Skiing and golf go hand-in-hand at resorts around
the world, but probably nowhere more so than in Colorado’s spectacular Vail Valley. Here, a stretch of Interstate 70
less than 40 miles long passes by two of the world’s great ski resorts, Vail and
Beaver Creek, and a dozen first-rate golf courses. The only real drawback here
is scheduling: How do you squeeze in as much activity as possible on one
vacation?
Two fine spots to bed down while pondering that
question are the Lodge at Vail and the Ritz-Carlton at Bachelor Gulch, both of
which grant you access to two of the area’s newest private courses at Red Sky
Golf Club. But since Red Sky is a half-hour’s drive away, better to relax and
get acclimated at nearby Vail Golf Club. The oldest course in the valley, it’s
shoehorned between I-70, Gore Creek and the towering peaks of the Gore Range. Yes, it’s a little tight, but it’s
well-maintained, and really, you’re unlikely to yank one straight onto the
highway, as I once did.
In the morning, play the Red Sky course du jour,
which rotates daily between Tom Fazio and Greg Norman tracks carved out of the
rocky knolls and pastures of an historic sheep ranch, with high-definition
mountain vistas in every direction. The dramatic first hole sets the tone for a
wide-open front nine on the Fazio—it bends and descends past scattered juniper
and sagebrush to a green as expansive and contoured as the views beyond. The
back side climbs into a forest of aspens, where No. 16 showcases all the
dramatic elements of the course on a 505-yard tumble out of the timber into long
panoramas and onto another huge, rolling green.
Afterward, be sure to check out Vail must-stops
such as the elegant Gorsuch Sports, and Pepi’s restaurant at Hotel Gasthof
Gramshammer (try the wiener schnitzel), followed by a gondola ride to Adventure
Ridge and the kind of rare air that inspires thoughts of greatness. Later you’ll
want to feast like a ravenous king, and there’s no place better than the Lodge
at Vail’s Wildflower restaurant, where the vanilla-spiced, mango-chutney crab
cakes and pecan-crusted venison are superb.
Now you’re properly primed for a round at the
infamous Norman Course at Red Sky, a slinky, 7,580-yard monster with a daunting
144 slope. With fearsome holes like the 283-yard, par-3 16th, five sets of tees
are necessary. Alas, that’s of little help on the par-5 fourth, which has a
narrow, nigh-unhittable fairway infested by a pox of white sand bunkers that
look like impassable snowdrifts. With the sounds of hawk cries echoing off the
hillsides, and the sight of deer and elk foraging along the big ridge that
separates the Norman and Fazio courses, you’ll feel like Lewis and Clark of the
links.
Depending on your glutton-for-punishment index, you
may choose to either re-center your chakras while whitewater rafting in the
afternoon or restore your swing at nearby Cotton Ranch. I like the hillside full
of scrub oak and juniper at the heart of this Pete Dye layout, which includes a
ravine-straddling dogleg par-4 and a big-air par-3.
For dinner, think pumpkin seed-crusted salmon at
Larkspur, once called “perhaps the best restaurant in the Vail Valley” by Wine Spectator. The next
morning, consider a move to Sonnenalp Resort of Vail and a round at the
affiliated Sonnenalp Golf Club, located 13 miles to the west in Edwards. Mature
trees present some real problems here, as do a few bunkers, creeks and ponds,
and many greens are heavily tiered. The back nine takes you up into the hills,
where views open onto gleaming peaks to the south, and holes such as the
short-but-steep 12th turn treacherous.
