Steve Bergum: Grass is greener here
I’ve found a new favorite golf course.
It’s challenging, fair, beautiful and magnificently manicured. It features bent grass on its tee boxes, greens and, yes, even its fairways.
Twelve holes offer stunning lake views. The staff, from the head professional to the parking lot attendant intern, seems as courteous and efficient as any on the planet.
And the only thing standing between me and a chance to someday play this dream layout is a winning Powerball ticket.
Still, the management types at Gozzer Ranch Golf and Lake Club, which will hold its much-anticipated, members-only grand opening today, were kind enough to invite a handful of media members out for a first-hand look at their Tom Fazio-designed course on Friday and …
Wow!
This, from what I was able to ascertain during an abbreviated tour of Fazio’s par-72, 7,237-yard work of golfing art, is one jaw-dropping, remarkable course, destined to take its well-deserved place among the best in the country.
That opinion, by the way, is shared by both Fazio and PGA Tour veteran Andrew Magee, who were on hand during Friday’s media gathering to discuss the centerpiece of Discovery Land Company’s ultraexclusive golf and lake community that sits majestically on a 3,500-feet high bluff overlooking Lake Coeur d’Alene.
Fazio, one of the nation’s most revered golf course architects, admitted he isn’t into ranking courses. Yet, he made it clear he holds a deep admiration for this latest creation.
“Whether it’s Cypress Point, Pebble Beach, Pinehurst, Pine Valley, Winged Foot, Oakmont, I mean, where do they all fit?” he asked. “They’re all on the same level, but it’s hard to say which one is best. Sure, if you want to rank them, everybody can come up with an opinion, but it’s based on their own preference.
“All I can say is that this golf course in on that same level.”
Magee, a four-time winner on the PGA Tour, who is serving as Gozzer Ranch’s “Ambassador of Golf” for the summer, has been walking the course twice a day and played in on Friday, interrupting what promised to be an unofficial course-record round to meet with the media.
He was 3 under par in the middle of the 16th fairway before putting his round on hold, but was planning to finish it up later in the day.
“It’s simply breathtaking,” Magee said of the course, which boasts five sets of tee boxes. “The first thing you talk about is views, views, views. It’s just fantastic. But the mark of a great golf course is to have good short holes, good long holes, right-to-left holes and left-to-right holes – a real diversity of holes – and this course has it.”
Magee, who earned more than $8.5 million on the tour before dramatically cutting back his schedule in recent years because of health issues, said Gozzer Ranch has a “Cypress Hills-like feel” to it.
“The greens are small and classic,” he said. “It has a kind of throw-back feel of the 1950s, when life was simpler and less stressful. The entire development, from the cottages to the custom homes, is a place where you can come and relax, and the golf has that same feel.”
The visually stunning layout is enhanced by many rustic touches, including a barn-like pump house and two comfort stations that were constructed from wood salvaged from some of the old ranch structures that were ultimately razed.
The comfort stations, a trademark of Discovery Land Company courses, are equipped with lavish restroom, but also offer complementary food and drink items – ranging from oysters on the half shell to Snickers bars.
A rusting, horse-drawn hay rake serves as the bag drop next to the parking lot, and the 16-station primary driving range features cast-iron Dutch oven ball holders and several old barrels that have been hand-painted with yardage numbers.
Dale Ray Akridge, who serves as Gozzer Ranch’s director of golf, said the goal was to provide members – who must own property on the 700-acre development and pay dues, as well – with a kind of sophisticated casualness.
Magee said that Fazio’s design, while being challenging to golfers of all levels, “will not beat up” its members too bad.
“Most of the tough holes come after nice, risk-reward short holes,” Magee said, “and the greens aren’t crazy with undulations. I think there will be a lot of putts made out here. I don’t think we’re going to host the U.S. Open any time soon, so we want to make the whole golfing experience enjoyable for our members.”
Close to 200 members who have already selected lodging on one of the private development’s 274 estate-sized home sites (ranging from three-quarters of an acre to four acres), 64 high-end residences, 34 detached cabins that can contain up to six bedrooms, or 40 cottage units.
Membership, according to Akridge, will be capped at 395.
“The club is just starting to get come nationwide exposure,” Akridge said. “We’ve had some celebrities come out in the last few weeks and look at it, some of them from the Hollywood set that tends to look for something like this that is exclusive and out of the way.”
Akridge would not name any of the celebrities who might be interested becoming a member at Gozzer Ranch, but Magee made it clear that anyone taking such a step won’t be disappointed in the golfing experience.
“It’s a Tom Fazio course. It’s a classic,” he said. “They didn’t bring Tom Fazio in here just to build a golf course. He’s an artist, and he’s created an absolute masterpiece up here.”
And if 2-3-6-30-33 and a No. 34 red ball pop up tonight, Tom and I, and any Hollywood celebrity buying into the Gozzer Ranch dream, are going to get to know each other really well.