Golf With An Altitude
Things to consider when living next to a golf course:
• An incomparable view
• Preferential tee times
• A 10-acre back yard that you don’t have to maintain
• A club atmosphere
• Access to other amenities, such as spa and fitness, tennis facilities, or pool
• Membership fees and other dues
• Other considerations include errant golf balls and the potential lack of privacy of fairway living
• Wildlife are attracted to open spaces so gardens may be eaten and droppings from visitors like geese could be a problem
• An incomparable view
• Preferential tee times
• A 10-acre back yard that you don’t have to maintain
• Easy access to green space and lakes within the course
• A club atmosphere
• Access to other amenities, such as spa and fitness, tennis facilities, or pool
• Membership fees and other dues
• Other considerations include errant golf balls and the potential lack of privacy of fairway living
• Wildlife are attracted to open spaces so gardens may be eaten and droppings from visitors like geese could be a problem
Golf With an Altitude
The United States boasts over 16,000 golf courses according to the U.S. Golf Course Database. More than 3,400 of those courses are accompanied by homesites offering immediate access to some of the sport’s finest facilities attracting a mix of famous names, everyday Joes, and professional players.
Idaho is home to more than its share of must-play clubs sporting increasingly impressive lists of amenities. As the state’s mountain resorts discover the advantages of becoming year-round destinations, golf is becoming increasingly accessible with an address that offers a casual but refined mountain lifestyle.
The Wood River Valley is home to just such a course with the new Tom Fazio West Nine at The Valley Club, christened this past summer, according to Jon Gove, Sales Office Assistant at the adjacent Village Green development. The project is laid out next to the new nine and both are adjacent to The Valley Club’s 18-hole Hale Irwin course, offering residents at Village Green 27 holes of legendary golf in addition to exclusive homesites.
The Valley Club is a private course with a clubhouse, restaurant and bar, pool, tennis and paddle tennis facilities. A planned expansion will include a fitness center, weight facility and meeting rooms opening in 2007-08, according to the club’s general manager Barry Bevers.
Bevers notes that Fazio is the number one golf course architect in the country and his work at The Valley Club is spectacular. Bevers highlights two par 5 holes that are 595 and 605 yards of beauty and challenge, adding that many golfers find those distances a fearsome but welcome gauntlet. In December, residents approved a second Fazio nine, giving the club a 36-hole signature.
Village Green, offered by Henry Dean of Sun Valley Development, features 43 homes planned for The Valley Club golfers with between 3,000 and 4,900 square feet designed to perform as lock and leave, private residences. Gove said that owners can arrive at a home that is ready to serve them in every way, enjoy their stay, then leave secure in the knowledge their address will be maintained and protected by staff attending to every seasonal detail.
A little further to the north, just 90 minutes out of Boise in Donnelly, Idaho, Osprey Meadows Golf Club at Tamarack Resort has only a couple of seasons of play under its belt. Bill Cubbage, Recreational Business Manager at Tamarack, reported that Golf Digest described the championship Robert Trent Jones, Jr. course as one of the top five in the Northwest as it matures.
Osprey Meadows, an easy drive for Treasure Valley residents or from the Boise airport, is 7,319 yards of par 72 play with five par 5s. Sweeping views of the mountains and Lake Cascade contribute to the experience of playing at Osprey. Residents and vacationers alike enjoy the benefits of the course, but membership definitely has its privileges.
Through Intrawest Golf, members are entitled to a list of exclusive services at 30 resorts throughout North America including members-only course rates, priority tee times, use of complimentary, high-performance Taylor Made golf clubs, preferred rates for guests and online vacation booking.
There are housing options that run the gamut at Tamarack, from exclusive homesites to mountain chalets and well-appointed lodge rooms, and all are welcome on the course as well as on the ski slopes in winter, the lake in summer and for outdoor adventures any time of the year. The concierge at the Club at Tamarack can book everything from a tee time to an evening out, covering details from the golf course, ski mountain or lake activity.
Tamarack Village is designed to be a hub for all of the various lifestyles the resort engages. The Lodge at Osprey Meadows, which is completely open with spa, pool, fine dining and lodging, will be joined by the $87 million, six-building Plaza project and an additional 25 shops. The fully-sold village condominium project will house 129 units scheduled for completion in the late summer of 2008. The Fairmont Tamarack is on the horizon for construction as well, with Andre Agassi and Stefanie Graf to guide Bayview Financial L.P.’s Real Estate Investment and Development Group through design, construction and management of the facility. The classic resort hotel located in the village will overlook the driving range of the golf course and will offer 225 units in the main building. An additional group of private residences will be tucked into a secluded, mid-mountain setting.
Charting a course just further north on the Idaho map, three golf communities offer amenities that please a wide range of the game’s aficionados.
Hearthstone at Spring Mountain Ranch offers fractional ownership of 26 homes located adjacent to the Cedar Nine of the McCall Golf Course. The Whitetail Club at the south end of Payette Lake is a private club with golf privileges made available to members and lodge guests. Jug Mountain Ranch located seven miles south of McCall is a private residential community that offers use of the course to the public.
The McCall course is the oldest in the state, having opened in 1926. The McCall Golf Course Foundation has supported, updated and improved the course over the years, making it one of the most historic and established golf communities in Idaho. The new Cedar Nine, designed by Robert Muir Graves, incorporates rolling fairways and large beaches and traps with green meadows into richly-inhabited wetland areas, bringing the total holes at the course to 27.
Hearthstone offers an affordable, practical option for golfers who prefer fractional ownership, with a 1/8 share in the 2,000 square foot homes priced under $150,000. Ownership delivers a minimum of 40 days use each year with additional days as they are available.
The amenities at Hearthstone include pool, spa and fitness center, community center, tennis, landscaped play areas and a full-time owner services staff that attends to lift tickets for nearby Brundage, groceries, restaurant reservations, tee times, and spa and massage reservations. Details of housecleaning, lawn care and maintenance are included with Hearthstone ownership.
Each home is appointed with casual mountain furnishings, including a fully stocked gourmet kitchen, granite counters, stone hearth fireplace, outdoor patio, satellite TV, VCR, DVD and stereo system, as well as on-site storage for seasonal equipment that owners look forward to using during each stay.
Best of all, a Hearthstone vacation home includes the additional privilege of access to other golf courses in the Registry Collection, an exchange portfolio of luxury resorts with locations worldwide. This includes Les Saisons in downtown Ketchum, also developed by Hearthstone’s parent company, Private Residence Resorts as well as planned developments in northern California, Washington and Mexico.
McCall’s course at The Whitetail Club is an 18-hole, Andy North design with a par 72 with 7,100 yards of play and a slope of 125. The course is dotted with 98 homesites fronting either the course itself or on one of many small lakes. Plans for a second phase include 108 estate lots with ridgeline views. Residence earns membership at the Fish and Swim Club, with tennis, a fitness center, indoor basketball and racquetball courts and a sand volleyball court. In addition to tee time precedence, membership also includes greens fees and cart fees.
In the $25 million renovated Shore Lodge, the Narrows restaurant features French cuisine with northwest flair served up by chef David Campbell. A dress code prohibits jeans but jackets are not a requirement for the fine dining area. casual meals are also offered. The 77 suite-style rooms at The Lakeside Lodge also offer billiards and a movie theatre. A marina is available for use by residents and guests alike to enjoy the sandy beaches on Payette Lake.
Jug Mountain Ranch is a par 72 course with 7,287 yards of play from the gold tees that just received the first reviews after its second nine holes opened August 4, 2006. Booked solid for one-and-a-half months, the course has proven popular within the community.
The McCall course is the oldest in the state, having opened in 1926. The McCall Golf Course Foundation has supported, updated and improved the course over the years, making it one of the most historic and established golf communities in Idaho. The new Cedar Nine, designed by Robert Muir Graves, incorporates rolling fairways and large beaches and traps with green meadows into richly-inhabited wetland areas, bringing the total holes at the course to 27.
Hearthstone offers an affordable, practical option for golfers who prefer fractional ownership, with a 1/8 share in the 2,000 square foot homes priced under $150,000. Ownership delivers a minimum of 40 days use each year with additional days as they are available.
The amenities at Hearthstone include pool, spa and fitness center, community center, tennis, landscaped play areas and a full-time owner services staff that attends to lift tickets for nearby Brundage, groceries, restaurant reservations, tee times, and spa and massage reservations. Details of housecleaning, lawn care and maintenance are included with Hearthstone ownership.
Each home is appointed with casual mountain furnishings, including a fully stocked gourmet kitchen, granite counters, stone hearth fireplace, outdoor patio, satellite TV, VCR, DVD and stereo system, as well as on-site storage for seasonal equipment that owners look forward to using during each stay.
Best of all, a Hearthstone vacation home includes the additional privilege of access to other golf courses in the Registry Collection, an exchange portfolio of luxury resorts with locations worldwide. This includes Les Saisons in downtown Ketchum, also developed by Hearthstone’s parent company, Private Residence Resorts as well as planned developments in northern California, Washington and Mexico.
McCall’s course at The Whitetail Club is an 18-hole, Andy North design with a par 72 with 7,100 yards of play and a slope of 125. The course is dotted with 98 homesites fronting either the course itself or on one of many small lakes. Plans for a second phase include 108 estate lots with ridgeline views. Residence earns membership at the Fish and Swim Club, with tennis, a fitness center, indoor basketball and racquetball courts and a sand volleyball court. In addition to tee time precedence, membership also includes greens fees and cart fees.
In the $25 million renovated Shore Lodge, the Narrows restaurant features French cuisine with northwest flair served up by chef David Campbell. A dress code prohibits jeans but jackets are not a requirement for the fine dining area. casual meals are also offered. The 77 suite-style rooms at The Lakeside Lodge also offer billiards and a movie theatre. A marina is available for use by residents and guests alike to enjoy the sandy beaches on Payette Lake.
Jug Mountain Ranch is a par 72 course with 7,287 yards of play from the gold tees that just received the first reviews after its second nine holes opened August 4, 2006. Booked solid for one-and-a-half months, the course has proven popular within the community.Surrounded by 325 homesites the development will include a village with shops and dining, a year-round clubhouse for dining, gardens and a space for outside functions with a croquet court, a small hotel and tennis courts and walking and hiking trails laced around the lake and through adjacent federal lands.
Close to Brundage and Tamarack, skiing and mountain activities are within easy reach of the 1,400 acre Jug Mountain Ranch. More than 1,000 acres are natural open space with ponds, lakes and streams to fish and paddle in. A Nordic program in winter offers 13 miles of groomed trails. The course is accessible by car from Boise or the McCall airport, which serves as an option for those with access to aircraft.
Further up the state in Coeur d’Alene, two courses are standouts for the golf course lifestyle. Black Rock was singled out as the best new private course for 2003 by Golf Digest. Still in the planning stages, the posh Gozzer Ranch facility is scheduled to open in July of 2007. Both courses are accessible by air through scheduled service to Spokane or Coeur d’Alene and both offer a private golf experience with interesting differences.
Black Rock is a par 72 course designed by James J. Engh, an architect with a big imagination known for his detailed blueprints, a 2.3 handicap and 300-yard drives. His designs often carry an element of surprise and the Black Rock layout proves that true. Golf Digest described the course as a pinball machine, referring to unexpected elements around each bend. Teeing off a cliff 100 feet above the fairway is just one the surprises that await.
Director of Sales Terry Bloskey noted hole 3 as one of the highlights of the course, a 611-yard, 180-foot drop to a narrow, twisty fairway. Also of note, Bloskey added, is the 413-yard 11th hole with bent grass fairway leading left and uphill to waterfalls and a high green. The black basalt outcroppings the course is named for add to the beauty of the landscape, providing the framework for Lake Coeur d’Alene which National Geographic cited as one of the 10 most beautiful lakes in the world.
Close to Brundage and Tamarack, skiing and mountain activities are within easy reach of the 1,400 acre Jug Mountain Ranch. More than 1,000 acres are natural open space with ponds, lakes and streams to fish and paddle in. A Nordic program in winter offers 13 miles of groomed trails. The course is accessible by car from Boise or the McCall airport, which serves as an option for those with access to aircraft.
Further up the state in Coeur d’Alene, two courses are standouts for the golf course lifestyle. Black Rock was singled out as the best new private course for 2003 by Golf Digest. Still in the planning stages, the posh Gozzer Ranch facility is scheduled to open in July of 2007. Both courses are accessible by air through scheduled service to Spokane or Coeur d’Alene and both offer a private golf experience with interesting differences.
Black Rock is a par 72 course designed by James J. Engh, an architect with a big imagination known for his detailed blueprints, a 2.3 handicap and 300-yard drives. His designs often carry an element of surprise and the Black Rock layout proves that true. Golf Digest described the course as a pinball machine, referring to unexpected elements around each bend. Teeing off a cliff 100 feet above the fairway is just one the surprises that await.
Director of Sales Terry Bloskey noted hole 3 as one of the highlights of the course, a 611-yard, 180-foot drop to a narrow, twisty fairway. Also of note, Bloskey added, is the 413-yard 11th hole with bent grass fairway leading left and uphill to waterfalls and a high green. The black basalt outcroppings the course is named for add to the beauty of the landscape, providing the framework for Lake Coeur d’Alene which National Geographic cited as one of the 10 most beautiful lakes in the world.
Photography courtesy Thunder Springs, Gary Ertter & Courtesy Tamarack Resort
Text Kathleen L. Turner
