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Pressbox > Tom's Big Adventure
![By Vic Williams]()
IN SOMERSETT, MR. KITE AND HIS COMPADRES HAVE COMPLETED ONE MEAN HOMBRE OF A PRIVATE COURSE -- BUT ONLY IF ITS MEMBERS TRY TO FLY TOO HIGH
For three years, Fairways & Greens has followed Tom Kite through the desert hills west of Reno as his vision for Somersett gestated in his mind and eventually made it to land. In October, Kite's big adventure among the rocks and sage of Northern Nevada's newest private golf club came to an end -- and a beginning.
"I'm very happy with what we've done here," Kite told the media and Somersett members. "Nobody gets it perfect the first time, and I'm sure we'll be back to make some changes, but we think this property just adds to what the Reno-Tahoe region offers as a golf destination."
Kite's comments came after he and his KBR Design partners, Roy Bechtol and Randy Russell, took a windy, chilly playing tour of Somersett's opening six holes. Finally, the Texas trio, who might comprise the most down-home-friendly design team in America, could look over what their imaginations hath wrought, take it all in and listen to the comments -- which, despite the unseasonably cold weather, were warm across the board.
"It's a tough piece of property, with a lot of changes in elevation," he said. "It's huge, with incredible sightlines. It's one of those where you look at it and say, ‘Wow, I don't know if we can make this work.' But we worked hard with the developers and homeowners and tried to create something here we can be proud of. It's fun, it's exciting, and we've given you plenty of room to hit some great shots -- but if not, the rugged Sierra terrain will make it hard to find your ball."
Added Bechtol: "It's a ‘what you see is what you get' course. When you stand on that tee box, we're not saying [whisper], ‘Hit it over there.' We're saying, ‘BETTER GO OVER THERE, DUMMY!' The bunkers are set up, the tee shot is framed, and it's bold enough to tell you if you've got the courage to cut a bit off. The strategy's right there in front of you."
One day removed from finishing fourth in a Champions Tour event in sunny, hot San Antonio, Texas, Kite showed the compact swing and dead-eye accuracy that led to 19 PGA Tour victories, including the 1992 U.S. Open, and seven Champions Tour wins to date, and he revealed Somersett's private championship course as a friendly yet demanding test of big sky golf.
The KBR threesome spent as much time at Somersett as possible, rerouting original plans where necessary and working around the sometimes fluid developers' plans.
"One of the great things about being with Randy and Roy is that we spend a large amount of time on site," Kite said. "We're not just sticking our name on a project. We're proud this is a KBR project. The contours on the greens, whether you like or hate them, they're ours. The rolls of the fairways are ours. The placement of the bunkers and water hazards are ours -- we'll take the credit or criticism for them."
Bechtol said Somersett's mountainside humps and sage-chocked arroyos reminded him of "Willie Nelson's face."
"It's got a lot of character, and hopefully we softened his face a bit. And it was a real challenge to blend the residential with the golf, but we think we've built something that will stand the test of time."
Somersett's design hallmarks are bunkering that stays in scale with the huge vistas framing each hole; large, multi-tiered greens that Kite calls "exciting, creative and demanding, and closer to Augusta National than anything else"; and more than a few hilltop tee boxes that give golfers the feeling they're blasting the ball over the mountains themselves.
Standout front-nine holes include No. 2, a par 4 that tumbles quickly downhill toward a waterfall-fed pond fronting the green; and No. 5, a 588-yard par 5 with a severely downhill tee shot to a wide landing area that quickly thins to a narrow layup zone between two lakes.
The entire course maxes out at 7,252 yards, with five tee boxes in all -- the shortest at 5,282 yards. There are five 5-pars and five 3-pars, somewhat unusual for a par-72 layout. It all adds up to a course that Kite thinks takes Reno-Tahoe golf to the next level of excellence.
"The land dictated what we could do here, and it just turned out that way," he said. "You know, when you come into this area you have such a wide range of types of golf courses. You could never get bored playing golf in Reno-Tahoe. There are some that are tightly treed, some that are relatively flat, some that are like this course -- it runs the whole gamut. We think we've boosted golf here without taking anything away from the other clubs in this area. Hopefully it'll make the other courses even better, and when you do that, it creates a great destination for people to come and play golf."
Added Russell: "We think we've built a really good golf course. We look forward to the members telling us whether we did or not."
So far, so good: Members like what they see, challenging weather or no. And it's up to them whether Somersett will someday host a big event, perhaps a Champions Tour stop in which Kite himself can show off his only West Coast course to date.
"That depends on the community. Certainly the golf course is capable of hosting a tournament here, just as Montreux has shown it's capable of hosting a tournament up there. That's not our main purpose, but it's always in the back of my mind."
The championship course is set to open this spring. Practice facilities will incorporate a multi-tiered driving range, chipping and putting areas. A KBR-designed nine-hole walking course opened in early 2004. Both form the centerpiece of Northern Nevada's newest master-planned community -- several thousand semi-custom and custom homes offered by several top-name builders, with prices ranging from the $200,000 to $2 million-plus. More than 2,600 homes are planned, with more than 400 currently under construction. Future amenities include the Club at Town Center with tennis, spa and fitness facilities and a well-appointed members' clubhouse featuring golf shop, locker rooms, restaurant, lounge and boardroom. The development also features 27 miles of hiking and biking trails.
To visit Somersett, take Interstate 80 and exit at Robb Drive (Exit 9). Travel one quarter mile north to Sharlands Avenue. Turn left and continued one mile to Somersett. The Somersett Information Center is located at the second roundabout and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call (775) 746-7222 or visit www.somersett.com
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