SPRING 2012

Golf. Life. Style.

Awards

10 Annual th

BEST 20 Reasons to LOVE

Golf in Colorado

Planning the Perfect Tournament

Play More, Pay Less.

SPRING 2012 | $3.95

>

Trips to Aruba, Austin and Mexico 0

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OUR BENEFITS ARE HARDER TO ADD UP THAN YOUR SCORE

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Only a Champion Could

Sire Such Nobility.

The Clubhouse at Flying Horse was rated the

“BEST IN COLORADO”

by Colorado Avid Golfer Magazine.

- 2008, 2009 & 2010 -

Born of legend, bred for pleasure, Flying Horse is a place of extraordinary possibilities. With breathtaking vistas, beguiling recreational amenities, magnificent custom-crafted homes by the area’s most celebrated

builders, and yes—a pulse-fluttering 18-hole championship golf course designed by the legendary master, Tom Weiskopf—this storybook community reflects the absolute finest in luxury living.

1 8 8 0 W E I S K O P F P O I N T , COLOR AD O S P R I N G S , COLOR AD O 8 0 9 2 1

IN LIFE AS IN GOLF, CLUB SELECTION IS EVERYTHING.

While Flying Horse is renowned for its golf, our award-winning club has been said to rival the finest resorts of Europe. If your soul yearns for offerings and services so handsome, so complete, so luxurious they defy comparison, The Club at Flying Horse is your choicest of choices.

Club Membership Opportunities Ask about our new Transitional Membership! Call (719) 494-1222

The Clubhouse

Sweeping terraces, an open-air fireplace, family and fine dining, and spectacular views of both the golf course and the mountains, make the Golf Clubhouse at Flying Horse the absolute best in high-styled entertainment.

The Athletic Club & Spa

Imagine a club whose amenities play as gently to the spirit as they do to the body, and you’ll begin to understand why the Athletic Club & Spa at Flying Horse is more than worthy of the extravagant superlatives used to describe it.

- Massage Therapy - Spa Services - Kid’s Cabin - Aerobics - Yoga & Pilates - Personal Training

- Free Weights - Cardiovascular Equipment - Aquatics Area - Heated 25 Yard Lap Pool - Children’s Pools - Summer Youth Programs

- Indoor Basketball Courts - Indoor Red Clay Tennis Courts - Outdoor Tennis - Sport and Summer Camps

FLYING HORSE. IF YOU HAVEN’T TRIED IT, YOU HAVEN’T LIVED.

A world of unattainable beauty is finally within your reach – Flying Horse.

With magnificent homes, unsurpassed recreational amenities, and a boldly-conceived K-12 academic campus operated by Academy School District 20, this rarest of communities is now more accessible than ever. Luxury living in the here and now.

Rated as one of the “TOP 10 PRIVATE GOLF COURSES” in Colorado

The Villages at Flying Horse There’s something for everyone!

Live in your own little world. In your own style.

Here at Flying Horse, neighborhood villages transform into enclaves, each one with its own personality, its own architecture, and its own way of life.

- Custom Homesites from the $100s - Paired-Patio Homes from the upper $200s - Single Family Homes from the low $300s - Active Adult, Maintenance-free, Ranch-style living from the mid $300s - Luxury Detached Patio Homes from the $400s - Custom Homes from the $500s Flying Horse Welcome Center and Realty Office - (719) 886-4800 Pricing and availability subject to change.

www.FlyingHorseColorado.com

InsideContents

26

70

80 54 51

46

Features

70

10th Annual Best of Colorado Golf Our panel of experts determines this year’s distinguished winners. Don’t agree? Send us a message on Facebook or Twitter.

In Every Issue 12 Forethoughts The Best Is Yet to Come.

By Jon Rizzi 14 ‘Net Score Vote for CAG’s best article, cover, and photograph ever.

17 Gallery The Broadmoor’s new West, The First Tee, Colorado PGA, CommonGround’s caddie academy.

80 The Games of Golf Striking Vanes.

Player’s Corner 23 Play Away On in One in Aruba.

By Ted Johnson 26 Play Away Austin’s Powers.

By Tom Ferrell 37 Play Away Mazatlán’s Magic.

By Jerry Walters

8

40 Lesson Replace Your Pivots.

By Lana Ortega 42 Lesson Backswing in a Bag.

By Trent Wearner 44 15th Club Receive Total Consciousness.

By Stephen Walker 46 Player Northern Colorado radio personality Doc Jarnagin.

By Jon Rizzi Sidebets 51 Fareways The Best New Restaurants of 2011. By Lori Midson 54 Nice Drives The Hyundai Genesis and Audi A7.

By Isaac Bouchard

Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2012

76

20 Reasons to Love Golf in Colorado Ski-golf days, a Donald Ross muni, 400-yard drives, on-course craft beer, killer views and 15 other uniquely Colorado qualities that make golf here great.

By Jon Rizzi

59 Tournament Planning Guide

An all-new selection of secrets and strategies to put on an unforgettable event.

Cover: Hole 17 at The Ridge at Castle Pines North.

Photograph by Drinker/Durrance Graphics.

Colorad o AvidG o lf e r.c o m

Co l o r a d o A v i d G o l f e r. c o m

Spring 2012 |Colorado AvidGolfer

9

Spring 2012 Volume 10, Number 8

publisher

Allen J. Walters editor

Jon Rizzi art director

Jeremy Cantalamessa editor-at-large

Tom Ferrell

dining editor

Lori Midson automotive editor

Isaac Bouchard contributors

Sam Adams, Andy Bigford, Tony Dear, Lynn DeBruin, Sue Drinker, Dick Durrance II, Chris Duthie, Lois Friedland, Barbara Hey, David R. Holland, Ted Johnson, Kaye W. Kessler, Jake KubiĂŠ, Todd Langley, Kim D. McHugh, Emily Ritt, Bob Russo, Jerry Walters, Gil Whiteley, Neil Wolkodoff director of sales and marketing

Chris Phillips digital manager /account manager

Jim Plank

office and operations manager

Cindy P. Nold projects and special events manager

Vanessa Van Horn intern

Copper Creek Season Pass Only $349* when booked by April 15

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Kasey Anna Crosby p r i n c i pa l s

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 Mailing address: 7200 S. Alton Way #B-180, Centennial, CO 80112 FAX: 720-482-0784 Newsstand Information: 720-493-1729 Website: coloradoavidgolfer.com Colorado AvidGolfer (ISSN 1548-4335) is published nine times a year by Baker-Colorado Publishing, LLC, and printed by American Web, Inc. Volume 10, Number Seven. 7200 S. Alton Way #B-180, Centennial, CO 80112. Colorado AvidGolfer is available at more than 250 locations, or you may order your personal subscription by calling 720-493-1729. Subscriptions are available at the rate of $17.95 per year. Copyright Š 2011 by Baker-Colorado Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. Postmaster: Send address changes to Colorado AvidGolfer, 7200 S Alton Way #B-180 Centennial, CO 80112.The magazine welcomes editorial submissions but assumes no responsibility for the safekeeping or return of unsolicited manuscripts,photographs, artwork or other material.

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

8 Friends & Family vouchers for $45 rounds $99 cart add on optional Special offers to play at Gypsum

To purchase: Call (866) 388-9770 or buy online at CopperColorado.com/golf

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Co l o r a d o A v i d G o l f e r. c o m

Spring 2012 |Colorado AvidGolfer

11

Forethoughts

The Best Is Yet to Come

U

nless you’re audaciously campaigning for President, hope isn’t a strategy. Hope won’t help you meet your sales quota or make you a better golfer.

Nor will it make more people play the game. It’s no secret that the total number of golfers in the United States has declined steadily over the past six years. The 13 percent drop-off in participation between 2005 and 2010 suggests this trend is about more than just a soft economy. The reasons sound more like excuses: It’s too expensive; it takes too long; it’s frustrating; it robs from family time; it’s boring; it’s exclusionary and homogenous.

To avid golfers like us, these objections ring hollow.

Besides, fewer golfers mean more available tee times and faster play, right? But dismissing these rationales has led some people in the golf industry to adopt a “hope strategy” of another economic upswing. They are waiting for Godot on the first tee.

Colorado, while not immune to this national trend, is bucking it. Slightly more rounds were played here last year than in 2010, thanks to initiatives taken by the state’s Allied Golf Associations—our PGA Section, Colorado Golf Association, Colorado Women’s Golf Association, Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendents and club managers and owners. For years, these groups have advanced programs that introduce the game to new players of all ages and economic means.

Last November, these groups met to review a program called Golf 2.0, which laid out the challenges inherent to sustaining and growing an industry that currently has a $1.7 billion impact on Colorado’s economy and provides nearly 11,000 jobs with a total wage income of $177 million. The strategies to overcome those challenges borrow from success stories in other sports (tennis, bowling, skiing), the sharing of best-practices, engagement through personal contact and social media, and the kind of innovative, take-action kind of approach in which Coloradans pride themselves.

It should come as no surprise, then, that our PGA Section has earned national recognition for its creative initiatives to grow the game (page 18), and the CGA’s newly created Eisenhower Caddie Academy at CommonGround Golf Course will be the first of its kind in the country (20).

The strategic programs of the CPGA and CGA represent just two of the reasons to love the game in this state. Turn to page 76 to read many more. While you’re at it, see which courses we selected as “the best” in dozens of categories (70).

Dare I say, we hope you enjoy the rea d? —JON RIZZI

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Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2012

ColoradoAv idG o lf e r.c o m

netScore DEALS | BLOGS | DIALOG

Ten and Now

S

ince you’ll need all your fingers to count the number of years of

Colorado AvidGolfer’s existence, why not put them to the keyboard or tablet and become a part of our 10th Anniversary celebration?

Vote for the best CAG article, cover and photograph of the past 10 years.

Since 2002, we have published hundreds of stories—about the courses we play, the individuals who intrigue us, the passion that animates us and the indefinable qualities that make golf in Colorado so utterly compelling. We want you to share in the celebration and tell us what you think. Vote at coloradoavidgolfer.com!

Pay Less, Play More! The 2010 Golf Passport is here. See page 8

Golf. Life. Style.

CRISTIE KERR

shines in the Valley of the Sun Away Games

Itineraries to fit every budget

+PLUS

Resort Fashion

Holiday Gift Ideas Scottsdale’s Club Scene

Vote for the best cover of the past decade.

September 2002 (Jack Nicklaus) October 2002 (Jill McGill) August 2005 (The International) June 2007 (Greg Norman) September 2007 (Kevin Costner) June 2009 (Don Baylor) Winter, 2009 (Cristie Kerr) June 2010 (Arnold Palmer) August 2011 (Eric Decker) Fall 2011 (Tim Tebow)

(write in your favorite)

Visit coloradoavidgolfer.com to see more covers and vote for the best photographs, articles and personalities from 10 years of issues. With the golf season fast approaching, rely upon us for the latest updates online! Check out our Twitter feed, our facebook page, and coloradoavidgolfer.com for all the latest golf news and happenings.

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Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2012

Who/What do you want to see on the cover of Colorado AvidGolfer this year? Tweet us (@coloavidgolfer) or post it on our Facebook page.

Colorado AvidG o lf e r.c o m

The unofficial, official craft beer of Colorado golf.

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theGallery NEWS | NOTES | NAMES

p h o t o g r a p h by M i c G a r o f o l o

SIMPLY THE WEST: The Broadmoor’s Russ Miller, Fred Dickman and Mark Kelbel review course plans.

A Ross to Bear

D

esigner of more than 400 courses across 45 states, Donald Ross was American golf ’s first superstar, his name a designer label. “Golf has never failed me,” he famously said, and for more than 90 years, the 18 holes he authored at The Broadmoor have never failed to challenge and delight every level of golfer. This spring, thanks to almost $2 million in restorations, the West course will reveal even more of Ross’s genius. Like the East, which underwent a similar restoration before hosting the 2008 U.S. Senior Open, the West combines “lower” holes designed by Ross and “upper” holes (across Cheyenne Mountain Boulevard) designed in 1964 by Robert Trent Jones. In 2008, the success of the East project prompted PGA Director of Golf Russ Miller and Director of Golf Course Maintenance Fred Dickman—both of whom grew up playing Ross courses in, respectively, Asheboro, N.C. and Highland Park, Ill.—to repeat the feat on the West. They enlisted the same architect, Ross apostle Ron Forse, who cut his teeth on the Ross layout at New Jersey’s Mountain Ridge Country Club. Using Ross’s original drawings and aerial shots from the 1930s enabled them to recreate many of the elements that “had been brutally compromised and neutered over the years,” according to Forse. So he, Miller and Dickman went about deepening and re-sloping the bunkers, rebuilding greens, widening fairways, adding mounding and cross-bunkering (“98 percent of which had been removed”) and giving golfers better sightlines on the undulating terrain of the upper course. Despite the topographic differences, the lower and upper holes flow seamlessly; on the “Jones” holes, Ross-style bunkers flank Jones-style greens. Additionally, they rerouted some cart paths to create a more “authentic” feel. “We did this in four phases,” Dickman explains, “starting in October or November and finishing in March every year since ’08.” The course never closed for golf. Dickman, a scholar of traditional course architecture, couldn’t be more pleased with the result. Forse admires the Broadmoor team’s courage to push for the renovation during a soft economy: “The heritage of the golf course is more important than their own comfort. And the results speak for themselves.” broadmoor.com

Co l o r a d o A v i d G o l f e r. c o m

Spring 2012 |Colorado AvidGolfer

17

theGallery Blank’s Checks

THEY HAVE THE HONORS Few golf organizations give back more to the community than the Colorado Section PGA, and at January’s National PGA Awards in Orlando, the Larkspur-based organization received the 2011 National PGA Herb Graffis Award for Extraordinary Contributions in Growth of The Game of Golf. In just the past four years, the Colorado PGA Foundation has given more than $300,000 in college scholarships, growth-of-the-game grants, and donations to numerous charities. “What we do is not just about golf,” said Colorado PGA Section Executive Director and PGA Professional Eddie Ainsworth. “It is about making a positive impact in the lives of others through golf.” The most salient example of this is the Colorado Section PGA Golf in Schools Program, run in concert with the Allied Golf Associations of Colorado under the banner of the Colorado Open Golf Foundation. In just its first year of existence, the program, which brings the game to local schools at absolutely no cost to the schools or students, has reached 8,187 children through 42 different schools, 34 different PGA professionals and 22 different golf facilities. “We like to think that there is no longer a box to think outside of anymore,” Colorado PGA Section President Tim Lollar told the audience upon accepting the award. “We try to use all of the facilities in our Section to brainstorm new ideas. If one program doesn’t work, we try something else. And even if something works, we try to come up with something even better for the next time around.” coloradopga.com/playgolfcolorado; 303-996-1590.

NATIONAL AWARD: Colorado PGA President Tim Lollar and PGA President Allen Wronowski in Orlando.

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Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2012

ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

p h o t o g r a p h s by J e r e m y C a n ta l a m e s s a ( t o p ) ; M o n ta n a P r i t c h a r d / T h e PGA OF A M ERICA

On January 9, the PGA TOUR Superstore in Greenwood Village announced $10,000 in grants to chapters of The First Tee in Denver and Green Valley Ranch. The First Tee, which impacts the lives of young people by promoting character development and life-enhancing values through golf, reaches more than 2,500 juniors in Metro Denver alone. The donation came from The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, whose eponymous chairman heads up Golf&Tennis Pro Shop, which owns and operates PGA TOUR Superstore. (Blank also co-founded The Home Depot and owns the CHECKS, PLEASE: From left, Kevin Laura (The First Tee of Green Valley Ranch); Mark Sternfels (PGA Tour Superstore); Tony Antista (Colorado Open Golf FounNFL’s Atlanta Falcons.) dation); Dustin Mahoney (PGA Tour Superstore); Paula Purifoy (The First Tee of thefir stteeofdenver.or g; Denver); John Herbers (Greenwood Village Chamber of Commerce). coloradoopen.com.

STIR

YOUR SENSES. An experience that caters to taste, feel, sight, sound and smell.

Slip into Cool River and surround yourself with a mix of fine food and exotic cocktails.

Excitement is swirling around every corner at Cool River.

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Spring 2012 |Colorado AvidGolfer

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theGallery Caddie Corner In a business where carts and GPS systems provide reliable and accepted methods of generating revenue, instituting a caddie academy seems, well, nobly anachronistic. Not so, says the Colorado Golf Association, which this February announced the creation of the Eisenhower Caddie Academy at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora.

Once the primary mechanism used to familiarize children with the game, caddying also introduced kids to the values of hard work, social skills, perseverance and much more. The CGA’s 2012 goal is to attract 30 caddies (ages 14-18) for the Academy. These Level 1 caddies will work exclusively at CommonGround during a twoyear training/probationary period, ultimately leading to the Level 2 who will be made available as independent contractors to surrounding country clubs to supplement their caddie programs.

The Eisenhower Academy Fund will pay the base caddie fee for Level 1 caddies ($25) as a way to thank the golfers for their help in training and to give the kids the work they need to learn the art of caddying. Participating golfers must complete a caddie evaluation form and may provide an optional tip.

The academy begins selecting caddies in March. The 10-week program commences after Memorial Day and brooks no deviations (no big family vacations until August). It insists on an absolute minimum of three rounds per week (30 for the summer). Mainly targeting candidates entering their freshman year of high school, the

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Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2012

academy will require applicants to complete an application and demonstrate a willingness to do hard work. Caddies will report to a caddie master.

The impetus for the academy stems from Com- SUMMER JOB: Kids slightly older than this will have m o n G r o u n d ’ s the chance to learn and earn at CommonGround. mission to serve as a community asset and to improve lives through golf. As its tagline articulates, it’s “a place for all and all the game teaches.” By funding the academy without any additional cost to the golfer, the Eisenhower Caddie Academy distinguishes itself from all other caddie programs. “Cost has been the fundamental barrier preventing caddie programs from existing at affordable public golf courses,” says CGA Executive Director Ed Mate. “We have eliminated that barrier. To our knowledge, there is no other caddie program funded in this manner, and this is why we believe it will be successful.” cogolf.org; 303-974-2109 Want to get in the Gallery? Visit ColoradoAvidGolfer.com for more stories or become a follower on Facebook and Twitter.

ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

Walking the walk for 100 years...

The CGA and CWGA believe that golf is a game best experienced on foot.

For nearly a century, we have promoted and developed caddie programs to preserve the tradition of walking, and teach the values of our sport to young people. Come experience it for yourself at the home of the CGA and CWGA, CommonGround Golf Course.

Keeping the game you love the game you love.

www.COgolf.org

player’sCorner Play Away COURSES | FITNESS | LESSONS

Leeward Ho!

The A of the Antilles’ ABC islands, Aruba counts top-flight golf among its paradisiacal appeals. By Ted Johnson

F

irst impression of Aruba: the heat. I’m less than 20 miles from the Venezuelan coast, and it feels like someone forgot to shut the oven door. Second impression: the cactus. It seems there are more succulents here than in Scottsdale. It follows that the average rainfall is about 16 inches a year.

When told that the Spanish failed in their attempt some 400 years ago to raise horses here, the only reply is, “Duh.” Aruba is too warm and too dry for equine husbandry. But warm and dry can make for a very appealing vacation getaway. Adapt accordingly.

The “A” of the ABC islands of the Netherlands Antilles (Bonaire and Curaçao are the others), Aruba lures thousands annually to its aquamarine waters and white-sand beaches.

Aruba’s Palm Beach, with its beach shops and Vegas-sized hotel-casinos (the Hyatt Regency and Westin chief among them) that open to the sea, serves as one of the world’s foremost international playgrounds. The heavy-with-humidity trade winds are perfect for parasailing.

The large, tourist-laden chutes look like pastel marshmallows floating in the azure sky.

The official language, Papiamento, mixes Spanish, Creole, Dutch, English and just about every other dialect carried by the Caribbean currents that have brought travelers and traders from around the globe for hundreds of years.

It makes for a compelling mix of languages and cultures and food. In the middle of this mix Co l o r a d o A v i d G o l f e r. c o m

BEACH TREES: West-facing divi-divis are a national symbol in Aruba.

is Balashi beer, light, crisp local brew that, amidst the miasma of heat, humidity and cultural diversity, takes on the role of social lubrication.

You can experience the effect at the Mumba Beach Bar at Palm Beach. This open-air meeting place on the sand allows for deep introspection on such critical issues as whether to order sizzling grouper when dining later at Papiamento, the large, family-owned restaurant in central Aruba, or is it time to walk next door to Aruhiba and select that day’s Cuban cigar.

Aruba’s standard of living ranks among the best in the Antilles. Like Curaçao to the east, its economy is based on petroleum refining, banking and tourism, with the Spring 2012 |Colorado AvidGolfer

23

player’sCorner

latter being the major driver. Though the Spanish discovered Aruba, bending west like the fairway, acts like a slick runway. But chip shots the Dutch colonized it in 1636, and 350 years later the island became into the grain will stop on steep slopes, the grain trumping gravity. In an autonomous constitutional monarchy within the Kingdom of the turn, the downwind, down-grain approach that hits once and then Netherlands. backs up does not exist in Aruba. Play accordingly.

The Dutch gave Aruba its oil refining capabilities, its educational Played a few times, Tierra Del Sol’s features begin to come out: system and its infrastructure. In turn, Aruba has aggressively pro- How much spin on that into-the-wind approach shot will repel the moted tourism. That means some parts of the island, such as near ball via backspin off the green and into a bunker? Long-iron apthe Divi Resort built around a nine-hole golf course, look like Time- proach shots hit with slightly open clubfaces in normal conditions Share Central. might induce a fade. Into the wind the sidespin gets maxed into a Baseball is the island’s unofficial national sport (journeyman vicious slice. Adjust accordingly. pitcher Sidney Ponson is Aruban). But right now the most famous Driving around the island is a snap because it’s only 20 miles Aruban is Sarah Quita Offringa, the women’s freestyle windsurf- long and at most four miles wide. Renting a car is a good way ing world champion. It figures; water and wind are two of Aruba’s to go, or contact the Fofoti Tours company. No matter where stocks in trade. you stay, the centrally located capital, Water doesn’t play much of a Oranjestad, includes a shopping center that features shops by the world’s most factor at Tierra Del Sol, a first-rate famous fashion designers. And not too 18-hole championship layout and far away is Papiamento, the restauAruba’s only 18-hole course. The rant. Run by the Eduardo Ellis family water hazards consist of grass(Aruban by birth, Dutch in heritage), dominated wetlands at the par-5 Papiamento inhabits a farmhouse14th and an estuary of fluctuating turned-central-interior-dining room capacity guarding the par-3 15th. dating back to the early 1800s. CharmBut the wind? That’s another story. ingly decorated in antiques, with a lush Designed by Robert Trent Jones alfresco patio, Papiamento specializes II about 20 years ago, Tierra Del Sol in Continental fare with a distinctly looks easy on the scorecard: only Aruban touch (bouillabaisse with 6,800 yards from the blue tees and curry in a rich coconut broth; stonethree of the four par-5s are less than cooked mahi-mahi and shrimp with a 450 yards. Three par-4s are under hot green papaya sauce) and inspired 380. How tough can it be?

HOLY TIERRA: The wind makes Aruba’s only course a constant challenge. renditions of uniquely regional dishes Its location on the island’s northwest tip, hard by the famous California Lighthouse, unveils like keshi yena (minced beef and chunks of chicken with stewed views of the island’s rocky, barren northern shoreline. But most holes prunes, raisins, olives, cashews and wine with gooey Gouda on work through scrub, rocks and trees. But by the fourth time you top) and, for dessert, pan bollo (bread pudding with ice cream and try to muscle a 4-iron through that invisible quicksand called trade rum eggnog). winds, you’ll see why Tierra Del Sol is anything but easy. When’s the Tucking into a succulent grouper cooked on a hot stone is as last time a golfer who hits 150-yard 8-irons had to play a 303-yard satisfying as swimming past them as you explore the wreck of the par-4 with driver-8 iron?

Antilla, a 400-foot Nazi freighter whose captain sank it in shallow Though Jones did a good job putting the shorter holes into the water instead of surrendering it to the Allies. It’s wreck-diving site prevailing winds and the longer holes downwind, one must also fac- that snorkelers can enjoy too—and yet another compelling reason to tor in slope and the grain of the Bermuda grass on the greens, which set sail for this island of confluent cultures, endless activities, chaldoesn’t make the downwind shots any easier. lenging golf and infinite charm.

The course lays in an east-west direction, and the prevailing grain of all greens is to the west. It’s a formidable element to be Ted Johnson is a California-based CAG contributing editor. For more considered in the short game. It’s not about how far downwind shots on Aruba, visit aruba.com. Visit ColoradoAvidGolfer.com for more travel but how to stop the ball near the target. The grain of the grass, stories and become a follower of us on Facebook and Twitter. ag

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Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2012

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Find the short grass, become a GolfTEC player.

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25

player’sCorner Play Away

CLIFFHANGER: Wolfdancer’s par-3 12th at the Hyatt Lost Pines.

Austin shines in the Lone Star State.

By Tom Ferrell

D

ust off your boots, tune up the guitar and lay a fire in the pit. We’re going to Austin. Oh, and don’t forget your sticks. Dallas may be the business center of Texas. Houston may be the gateway to and from the world. But Austin is the heart and soul of the erstwhile Republic. It’s a cultural center, a musical mecca and a thriving knowledge-rich exurb of the new tech and media economy. Beyond that, thanks to a history that boasts World Golf Hall of Fame members and major champions Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite—along with ample land featuring a range of open spaces and interesting topography —Austin and its surrounding areas are home to some great golf.

“Relax, you’re in Austin.” That’s the tag line that greets you when you step off the plane and into the Austin-Bergstrom Airport. Pause before heading to baggage claim to enjoy a few bars—of tunes by local musicians—and grab a representative barbecue sandwich, as many of the local restaurants have branches at the airport. It’s a far cry from the sterile rush of most hubs, and a hint of the “Keep Austin Weird” pride informs the Austin region’s personality.

26

Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2012

Get Lost

Located just 20 minutes east of the airport in historic Bastrop County, the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort is the perfect home base for your visit.

Opened in 2006, the Hyatt Lost Pines delivers a modern take on the classic family “camp” of yesterday. Yes, there’s golf—Wolfdancer Golf Club, a rollicking Arthur Hills layout that showcases the resort’s dramatic terrain—but golf is just part of the Lost Pines experience.

Separated from east Texas’ famed pine forests by some 100 miles, the Lost Pines region has intrigued and fascinated visitors for cenuries.

Nearly all the pines grow in a thin, 13-mile band east of the Colorado River, although a 40-acre stand graces the McKinney-Roughs Nature Park, which abuts the Hyatt property. The most romantic legend, according to Eric Claxton, Wolfdancer’s director of golf, is that fleet Native American runners carried the seedlings from east Texas to provide comfort to a homesick tribal girl who had married and moved far from home. Scientists, in far less poetic fashion, credit the disconnected pine forest to ancient glacial soil deposits.

“But here at Lost Pines, we prefer a good story,” Claxton says.

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“That’s one of the things you will notice during a stay here—there is a story behind just about everything.”

The Hyatt Lost Pines Resort bills itself as a luxury Texas wilderness escape. The Texas colonial-style hotel sprawls out from a majestic stand of oak trees. With 491 rooms, the fullfeatured Django Spa, working gardens complete with livestock (including two Longhorns cryptically christened T-Bone and Ribeye), extensive pool area complete with waterslides and a lazy river and riverfront parks—along with the Renegade Trailhead equestrian facility—the resort is long on interest and activity.

Wolfdancer Golf Club Claxton is eager to show off the 7,205yard Wolfdancer course, designed by renowned architect Arthur Hills. The course takes its name from a Native American rite of passage for young men, and layout reflects

section use elevation to great effect. At just 345 yards, the 11th may look like a breather on the card. It’s not. You may be tempted to go with a fairway wood, but driver is the play, as the uphill carry over a creek and to the fairway is longer than it looks. A good drive to the right side offers an unfettered view of a small green. Hit it and have a chance at birdie.

Miss it left, and double-bogey comes quickly into play.

The pitch-shot 12th plays from a scenic perch high above the river bottom and the resort. Again, this hold uses deception to add challenge to what should be a simple enough shot. Take enough club—there is more room long than it may appear from the tee.

Wolfdancer’s final six holes play along a forested river bottom. The par-four 13th, clocking in at 470 yards may well be the most interesting hole on the course. A good

SIDETRIP: Barton Creek’s Lakeside Palmer Course.

drive leaves a slightly uphill approach to a deep green surrounded by towering pecan trees. The 333-yard 15th rounds out a nice collection of short two-shot holes. This one hearkens back to the days of famed Texas golf architect John Bredemus, featuring an old-fashioned push-up green and a good

AUSTIN’S PRIDE AND JOY: The Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial on Lady Bird Lake.

28

Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2012

ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

P HOTOGRA P H S ( FRO M TO P ) C O U RT E S Y OF: H YATT L O S T P IN E S ; B ARTON C R E E K R E S ORT; AC V B P HOTO / Da n He r r o n , He r r o n S t o ck . c o m

DANCES WITH WOLVES: The Hyatt’s 14th.

the “journey” theme.

“Wolfdancer is not your standard resortstyle golf course,” Claxton explains. “The property has a lot of elevation and variety, and we didn’t want to move a lot of dirt, so we let the land determine a lot of the approaches.”

The result is a golf course that traverses three distinct environments. The first four holes play over a high bench of relatively open land, highlighted by the magnificent par-5 third hole, a 603-yard behemoth with bunkers scattered across a wide expanse of fairway seemingly at random. The view from the tee is a classic Texan meld of land and sky. Another heroic hole follows, the 233-yard par-3 fourth, fronted by a colossal bunker that dominates the eye and distracts from the safer and more navigable left side.

From there the course wends into a rolling stretch of holes marked by deep gullies, specimen trees and demanding shot requirements.

A long three-shotter, the fifth calls for carries over steep ravines on both the lay-up and approach. The par-3 sixth feels a little forced, with a water feature abutting the left side of a severely sloping green. Perhaps Hills tried too hard to create a “signature” hole here when, actually, the land itself provides all the scenery necessary. An awkward short four follows, with another fronting ravine.

A behemoth 483-yard par-4, the eighth is the toughest test on the front nine. Though the hole works left, you need to be on the right side of the fairway in order to have a look at the green as you ponder your longiron or fairway wood approach to a plateau green benched into a steep hillside.

The final two holes on Wolfdancer’s middle

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Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2012

chance for birdie.

The round closes with one more chance for heroics—a 535-yard par-5 that plays along a bluff above the Colorado River. Here, Hills makes use of an innovative series of cross bunkers to present a choice on the second shot—take on the risk and play to the right of the bunkers, leaving yourself a simple pitch to the small green if successful or take the safer route to the left of the bunkers and face a more challenging short-iron shot with parts of the green obscured from view. A fitting end to a round filled with decisions and shot-making demands.

Although the resort’s recreational opportunities abound, reserve some time for exploring its interior spaces, which tell a fascinating and inspiring tale of Texas arts and literature.

One of the lobbies where buildings adjoin features an exhibit on famed Texas songwriters, including Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Lyle Lovett, Townes Van Zandt and the lesser-known but mightily influential Billy Joe Shaver. The hotel’s library area, Scribes, pays homage to the lights of Texas letters.

Grab a tome off the shelves and settle into a comfortable chair to savor some of the state’s most luminous voices.

The resort’s riverfront features a discgolf course in case you’re in the mood for a new take on the ancient game. Boat rides and kayaks are also available. Enjoy a classic Texas-style steak at the elegant Stories restaurant, and then gather around the firepit for ’smores each night. If you’re lucky, you might catch a performance by one of

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player’sCorner Austin’s musical mavens at the hotel’s riverside amphitheater.

It’s All In Austin The restaurants and clubs of Downtown Austin—the self-proclaimed Live Music Capital of the World—are just a half-hour’s drive.

While away a couple of hours exploring the grounds of the beautiful Texas State Capitol, and educate yourself about the only state in the union that was once its own country at the nearby Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. Enjoy lunch at the famed Stubbs Bar-B-Q for a true taste of Texas, and welcome the

evening with modern Southwestern fare and invigorating margaritas at the Iron Cactus on Sixth Street while bands tune up to entertain you as night falls.

If you have never thought of Austin as a vacation destination, think again. Lose yourself at Lost Pines and discover a side of Texas that “those who know” have kept to themselves for far too long. ag

Tom Ferrell is CAG’s editor at large. Visit ColoradoAvidGolfer.com for more stories and become a follower of us on Facebook and Twitter.

INVESTMENT MANAGERS ARE LIKE GOLF CLUBS. CHOOSING THE RIGHT ONE MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE.

After The

Fires

F

ollowing record heat and dry weather in the summer of 2011, wildfires erupted throughout the Austin area in September. The region’s golf facilities survived mostly unscathed, although one blaze swept through the property of Austin Golf Club, home course of two-time Masters champion and Austin native Ben Crenshaw.

Thankfully, damage was limited, and the club resumed operations in October.

Historic Bastrop, just east of the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort, was not so lucky. A 3,400-acre fire there destroyed more than 1,300 homes.

The Hyatt Lost Pines became much more than a resort getaway. For many affected employees, it became a temporary home and a refuge. The resort welcomed displaced residents and coordinated a massive relief effort.

In Bastrop, the rebuilding process is well underway. Your stay at the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort will be a part of that process of recovery. —T.F.

•••

Info To Go •••

In addition to the Wolfdancer Golf Club (lostpines.hyatt.com), Austin-area golf courses are as ubiquitous as juke and barbecue joints: We strive to produce income while protecting principal

Whether you’re on the links or investing – results matter. We believe our philosophy of protecting capital while maximizing return distinguishes us within the high-yield bond market. We place importance on reducing credit and interest rate risk thereby protecting on the downside.

A commitment to rigorous research takes us on-site for face-toface meetings and facility tours. We strive to go the “extra mile” by talking with employees, suppliers, customers – even competitors – to get the whole story. Performance is key!

For more information call 303-221-9499 www.threepeaks.com Three Peaks Capital Management, LLC is an investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Investing in securities involves risk of loss which clients should be prepared to bear. Our past performance is not a guarantee of future results. You may obtain more information about Three Peaks Capital Management, LLC, including its Form ADV Brochure, by sending a written request to Three Peaks Capital Management, LLC, Attn: Ashley Shockley, 3750 Dacoro Lane, Suite 100, Castle Rock, CO 80109 or call (303) 221-9499.

32

Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2012

Barton Creek Resort and Spa (bartoncreek.com): If the onsite Fazio Foothills, Fazio Canyons or Crenshaw Cliffside courses aren’t enough, travel west to the edge of Lake Travis to tackle the Palmer Lakeside.

Avery Ranch (averyranchgolf.com): Situated on the edge of the famed Texas Hill Country, this Andy Raugust gem will alternately test your shot-making and your shot taking—as in, photographs of the surrounding scenery.

Falconhead Golf Club (falconheadaustin.com): Fashioned by PGA Tour Design, this rollicking course west of Austin features rolling fairways, roiling waters and the region’s geologic signature, limestone cliffs.

Riverside Golf Course (riverside-gc.com): Golf history buffs take note – Riverside was once home to Austin Country Club and is the track where Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite developed their games under the tutelage of famed instructor and golf mystic Harvey Penick.

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player’sCorner P H O T O C O U R T E S Y O F: m a z at l a n hote l a ssoc i at i o n

Play Away

Mazatlán Magic Mexico’s burgeoning resort area holds no shortage of surprises. | By Jerry Walters

A

mong the myriad Mexican resort areas I had contemplated visiting over the years, Mazatlán never appeared on my radar. That is, until last November, when a friend made an offer I couldn’t refuse.

So off the well-traveled path I headed to Mazatlán, in the state of Sinaloa— yes, the same Sinaloa that has unfortunately become identified with Mexico’s most notorious drug cartel. But unless your appetite for adventure routinely takes you to back-alley bars and clubs at 4:00 A.M, there’s little cause for alarm. Other than the occasional presence of armed guards riding in the bed of a pickup truck, tourists and residents remain unaffected by the violence.

I discovered this during a blissful four-day weekend. A wonderfully divergent mixture of old and new México, Mazatlán is now emerging as the premier vacationland on the country’s western coast. To experience fully the diversity, I strolled along the malecón, the 14-mile-long seawall walkway, for a glimpse of fearless clavadistas, who entertain by diving into the rockstrewn ocean from a high platform; the mazatleco street vendors hawking fresh seafood, aguas frescas and souvenirs; and the statues paying homage to the bountiful sea. The brassy strains of tambora music create a soundtrack for pelicans plying the waves for dinner.

Mazatlán’s picturesque Pacific coastal backdrop provides a variety of aquatic activities, including parasailing, surfing, swimming and sport fishing. The city, known as the “Pearl of the Pacific,” stretches along 16 miles of golden-sand beaches. Seafood is plentiful, particularly shrimp and marlin. Meals become more of an event, with Pacificos and margaritas, delectable comestibles such as grilled shrimp tacos and guayaba—a favorite local dessert consisting of Co l o r a d o A v i d G o l f e r. c o m

THE COAST IS CLEAR: The city’s sparkling, resort-rich Golden Zone.

sweet guava baked into a pie crust.

Evening entertainment revolves around the Plaza Machado, surrounded by sidewalk cafes, and the landmark Teatro Angela Peralta, located in the heart of Old Mazatlán.

The Neoclassical edifice, built in the early 1870s and recently restored to its original grandeur, is Mazatlán’s principal tourist and cultural attraction. It takes its name from opera singer Angela Peralta, the Nightingale of México, who tragically died before performing there.

For golfers, a building of particular interest stands some 20 miles from town at The Wyndham Las Villas Resort, a 68-room resort anchoring the 816-acre masterplanned residential community known as Estrella Del Mar. The plush Wyndham— with its three-mile private beach, four restaurants three bars, tennis courts, infinityedge pool and on-site Sea Turtle Preserve Spring 2012 |Colorado AvidGolfer

37

player’sCorner

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Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2012

smoky Reposado. The longer the smoothtasting elixir ferments in the walnut casks, the darker the color. According to local lore, however, aficionados prefer the clear to the others for its purity. And for the record, it is illegal for distillers not located in the state of Jalisco to name a product “Tequila.” The actual name of what we drank here is Los Osuna 100% Agave Azul.

And no, it doesn’t have a worm in the bottle. According to our delightful docent, only certain mezcals (produced from another strain of agave plant), usually from the state of Oaxaca, are ever sold con gusano. One legend about the worm suggests it was originally added as punishment for devouring and destroying the blue agave. We learned, however, that the practice began as a marketing gimmick in the 1940s.

Mazatlán doesn’t need a gimmick to market its bounty of riches—not even as a “golf destination.” Its beauty, history, culture and charm charming put this seaside wonderland squarely on the map. ag

Contributing Editor Jerry Walters hosts “In the Fairway” on 104.3-The Fan. For more on Mazatlán, visit gomazatlan.com or ColordoAvidGolfer.com.

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PAR FOR PARADISE: Estrella Del Mar’s Wyndham Las Villas and Robert Trent Jones Jr.-designed course (above).

ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c om

P H O T O s C O U R T E S Y O F: estre l l a d e l m a r

and Sanctuary—provides access to Mazatlán’s best course: Estrella del Mar. The 7,015-yard Robert Trent Jones, Jr.-designed layout, which last year hosted the Canadian Tour PGA championship (won in a playoff by Jose de Jesus Rodriguez), features more than 20 acres of lakes and generously wide palm-lined fairways that filter into difficult green complexes with large, well-placed bunkers. The roiling putting surfaces suggest the rise and fall of the waves along the six holes bordering the ocean.

Estrella is one of three golf courses in Mazatlán, the other two being a pedestrian track at Golf Marina Mazatlán and the El Cid Granada Country Club, which features three distinct nines and serves Mazatlán’s four El Cid Resorts. Eighteen of the holes comprise the 6,472-yard Championship Course, while Lee Trevino designed the newer Marina Nine, which involves water on seven holes.

“Mazatlán can only be considered a legitimate golf destination following the completion of the additional two courses that are on respective drawing boards,” says Jorge Corral, Director of Golf at the new Pacific Golf Center, which features a 16-bay driving range, batting cages, a bar and grill, fully stocked golf shop and a secluded corporate hitting bay, replete with lounge chairs and table service. “By exposing the younger generation of Mazatlán to golf, by way of the driving range and free use of equipment, we hope to cultivate a new crop of golfers.”

It’s hard to deny the uphill climb Corral has regarding growing the game. Despite the incentives he has instituted, the price of golf in Mazatlán clearly creates some significant challenges for the local population. Of the approximately 450,000 residents in the surrounding area, only 120 are registered golfers.

For now, that means more tee times for tourists. But on the last day, my fellow travelers and I took a half-day tour of Mazatlán’s foremost tequila distiller, Los Osuna, After journeying safely through cactus fields and dirt back roads, we eventually happened upon an oasis in the midst of nothing but blue agave plants. Los Osuna produces three types of the liquid nectar: a white or clear version, an amber one, and a dark,

player’sCorner lesson 1

Replace Your Pivots How to shift your game out of reverse. By Lana Ortega

O

ne of the most common problems in the golf swing is the dreaded reverse pivot.

This occurs when your upper body tilts toward the target with your weight on the left side (for a right-handed golfer) at the top of your backswing. This results in a tendency to fall away from the target on the forward swing—the reverse of what should happen.

A reverse pivot puts the bottom of the swing arc too far behind the golf ball, causing you to hit the ground behind the ball or hit the top half of the ball as the clubhead is on its way up. A reverse pivot also makes it difficult to swing the club on plane, leading to a too-steep angle of attack and weak pulls or slices.

Don’t Keep Your Head Down!

p h o t o g r a p h s by j e r emy c a n ta l a mess a

Many reverse pivots occur because golfers try to adhere to the time-honored maxim: “Keep your head still during the swing.” Consider this: if you were going to throw a ball, or a hard right with your fist, you wouldn’t keep your head stock-still. You’d turn your upper body over your right leg, allowing your head to move a little to the right as your body weight shifted to your right leg. As you’d move your arm forward, your weight would shift to your left leg, or in the direction of the object you’re swinging—and that’s no different than with a golf club.

The Wall Drill (Try this exercise to feel the correct upper body pivot) 1. Stand approximately a foot away from a wall (a little farther for longlimbed golfers) with your right shoulder closest to the wall. Without a golf club, get into your golf posture, tilting forward from your hips with arms hanging straight down.

2. Stretch your left arm across your chest, making a level turn with your upper body to the right so you can touch your left hand to the wall. This correct pivoting of your upper body will correctly pull your lower body into position and your head will move a couple of inches to the right. As you reach to touch the wall with your hand, the majority of your weight should be on your right hip and heel.

This drill also teaches you where your hands should be at the top of the swing—about even with your right shoulder with hands and arms in front of your body. Golfers who reverse pivot often have their hands too high and trapped behind their body at the top of the swing.

Once you cure the reverse pivot in the backswing, you’ll often find a proper forward swing will naturally follow. Not only does a good position at the top put you in a powerful striking position, but also is more likely to promote a swing that travels on the correct plane, with the proper path and angle of approach.

Lana Ortega, a Class A member of the LPGA Teaching and Club Professional Division and 2005 LPGA Central Section Teacher of the Year, teaches a wide range of professional and amateur golfers at Colorado Golf Academy at Green Valley Ranch (lanaortegagolf.com; 303-574-0775).

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Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2012

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player’sCorner lesson 2

Backswing in a Bag What holds yours clubs could also hold the secret to staying on plane. By Trent Wearner

S

o many things people fight in their golf swing result from a poor start. A great start begins with the club shaft swinging back on the correct plane, and people spend plenty of money on devices to accomplish this. Why bother? You already own the “swing tool” get you “on plane.”

The angle of your stand bag closely resembles that of your shaft. Stand the bag just to the right of you (right-handed golfer).

Start your takeaway and without your hands moving farther away from your legs than they were at address. Let the club shaft hinge up along the angle of your bag.

You’ll probably notice the right elbow hinging or folding, followed by your wrists hinging.

After approximately waist high, the club shaft will begin to move up higher above that angle. From an on-plane backswing it’s so much easier to get the club to return to a playable swing plane on the way down.

Trent Wearner Rated a Top-20 Teacher Under 40 by Golf Digest, Trent Wearner owns and operates the Trent Wearner Golf Academy (TrentWearnerGolf.com; 303-645-8000) located at Meridian Golf Club in Englewood, as well as scratchgolfer.org, a free game-improvement site. He is the author of the book Golf Scrimmages.

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Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2012

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player’sCorner 15th club

Receive Total Consciousness And how to get that going for you during a tournament…which is nice.

By Stephen Walker GUNGA GALUNGA: Big hitters like the Dalai Lama can synch mind and body in the “now.”

I

’ve known hundreds of club players who defeat themselves before they reach the first tee at a tournament. They don’t understand that mental conditioning for good tournament play is not a matter left to chance. Many of the key factors that help people enjoy the game require them to improve the way they manage their minds and the way they manage the course.

The key to competing successfully isn’t just being in the know, but in the “now.” Successful competitive golfers understand and practice the precursors and principles of playing “conscious golf,” which requires synchronizing your mind and body in the “now” moment. Because it’s more easily said than done, the primary purpose of this article is to illustrate how these thought habits help—along with how to employ them.

Warming Up A proper warm-up before play includes a good stretching routine, relaxing the body, and bringing the mind into the “now” moment.

Breathing in a deliberate manner is essential and at least a dozen different techniques exist to help calm or energize the body by choice.

Focusing techniques follow, starting with the short game and employing such techniques as “softening your hands” to enhance “feel.”

During this time, you need to “quiet the mind”—a training technique that requires disciplined “self-talk” between every shot. Conscious Golf specifically employs routines to center oneself, to recover on demand, and effectively maintain the mental toughness to manage distractions, mental chatter, and your own mistakes. The best method to maximize consistency and focus is to groove a consistent pre-shot routine.

Preparing On and Off the Course Knowledge is Power: The most important part of preparation is to understand the mechanics of the tournament, assess the competition prior to play, and to be familiar with the layout of the course by having scheduled a couple of practice rounds in the weeks leading up to the event.

Shoot Smart: Choose your shots before a round to minimize trouble and maximize course management. Mistakes will happen but limiting lost shots (and balls) and “blow-up” holes beforehand can make a huge difference in your ability to score.

Chip and Putt: Before your round, focus mostly on short game, putting and chipping because these kinds of shots will comprise 60 percent or more of your score.

Dedicating to P3 Thinking A technique developed by Dr. Robin Vealey, P3 thinking requires discipline in your mental preparation before, during and after a round. The three Ps stand for Purposeful, Productive and Possibility thinking.

Purposeful: Have a purpose and an intention in your approach to the round as well as each shot.

Productive: Focus in the “now” moment, and attune yourself to the

ner can be fundamental to the outcome. My favorite choice of a partner is someone who has a good sense of humor, stays positive, keeps his or her cool and realizes perspective is all-important when keeping the stress levels manageable.

“task at hand.” Have a short memory for poorly played shots and a long memory for successes. “Let go” of self-criticism, guilt over “failing a partner” and any thought that intrudes on your ability to “be here now.”

Keep your thinking constructive, useful and centered on the present, and keep swing thoughts simple, employing a fixed-point concentration on “how” you will execute “this” swing.

Don’t Bonk: Putting certain foods in your bag can keep your blood

Possibility: Shape each shot in your mind. You not only recognize a

sugar and hydration needs met. This might mean a banana to keep your potassium up and an energy bar to keep from “bonking” on the course. The first symptom of a poor nutrition plan is when your mind “spaces out” or fails in managing your attitude.

clear target or landing area, you also plan for it. Factors are likely to include how we’re striking the ball that day, the weather, and course conditions. Possibility thinking, however, never involves anticipating a score or even calculating numbers during the round.

Pair Wisely: When tournaments involve teams, choosing your part-

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Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2012

ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

The longstanding principle that 80 percent of results come from 20 percent of your efforts applies directly to golf.

• 80 percent of scoring is keeping the ball in play. Out-of-bounds and lost balls do happen, but by playing a par 4 as a personal par 5, you can select shots that increase the likelihood of staying out of trouble as well as those that put you in position to score.

• 80 percent of your practice time should be spent on the weakest 20 percent of your game. For most golfers, that’s the short game.

They unwittingly give away shots around the putting green (interestingly enough, the last 20 percent of most holes). A chip over a bunker, with a short landing area is not a good percentage shot, especially if your “focus” slips from the target to the hazard.

Choosing the play that puts you in position to score is first priority. That often means making the most conservative play.

the next day or upcoming competitions. A purposeful, productive and possibility focused game improvement strategy becomes the norm. The methods for successful play in competition pales in comparison to the healthy attitude and joy of the game.

Unlike Carl Spackler in Caddyshack, you don’t have to wait until you’re on your deathbed to receive total consciousness. ag

Visit ColoradoAvidGolfer.com for more stories and become a follower of us on Facebook and Twitter.

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Anyone who plays this game with any degree of consistency will have an “A,” “B,” and “C” game—and you can’t always tell which one will show up on the first tee. The “A” game, of course, is the one you most want in a tournament. You are “on,” in the “zone,” hitting the ball crisply and putting in such a way that you “see” a much larger hole. Sometimes that “A” game keeps you company in a tournament. Sometimes it doesn’t. What then?

Course management concerns your advance preparation and your knowledge of the course itself. Club selection, shot selection, target zones and “personal par” strategy are the hallmark of course management.

No matter if you are having an “on” day or an “off ” day, you can do your best if you properly manage yourself and your choices during the round. Review the course layout the night before and plan contingencies for each hole….and keep your notes handy during the round itself.

Managing your game means managing your attitude during play. Keeping your emotions in check, staying in the “now,”and keeping your wits intact—those are the keys to playing great tournament golf. After each round it may be valuable to review the round and chart fairways hit, greens in regulation, up-and-down opportunities, and putts. This realistic assessment of strengths and weaknesses after the round directs your practice sessions and preparation for

Stephen Walker, Ph.D. (drstephenwalker.com; 303.530.4439) is editor-in-chief of Podium Sports Journal: The Journal of Mental Conditioning (PodiumSportsJournal.com).

He is the founder of Sport Performance Associates, a performance consulting group providing personal coaching services, counseling assistance, junior player development, seminars, workshops and clinics to individuals, and teams, with offices in Boulder and Denver.

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player’sCorner player

The Scratch DJ Dropping 105 pounds and 30 strokes has brought radio personality Doc Jarnagin closer to par.

By Jon Rizzi

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Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2012

September and Thanksgiving.

“His enthusiasm got me to cave,” says Kelly, who hadn’t played since his teens. “Now I’m hooked. He’s always excited to be there and wants people around him to enjoy playing as much as he does.”

I experience this firsthand during a “sunny golf ” September day at Timnath’s Harmony Club, an aptly named spot for a man who makes his living by playing music. Neither Doc nor I is a member at the flawless facility, but the solicitous staff indulges our twosome as if we were. As the afternoon light limns the Jim Engh-designed holes on which only a few golfers appear, it’s clear why Harmony’s owner, Byron Collins, refers to this as “paradise golf.”

On our way to the first tee, Doc shares his journey to the paradise of Colorado. Like that of most radio personalities, it’s circuitous— with stops in Tennessee, Florida, Nebraska, New Mexico and Utah before arriving in Fort Collins in 2006. His radio aspirations began in Memphis, where his family relocated from Southern California when he was seven. “I remember watching the Los Angeles horizon disappear through the car’s rear window,” he reflects, admitting to an enduring love for the USC Trojans and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Memphis may not have yet had major league sports, but it had majorly talented radio personality, Rick Dees, along with some other disc jockeys who made an indelible imprint on young Dave. He listened constantly, even on weekends, when he and his father or ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

p h o t o g r a p h s by t o d d l a n g ley

A

s another Northern Colorado morning slowly comes to consciousness, the voice on the radio is forecasting “sunny golf with a high of 78.”

After airing some useful information that’s supposed to fire my imagination, the owner of that voice, “Doc in the Morning,” returns to confirm what I thought I’d heard. Doc chirps about a round he had played at City Park in Fort Collins the day before, and his plans to hit Southridge this afternoon. A plug for GolfTEC-Fort Collins and his instructor, Brad Thorberg, follows.

“Doc” is 44-year-old Dave Jarnagin, whose employer, the classicrock station The Bear, lives on the far-right edge of the FM dial at 107.9, its 100,000-watt ClearChannel pawprint extending from Loveland to Cheyenne and down to Denver. In addition to being the morning drive voice, he serves as the show’s program and music director, also handling promotions, Web content, imaging, concerts in the natural amphitheater adjacent to the studio and “anything else affecting the station.”

That would include representing it as a “celebrity” at local charity golf tournaments during the summer and functioning as the unofficial ringleader of regular golf outings among colleagues such as fellow ClearChannel DJ and program director Chris Kelly of 96.1 KISS FM, with whom he teed off at least 20 times between

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Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2012

friends would drive a half-hour or so to play golf in Olive Branch, Mississippi. “I was thirteen or fourteen, and mostly just looking at the pin and shooting at it,” he says.

He got his shot at radio while at the University of Tennessee-Martin, but by the time he graduated, odious hair-metal and boy bands were dominating the airwaves. He went to work at FedEx, where one listen to Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” rekindled his passion. “It was a total game-changer,” he says.

He got a radio job on the Florida panhandle, where he adopted the on-air sobriquet “Doc” and would meet the woman he’d eventually marry and start a family with.

“So you were stuck outside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again?” I ask on the fifth tee and get a quizzical response.

Curiously, Doc’s classic rock catalog doesn’t extend to Bob Dylan. “I never was much of a fan.” Besides, he adds, Dylan doesn’t really test well with his target demo, which includes “persons between 25 and 54 or anybody who loves to rock.” That means plenty of Bowie, Petty, Aerosmith, Zeppelin, Pat Benatar, Supertramp, Nirvana, AC/DC. It doesn’t mean pre-Sgt. Pepper Beatles or post-American Idiot Green Day. “Enter Sandman” makes the rotation; Raising Sand doesn’t.

Just as his solid ratings indicate Doc plays hits the masses want to hear, his solidly struck drives and crisp approaches suggest his GolfTEC lessons are paying off. He started taking them a little more than a year ago, right after he’d dropped from 300 to 195 pounds with the help of a station sponsor.

“I was thinking of quitting the game. I was swinging like a fat guy and having all kinds of back issues,” he remembers. “A good round was when I only threw my club once.”

“Going through a major change with his body greatly affected his swing,” says Thorberg, who worked on keeping his student’s back a little flatter and quieting his lower body. “He was creating a reverse C, which was pinching his back and limiting his power. Now he’s doing a power V. His progress has come really fast.”

Under Thorberg’s guidance, Doc’s average scores have dropped as dramatically as his waistline has—from 115 to 85. The nuances of the short game remain his biggest problem.

“He hated chipping and pitching when he first came,” says Thorberg. “I’d make him finish every lesson with 15 minutes of chipping into a net and all I heard was cussing. But it’s much better now.”

During our round, wasted chips, pitches and putts—especially on Harmony’s quick, rippling greens and aprons—add up to a 94. “I’m very anal, a perfectionist,” Doc admits as he sizes up

DOC AND ROLL: Jarangin’s smooth on-air delivery often echoes the tempo of his swing.

the breaks on another Jim Engh green.

Doc doesn’t allow the myriad shots he wastes around the putting surface to affect his demeanor—or his courtesy towards his playing partner.

“He’s extremely competitive with himself, but he’s always helpful,” says Kelly. “He always keeps an eye on other players’ shots and never offers advice without asking first. We rarely bet and never talk about work on the course.”

The work Doc likes discussing involves taking the steps to improve at golf. “I’m going to remain an optimistic par golfer,” he says.

“There’s always one shot per hole that just sinks me.”

His card’s fives and sixes bear him out. Still, he says, “It’s just a joy to be out there. I enjoy the experience. It’s like the art of a great broadcaster isn’t avoiding mistakes on air; it’s how you respond to those mistakes. The art of golf is how you respond to a bad shot without pain. Like Phil Mickelson hitting backwards from a bunker, you have to try to get yourself out of things creatively, passionately. Once I get off script, I have to trust myself to recover.

Just like I have to trust my swing.”

Doc’s dedication prompts Thorberg to predict him shooting “in the 70s this year. When you work long hours, it’s hard to improve, but his progress has come so fast. At this point, it’s just a matter of tightening up the bolts on the short game when the grass turns green.”

Or when the forecast calls for sunny golf. ag

Read more about Doc Jarnagin and GolfTEC at ColoradoAvidGolfer.com and become a follower of CAG on Facebook and Twitter.

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FLATFISH DISH: Williams & Graham’s halibut comes with charred scallions and caperberries in a stewed tomato broth.

P h o t o g r a p h S By L OR I M I D S O N

Top 10 of ’11 In a banner year for Denver’s food scene, which welcomed upwards of 300 dining emporiums, these 10 are my favorites.

By Lori Midson Trillium

Wooden Table

Minimalist and elegant in an urban sort of way, Trillium is Denver’s first real tribute to Scandinavian cuisine—and chef Ryan Leinonen’s first restaurant.

An alum of Root Down, Colt & Gray and The Kitchen in Boulder, Leinonen, easily one of the city’s top up-and-coming kitchen warriors, graces his menu with caviar tastings (the good stuff ), Lake Michigan smelts, cured salmon, whitefish and cloudberry preserves, which aren’t easy to come by.

It should be on the syllabus of any Denverite who’s partial to dynamic, bright flavors that don’t get lost in pretense or gimmicks. 2134 Larimer St., 303-379-9759, trilliumdenver.com.

At this welcoming urban-suburban, date-night diamond, the emphasis is on swoony Italian dishes turned out by chef Brett Shaheen, whose prior kitchen stints at Luca d’Italia and Osteria Marco properly prepped him for wooing the smitten crowds who vie for tables. His tidy menu trumpets disarmingly simple pastas and preparations showcasing stellar flavor combinations, most notably the Berkshire pork tenderloin pimped with a transporting apple and ham hock bread pudding that’s a thing of beauty. 2500 E. Orchard Rd.; 303-730-2152, thewoodentablerestaurant.com

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Cafe | Bar

Sultry, sexy and racy with blood-red accents, Williams & Graham was an instant hit when it opened late last year in the Highland ‘hood. While the speakeasy pours remarkably memorable cocktails, it’s the kitchen flair of David Bumgardner that speaks volumes. Deeply humble, wickedly clever and undeterred by limitations, his food—wild boar bacon pork rillettes, bacon biegnets, pheasant and even a refashioned Waldorf salad—is triumphant, but more important, it’s food that you want to eat morning, noon, night and late-night. 3160 Tejon St., 303-997-8886, williamsandgraham.com

In one of Washington Park’s liveliest (and deafening) dining rooms, chef Eric Rivera bestows upon diners the best bison burger in the city—but that’s just one of his home runs. He’s equally skilled at creating beautifully rustic soups and seasonal salads, and we can’t get enough of his onion-sage bread pudding wreathed in a parsley root puree. We love the creative cocktails, too, as well as the weekend brunch (the lobster Benedict with apple-smoked promontory cheese is near-perfect) and twice-a-day happy hours.

295 S. Pennsylvania St.; 303-362-0227, cafebarcolorado.com.

Co l o r a d o A v i d G o l f e r. c o m

Spring 2012 |Colorado AvidGolfer

51

sideBets Le Grand Bistro & Oyster Bar Most of the people who sashay through the doors of Le Grand Bistro & Oyster Bar have a collective lust for French food, but even if you’re one of those types who stuff their gullet as a mere survival tactic, this beauty of a bistro has a tendency to unleash your reluctant inner glutton. A lovely wine and beer roster, along with cocktails with a French flair, join Chef Sergio Romero’s seductive Parisian foodstuffs—escargots and moules and frites, bone marrow and braised lamb shank, charcuterie and crêpes—all of which make us roll over in gratitude. 1512 Curtis St., 303-534-1155; legranddenver.com

Linger Leave it to Justin Cucci, the eccentric genius behind Root Down, to transform a decrepit funeral parlor into one of the city’s most stunningly designed restaurants. A whimsical Harold and Maude theme runs throughout the two-tiered space, which buzzes with hipsters throwing back potent cocktails in the upstairs bar, the windows of which overlook the downtown skyline. Downstairs, in the dining room, fashioned with rounded booths, conversation-piece light fixtures and a voyeuristic kitchen, Cucci and chef Daniel Asher turn out a global board of flavor-bombed dishes, including an unassailable, fragrantly narcotic Moroccan lamb stew studded with chickpeas.

2030 W. 30th Ave., 303-993-3120, lingerdenver.com.

the bar, he unleashes an entourage of off-menu, “secret” dishes that make you shake your head in reverent awe. 891 14th St., 303-825-0100, row14denver.com.

Thai Street Food Here’s the first thing you need to know: Thai Street Food is a one-woman show, and that woman— Utumporn Killoran— won’t be rushed, bullied or beat into submission because your papaya salad doesn’t emerge from the kitchen in the same amount of time as your drive-thru burger. Here’s the second thing you should know: The joint is only open on Saturday. That’s it—your one window to surrender yourself to the best Thai food in the city. Killoran, who was born near Laos, doesn’t do Americanized Thai cuisine. No, this is a woman who busts out the real deal: sensational curries that aren’t masked by sugar; noodle dishes and salads that pop with clear, vibrant flavors and the most amazing crab-and-cheese wontons on the globe. Be forewarned, however, that Killoran pounds her food with chiles; if you have an aversion to tongue-numbing heat, don’t order on the wild side. 11650 Montview Blvd., 303-587-2293.

Ambria Jeremy Kittelson, who’s cooked at some of the top dining rooms in the country, recently left his exec chef gig at the former Restaurant Avondale at the Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa in Avon to move to Denver, where he’s now the chef/owner of Ambira, a cosmopolitan restaurant that showcases his flair for Mediterranean-influenced

TAG Raw Bar Occupying a diminutive space in the Larimer Square walkway, TAG Raw Bar, Troy Guard’s sibling to TAG, also on Larimer Square, is the kind of restaurant that makes your body thank you for plying it with food that’s good for your heart, soul and mind. There are no hoods or gas-fueled burners shooting flames, just stupefyingly gorgeous plates and bowls clustered with fresh raw vegetables—smashed cucumber; organic soy beans; Hawaiian hearts of palm; haricots verts—and seafood and sushi that glistens like morning rain, a trio of near-faultless ramen noodle bowls and a small selection of “almost raw” meats, including an ostrich carpaccio sheened with tangerine vinegar. 1423 Larimer St., 303-996-2685, tagrawbar.com.

Row 14 Jensen Cummings, the executive chef of Row 14, brings an irreverent, daring whimsy to the kitchen, slipping plates of Philly cheesesteak empanadas, pork belly porchetta, shortrib tostadas crowned with pickled papaya and Australian barramundi paired with red kuri squash under the noses of appreciative diners who can’t get enough of Cummings’s spot-on cooking. He’s a risk-taker with sensibilities, a wunderkind who, justifiably, balks at the notion of authenticity, and late at night, when industry peeps belly up to

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cuisine. Kittelson, whose bustling open kitchen delivers full-flavored, lusty dishes, is a strident follower of French technique—but he also has a playfulness about him, along with an unwavering zeal for punctuating his dishes with spins and twists. His raw carrot salad, blotted with Gorgonzola and tossed with Spanish marcona almonds and celery leaf pesto, is the most delicious heap of greens in the city, and his cioppino, perfumed with saffron and swamped with seafood, is, quite simply, dazzling. 1201 16th St., 303-623-8646, ambriadenver.com ag

Read more of Dining Editor Lori Midson’s reviews at coloradoavidgolfer.com and Westword.com. Become a follower of us on Facebook and Twitter.

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P h o t o g r a p h c o u rt e s y o f h y u nda i

THE LOOK OF GENESIS: An upscale upgrade.

Hitting the Sweet Spot The new Hyundai Genesis and Audi A7 find the perfect mix of price and plushness. By Isaac Bouchard 2012 Hyundai Genesis 3.8 Price as tested: $43,035 The shock that accompanied the launch a few years back of the upscale Genesis sedan from the budget-minded Korean company Hyundai has faded with the company’s incredible climb in both the sales and quality charts. These days, minus the baggage of being an overreaching upstart, how does the Genesis stack up as a car?

Quite well, actually. Outside, changes for 2012 are minor; tweaks to the headlamps and front and rear fascias don’t give this Hyundai anywhere near the drama of the firm’s smaller offerings such as the Sonata and Elantra, but neither do they detract from its upscale vibe.

It’s the Oxxford suit-wearing banker standing next to the flashier Armani-garbed sports stars.

Intact is the incredibly luxurious cockpit, which boasts a depth of quality that bests American premium interiors and matches up well against European rides. Surfaces please the eye and touch, and it is a

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roomy, peaceful place to wile away the miles. Letdowns include an antiquated infotainment system and the lack of a cooled passenger seat to match the driver’s optional, chilled chair.

Chassis upgrades for 2012 address the Genesis’ biggest dynamic issues, and powertrain changes don’t hurt either. Underneath, revised springs, dampers, and antiroll bars leave the decent handling intact while dramatically improving the ride, which used to be quite flinty.

Now the Hyundai glides over most of the surfaces over which it once rumbled; this does wonders for occupant serenity. Steering and brake feel and precision is average for the class.

The Genesis comes with three available engines. The big news is the bored-out 429hp, 5-liter V8 in the R model, but to get it you have to put up with a stiffer suspension that eliminates most of the ride quality improvements. There are revisions as well to the smaller V8, but the engine best suited to the mission of this sedan seems to be the 3.8-liter V6, whose direct fuel injection helps increase power and torque substantially, to 333hp and 291lb-ft. All Genesi use the

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tech upper end shoppers expect.

When you’re not twirling the MMI controller to find the coolest coffee shop and

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Read more of Isaac Bouchard’s automotive writing at nicedrivz.com or at ColoradoAvidGolfer.com.

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ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

P h o t o g r a p h c o u rt e s y o f AU D I

same transmission, Hyundai’s in-house 8-speed automatic.

While this improves fuel economy in both the ratings (19/29) and the real world, the tranny often appears confused as to which gear to choose and never lets the engine rev to near redline. In aggregate, though, this new powertrain provides comIN AN AUDI: The petitive fuel economy and exA7 still turns heads. cellent acceleration.

With the launch last year of merely driving the A7, you’ll find the expethe even more expensive Equus model, the Genesis begins to look like a nice, rience eminently rewarding. Motivation for conservative option for midpriced luxury this latest Audi comes from a supercharged shoppers. Perhaps the biggest impediment to 3-liter V6, whose 310 horses—channeled its continuing sales growth in wintry climes through a slick 8-speed automatic and standard all-wheel drive—give great off-the-line is the lack of an all-wheel drive option. punch and decent passing power. Zero-to-60 arrives in just 5.1 seconds, and the level of refinement this combo serves up is excellent.

Fuel economy isn’t half bad either, with EPA 2012 Audi A7 ratings of 18/28, generally backed up in the Price as tested: $68,830 real world. About the only thing one could Following the trail blazed by the Mercedes wish for is a more evocative engine note.

The rest of the A7’s dynamics are well CLS—and soon to be followed by BMW—Audi sculptured its own svelte four-door “coupe” honed, though not without blemishes. Brake out of the new A6 sedan. The A7 boasts a feel and power are first rate, and the electricdramatic five-door form factor that draws assist steering is actually an improvement many admiring looks, and it doesn’t disap- over the adjustable hydraulic systems of some recent Audis, such as the A4. While there is point from behind the wheel either.

While it’s the slinky sheet metal that gets no actual feel of what the tires are up to, the the most attention, perhaps the A7’s biggest two selectable settings both proffer excellent strength is its interior. Beautifully formed of on-center linearity (making highway trackrich-looking materials, it builds on Audi’s ing easier) and good, natural weighting. The long track record for avant-garde yet logical chassis is a bit of a letdown, though. While layouts. Especially endearing are the optional generally smooth, it can become agitated “Natural,” matte-finished ash wood, with its over transverse ridges, undermining an othexposed graining, and the very three-dimen- erwise cosseting ride. There’s no commensusional layout of the instrument cluster and rate handling benefit; the Audi washes into understeer earlier than expected and never navigation/infotainment display.

Room is generous in the front, and de- comes alive for the driver on a twisty road. spite the low roofline, in the back as well, Perhaps the optional Sports suspensions though seating is limited to four passengers. would help with this, but would only exacerThe cargo area is of decent size as well, the bate the ride issues.

The A7 is a quite conspicuous value when hatch granting more loading options than a conventional trunk, without seeming to allow compared to the CLS Benz and the Porsche Panamera, another swoopy five door; simiany more road noise intrusion.

Step up to one of the higher trim levels and larly equipped, it undercuts them by some you’ll get perhaps the slickest and most infor- ten thousand dollars or more. And if one mative set of driver interfaces available in any wants all the inherent goodness of this Audi’s car, highlighted by optional Google-powered technology packages, interior loveliness, and nav and search, and in-car WiFi. Even more powertrain prowess, there is the four-door basic cars are well equipped with most of the A6, available for almost ten grand less.

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Secrets & Strategies for Staging the Perfect Event

Colorado National Golf Club Thinks Outside the Tee Box

Co l o r a d o A v i d G o l f e r. c o m

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Think Outside the Tee Box

Putter Around

Not every attendee at a golf tournament is a golfer. Everyone, however, has played miniature golf. Check with the course if it can customize a large natural turf putting green with mini bunkers, water hazards, trees and obstacles for an all out team-building experience that allows participation by everyone.

We’ve discovered that complimenting the contest with a cocktail party and a satellite bar or appetizer station next to the putt-putt course creates even more enjoyment.

a list of the folks that knocked a shot into the pool and have a shootout among this group to determine the winner. Another option is to reward all the individuals who scored one in the pool and have them split the pot.

Wish Upon a Star

If it is a celebrity charity event, coordinate a pairings party to give players an opportunity to bid on which celebrity they want to play with. Some players will be willing to pay big bucks to play with a certain celebrity.

Great golf shouldn’t be the only goal.

By Matt Schalk Long Drive Contest Bid Up the Boss Depending on the specific golf course, you

T

he best golf tournaments emphasize a complete experience, not just a great round of golf. Fun should serve as the focus. If you want to make your golf tournament memorable for everyone, think outside the tee box and come up with some unusual activities to distinguish your event from the others.

At Colorado National Golf Club, we aspire to give tournament participants more reasons to mingle before, during and after the event.

Whether the tournament is a company or charity event, the ideas included below will help you draw a big crowd and give everybody a chance to rub elbows with their fellow participants.

Lesson Tee

Some of the more successful tournaments we’ve run involve clinics before the tournament. Courses like Colorado National with ample practice areas and a state-of-the-art indoor practice facilities and simulators can create added value for your guests and raise money for your charity.

Even Closer to the Pin At the end of the event, enlist the winners of the usual “Closest to the Pin” contests in a post-tournament hole-in-one competition.

Each player receives one shot at the hole from the designated yardage (usually 150-165 yards) for the grand prize. If you can afford the hole-in-one insurance, offer a new car!

Choose a hole that can be seen from the clubhouse or the closest hole to the clubhouse so more people can watch the shots.

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can hold this on the driving range or one of the golf holes close to the clubhouse (as long as it’s a straight hole with a wide enough fairway).

All you need is are a couple of volunteers with two-way radios. If you are holding a charity event, the long-drive contest can be a great way to raise extra money. Sell three drives for $10, with the winner taking a portion of the pot, or the top-three winners sharing the wealth!

Night Glow Ball Dinner Party For a more intimate event of 36 players or fewer, flip the usual golf-then-grub sequence and indulge in a great dinner and a few adult beverages before heading out for a shotgun scramble of six or nine holes using glow-inthe-dark balls.

Skills Challenges

Stage a post-tournament long-drive contest on hole No. 1 and a hole-in-one shootout on No. 18. The majority of the tournament participants gather to watch. With so many people sticking around for the après-golf festivities, the silent auction will garner greater success.

Splashdown!

This may sound a little childish, but buy a kiddy pool, fill it with water, and put it out on the driving range about 50 yards from the hitting area. Either before or after the tournament, give each player three chances to land a shot into the pool. If you want to raise additional money for charity, charge $10 for the three shots and pay out half the pot to the participants. Keep

Pairings parties work with company golf tournaments as well. Come up with a list of the executives that will be playing in the tournament and give the employees the chance to bid on the executive with whom (or on whom!) they want to tee off. The money raised either can be donated to a charity or used to buy extra prizes the day of the event.

Corporate-event pairings parties are fun—and a good way to single out brown-nosers!

Gruesome Twosomes In this two-person-team game, each team has to play their worst (most gruesome) drive— as decided by the opposing team. The player who hit the “gruesome” tee ball also plays the second shot for his or her side. The teams then play out the hole in alternate shot fashion.

Go Out with a Bang!

Stage some highly anticipated post-auction theatrics. People will always linger for a fireworks display, for example, or a concert by a local band. One of the more dramatic and successful fund-raisers is the helicopter ball drop. Before the round, players buy numbered golf balls as if they were raffle tickets. After the round, the chopper drops the balls onto a green. The person whose ball lands closest to—or in—the hole wins a prize donated by a sponsor.

Matt Schalk is the PGA General Manager of Colorado National Golf Club in Erie and The Fox Hill Club in Longmont. Reach him at mschalk@ coloradongc.com or 303-926-1723.

ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

THE PERFECT MEETING PLACE...

Colorado National & Fox Hill provide exceptional views and panoramic scenery. Imagine a perfect place in a perfect setting - whether its a corporate conference, wedding or a golf tournament, we can make your dream a reality.

Colorado National & Fox Hill have professional and experienced event staff that can meet all of your needs. Our Executive Chef has extensive experience in the hospitality industry and will work with you to create a customized menu that will delight you and your guests. We will create a unique affair by delivering picturesque views, award-winning food, impeccable service and memories that will last a lifetime. It’s definitely the perfect meeting place.

What’s better than a room with a view!

coloradonationalgolfclub.com 303.926.1723

thefoxhillclub.com 303.651.3777

2012TournamentGuide

The Front and Back Nine of Tournament Prep As with the game itself, course knowledge and execution are pivotal. Herewith, the front and back nine of tournament planning. By Matt Dribnak

Front 9

Take these steps to keep your event on course

Hole 1

Before Setting Your Goals, Know The Obstacles.

They include: Selecting the wrong course; lack of communication; lack of follow through on business plan; not utilizing golf course resources; confusing expectations with assumptions; finding sponsors; lack of player interest, creativity and differentiation; day-oftournament confusion.

Hole 2

Pinpoint your Goals These can include: efficient tournament planning; generating more revenue; increasing the number of players; gaining/retaining sponsors; inventing fun contest holes and formats.

Hole 3

Remember Your Ratios • 2:1 On average, for every tournament goal, you will need to overcome two obstacles.

• 5: 1 For every tournament goal you have, the course will give you five ways to reach it!

Hole 4

Communicate and Delegate Effectively The most important aspect of tournament planning is communication—both internal (within your committee) and external (with your selected course, sponsors and players). Don’t do everything yourself. Assign specific duties to each committee member and hold him or her accountable for results with monthly/weekly check points to guarantee success. And make sure there is only one point of contact from your committee to the golf course.

Hole 5

Pick the Right Course The choice of golf course is paramount. Take into account the course’s reputation and value. Try to get your information from unbiased

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sources such as survey responses. After your initial research, draw up a “report card” with which you can rate courses based on reputation, cost, tournament experience, accessibility to prospective players, resources, etc. Pay a visit to your final four choices and make sure your ultimate decision is unanimous with members of the tournament committee.

Hole 6

Distinguish Expectations From Assumptions Expectations are good. Both the golf course and tournament planner need to establish them: Pace of play, set up of sponsor stations and materials, extra carts, food and dietary requirements, gift bag distribution, dress code, storage space, course exclusivity.

Assumptions are bad. They are the most common flaw in tournament planning.

Never assume the course knows what you expect. Always articulate it in writing.

Hole 7

Use the Golf Course as a

Resource Your host golf course should be able to provide you with ways to promote and fill your tournament! Email blasts to their database, website posting, on-line calendars, and flyers are all good examples. Social media is huge.

You must take a proactive role in this process though. Don’t assume that the golf course will take care of this on its own.

Hole 8

Fill Your Tournament The Committee Formula for a full tournament field is pretty straightforward: Ten Committee Members x 3 Foursomes Each = 120 players. Tap those contacts! Utilize local media by trading TV or radio commercial time for a foursome. Utilize social media and technology by starting your tournament’s Facebook or Web page. Entice players with early bird specials, and half day buy out options; seduce casual or non-golfers with putting contests, par-3 course events, instruction, a fashion show or other entertainment. See

what else the course has to offer non-golfers.

Offer. Another way to boost revenue is to offer alternatives to playing 18 holes, hold a silent auction, and look for donations

Hole 9

Get Sponsors Involving sponsors is great way to generate revenue and offset expenses. All committee members need to tap their contacts.

Offer creative sponsor packages where the amount of the donation corresponds to the title of the package (par, birdie, eagle, ace).

Remember: everything has a name: the tee, the green, the contests, meals, pre-party, beverage service, gift bag. Also, get sponsors to sign multi-year packages and host a sponsor appreciation event for them.

Back 9

Make your tournament truly unforgettable with flawless execution and implementation of dates.

Hole 10 Handle Crunch Time!

A week before the event, finalize all player counts, food-and-beverage details and payment information with the golf course. Generate a working document that both you and the golf course use as a reference for all “day-of ” details, including registration start time, contest holes, hole-in-one information, goodie bags, format, etc.

Hole 11 Pick a Format Select the format that best suits your tournament field. A Scramble, the most casual and common format, gives every team member a chance to contribute. A more skilled golf field might prefer a Shamble, which allows the benefit of a scramble from the tee, but individual scores in from there. Others exist as well. (See page 66.)

Please turn to page 64.

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2012TournamentGuide Hole 12

Select Contest Holes Contest holes get people involved and boost revenue. Offer two types: those that bring in pure revenue, and those that everyone can win. Betting circles, putting contests, mulligans, shootouts, and par-3 events are all examples of revenue boosters. Contest holes everyone can win are straightest drive, speed holes, longest putt, and best-dressed team. Feel free to get creative with contest holes. The more original the idea, the more memorable it will be.

Hole 13

Keep Pace Players expect tournament rounds to take slightly longer than a normal round, but a brisk pace of play is extremely important! The pace will be determined by three factors: The number of contest holes; the total number of players; and the skill level of players (and your tee selection). The golf course should regulate pace of play with pace-of-play monitors, but create rules that will help. For example, “bogey or better

Host your tournament at

the home of the HealthONE Colorado Open Championships .

rule,” or “two putt max.” We recommend that your volunteers comprise 10% of your tournament field. For example, if you have 100 people playing in the tournament, you should have 10 volunteers to act as support.

Hole 14

Make More Money These five steps will help you generate more profit for your organization or charity: 1) Decrease your per person tournament price with early-bird specials, non-peak season rates, multi-year commitments from participants with buyout options. 2) Offer alternatives to playing 18 holes. 3) Sell “players packs.” 4) Hold a pre-tournament silent auction that involves more than the tournament field. 5) Get more exposure for gifts that could be purchased by family members, friends or for their kids.

Hole 15

Make It Unforgettable Selecting the right course with the most value establishes or enhances your tournament’s reputation. So does the selection of the tournament gift—everyone should leave with a daily reminder of your event other than another sleeve of balls, polo shirt and foursome photograph—and the quality of the food, charity video presentation and live auction items.

Hole 16 Impeccable course conditions, friendly staff and overall tournament success is our guarantee!

Tournament packages starting at just $60 per person!

Contact Matt Dribnak at (303) 371-8725 or email: mdribnak@gvrgolf.com

Retain Your Players Try to sign up players for next year’s event at the end of this year’s tournament, giving them a break in the price for committing early. Have a tournament Website and Facebook page that allows players to re-live their shots and get excited for next year’s event.

Hole 17 Keep the Participants Engaged Send emails to all participants updating them on the charity and upcoming events. Update the Facebook and web pages throughout the year, hold non-golf appreciation events.

Hole 18

Postmortem Review with committee the goals that were reached, areas for improvement and what the goals should be for next year.

4900 Himalaya Road • Denver, CO 80249 • 303.371.3131 • www.gvrgolf.com 64

Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2012

Green Valley Ranch Golf Club Director of Sales & Marketing Matt Dribnak holds seminars in Tournament Planning at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club. Reach him at mdribnak@gvrgolf. com for feedback and advice on how you can achieve all your tournament goals.

ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

2012TournamentGuide

Making Choices Because you can’t play in every charity event.

By Amy Freeland Even the most charitable golfer needs to ask a few simple questions to keep his or her tournament schedule both rewarding and realistic:

Format? Better players may be frustrated by a scramble, while casual ones may shy away from more competitive formats.

Consider whether a scramble, shamble or best-ball format fits your style and whether the event requires an official USGA handicap.

Fun? Lynne Cottrell, co-chair of the Colorado Celebrity Classic to benefit TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors), says the tournament’s evening concerts create a party atmosphere that convinces players to include friends and family.

Trade? Tournament organizers often accept in-kind donations in exchange for entry fees, making this a great way to stretch your charity tournament dollar.

Tradition? Tournament organizer Tom Krause plays the same events every year.

“It’s never about the golf,” he says. “It’s about supporting the group and seeing friends.”

Where? Charity tournaments can provide the only realistic chance to play some exclusive courses. Robert Gamberg, a business owner who plays 5-10 charity tournaments annually, may enter the 2012 Els For Autism Golf Challenge July 30 in large part because it would let him play Parker’s Colorado Golf Club a second time: “I’d love to play that course again, and what better time than when it can be for a good charity?”

Price? Tournaments held at exclusive courses may command higher entry fees than you might ordinarily pay. But tournament entry fees cover more than a green fee. It comes down to value. Nicer clubs often provide more comfortable facilities, elevating the experience.

Look for the biggest bang for your buck.

Cause? For many, the beneficiary trumps all. Ryan Cavan, a financial consultant who plays nine tournaments annually, lost a friend in middle school to leukemia. He never misses a tournament benefiting cancer research. “Anything I can do to help someone else get through a situation that I went through means something to me,” he explains.

Connection? Playing an event where clients or a prospective employer will be can advance your career, while declining one that benefits a friend’s favorite cause may create a rift. One option: play in the business one and donate to your friend’s charity.

Prestige? Whether it’s the status of playing alongside a celebrity or just being part of an elite event, certain tournaments carry more clout. Never undervalue the power of bragging rights.

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A World of Tournament Ideas Participants won’t soon forget last year’s Allen’s Night Ops II, a golf tournament benefiting NFL All-Pro defensive end Jared Allen’s charity, Homes for Wounded Warriors. Hosted by Scottsdale’s Ancala Country Club, the event featured members of the Arizona National Guard barking orders (“You call that a drive? Drop down and give me twenty pushups!”) and play-

fully harassing golfers on every hole. Instead of a longest drive contest on the 14th hole, there was a longest slide contest on a 100yard Slip ‘n Slide. The second nine holes took place at night with glow-in-the-dark balls, followed by a $1,000,000 hole-in-one contest at 10:30. Although Allen nixed having on-course paintball snipers, future events will feature similarly radical variations on the same-old-same-old.

Your event can, too, with these formats and ideas, culled from around the world.

Chill Out Ice golf is as old as the game’s origins. The Dutch played kolf on frozen canals, and the frozen lakes and snow-filled valleys of Colorado’s high country make for a perfect golf tournament. There’s the 36-hole World Ice Golf Championships in Uummannaq, Greenland, which utilizes orange balls and hazards like glaciers, icebergs, the ocean and ice floes. PGA Tour pro Tim Herron has played and designed the “course” on frozen Lake Minnetonka for the Chilly Open in Wyzata, Minn.. Every hole gets sponsored, hockey sticks share bag space with golf clubs; sleds and snowmobiles replace golf carts; and tennis balls are used.

A similar event utilizing colored golf balls, The Ice Tee Classic, takes place every winter on a lake near Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Piste and Putt The idea may have originated in France, but what could be more “Colorado” than a ski/golf tournament? L’Open Ski-Golf, a two-day event, takes place at Saint Donat Golf Course on the Cote D’Azur and the Isola 2000 Ski Resort an hour away in the Alpes Maritimes. The lowest combination of slalom times and net scores wins.

Tell It on the Mountain Looking to appeal to a hard-bodied crowd?

Take a page from the Pillar Mountain Golf Classic, which has transpired every April Fool’s weekend in Kodiak, Alaska since 1984.

The one hole on the “course” sits atop a steep 1,200-foot mountain—what Coloradans might call a mogul. Uphill lie after uphill lie might lead to astronomical scores, but the sponsorship opportunities for such a novelty event are enormous. Just remind golfers to bring their crampons, plenty of balls and water.

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2012TournamentGuide Hole-in-One Shootout

Peoria and Callaway

Instead of having one par-three as a hole-inone prize hole, one Illinois town built an entire tournament around golf ’s luckiest shot.

At the $2 Million-Hole-In-One-Shootout, entrants pay a fee, then fork up $40 for a bucket of 20 balls in an attempt to land as many shots as they can in a target circle 140 yards from the tee. The top 50 percent of those players qualify for the next round, receiving three balls for every previous qualifying shot.

From there, the 60 most accurate golfers get two shots at a 185-yard hole: Their first shot is for the $2 million; the second is for a car or cruise. Lesser prizes donated by sponsors go to player who gets closest to the pin or sinks the first putt. Sponsorships can also cover the cost of specialty hole-in-one insurance.

These complicated formats require more calculation and margin for confusion than

anyone putting on a tournament should have to endure. Masochists can go online to get the details.

Hole-in-One Insurance Designating one par-3 as a “$1 Million Hole-In-One” will help market the extraordinariness of your tournament. Companies such as National Hole-in-One (hio.com) offer affordable insurance packages that include customized promotional materials.

Colorado AvidGolfer customers get a 10% discount on NHIO packages. That means a $25,000 policy with NHIO would run $412 for a field of 72 players; for the same number of players, $1 million in insurance would cost approximately $11,000.

For more specifics, visit coloradoavidgolfer.com/golf-events/charity-events

Bingo-Bango-Bongo The popular format awards three points on each hole, based on the following: One for being first on the green; one for being closest to the pin once all balls are on the green; and one for being the first player to hole out.

Best Ball (a/k/a Four Ball) Popular with more advanced golfers who like to play their own ball, this format lets the team use the best individual hole score.

Best Ball Golf Tournament Format is also called Four Ball Format as well as a variation, 1-2-3 Best Ball Format.

Alternate Shot (a/k/a Odds and Evens or Scotch Foursomes) Also called Foursomes, this golf tournament format is for two-person teams. Playing the same ball, the two players alternate hitting shots until the ball is holed.

Modified Stableford Made famous during The International at Castle Pines, this scoring system can be played by individuals or as a team tournament, best ball, scramble or alternating shots. Points are won or lost based on the following: Double eagle = 8 points Eagle = 5 points Birdie = 2 points Par = 0 points Bogey = Minus 1 point Double bogey or worse = Minus 3 points Co l o r a d o A v i d G o l f e r. c o m

HOMESTEAD

FOX HOLLOW

Time to start thinking about spring golf.

The Homestead Golf Course features a unique and challenging course designed for players of all abilities.

Fox Hollow Golf Course features 27 championship holes with three distinctly different 9-hole courses.

• Championship short course — 5,100 yards par 65.

• Known for its excellent playing conditions.

• One of the best practice areas in the metro area.

• Consistently ranked among the best in Colorado.

• Excellent playing conditions.

The Homestead Golf Course 11500 W. Hampden Ave. Lakewood, CO

Fox Hollow Golf Course 13410 W. Morrison Road Lakewood, CO

303-986-7888

720-963-5181

www.lakewoodgolf.org Spring 2012 |Colorado AvidGolfer

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2012TournamentGuide

11 Pitfalls of

6. Allowing on-site team changes. Do not

Tournament Planning

disclose pairings to the participants in advance or allow team changes at the tournament. This typically leads to discontent, last-minute changes and unnecessary on-site chaos.

And how to avoid them.

7. Stuffing gift bags at the event. Gather

1. Procrastination. Start planning earlier than you ever thought was necessary. Your timeline? At least nine months.

all the items for the gift bags with enough time to hold a “bag-stuffing party” with committee members and volunteers. This builds camaraderie and makes for one less thing to do at the event.

2. Old-School marketing. In our socially net-

8. Serving just burgers and brats. Make

worked world of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, just making telephone calls, sending e-mails and pretty invitations won’t cut it.

sure to have at least one vegetarian option at every meal. Ask on the registration form about dietary restrictions.

3. Letting golfers do the planning. The

9. Assuming the course “will take care of it.”

better the golfer, the more concerned he or she is with playing than with planning. Let him or her solicit players and leave the golf operations to the course and the planning to the committees.

Ask even “dumb questions,” like “Who puts the complimentary sleeves of balls in every cart?”

4. Letting volunteers just show up.

of charity event organizers have stiffed their hosts. Set up an account so you can take credit cards at the event if necessary.

Have at least two mandatory planning and training sessions with them.

5. Letting sponsors have control.

While it’s great to have a backer for every hole, this isn’t a trade show. Golfers don’t want to accumulate freebies during a round.

Give out all swag in a gift bag before or after the event.

10. Allowing play without pay. Even close friends

11. Underspending. People are less inclined to participate or invite their friends if the event appears done on the cheap.

Cut-rate shirts, balls and hats are easily detectable, as are the absence of contest holes, drink tickets and quality food.

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haymakergolf.com | Visit online or call golf shop to book these packages | 970.870.1846 68

Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2012

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2012TournamentGuide

How to Keep ’em Coming Back

By Jake Kubié Boone Schweitzer of Aspen knows a thing or two about running a successful charity golf tournament. His brainchild–The Trashmasters–is currently in its 20th year, raising more than $1.45 million to fund scholarships for high school graduates throughout the Roaring Fork Valley.

“We’ve graduated 38 kids from colleges all over the country,” states Schweitzer. “We must be doing something right.”

He is. Here are tips from Schweitzer and other proven practices:

Establish a Formula “It’s all about the format,” says Schweitzer, who invented a unique scoring system that rewards the bizarre events that occur during a round of golf (extra points for getting up-and-down and hitting trees, rocks, cart paths and other objects). Relying on traditional scramble or best-ball format is a recipe for one-and-done participation.

Make it Relevant Take steps to make involve players with the charity, like directly connecting benefactors to beneficiaries. Each year at The Trashmasters, for instance, one of the scholarship kids shares his or her story and

expresses gratitude for the opportunity to go to college. Participants who give $2,500 or more receive personal notes throughout the year from one of the scholarship recipients.

Leverage Social Media Facebook creates a tremendous sense of community and involvement.

Set up a page that includes photos of past events and regular updates; promote your page in marketing collateral, email blasts and tournament signage; and offer an incentive to get people involved. Case in point: the recent Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. For every “Like” on Facebook, Farmers Insurance donated $10 to the March of Dimes up to $50,000. More than 7,600 people responded by the week of the event.

Stay in Touch Don’t hesitate to maintain regular communication with players and sponsors. Start by capturing their information–email address, phone number and home address–and then send regular updates about the organization and tournament.

Don’t Skimp It’s all for a good cause, but people paying hundreds (and thousands) of dollars to play in a charity tournament expect more than a cold box lunch and logo shirt. Hook them up with usable and durable gifts (I still use the travel bag I received from one event five years ago and think about the tournament every time I pick up my clubs at the airport carousel) and memorable pre- and post-golf experiences.

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Co l o r a d o A v i d G o l f e r. c o m

Spring 2012 |Colorado AvidGolfer

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F O T S E B

O D A R COLO ards w F GOLA

After another year of teeing it up across the state, our panel of experts has selected the foremost golf courses in a wide variety of categories. Don’t agree? Sound off on our facebook page or send a tweet.

(Public/Resort) Best Denver Region Course MEDALIST: The Ridge at Castle Pines North T2: Green Valley Ranch, The Golf Club at Bear Dance

BEST

OVERALL

Best Front Range Course

MEDALIST: Colorado National Golf Club T2: Fossil Trace, Riverdale Dunes, Fox Hollow

North The Ridge at Castle Pines

Best Mountain Course

MEDALIST: Red Sky Ranch (Norman) T2: The River Course at Keystone, Breckenridge, Rollingstone Ranch

Best Southern Course

MEDALIST: The Broadmoor (East) T2: Walking Stick, Grandote Peaks, Rio Grande Club

Best Western Slope Course

MEDALIST: The Golf Club at Redlands Mesa T2: Lakota Canyon, Devil’s Thumb, The Bridges 70

Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2012

Redlands Mesa

Colorado AvidG o lf e r.c o m

(Public/Resort)

10thAnnualBEST

Best Bet-Settler (18th Hole)

MEDALIST: Green Valley Ranch

T2: Broadmoor (East), Fossil Trace, The Ridge, Bear Dance

Best Conditions (Resort) MEDALIST: The Broadmoor T2: Red Sky Ranch, Inverness, Omni

BEST

Green Valley Ranch

ON COURSE

Best Conditions (Public) MEDALIST: CommonGround Golf Course T2: South Suburban, The Ridge, Raccoon Creek

Best Course for Families MEDALIST: South Suburban

T2: Broken Tee, South Suburban, Emerald Greens

Best Course for Women

MEDALIST: Broken Tee

T2: Green Valley Ranch, The Homestead at Fox Hollow CommonGround

Best Course to See Celebrities

MEDALIST: Inverness T2: The Broadmoor, The Ridge at Castle Pines North

Best Environmental Stewardship MEDALIST: The Heritage at Westmoor T2: Haymaker, Green Valley Ranch, Saddle Rock, Applewood

Best Ego-Booster

MEDALIST: Park Hill T2: Heather Ridge, Evergreen

Heritage at Westmoor

Best Pace of Play

MEDALIST: Vail Golf Club T2: CommonGround, Legacy Ridge, Red Hawk Ridge, Fossil Trace

Best Practice Facility

MEDALIST: Omni Interlocken T2: Red Sky Ranch, Green Valley Ranch, Broken Tee, Lone Tree Col o r a d o A v i d G o l f e r. com

Omni Interlocke n

Spring 2012 |Colorado AvidGolfer

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10thAnnualBEST

Best Value

MEDALIST: Riverdale (Dunes) T2: Willis Case, Mariana Butte, Arrowhead

Best to Walk

Golf Club at Bear Dance

Best On-Course Views

MEDALIST: Bear Dance T2: Arrowhead, River Course at Keystone, Red Sky Ranch, Tiara Rado

Best Wildlife Experience

Estes Park

MEDALIST: Estes Park Golf Course T2: Broadmoor, Bear Dance, Grand Lake

Best Course for Seniors

BEST

OFF COURSE

MEDALIST: Heather Ridge T2: Meadow Hills, City Park, Indian Tree Heather Ridge

(Public/Resort)

Best Après-Golf Experience

MEDALIST: The Ridge at Castle Pines North T2: Colorado National, Breckenridge, Fox Hollow

Best Food

MEDALIST: Colorado National T2: Red Sky, The Ridge, The Bridges

Keystone

Best Stay and Play

MEDALIST: Keystone Resort T2: Broadmoor, Beaver Creek, Red Sky, Inverness

Best Wedding/Party Venue

MEDALIST: Keystone Ranch T2: Arrowhead, Raccoon Creek, The Ridge

Best Overall Clubhouse

Colorado National

MEDALIST: Colorado National

T2: Raccoon Creek, Red Sky Ranch, Bear Dance 72

Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2012

ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

P H O T O S C O U RT E S Y O F B E A R DA N C E , E S T E S PA R K , H E AT H E R R I D G E , K E Y S T O N E , C O L O R A D O N AT I O N A L , C R E S T E D B U T T E , C H E R R Y H I L L S , F LY I N G H O R S E ; B R OA D M O O R P H O T O BY D I C K D U R R A N C E

MEDALIST: Indian Tree T2: CommonGround, Inverness, Raccoon Creek

(Public/Resort)

The Broadmoor

10thAnnualBEST 10thAnnualBEST

Best Charity Tournament Venue MEDALIST: Omni Interlocken T2: The Ridge, Arrowhead, Fossil Trace, Inverness

Best Service

MEDALIST: The Broadmoor T2: Omni, The River at Keystone, Bear Dance

BEST

AMENITIES

Best Road Trip Course MEDALIST: The Bridges

T2: Crested Butte, Telluride Golf Club, Redlands Mesa

Best Memorabilia Display MEDALIST: The Broadmoor

T2: Riverdale Dunes, Bear Dance, Colorado National te Crested But

BEST

(Private)

OVERALL

Best Front Range/Northeast Club MEDALIST: Ballyneal T2: Harmony, Fox Acres, Ptarmigan

Best Denver Region Club

MEDALIST: Cherry Hills T2: Castle Pines Golf Club, Colorado Golf Club, Denver

Best Mountain Club

MEDALIST: Country Club of the Rockies T2: Hiwan, Roaring Fork, Red Sky, Maroon Creek

Best Western Slope/Southwest Club MEDALIST: Glacier Club T2: Cornerstone, Catamount Ranch Cherry Hills

Best Southern Club

MEDALIST: The Club at Flying Horse T2: Garden of the Gods Club, Country Club of Colorado, Colorado Springs Country Club

Best Value Flying Horse

MEDALIST: Canongate at Blackstone T2: Inverness, Red Rocks, Country Club at Castle Pines Spring 2012 |Colorado AvidGolfer

73

10thAnnualBEST 10thAnnualBEST

Best Overall Experience

MEDALIST: Cherry Creek Country Club T2: Glenmoor, Castle Pines Golf Club, Lakewood, The Country Club at Castle Pines

Best for Families

MEDALIST: Glenmoor Country Club T2: Pinehurst, Lakewood, Blackstone, Rolling Hills Cherry Creek

Most Underrated Club

Glenmoor

Best Course to Hold a Tournament MEDALIST: Sanctuary T2: Pradera, Pinehurst, Lakewood

Most Coveted Invitation

MEDALIST: Cherry Hills T2: Castle Pines Golf Club, Maroon Creek, Denver Country Club

Best Locker Room

Sanctuary

MEDALIST: Castle Pines Golf Club T2: Lakewood, Cherry Creek, Pradera, Colorado Golf Club

Best Clubhouse

MEDALIST: Colorado Golf Club T2: Pradera, Rolling Hills, Flying Horse, Blackstone

Cherry Hills

Colorado Golf Club

Toughest Test

MEDALIST: Bear Creek T2: Castle Pines Golf Club, Ravenna, Hiwan, Colorado Golf Club

Best Food

MEDALIST: Castle Pines Golf Club T2: Glenmoor, Cherry Creek, Colorado Golf Club

ag

Visit ColoradoAvidGolfer.com for more info and become a follower of us on Facebook and Twitter to weigh in on your opinion.

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Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2012

Castle Pines Golf Club

ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

P H O T O S BY: D I C K D U R R A N C E , R YA N M c K E E A N D J oshua D uplechia / R I C H C L A R K S O N & A S S O C I AT E S ; A N D C O U RT E S Y O F G L E N M O O R A N D C O L O R A D O G O L F C LU B

MEDALIST: The Country Club at Castle Pines T2: Bear Creek, Rolling Hills, Boulder, Harmony

REASONS

COLORADO GOLF

The Bridges

1 Wellshire

You can play a Donald Rossdesigned course for less than $30 Wellshire Country Club members only got to enjoy its classic mounding, difficult bunkering and multiple water features for a few years before the Great Depression forced the club’s sale to the City of Denver in 1936. Today the municipal Wellshire Golf Course annually hosts more than 50,000 rounds.

ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

photograp H S by: D ick D urrance I I ( B ridges & S anctuary ) ; C ourtesy O F W ellshire G olf C ourse ; H art Van D enburg ( P rairie ) ; C ourtesy of C hris L ai ( N icklaus ) .

TO LOVE

3

You can drive the greens on 400-yard parfours

Leave the humidor to the baseballs. Combining elevated tees, thin air, firm fairways and a flush drive, you can feel like Jason Zuback on just about any mountain course. Just make that eagle putt.

4

Lakota Canyon Prairie Golf Club

On the same day, you can play the Two highest golf courses in North America…

Leadville’s nine-hole Mount Massive Golf Course tickles the treeline 9,950 feet above the sea, while 30 miles up Highway 91, Copper Mountain’s 18 Pete Dyedesigned holes at Copper Creek perch at 9,700 feet.

5

…or a sand-greens course and one of the world’s top-rated layouts.

At $5 for nine holes, Eastern Plains throwbacks like the Plainsman, Prairie and Hugo golf clubs introduce you to the lost art of smoothing a putting path. For a $50,000 initiation, Tom Doak’s celebrated Ballyneal Golf & Hunt Club in Holyoke introduces you to the lost arts of the bump-and-run, the ground game and playing the wind.

6

We birthed the nation’s largest golf instruction school.

Founded in Denver in 1995 by PGA pros Joe Assael and Mike Clinton, GolfTEC now has 150 locations across North America, including eight in Colorado. One in every five U.S. golfers has learned with GolfTEC’s patented sensor-based g-Swing system—for which the company will be unveiling a major upgrade this spring.

7

Your PGA professional is also your ski instructor

2

Sanctuary

We have a course devoted exclusively to charity events

Sanctuary, the Sedalia club owned by RE/MAX founders (and sole members) Dave and Gail Liniger, has helped charities raise more than $60 million in its 15-year existence. Sanctuary annually hosts two dozen tournaments, as well as foursomes auctioned at a minimum bid of $1,600.

Co lo r a d o A v i d G o l f e r. c o m

“There’s so much you can bring from teaching skiing to teaching golf,” says Chris Lai, a former ski racer who is PGA Head Professional at Red Sky Golf Club’s Fazio Course. “Balance, different flexes in joints, gross motor to fine motor progressions.” Lai’s in good company. His Red Sky associate Todd James, as well as Country Club of Rockies’ Pentii Tofferi, Eagle Vail’s Ben Welsh, Copper Creek’s J.P. Chevalier, Telluride’s Sean Tannehill and Cordillera’s John Kuzina, Brock Sloan, Darren Szot and Brett Gagnon (among others) also DOUBLE THE FUN: Red Sky’s PGA Head Professional Chris Lai (far right) at Beaver Creek with members of the Jack Nicklaus family. teach both.

Spr in g 2 0 1 2 |Colorado AvidGolfer

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9

And “AprEs-GOLF” can mean an Afternoon of greenside fly-fishing.

10

You can attempt to emulate some of golf’s most famous shots…

Not everyone gets to play Cherry Hills. But if you do, bookend the round by attempting to drive the first green like Arnold Palmer did during his legendary final round in the 1960 U.S. Open, and finish by holing out of the greenside bunker à la Birdie Kim in the 2005 U.S. Women’s Open.

Rio Grande Club

11

…and one of its most dubious.

Arnold Palmer, 1960

Even if you double-eagle Green Valley Ranch’s par-5 ninth, you still won’t have carded the hole’s lowest score. That distinction belongs to Mike Crean, a 4-handicap who on July 4, 2002, with the benefit of a 30 mph tailwind and an extra-firm fairway, launched a tee shot that he and his partners eventually discovered in the hole 517 yards away. Did his Precept hit a yardage marker? Did some rascal steal and jar it? Whatever the case, the seemingly improbable ace is the longest ever recorded.

12 13 14

Our swing lube is craft-brewed.

According to Breckenridge Brewery Sales Director George O’Neill, at least 65 percent of Colorado courses carry cans of craft beer, ranging from Breck’s Avalanche, Lucky U and Summerbright to New Belgium’s Fat Tire to Dale’s Pale Ale and more.

We boast one of the Richest state Opens in the country.

The $375 it costs to enter the HealthONE Colorado Open makes the event’s $125,000 purse one of the game’s great values.

And the HealthONE Colorado Women’s Open’s purse of $73,000 is the highest of any state women’s open in the country.

The best players in the world compete here.

Even without The International at Castle Pines, Colorado remains relevant on the international golf scene: the 2008 U.S. Senior Open (The Broadmoor), 2010 Senior PGA (Colorado Golf Club), 2011 U.S. Women’s Open (The Broadmoor), 2012 U.S. Amateur (Cherry Hills), 2013 Solheim Cup (Colorado Golf Club) and 2014 BMW Championship (Cherry Hills).

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Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2012

ColoradoAv idG o lf e r.c o m

P H O T O G R A P H S C ourtesy of: K eystone R esort ( S kiing / G olf ) , R io G rande C lub ( G olf / F ishing ) ; U S G A H istorical A rchives ( Palmer ) .

“AprEs-ski” can mean a round of golf

15 P H O T O G R A P H S C ourtesy of ( from T op ) : F ossil T race G olf C ourse ; C olorado S ection P G A ; and photo ( bottom ) by dick durrance

Our courses not only have history…

U.S. and British Amateur champion Walter Travis died in Denver in 1927, and President Dwight Eisenhower almost did at Cherry Hills in 1955. Four years later at Wellshire, Bill Wright became the first African-American to win a USGA event. Jack Nicklaus (1959) and Annika Sorenstam (1995) captured their first national victories at The Broadmoor. And at Cherry Hills, Palmer came back in ’60, Phil Mickelson won the U.S. Amateur in 1990, and Birdie Kim shocked the world in 2005.

16

…they also have prehistory…

True to its name, Golden’s Fossil Trace Golf Course features 64-millionyear-old Triceratops footprints and other dinosaur evidence where holes 11 through 15 now sit. You can view footprints, plants and other prehistoric creatures’ fossils in the area adjacent to the 12th green. Plus, further down C-470 you’ll find Arrowhead’s sandstone monoliths, some 300 million years in the making.

Fossil Trace

17

…and a future

Barely a year old, the Allied Colorado Golf Associations’ Golf In Schools program has introduced the game to more than 8,187 kids thru 42 different schools.

The First Tee programs are flourishing at Green Valley Ranch, City Park, Willis Case and a dozen other facilities across the state. Indian Tree, CommonGround and Broken Tee remain junior-golf hotbeds, and the National PGA of America has recognized three Colorado Section members—Alan Abrams, Danny Harvanek and Ann Finke—as Junior Golf Leaders.

18

We have one of the most badass golf course names in the country…

The Mad Russian Golf and Country Club in Milliken doesn’t suggest malignancy (Lipoma Firs in Washington) or intolerance (Myopia Hunt Club in Massachusetts). Even better: Less than 10 miles separates the Mad Russian from another memorably named layout—Boomerang Golf Links in Greeley.

19

…And one of its only two fully “chemical free” courses

Superintendent Matt Rusch keeps Golden’s Applewood Golf Course green without chemical pesticides, herbicides or fungicides. Massachusetts’ Vineyard Golf Club is the nation’s other one.

20

OUR ROUNDS ALWAYS COME WITH A VIEW.

Red Sky Golf Club (Norman Course)

Why do you love golf in Colorado? Become a follower of us on Facebook and Twitter and weigh in with your opinions.

theGamesofGolf PUZZLERS

| WORD GAMES | TRIVIA

They’re So Vane Can you weather the pressure and identify which courses these gust gauges are from?

“N

ae wind, nae golf.” So say the Scots. Why then, don’t more wind vanes perch above golf clubhouses? Those ornamental anemometers not only point out the prevailing wind current; they can also suggest the club’s character, personality and traditions. The gentleman above, known as “The Laughing Man,” tops one of Colorado’s most exclusive private clubs; the other two vanes alight above a top-tier resort and an award-winning public course. Two of these date to the 1920s and have colorful histories; and one has found its way onto its club’s logo.

Can you name the Colorado courses to which each belongs? Email your answers (subject line: Vanes) to info@coloradoavidgolfer.com.

photograph by jeremy cantalamessa

1

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Look for the answers and the stories behind them in the next issue. Answer all three correctly and you could be eligible for a prize.

2 3

Colorado AvidGolfer | Spring 2012

ColoradoAvidG o lf e r.c o m

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