot of four-putts on these fast and tricky greens. Plus, knowing what plays up when it looks down and what hides behind some of Fazio’s shapes will save strokes and lost balls.

The South course is known for holes 1112-13—a string that takes golfers to the west side of the highway. A short par 4 and backto-back par 3s, this stretch hints at natural links, but note that the large rocks on the par3s are really blown fiberglass, much like that which constitutes Disneyland’s Matterhorn.

The North course feels more ethereal, particularly on the 17th. Morning players can find themselves in misty conditions that suddenly clear to offer panoramic views of the Pacific. Fazio’s bunkering is exquisite and the yardages on the cards often mean little due to the elevation changes. Caddie insight for carry distance and where to hit the greens prove

47

Poolside cabana dining

well worth the money.

The bungalows start at about $700 a night, the villas at $800. Most villas have at least two large master suites and an extra bedroom and bath, easy for two or three couples or large families to inhabit. The villas are equipped with hand-made wood-beam alder ceilings, marble walk-in showers, wine cabinets, gourmet kitchens with Sub-Zero refrigerators and Wolf ranges, professional cookware, Bose audio systems and much more.

On shoppelicanhill.com, the resort’s online store, the No. 1 inquiry comes from guests looking to buy the plush, custom beds. With accommodations and activities like these, escapability transforms into captivity. You don’t want to leave.

Ted Johnson is a California-based CAG contributor. For more information, visit pelicanhill.com; 888-507-6427 Winter 2018 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

Desert Highlands The Boulders

Take It Torreon

Rio Verde

SunRidge Canyon

Wickenberg Ranch

Tubac

TPC Scottsdale

Ak-Chin Southern Dunes

Troon North

JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Inn Resort & Spa

Sewailo

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

48

coloradoavidgolfer.com

EVEN IF GLENN FREY were standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, no girl in a flatbed Ford could find him a golf game within 25 miles. But in a state with more 300 courses and a rich golf culture, the late Eagles guitarist (he co-wrote and sang “Take It Easy”) and golf nut could have teed it up just about anywhere else—and most probably did. Inspired by Frey—a longtime Colorado resident and major supporter of Aspen Junior Golf—we present “Take It A-Z,” an alphabetic arrangement singing the golf praises of Colorado’s southwestern neighbor.

A is for Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club, a Lee Schmidt-Brian Curley collaboration with Fred Couples in Maricopa—25 miles from Sky Harbor Airport. Golf magazine has ranked the Australian Sandhills design #84 its 100 Greatest Public Courses, and the

Golf Club’s Ambiente and Padre golf courses. camelbackinn.com D is for Desert Highlands and Desert Mountain, two of the definitive private golf experiences in Arizona. Built in 1983 on Pinnacle Peak just north of Scottsdale, Desert Highlands’ Jack Nicklausdesigned course hosted the inaugural Skins Game, and its 13 tennis courts (four grass, six clay, and three hard-court) feature all the grand slam surfaces. Desert Mountain’s 8,000 acres boast the same variety of tennis options, as well as six Nicklaus Signature courses and a soon-to-open 90-acre, 18-hole par-3 called Seven. deserthighlandsscottsdale.com; desertmountain.com

A-Z challenging 7,546-yard layout annually serves as a U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying venue.

The milkshakes in the clubhouse provide a tasty reward. akchinsoutherndunes.com

B is for The Boulders in aptly named Carefree, just north Scottsdale. Rugged, refined and impossibly romantic, the 1,300-acre property recently underwent major upgrades, resulting in Travel + Leisure readers voting in the Best Hotel in the Arizona and Golf Digest rating it the best Golf Resort in the Southwest. The Jay Morrish-designed North and South Courses boast the massive geologic formations from which the resort takes its name. theboulders.com C is for Camelback Mountain, a prominent landmark in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area that serves hikers on its Echo Canyon and Cholla Trails and rock climbers with its Praying Monk sandstone formation. At the base crouches the plush JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Inn Resort & Spa in Paradise Valley, home of a 32,000-square-foot spa and wellness facility as well as Camelback coloradoavidgolfer.com

E is for El Conquistador Golf & Tennis, a Hilton Resort in Tucson’s Oro Valley.

Forty-five holes of Greg Nash/Jeff Hardindesigned family-friendly golf (including the spunky Pusch X9 executive course), 31 lighted tennis courts, five pools (including one with a 143-foot “Sliderock” water slide), four pickleball courts and an Elements Wellness Center highlight the property set amid the 5,300-foot cliffs of Pusch Ridge. hiltonelconquistador.com

Tour events, two WGC championships and a Williams World Challenge. The first of three consecutive NCAA Men’s and Women’s Championships will take place here beginning in 2020. grayhawkgolf.com H is for the HoHoKam Golf Classic, which the Chicago Cubs Charities stage every December at Longbow Golf Club, located near the team’s Spring Training facility in Mesa. With all proceeds benefiting the Mesa Hohokam Foundation, the event has raised more than $1.5 million in direct funding for youth sports activities in the Phoenix’s East Valley. hohokams.org; longbowgolf.com I is for the Inn at Eagle Mountain, a boutique hotel that perches above Eagle Mountain Golf Club, presenting stunning views of Fountain Hills, Scottsdale and the Sonoran Desert. Minutes from the courses at We-Ko-Pa and SunRidge Canyon, the inn offers a unique Southwest touch— vaulted ceilings, luxurious southwestern decor, petroglyph-style fixtures, a kiva gas fireplace and access to the Life In Balance Wellness Center. Pietro’s, the inn’s Italian restaurant, serves wines from Flora Springs—the Napa winery also owned by the inn’s proprietor, John Komes. innateaglemountain.com J is for The Javelina Project, an initiative led by the Tubac Center for the Arts.

Sponsored in part by Tubac Golf Resort & Spa (tubacgolfresort.com) —the cover subject of our Fall issue—the project aims to promote Tubac’s vibrant arts scene and tourism by filling the town with colorful javelina sculptures painted by area artists. thejavelinaproject.org

F is for Fred Enke, the longtime University of Arizona men’s basketball coach after whom one of City of Tucson’s five challenging municipal courses (Enke, Silverbell, El Rio, Randolph North and Randolph Dell Urich) is named. Two of those courses— El Rio and Randolph North—hosted 25 editions the PGA TOUR’s Tucson Open. tucsoncitygolf.com

K is for Kierland Golf Club, the 27-hole facility affiliated with the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa near the Kierland Commons retail and entertainment area in northeast Scottsdale.

Ranked by Golf Digest as one of “America’s 9 Most Cheerful Golf Courses,” Kierland lets you traverse the Scott Miller-designed course via Segway, GolfBoard Golf Bike or TurfRider scooter. You can even play in a kilt and afterwards do “research” in the resort’s Scotch Library. kierlandgolf.com

G is for Grayhawk Golf Club in North Scottsdale, which since opening in 1994 has welcomed the world’s best amateurs and professionals to its Tom Fazio-designed Raptor Course and Panks/Graham-designed Talon layouts. Grayhawk hosted three PGA

L is for the award-winning La Paloma Golf Club at the sumptuous Westin La Paloma in Tucson. Jack Nicklaus designed the three nines—Hill, Canyon and Ridge—in harmony with surrounding desert. Open only to hotel guests and club members, La Paloma

49

Winter 2018 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

Butler for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe’s spectacular Casino Del Sol in Tucson. The home course for the University of Arizona golf teams stretches to 7,400 yards and features five sets of tees, 14 acres of lakes and 40,000 native plants. casinodelsol.com.

O is for the Orange Sky restaurant atop Talking Stick Resort. Delectable cuisine matches with the sunset views that inspired the restaurant’s name. Talking Stick Golf La Paloma

Q is for Quintero Golf and Country Club, the formerly private Rees Jones/Steve Weisser design that recently crashed Golf Digest’s list of America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses as Arizona’s top-rated public course. Located west of Phoenix in Peoria—also home to the worthy Trilogy at Vistancia—the 7,208-yard layout rollicks memorably through the area’s diverse and magnificently scenic landscape. quinterogolf.com.

is also part of the Troon Privé network. westinlapalomaresort.com M is for Marana, the town 25 minutes northwest of Tucson that’s home to the 36-hole Gallery Golf Club and 27-hole Dove Mountain Golf Club—both of which hosted the WGC Championships.

Contact the Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain, about its 63-hole World Match Play Golf package comprising both courses. ritzcarlton.comwhisperrockgolf.com N is for Notah Begay III, the PGA Tour professional and NBC Golf Analyst who co-designed Sewailo Golf Club with Ty

P is for Papago Golf Course. Phoenix’s foremost muni has taken the place of ASU Karsten as the home of the Arizona State University golf teams for the next 30 years.

With alum Phil Mickelson designing the team’s range and a five-acre short-game practice area, Papago also features a new $5 million clubhouse with a large dining room and patio seating that overlooks the golf course and the Papago buttes. papagogolfcourse.net

Quintero

Club, walking distance to Rockies “home” games during Spring Training, boasts two 18-hole Coore-Crenshaw layouts—the linksstyle O’odham Course and tree-lined Piipaash Course. talkingstickresort.com

R is for Raven golf clubs at Verrado and Phoenix. The John Fought-designed Raven at Verrado in Buckeye (northwest of Phoenix) provides a country-club experience, while the Gary Panks/David Graham design formerly known as Raven at South

PMS 726

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

50

PMS 471

PMS Black

coloradoavidgolfer.com

Mountain, suggests a location in the North Carolina pines. The latter is an easy hop from Sky Harbor Airport, making it a good choice as the first or last round during your visit. ravengolf.com S is for Show Low, a town—similar to Sedona and Flagstaff—not exactly known as a snowbird golf destination but as a potential reprieve from the Front Range’s sweltering summers. Situated at 6,200 feet in the White Mountains 165 miles northeast of Scottsdale, Show Low’s Torreon Golf Club is a year-round, pine-lined haven with 36 holes of Robert Van Hagge golf, access to skiing and an attractive “Taste of Torreon” trybefore-you-buy package. torreon.com

Z’Tejas Grill

T is for Troon Golf, the Scottsdale-based management company with more than 200 public and private courses in 31 countries. Its Troon Rewards card earns points at high-end courses such as the 36hole Troon North Golf Club (troonnorthgolf. com) in Scottsdale and Whirlwind Golf Club at Wild Horse Pass (whirlwindgolf. com) in Chandler; The Golf Club of Estrella (estrellagolf.com) in Goodyear; and others, including the above-mentioned Ak-Chin Southern Dunes, Westin Kierland, Sewailo and The Boulders. Troon Privé, its private network, has privileges at Peoria’s Blackstone at Vistancia (vistancia.com), Flagstaff ’s Pine Canyon (pinecanyon.net), Wickenburg Ranch (wickenburgranch.com) and more. troongolf.com.

U is for the University of Arizona’s former home course, Arizona National Golf Club.

Annika Sorenstam and Jim Furyk had already left when the course opened in 1995, but Natalie Gulbis, Rory Sabbatini and recent grad Lorena Ochoa all honed their chops on the Robert Trent Jones Jr. layout in Tucson’s Santa Catalina foothills. arizonanationalgolfclub.com V is for “Verde,” a word that greens up a trio of stellar private golf developments along the Verde River in the McDowell foothills near coloradoavidgolfer.com

HOMES IN

SCOTTSDALE PXG 0311 irons

the Tonto National Forest. The oldest, Rio Verde Country Club (rioverdearizona.com), boasts two courses, six tennis courts and a flood of amenities; the 36 holes at Tonto Verde (tontoverde.org) sport some of the state’s best greens; and the course at Verde River Golf & Social Club (mytrilogylife.com/verderiver) recently underwent a Tom Lehman revamp (and currently accepts daily-fee play) as it became part of Shea Homes’ new Trilogy at Verde River Community.

W is for the Waste Management Open otherwise known as the Greatest Show on Grass. Some love the raucous atmopshpere, some hate it, but last winter’s spectacle drew a record 719,179 fans to the Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale. The three-story stadium setup on the notorious 16th hole invites a level of rowdiness unseen at any event other than the Ryder Cup. See for yourself Jan 31– Feb 3. wmphoenixopen.com X is for Xtreme. At least that’s how Bob Parsons, the multibillionaire creator of PXG (Parsons Xtreme Golf ), spells it. Get custom-fit at PXG’s Scottsdale headquarters with the same brand of equipment used by Zach Johnson, Pat Perez, Lydia Ko, Billy Horschel and Colorado’s own Wyndham Clark. Or splurge on the PXG Xperience, which includes VIP lodging, transportation, dining, the full-bag fitting and rounds on Scottsdale National’s Mineshaft Course, The Other Course and The Bad Little Nine—all of which Parsons also owns. pxg.com Y is for the Yavapai Nation, which owns the two striking layouts at We-Ko-Pa Golf Club— the Bill Coore/Ben Crenshaw-designed Saguaro Course and the Scott Miller-designed Cholla Course. Golfweek rates Saguaro as the best public course in Arizona, and Golf puts both in the top 50 among the Top 100 Courses You Can Play. wekopa.com

VISIT www.DesertFineHomes.com

www.DesertFineHomes.com/cag

Wayne Little

Z is for Z’Tejas Grill. With locations in Chandler and Paradise Valley, this shrine to Southwestern fare serves skillet-fresh cornbread with honey butter alongside its signature green-chile barbacoa enchiladas, Smoked Chicken Chile Rellenos and dozens of similarly piquant dishes. ztejas.com

51

Winter 2018 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

Free Yourself in Tucson

Of a piece with the desert and mountains, the region’s 40-PLUS COURSES are more than places to play golf. They inspire the same boundless feeling engendered by Tucson itself—a world-apart oasis from the pretentious and unoriginal.

FOR MORE THAN 70 years, professional golfers and their fans have flocked to the sun-splashed fairways of Tucson. The PGA TOUR staged the Tucson Open on various courses from 1945 to 2006. Then came eight years of exciting WGC-Accenture Match Play at The Gallery and The Golf Club at Dove Mountain, followed by the PGA TOUR Champions Cologuard Classic, the fifth edition of which will take place February 25 – March 3, 2019 at the Omni Tucson National Resort’s Catalina Course.

Naturally, Tucson’s rich golf tradition isn’t defined by the layouts the pros play. More than 40 courses dot the area, all of them making great use of the protean beauty of the Sonoran Desert and the five mountain ranges surrounding the region.

A few favorites include: Omni Tucson National Resort: Part of the renowned 128-room resort, the Sonoran and Catalina courses take the names of both the desert and a range. Tom Lehman designed the former in 2006 by blending the striking desert environment into an equally stunning course featuring numerous uphill/downhill shots and no shortage

Omni Tucson National (Sonoran)

of spectacular views. Lehman also tweaked the Catalina course, but it essentially remains the same challenge intended by Robert Van Hagge and Bruce Devlin when it opened in 1963. Eight lakes, 80 bunkers and copious trees come into play—all leading to the legendary par-4 18th flanked by water hazards with fountains shooting into the air. omnitucsonnational.com/golf El Conquistador Golf & Tennis: Located north of Tucson, in the town of Oro Valley, this 45-hole facility at the base of the Santa Catalina mountain range features the Conquistador, a relatively open parkland-style layout fringed by mesquite and palo verde trees, and the more scenic Cañada course.

Snaking through mesquite forests, ravines and COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

El Conquistador Golf & Tennis

arroyos—all with views of the saguaro-capped hillsides and snow-capped Santa Catalinas—the Cañada features considerable mounding and enjoyable challenges. For more fun, try the, Pusch X9 executive course or sign up for a game of pickleball. elcongolfandtennis.com Sewailo Golf Club: Notah Begay co-designed Tucson’s newest course for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe that owns the adjacent palatial Casino del Sol Resort, Spa & Conference Center. Its name translating to “flower world,” Sewailo bursts forth with botanical richness and abundant lakes and streams. Measuring 7,283 yards from the championship tees, with five different teeing areas on each hole, this highly regarded layout also serves as the home course for the University of Arizona golf teams. sewailogolfclub.com Other worthy resort golf destinations in the Tucson area include the 27-hole JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa and Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa, as well as Tom Fazio’s two 18-hole beauties at Loew’s Ventana Canyon Resort.

Of a piece with the surrounding environment, Tucson’s courses represent more than just places to play golf. They inspire the same boundless feeling engendered by Tucson itself—a world-apart oasis from the pretentious and unoriginal. Tucson allows you to free yourself to explore the cultural vibe on 4th Avenue, hike to Tanque Verde Falls, visit Biosphere II and partake of cuisine so distinctive that UNESCO not only named it one of the six

52

Sewailo Golf Club at Casino Del Sol Reso

Creative Cities in the United States, but the only one selected for Gastronomy.

Tucson is a foodie destination, yet its nightlife sizzles not only with restaurants, but also with brewpubs, clubs and lounges—each with its own unique vibrancy. Public art abounds in the form of murals and sculptures.

Perhaps the best part about Tucson is that its abundant riches come at a great value. Especially when compared to what you’d pay for similar golf, dining and lodging experiences two hours north on I-10, “Free Yourself,” the city’s marketing slogan/ existential exhortation, can suggest something entirely different.

For more information, visittucson.org; 800-638-8350 coloradoavidgolfer.com

CHANGE OF

COURSE

Golf in Tucson means a break from the average links. Challenge your game on daring desert layouts or hit it long on fairways that host the champions.

Whatever your style, Tucson has it in the bag.

Find Your Course at VisitTucson.org/Golf

Golf in the

Rainbow SOUTH AFRICA has spawned some of the world’s greatest golfers, yet pitiably its stunning courses remain largely unheralded.

By TONY DEAR

GARDEN SPOT: Pezula Championship Golf Course perches above the ocean along the Garden Route.

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

54

coloradoavidgolfer.com

Nation A DAWN SUN illuminates awesome Table Mountain three miles northwest of Royal Cape…Southern Right whales breach in the Indian Ocean below Pinnacle Point…giraffes stand tall on the greens at Hans Merensky… and crocodiles soak up the sun in a deep pit at Lost City. Images of golf in South Africa are pretty incredible. And when you mix in a few Boerewors rolls, some delicious biltong and a glass of Windhoek lager at the halfway house, the whole package gets even better.

Though the Rainbow Nation— Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s name for the country that emerged following the democratic election of Nelson Mandela in 1994—has more than 500 18-hole courses and a proud golf history (the South African Open dates back to 1903), it can’t boast quite the same architectural pedigree as that of Britain, Ireland, the US, Australia or even New Zealand because Alister Mackenzie never visited to create a number of great courses like he did in America and the Antipodes.

HS Colt’s design partner Charles Alison did work here, however, and retired to

coloradoavidgolfer.com

South Africa in late 1947. And Colonel S.V. Hotchkin, who designed two of England’s best at Woodhall Spa and West Sussex, also had a hand in many of the country’s mostacclaimed layouts.

One of them, Durban Country Club, opened in 1922 and has long been ranked among the world’s top 100 courses. Before Hotchkin’s arrival in 1929, the course had been built by local golfer George Waterman and four-time South African Open winner Laurie Waters, a native Scot who had apprenticed under Tom Morris before emigrating. The course sits on crumpled sand dunes a couple of hundred yards inland, though the bush between the opening holes and the beach is so dense that few spots afford an ocean view.

It would be a sad South African golf tour that didn’t include Durban Country Club.

Course architect Paul Jansen who spent years working for Nick Faldo’s design firm and who now has offices in Phuket, Toronto and London, grew up in a house bordering the course and says it has had a major influence on his career. “Durban was so different from

55

the other courses I played in my youth,” he says. “It was laid out over sandy, undulating ground which made it so much more fun and interesting. My first architectural principle is that courses are identifiable with their surroundings, and Durban certainly is.” eThekwini (Zulu for Durban) is unlikely to be your entry point into the country, however, so Durban CC will have to wait.

Connect in Atlanta with Delta (or JFK with South African Airways) and you’ll land in Johannesburg after nearly 19 hours in the air.

Though experiencing a welcome renaissance, the City of Gold still bears the somewhat hostile, uninviting reputation it developed in the second half of the 20th century, and it lacks the visitor-friendly—let alone golferfriendly—experiences to be found elsewhere in this amazing country.

You might stick around to play Alison’s Glendower Golf Club, or Robert Grimsdell’s East Course at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club, which opened in 1935. But while quite lovely, both too closely resemble American suburban parkland

Winter 2018 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

YOU GOTTA PLAY SUN CITY In the early 1980s, during the United Nations’ cultural boycott of South Africa over its apartheid policies, the opulent Sun City Resort became an international flashpoint when numerous artists (including Frank Sinatra, Elton John and Queen) performed there. So, in 1985, Stevie Van Zandt of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band formed Artists Against Apartheid. The collaboration of 49 promient performers recorded the international hit “Sun City,” raising more than $1 million for anti-apartheid causes and hooking listeners with the lyrics “I, I, I, I, I, I ain’t gonna play Sun City.”

With apartheid ending almost 25 years ago, now everybody wants to play Sun City—especially its dramatic Gary Player Country Club and Lost City Golf Golf Course.

Your opportunity could come May 12-17, 2019, as one of 64 teams competing in the inaugural World Amateur MatchPlay Championship. Golfers will be matched against similar handicaps (no more than a two-stroke differential) for each match in eight trophy divisions, with no eliminations and amateur prizes valued at $21,000.

Registration, which includes lodging and just about everything but airfare, ranges roughly between $2,300 and $3,000 per person. Register before December 20 and save 15 percent. Sun City is a two-hour drive from Johannesburg and near the magnificent wildlife at Pilanesberg Game Reserve. worldamateurmatchplay.com

courses for them to be the intoxicating thrill ride you traveled so far to experience.

For that you need to leave Joburg and fly to the coast for golf that is altogether more stimulating. My recommendation would be Cape Town, the Mother City, founded in 1482 on the country’s southwestern tip and its legislative capital (Pretoria [administrative] and Bloemfontein [ Judicial] are South Africa’s other capital cities).

Dominated by the utterly mesmerizing Table Mountain, Kapstaad (Afrikaans for Cape Town) has been suffering from a serious water shortage in recent years, and restrictions on usage imposed by the National Department of Water and Sanitation in February are still in place. This is definitely not a deal-breaker, just a heads-up.

The city is a beguiling mix of black African, Malay, Dutch, and British cultures, and last year was voted the world’s greatest city by readers of London’s Telegraph newspaper. You’ll want to do plenty here besides play golf, but days you do set aside for a few holes should be spent at the charming Royal Cape Golf Club—currenly in its third home since November 1885—and Milnerton Golf Club on the coast ten minutes north of the city with stunning views of the mountain.

Cape Town-based course architect Andrew Goosen, who studied in Britain before returning to his native land in 2010 to set up the Morris Golf Company, suggests a few day trips out of the city too.

“Hermanus and Clovelly are both delightful walks,” he says. “And De Zalze, Erinvale, and

Stellenbosch in the Winelands enable you to enjoy great golf then visit some of the finest wineries in the world.”

From Cape Town it’s a four-hour drive east on the N2 Highway to Mossel Bay, start of the famed Garden Route. This glorious stretch of coastline extends roughly 200 miles east to Storms River, possessing several potential stopping points for golfers and any number of attractions for non-golfers.

With beautiful, upscale living areas and good access to a major city come big-money golf developments (called golf estates here) and the Garden Route developed its fair share in the 1990s and early 2000s with designs from Jack Nicklaus, Ernie Els, Gary Player, and Darren Clarke/Peter Matkovich—the team that designed the remarkable Pinnacle Point on the cliffs just south of Mossel Bay. Americans David Dale and Ronald Fream of GolfPlan USA designed Pezula, a similarly exhilarating layout and just the sort of course to fill your SD card. The magnificent Fancourt resort boasts three Player designs including the Links, which hosted the 2003 Presidents Cup that ended in a tie.

Three miles east is a long-established course that Goosen thoroughly recommends.

Built by Charles Murray (Royal Cape, Clovelly) in the 1930s, George Golf Club is sometimes referred to by Fancourt visitors as the “Old Course.” “George is arguably South Africa’s finest parkland course,” says Goosen who grew up in the beautiful coastal town of Knysna, 20 miles away.

Moving further east, you come across

TWO ON A MATCH: Sun City’s Lost City GC and Gary Player CC (top) will host May’s World Amateur MatchPlay.

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

56

coloradoavidgolfer.com

TRUE LINKS: Gary Player’s Links at Fancourt ranks among South Africa’s gems.

ANXIOUS ABOUT GOING TO SOUTH AFRICA? Last year, more than 345,000 people from the US visited South Africa, and when surveyed by the South African Department of Tourism what their worst experience had been, 76% said they had no bad experience while only 6% said they had felt concerned for their safety.

Still the US State Department currently has South Africa pegged at Level 2 on its Travel Advisory Warnings—Exercise Increased Caution. So use common sense and adhere to universally-recognized guidelines: remain in popular, well-lit areas; don’t carry expensive items on your person; take out appropriate travel insurance, etc. You will enjoy a trip it would be a terrible shame to pass up.

a fine Nicklaus design at St. Francis Links that opened in 2006, and two of South Africa’s oldest and most-respected courses— Humewood and East London, both dunesy classics laid out by Hotchkin. The Colonel’s magical design at Humewood Golf Club, outside South Africa’s Windy City, Port Elizabeth, opened in 1931 and has all the hallmarks of a genuine links. Here, you have to master almost constant sea breezes as well as the thick, coarse, aggressive kikuyu grass found on most South African courses.

Humewood has hosted five South African Opens—winners include Bobby Locke (1940), Harold Henning (1957), and Ernie Els (2006).

East London Golf Club’s current home at Bunkers Hill opened in 1923 and is the coloradoavidgolfer.com

club’s third location. In 1986, it was the scene of 16-year-old Ernie Els’ victory in the South African Amateur.

From here, it’s on to Durban and then perhaps the marvelous, Gary Player-designed Leopard Creek, eight hours north of Durban and on the other side of the Krokodilrivier from the extraordinary, two-million-hectare Kruger National Park, where you can view elephant, rhinoceros, water buffalo, lion, and leopard. These are “Africa’s Big Five”— so called because big game hunters always considered them the five toughest animals to hunt. Just witnessing these creatures in their natural habitats could be the main reason for coming here in the first place.

South Africa’s best golf courses are dotted around Johannesburg and strung out along the coast and require a lot of travel if you want to see and play them all. Do it if you have a month or more, and it’ll be the trip of a lifetime. If you only have two weeks, you’ll need to pick your spots—maybe in and around Cape Town; along the Garden Route; or Port Elizabeth/East London/Durban/ Kruger. No worries. Play the courses, meet the people, eat the food, enjoy the scenery, meet an elephant, and it could still be the greatest trip you ever took.

Tony Dear is a Bellingham, Washington-based Colorado AvidGolfer contributor.

CLASSIC COURSE: Table Mountain hovers beyond the tree-lined fairways of venerable Royal Cape GC.

57

Winter 2018 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

The private golf enclave of QUERENCIA has undergone a Colorado-led $60 million, family-friendly reinvention.

By Jon Rizzi RYAN ELSTON’S “ultimate dream day” at Querencia consists of rising at 6 a.m. to mountain bike, then swapping the wheels for a surf board to ride the breakers at Acapulquito Beach. Afterwards, he meets his wife, Lauren, and their three daughters for lunch at the Q Beach club. They spend the afternoon frolicking in the sand, atop stand-up paddleboards or at the golf course.

For dinner, they savor one of Executive Chef Armando Montaño’s culinary inventions, then “go strong to the pillow.”

A 38-year-old Aspen native, Elston often begins some variation of this scenario from his primary residence at Querencia, the exquisite, 19-year-old 1,800-acre private golf enclave in San José del Cabo. As Querencia’s co-owner and president of real estate, he has also helped make this dream a reality.

Elston, an MBA with 16 years of professional real-estate experience, has held this position since August of 2017, when an investment group led by his in-laws,

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

PHOTOGRAPHS BY ROMANA LILIC @LA76, COURTESY OF MURPHY O’BRIEN PUBLIC RELATIONS

Q’d in Cabo

Bonnie and Tom McCloskey of Cornerstone Holdings, purchased the development in which they’d owned a home since 2010.

With personal knowledge of the area, the new owners immediately embarked on a $60 million renovation project. They invested liberally in the maintenance and reconditioning of Querencia’s chief amenity —a stunning Tom Fazio layout Golf Digest rated as one of the “World’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses”—and committed major capital to evolving Querencia “into an even more vibrant family-oriented property while preserving…its exclusivity and attention to refinement,” according to Tom McCloskey.

The acquisition realized a vision Elston had nurtured ever since coming to Querencia while he and wife, Lauren McCloskey Elston, were in business school at the University of Notre Dame. “We went with her family and stayed with a family friend,” he remembers.

“We felt we’d stumbled into a diamond in the rough. We’d always talked about living

58

abroad, so we bought a cabaña, furnished it and developed a passion for the place.”

Ryan adds he “saw there was a play as a family real-estate holding, but Bear Stearns collapsed and the world changed.”

A decade later, the Elstons are changing the world of Querencia along a more active, multigenerational model. “The demographics are evolving towards more youth and vitality,” he explains.

Paramount to this evolution is Querencia’s Q Beach Club set on a bluff above Playa Aculpuquito, a beautiful strand in an enclosed bay that invites swimming, snorkeling, standup paddling and, from May to October, surfing.

“We’re the only private property in Cabo on a surf break,” Ryan says, referring to the world-class waves of Old Man’s and The Rock, which present ideal conditions for all levels of surfers. The Q Beach Club provides lessons and gear for all activities.

It also provides an outdoor bar and coloradoavidgolfer.com

Q SCORE: Clockwise from bottom left: Surfboards at the Q Beach Club; Fazio’s stunning Mexican debut; hanging 10 at Playa Acapulquito; a light repast at the Q Beach Club; rear view of a 4,000sf Club Villa home; Lauren and Ryan Elston; personal Pilates in the Q Fit Center; the rugged 7,070-yard mountain course overlooks the Sea of Cortez; the Elstons with daughters ages nine, six and two.

dining area, private beach cabanas, shady hammocks and a raft of amenities—including yachting, deep-sea fishing and SCUBA in the Sea of Cortez—through local partners.

Lauren has been intimately involved in updating the development’s hacienda aesthetic to a more “tropical modern” one. Working with Utah’s Denton House Design Studio, she brightened up and refurnished Querencia’s 58,000-square-foot Q Club Village. Comparable upgrades in appearance and programming reveal themselves throughout its three restaurants, stateof-the-art fitness center and yoga pavilion, full-service spa, dedicated children’s space and multiple swimming areas—including a rock-lined lap pool and infinity-edge pool with a kid-friendly water slide.

Ryan’s passion project was the professionally constructed, six-mile mountain-bike flow trail system. The well-maintained, wellarmored network—which also accommodates hikers, runners and walkers—consists of coloradoavidgolfer.com

two trail types: The Blue-Black “dirt surfer” features jumps, berms and climbs; the intermediate Q-Club Loop, which Ryan says “uses gravity to knock the grunt out of the uphill,” runs partially through the golf course.

Speaking of golf, Ryan notes that residents are not required to join the golf club (for $160,000, plus $1,800 in monthly dues), nor does residency come with a membership.

However, he notes, “We offer a vertical golf membership that includes a primary member, their parents, their kids and their kids’ kids. People want a house where the kids and grandkids want to visit. That secondgeneration user usually becomes the buyer.”

On the real estate side, the gated community has increased its sellable inventory.

With Lauren’s design input, Querencia now offers floorplans and architectural guidelines that reflect a more streamlined, eco-friendly aesthetic than the existing structures did, but without appearing incongruous. An average of two homes come online monthly,

59

and prospective residents can test-drive the property through the Q Living program.

Custom homesites are also available.

Ryan says they’re only a quarter of the way to the ultimate low-density build-out of “500 to 600,” and, he promises, no residences will ever blemish Fazio’s fairways.

“The environment is important to me,” he says. So is the Mexican culture.

He and Lauren send their girls to school in San José del Cabo, and the new Q Travel Club provides members with tours of such Mexican locations as Puebla, San Miguel de Allende and Las Barrancas del Cobre.

He also says he’d like to double the current Mexican membership base of 25 percent. “We’re not building a wall here,” he says.

“We are proud to be the new stewards of this remarkable community,” Lauren adds, “and plan to take it to the next level.”

For more information on Querencia, visit qcabo.com or call 888-236-2229.

Winter 2018 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN WEISS, COURTESY OF MISSISSIPPI GOLF MEDIA TOUR 2018

INFO TO GO: Direct commercial flights from Denver to Mississippi don’t exist, but Delta, United and American all have multiple connecting flights into Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport. Delta also flies through Atlanta to Golden Triangle Regional Airport, less than 20 miles from Old Waverly and Mossy Oak. As far as direct flights go, the best non-stops are to New Orleans, a 90-minute drive from Biloxi, and to Birmingham, a two-hour drive from West Point. golfmississippi.com.

Can’t-Miss SOUTHERN BELLWETHER: Old Waverly, which hosted the 1999 US Women’s Open, put Mississippi on the golf map.

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

60

coloradoavidgolfer.com

Mississippi After taking a while to germinate, public golf in the MAGNOLIA STATE is now in full, glorious bloom.

By TONY DEAR BEFORE GEORGE BRYAN’S Old Waverly Golf Club opened in West Point, Mississippi, in 1988, the Magnolia State possessed a handful of modest private courses but little in the way of top-notch public golf. Located in West Point, in the state’s east-central Golden Triangle Region, the Jerry Pate-Bob Cupp design at Old Waverly was conceived primarily as a private club, but Bryan—a former senior VP at the Sara Lee Corporation—knew that to fill the clubhouse he would also need to offer some outside play.

He built nine cottages across the lake from the 18th fairway, each of which had a communal area and four adjoining bedrooms making them perfect for golf groups, couples and buddy trips. The stay-and-play option is still in operation today, and the cottage floorplan has become the model used by numerous golf resorts around the country Even with this discreet nod to the public golfer, however, one course could only do so much to influence an entire state’s

coloradoavidgolfer.com

61

Winter 2018 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

Mossy Oak

MASTERFUL: Dancing Rabbit’s Azaleas Course

at the time, the third-highest number in the championship’s history.

Dancing Rabbit Golf Club is an amenity of the Pearl River Resort, which is owned by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and located 90 minutes northeast of Jackson, the state capital. When the plant for which it is named is in full bloom—from the middle of April to the middle of July—the Azaleas Course is an absolute picture. Lofty pines, creeks, elevation changes, manicured Tif Way II fairways and TifEagle greens, yellow flags/pins, and the vividly pink flowers, give the course a familiar look. No wonder one publication dubbed it the “Augusta you can play” shortly after it opened.

“We discovered some very interesting landforms and natural streams when we first walked that property,” Fazio says. “Those features gave each hole its own unique setting and made it easy to design challenging and exciting holes full of variety. The course meanders around and through a densely forested area with numerous water features bordering many of the fairways and greens.”

The Oaks Course, also the work of Fazio and Pate, isn’t quite as visually arresting

Shell Landing

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

62

coloradoavidgolfer.com

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF MISSISSIPPI GOLF MEDIA TOUR 2018

reputation. For Mississippi to become a legitimate golf destination it would need a little help, not just from the addition of other quality public-access layouts but also the state tourism department.

Mississippi began ramping up its golf marketing efforts in the late 1990s, no doubt in response to the success of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, which had opened in neighboring Alabama in 1992.

Other courses did eventually begin to appear. Forty-five minutes west of Waverly, Tom Fazio and Pate’s fantastic Azaleas Course at Dancing Rabbit Golf Club opened in 1997, followed two years later by the Oaks, completing one of the finest 36-hole facilities in the country. Downstate, near the gulf coast, Jack Nicklaus’s Grand Bear also opened in ’99, and Davis Love’s Shell Landing arrived in 2000.

So, by the turn of the century, the marketing people really had something to market.

At Old Waverly, Cupp and Pate created a graceful course typical of the Deep South on 360 acres of pasture, woodland and lakes. In 1999, it hosted the US Women’s Open, won by Juli Inkster and attended by nearly 102,000—

but it is every bit as enjoyable. Eight rooms are available to guests in the handsome antebellum clubhouse, and there’s also a 140room inn adjacent to the courses for those that don’t want to stay at the resort.

An inland course, Dancing Rabbit withstood the worst effects of the hurricane that devastated the coastline in August, 2005.

Katrina laid waste to numerous golf courses, with some unable to survive the destruction and ensuing economic hardship; others shut for months, even years, after the storm.

Shell Landing, in Gautier, got battered but miraculously opened before the end of the year, but revenues dropped while the course’s debt and insurance premiums rose.

Then, in September 2012, Biloxi native and long-standing PGA member Kenny Hughes and three other investors purchased the course and have nursed it back to health (they also bought Mississippi National, now Hickory Hill, in the same town).

“Today I can honestly say the course is in its best condition ever,” Hughes says.

“And our plans are to continue improving the property by removing trees, opening up more vistas by under-brushing and filling in bunkers that only effect high handicappers.”

Hughes sees this all happening within the next five to 10 years, but Shell Landing is in cracking shape now and most definitely worthy of a spot on your itinerary.

If you go, stay in nearby Biloxi at the impressive, 29-story MGM Resorts-owned Beau Rivage, which spent $550 million on post-Katrina repair work.

Beau Rivage residency gives you access to Fazio’s other Mississippi masterpiece— Fallen Oak, which has hosted a PGA Tour Champions event since 2010. “Steve Wynn, founder of Mirage Resorts, originally owned it and wanted a bold, dramatic layout like Shadow Creek within a 20- to 30-minute drive of the hotel.,” says Fazio.

They found a 510-acre parcel on the edge of the DeSoto National Forest with 30 to 40 feet of elevation change. “A good combination of open fields, dense forest, interesting streams and open wetlands,” Fazio says. “We carved holes out of the forest and created elevated contours in the fields, relocating many grand

oaks across the property.”

The result, as you might expect of a Tour venue and course with a $200+ green fee open only to hotel guests, is maintained immaculately and the service is exceptional.

In 2006, Fazio’s Dancing Rabbit collaborator, Jerry Pate, designed the muchadmired Preserve Golf Club, a Palace Casino Resort property 18 miles northeast of Biloxi.

But Mississippi’s newest headline-making golf course is the Gil Hanse-designed Mossy Oak, which George Bryan built in conjunction with Toxey Haas, founder of the camouflage and outdoor lifestyle brand of the same name.

Bryan’s second gift to Mississippi public golf, Mossy Oak shot straight to the top of most of the state’s golf course rankings and, without any hyperbole, might very well have taken Mississippi golf to the next level.

Opened in 2016, Mossy Oak lies half a mile down the road from Old Waverly and was skillfully squeezed onto just 180 acres by Hanse and his design associate Jim Wagner.

Mossy Oak is already one of America’s great playing fields—a throwback to some of golf ’s earliest courses in Scotland where you can see noiseless fourballs putting out on a distant green. This quirk would mean nothing were the holes flat, straight and bland. But there’s not a weak hole out there, each one a glorious challenge requiring imagination and skill to navigate successfully.

Bryan, a member at Royal Troon for 25 years, is a huge fan of how the game is played across the pond and wanted to replicate that on Mississippi’s Black Prairie. “We refer to the course as ‘Nature’s Golf ’ and Gil does the minimalist thing so well,” he says. “I wanted this to be very different than Old Waverly, and we think the two contrasting courses make a wonderful destination.”

Mossy Oak offers guests on-site cottages to the left of the 10th fairway, and the clubhouse, currently under construction, is scheduled to open next May. Mississippi may not rank terribly high in many important statistical categories (healthcare availability and affordability, economic growth and stability, education, etc.), but according to McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm, it comes in sixth for quality of life, taking into account such factors as community engagement, quality of drinking water, voter participation, and urban air quality.

And, perhaps, the quality of its public golf courses.

YOUR COURSE NEEDS YOU!

C

THE POLLS ARE OPEN

CAGGY AWARDS VOTE NOW

The Best in COLORADO GOLF

YOU VOTE CHOOSE TODAY WHO WINS coloradoavidgolfer.com/2019-caggy-vote

Washington-based contributor Tony Dear regularly covers gear on coloradoavidgolfer.com. coloradoavidgolfer.com

63

Winter 2018 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

Blind Shot THE UNSEEN GAME

Silver State Playbook GOLF AND gambling are as intertwined as the Cirque du Soleil performers in their latest Las Vegas Strip show. But golfers don’t have to drop one token in a slot to hit it big in Nevada. Just bring your game. The Sin City orbit boasts dozens of courses—among them the stunning Rees Jones layouts at Rio Secco and Cascata—worth checking off the bucket list. Due east, however, lies another golf jackpot known as Mesquite.

Go this winter, or head there May 27–31, when as many as six courses—including Falcon Ridge, CasaBlanca and Coyote Springs—participate in the 17th Annual Mesquite Amateur, a five-day, 54-hole net strokeplay tournament with 20 flights for men and women.

Highlighting the event is a round on the 7,232-yard Gary Panks–designed Conestoga Golf Club, which Golfweek rates among the top five public courses in Nevada—and as sure a bet as you can make. mesquiteamateur.com

GOING ALL IN: The par-5 sixth hole at Mesquite’s Contestoga Golf Club.

COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | Winter 2018

64

coloradoavidgolfer.com

Wine Spectator “Best Of” Award of Excellence 2018

2018 Top 100 Wine Lists in America 2017 Top 100 Steakhouses in America

5085 South Syracuse Street, Denver Tech Center

Zagat 2017 Top 50 Best Restaurants in Denver

303.770.7300

Trip Advisor 2018 Winner

www.shanahanssteakhouse.com

FEAR NO HAZARD. From its three-dimensional kidney grille and hexagonal fog lights to its

finely balanced proportions, the BMW X3 strikes a pose that immediately defines its character: stylish, aggressive and confident. Propelled by an agile TwinPower Turbo engine, it will satisfy your yearning for elegance and quench your thirst for adventure.

Test drive the BMW X3 today at Schomp BMW.

Schomp BMW • 1190 Plum Valley Lane, Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 • 303.730.1300 • schompbmw.com Special lease and finance offers available from Schomp BMW through BMW Financial Services. ©2018 BMW of North America, LLC. The BMW name, model names and logo are registered trademarks.