R & R in Keystone

Keystone River Course Signature Hole 7

Score it Jones-to-Hurdzan-to-Fry. It may have taken the trio 20 years to turn the double play at Keystone Resort, but their slick efforts have made golf a whole new ballgame in Summit County.

The three are, quite naturally, golf course architects. Robert Trent Jones II, as prolific and prodigious as his paternal namesake, designed the 7,090-yard Keystone Ranch Course in 1980, at a time when 7,000-yard courses weren’t the norm—nor were they built at 9,340 feet above sea level. In 2000, after three years of construction and seven of planning, the team of Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry completed The River Course at Keystone, a 6,886-yard rollercoaster that peaks at the identical 9,340 feet as the Ranch course.

To be sure, the same kinds of steeps that make Keystone a great ski destination give the resort’s golf courses some of their character. interestingly, too, the USGA has selected courses authored by Keystone’s designers to host U.S. Opens (Jones’ Chambers Bay in 2015 and Hurdzan/Fry’s Erin Hills in 2017).

However, the similarities between the two courses pretty much end there. “The Ranch and the River are within a couple of miles of each other,” says The River Course at Keystone’s Head PGA Golf Professional Philip Tobias. “And the difference between them is like night and day.”

keystone-ranch-par-3-5th-hole

THE RANCH COURSE

“The course incorporates three distinct styles because the land requested it,” Jones explains. “There are the parkland—or core—holes that spread out in a western way; the mountain holes that thread through the lodgepole pines; and the marshy, or heathland holes that feel almost links-like.”

To Jones’ credit, the course transitions seamlessly without any multiple-personality disorder. Overall, it feels, appropriately, ranch-like. Your round begins in the lodgepoles with a short-ish par 5 and straightforward par 4 before moving into the “heath” that includes the 190-yard par-3 fifth, handicapped at number 2 on the card, with three of the course’s 68 bunkers surrounding the green and old ranch buildings behind it. It’s followed by a tough par 5, where the stream crossing the fairway complicates your chances of reaching in two.

The stream connects to the course’s two lakes, the larger of which spans nine acres and provides the axis around which the course pivots. You’re also required to carry part of that lake on the 368-yard ninth. That’s no easy feat when the  wind kicks up.

That hole and many others reveal stunning views of the Continental Divide, Ten Mile Range and Buffalo Mountain. The back nine starts with what the scorecard claims is the course’s toughest hole, a 463-yard par 4, though my vote would go to No. 17, 422 yards with a long, forced carry over native grass and wetlands, or its successor, the longest hole on the course at 589 yards, with the lake running along the entire left side of the fairway.

Keystone Ranch Apres Golf

THE RIVER COURSE

From the tips, the par-72 Ranch’s 72.3 rating/141 slope is higher than the par-71 River’s 71.3/137, but the River rates a slightly sterner test from the reds, whites and blues.

It also cost about 12 times more than the Ranch to build and features six more bunkers, greater mounding on the fairways, larger greens and an additional 300 feet in elevation change.

A precipitous drop comes on the very first hole, a 551-yard par 5 that plunges 100 feet from tee to fairway and plays toward the Continental Divide. Two holes later, you’re crossing the Snake River to get the 222-yard par-3 third, the tee shot for which Dana Fry calls “probably the single hardest shot on the golf course” and earns the no. 1 handicap ranking.  Bunkers guard the right and left sides of the green and anything pushed—or long—is swimming.

Water factors into the fifth, sixth and seventh holes—the last of which, a beautiful 195-yard par 3 with the Snake River flowing in front of the green, provides the resort with “hero shot” marketing material. A heroic shot of your own needs to account for the prevailing wind and find the middle of a green cordoned by hazards.

18th hole Keystone golf

At 408 yards, the plummeting par-4 10th doesn’t require a driver—unless you enjoy hitting approaches from downhill lies. Go with a long iron off the tee.

The same holds true for many of a number of other tee shots. “I have to say, because of the elevation, most of our guests who pull driver never find their balls,” Tobias says. “There’s value in laying up.”

However, it’s hard to ignore the Big Dog on the par-4 16th. The hole drops a total of 194 feet—half of it from tee to fairway, the other half from fairway to green. A memorable par awaits.

And speaking of memorable…the back tee box on the 520-yard par-5 18th presents a top-of-the-world view of Colorado. Watch your tee shot hang forever as it plummets 130 feet to a fairway squeezed by 12 bunkers.

“With the views, the golf almost becomes secondary,” Dana Fry says. “It’s just a great mountain experience.”

THE GUEST EXPERIENCE

The Ranch and River courses can challenge even the best players, but they don’t preclude higher handicappers from having fun. Tobias and the Keystone staff make sure of that. “Our main focus has been to make the courses more playable for the less powerful,” says Tobias. “We’ve taken the Ranch’s forward tees from 5,500 yards to 4,800 yards. Our overall goal is to have a golf course that’s accommodating, fun and for all abilities of players.”

To that end, Keystone has also developed junior sets of tees that shrink both courses to about 2,200 yards. On the Ranch, they’re called the Hogan tees; on the River, they’re the Jacks. Tobias says it’s not just juniors who play from those up tees. It’s newcomers and those at charity or corporate events who are looking for something different. “I have to say, 18 holes of short-course golf in a mountain setting is a real kick in the pants,” Tobias laughs.

Keystone Family Activities

BEYOND GOLF

Keystone has also renovated the golf shop at the Ranch Course and rebranded its fabulous Keystone Ranch Restaurant as a Colorado steakhouse. The fine-dining experience remains; it just doesn’t have to be a seven-course experience. An appetizer, entrée and bottle of wine work just fine, and Chef Steven Vlass’ menu, which debuted during ski season, offers more than its share of upscale possibilities. 

On the less pricey side, Haywood Cafe and Inxpot are great for breakfast, and you can’t go wrong with lunch or dinner at Ski Tip Lodge, Kickapoo Tavern, Pizza 101, Zuma, Luigi’s or New Moon Café. Throw back some drinks at Snake River Saloon.

More info: keystoneresort.com


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This article appears in the June 2016 issue of Colorado AvidGolfer.

Colorado AvidGolfer is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it. It publishes eight issues annually and proudly delivers daily content via coloradoavidgolfer.com.

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