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Pressbox > Top O' The Mountain
THE SUMMER OPENING OF JACK NICKLAUS' COURSE AT OLD GREENWOOD IS JUST A SAMPLE OF WHAT'S NEW IN THE RENO-TAHOE-CARSON VALLEY GOLF SCENE
Back in the late 1800s, the High Sierra passage from Reno to Sacramento was dangerous and sometimes deadly. One gutsy pioneer, Caleb Greenwood, was there to help. He single-handedly helped countless souls find safe passage through the treacherous mountains.
Perhaps Greenwood’s spirit will help golfers find safe passage around the new Jack Nicklaus Signature design named in his honor in Truckee, scheduled for a July 2004 opening.
Set within a 600-acre exclusive residential community — with homeowners and club members having preferential tee times — Old Greenwood will have a limited number of public tee times available each day.
Measuring more than 7,500 yards from the back tees, the course is at an elevation of 6,000 feet above sea level, where tee shots can travel 10 to 15 percent farther than at sea level. Three other sets of tees will be available.
The setting is alpine magnificent:
The layout plays through towering pine trees and open fields of sage, and past four lakes connected by a series of meandering trout streams that not only require accuracy from the golfer but also offer abundant trout fishing after a round.
“Of all the Nicklaus Design golf courses I’ve worked and played on, this one will undoubtedly have some of the most beautiful natural surroundings,” says Chris Rule, a Nicklaus Design associate.
The developers, East West Partners, have developed a voluntary program to integrate environmental sustainability into the design, construction and operation of the course. This program of “green” practices provides for the preservation of habitat for wildlife, as well as an unspoiled environment for golfers and homeowners. Old Greenwood will be the only Nicklaus course in California in the Audubon Signature Program.
Of the 99 single-family homesites — ranging from one-third acre to one acre — offered at Old Greenwood in summer 2003, only a few are still available. Eighty-six of the 99 lots were sold at the grand opening sales launch, grossing nearly $27 million. Fractional townhome and single-family ownerships are now being offered.
When complete, Old Greenwood will include a golf academy, an outdoor Swim, Tennis and Fitness Center, a clubhouse and hiking trails. All of this is located a short drive from the many other recreational opportunities that the Lake Tahoe area has to offer, including mountain biking, flyfishing, kayaking, rafting and all the downright fun one can have on the nearby Truckee River.
East West Partners is developing four distinctive communities in the Truckee-Tahoe area: Old Greenwood, the Village at Northstar, The Highlands and Gray’s Crossing — the latter with a Peter Jacobsen golf course in the planning stages. The company’s holdings also include Coyote Moon Golf Course in Truckee and Wild Goose restaurant on the shores of Lake Tahoe.
Ownership in any of the company’s four Tahoe Mountain Resorts communities will open the door for membership in the Tahoe Mountain Club, with amenities that include swimming, tennis, golf, skiing and snow sports, spa services and fine dining on the lake.
Jacobsen, a PGA Tour professional soon to join the Champions Tour, has been named director of golf for Tahoe Mountain Club, and he will oversee golf operations for Tahoe Mountain Club’s three courses in Truckee. (For more on Jacobsen, see our profile on Page 75).
For more information, call (800) 754-3070 or visit www.oldgreenwood.com
SUNUP AT SOMERSETT
For nearly two years we’ve followed the progress of Somersett Country Club in the pages of Fairways & Greens: The golf course’s gradual rise from its dramatic, sage-strewn setting in a secluded valley a few miles west of downtown Reno; the fleshing out of Northern Nevada’s first full-blown 21st century residential development; and the gathering excitement both locally and regionally about what is destined to be one of the West’s premier golf-related addresses.
In 2004, Somersett brings it all together. After completing a nine-hole, residents-only walking course and part of the 18-hole championship course’s front nine in 2003, architects Tom Kite, Roy Bechtol and Randy Russell will oversee completion of the back nine, with seeding to begin this spring. The front nine will be ready for play this spring with the back nine to follow by fall — good news for Somersett’s membership, which was nearing 100 by year’s end. The par-72 course will play to nearly 7,400 yards from its championship tees and offers five sets of tees per hole, six lakes, 62 bunkers and generous 400-foot-wide landing areas.
“We’ve been working on this project for nearly two years,” Kite said during a site visit in mid-August, which included a membership mixer on the No. 1 tee. “This is not an easy piece of land — there’s a lot of movement and elevation change, but that’s what makes it exciting. We’ll make it a fun course to play for everybody. It’s got to be challenging enough for professionals and really good amateurs, but we want ‘Uncle Harry and Aunt Agnes’ to be able to get around, too. And we’re still blown away by the magnificent views.”
Even the nine-hole Canyon Nine is breathtaking. Members had a chance to play it in September as work continued on the championship course well into fall. When complete, the golf complex will include practice facilities that will incorporate a multi-tiered driving range, chipping and putting areas.
Complementing this championship course will be a spectacular clubhouse overlooking the community and the Sierra Nevada. Clubhouse plans include a restaurant, lounge, locker rooms, boardroom and golf shop.
Last June’s release of equity golf memberships in the private Somersett Country Club was very successful. Membership is capped at 450; as of late December, there were seven memberships still available at the original $29,000 rate for Somersett residents and $30,000 for non-residents, payable over three installments. A $2,000 increase is expected early this year, with further $2,000 increases with every 20 memberships sold.
In the near future, residency at one of Somersett’s master-planned communities will be required for membership. Junior Executive, Corporate and Social memberships will also be available on a limited basis.
“The club may be considered for its investment potential, as membership is expected to appreciate well over the next few years,” says Membership Director Amy Grigsby in a recent Somersett letter. Equity members will eventually receive 80 percent of the re-sale price upon resignation and reissuance.
East West Partners, the same company behind Old Greenwood and Gray’s Crossing, will manage club operations and facilities.
For more into about Somersett memberships, call Grigsby at (775) 787-1800 or visit www.somersett.com
‘NEW’ INCLINE TO DEBUT
Literally rebuilt from the ground up, one of the Sierra’s grand dames of golf — the Championship Course at the Resort at Incline Village, Nev. — will reopen in late summer 2004 along with a stately new clubhouse-community center.
Designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr., the Championship Course came to life in 1964. Through the years, the course has gone through its share of modifications by in-house staff.
The new changes began in April when the Chateau, The Championship Course's clubhouse, was torn down to make room for the replacement. This new building will include all the amenities that come with a first-class golf course and meeting facility. The upper floor will be a spacious 13,500 square feet for meetings, banquets, weddings and parties. This level also includes 4,500 square feet of multi-function banquet space. The building will also include portable bars and sizable dance floors. The 9,350 square-foot lower floor will be home to golf administration, group sales, and a brand-new pro shop stocked with the latest in golf fashions and equipment.
As for the Championship Course, construction is overseen by Granite Bay, Calif.-based architect Kyle Phillips and superintendent Jeff Clouthier. A new irrigation system and upgrades to the course’s greens, bunkers, tees, fairways and roughs, cart paths, landscaping and practice facilities highlight the overhaul. The greens will be completely rebuilt to meet USGA specifications for consistency and better drainage, and will be reseeded using a blend of creeping bentgrass that will improve ball roll and withstand the harsh Tahoe winters.
Landscaping modifications include creating new mounds to add to the aesthetic and safety value. Native grasses, shrubs and flowers will be added to improve the course’s overall look. All railroad ties will be removed and replaced with natural slopes to improve walking and maintenance equipment access.
The Championship Course was scheduled to re-open June 1, but damage caused by some flash flooding in the summer pushed the date back to later in 2004 and is now scheduled for Sept. 1.
The handsome, tricky executive-length Mountain Course will re-open in spring with tee times available at (866) 925-GOLF. Group reservations are now being taken for both courses.
For up-to date information, visit www.golfincline.com
IN OTHER NEWS
Construction continues on The Grizzly Ranch, an upscale residential-recreational development near Portola, Calif. Designed as the centerpiece of the community by award-winning Bob Cupp of Sunriver Resort fame, the Grizzly Ranch’s 18-hole golf course will be the only private course in Eastern Plumas County with fewer than 400 golf memberships. The course will be defined by how seamlessly it integrates with the topography and by its eye-catching water features, which are woven into the fabric of the course.
“We’ve got 12 holes created and half of those shaped and ready to go,” says Rocky Hafdahl, developer of Grizzly Ranch. “We’re fully funded, so the course will be built. The entire 18 holes will be done by late ’04 and ready for play in 2005. It will be a fantastic golf course, that’s for sure.”
The entire development features 450 acres with no more than 380 homesites with golf, water and/or mountain views. Future plans call for a clubhouse with dining, pro shop and locker rooms for men and women; fitness center with a lap pool, social pool, hot tub and massage studios; recreational facilities including tennis courts, fishing pond, children’s playground and play field; a network of hiking and biking trails that connect the community; and community service facilities that will include a post office, fire station and RV/boat storage.
Lowe Enterprises, Inc., a Los Angeles-based, diversified real estate and asset management company, is development manager and an investment partner for the project. The acclaimed firm has successfully developed and marketed a number of resort communities with similarities to Grizzly Ranch — including Sunriver Resort in Central Oregon.
More info at www.grizzlyranchresort.com.
Finally, two changes of note among the Divine 9 courses in Carson City-Carson Valley: The exquisite, highly regarded Golf Club at Genoa Lakes — a John Harbottle-Peter Jacobsen design that opened in 1990 — is changing its name to the simpler Genoa Lakes Golf Club (www.genoalakes.com).
And Silver Oak Golf Club in Carson City will, at long last, open a permanent clubhouse with pro shop and restaurant after nearly five years in a temporary facility. It should be complete by April.
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