Peaks of Perfection
Raven Golf Club at Three Peaks provides golfers with a picture perfect mountain layout
The peaks of the Gore Range soar above the par-5 sixth. This 552-yarder is a slight dogleg left and the green is very small, requiring the accuracy to pencil in a birdie. Below: Hole ten, a 373-yard par-4 is reachable in two from the back tees, but it takes monster shots and precision.
Photos courtesy of the Raven at Three Peaks
When Raven Golf Club at South Mountain debuted in 1995 in Phoenix, a concept was hatched that changed the way people golfed.
In essence, Raven’s idea was to give resort golfers an experience typically reserved for those belonging to a country club. Not only could they play a meticulously manicured course, they would receive bend-over-backwards attention.
Readers of Golf Digest were so impressed that the magazine recognized Raven at South Mountain for having “The #1 in Guest Service in North America.”
Revved up by the accolades, Raven exported the experience to five other courses. The first of these was at the Raven Golf Club at Three Peaks in Silverthorne, Colorado, in 2000.
Owned and managed by Intrawest Golf, an affiliate of Intrawest, a Vancouver, Canada-based company that counts Colorado’s Copper Mountain, Steamboat and Winter Park among its portfolio of mountain resorts, Raven at Three Peaks impresses on many levels.
“The Raven concept makes players feels as if they are members of a country club for a day,” explains Dan Guinle, general manager at Three Peaks. “We wow our guests with phenomenal service.”
That high-touch theme is evident from the bag drop and the player assistants, to the title of the cart girl.
“We don’t have a beer cart girl, we have a refreshment car hostess,” notes Guinle. “We don’t have a driving range, we have a practice facility, and our guests travel in a golf car, not a cart. These are just a few of probably twenty components that make for a special experience at Three Peaks.”
Formerly Eagle’s Nest Golf Course, the layout was totally redesigned in the late 1990s by Hurdzan-Fry Golf Course Design, Inc., who partnered with PGA touring pro Tom Lehman to do the makeover.
Playing 7,413 yards from the black tees and 5,235 from the forward tees, the par-72 semi-private course is as accommodating as it is spectacular. Four sets of tee boxes allow golfers to best sync with their playing ability, and no matter what score is posted, everyone can admire the geologic slide show. This includes the Gore Range and William’s Fork, as well as the three peaks from which the course reportedly gets its name — Buffalo, Red and Chief.
In addition to the natural setting, what makes this alpine masterpiece unique is the Mackenzie bunkering, which was modeled from courses such as the Country Club at Brookline in Massachusetts, Cyprus Point in Virginia and Kiawah Island in South Carolina.
“Dr. Alister Mackenzie was the architect of Augusta National and Cypress Point,” says Dana Fry. “The bunkers are very intricate with a lot of fingers coming down into them. They really have a wild and wooly look to them.”
A number of water features, forests thick with aspen and pine, a ball-swallowing rough and nearly 70 bunkers spell trouble for the golfer with an errant shot; but player assistants roaming the course help maintain a good pace of play by looking for lost balls.
Among the widest and best maintained in Colorado, the fairways provide very large landing areas that invite balls to run another 15 to 30 yards. Greens averaging 6,500-square feet make for great targets as well.
Golfers begin their adventure on a 436-yard par-4. A good play is a driver down the middle, which leaves a well-placed wedge or nine-iron shot to the green.
Hole 2 is a 601-yard par-5 that takes two Power Bar-fueled shots to reach the green. The average player should leave it 100 yards out and land the green with a wedge. Holes 3 through 9 continue sending players clockwise in a circular pattern, testing skills on two par-3s, four par-4s and the par-5 sixth, a 552-yarder that is a slight dogleg left. The green is very small and requires accuracy to pencil in a birdie.
Players don’t start noticing elevation changes until they reach eight and nine on the front and the entire back nine, a collection of two par-3s, five par-4s and two par-5s where Hurdzan, Fry and Lehman’s design really shines.
“Tom (Lehman) made at least six trips to help shape the course,” notes Fry. “He only works on a few courses a year so he can really give them his attention. You certainly see the pride in his work at Three Peaks.”
The hole with the most substantial elevation change is the 471-yard ninth hole, a par-4 that plays downhill about 150 feet from tee to green.
“Some of the holes on mountain golf courses rely too much on topography to define their personality and it becomes goofy golf,” Fry explains. “Tom wouldn’t allow that. He relied on the natural landscape to create a great place to golf.”
Hole 10, a 373-yard par-4 is reachable in two from the back tees but it takes monster shots and precision. Though it relinquishes bragging rights as the signature hole to number 16, the 586-yard par-5 eleventh is very deserving. This is arguably the biggest risk-reward hole on the course.
Crunch the ball 320 yards and you’re left with about 240 yards — a carry over water to a green that isn’t all that receptive to holding an approach shot. A birdie here is huge.
Land the green in one on the 230-yard par-3 twelfth hole and you’ll high-five your playing partner. Hit right and you’ll likely reach in your pocket for another ball.
The par-4 eighteenth is a photo-worthy 392-yarder, playing slightly uphill and presenting a round-stopping panorama of the Gore Range, William’s Fork, and down toward Keystone Resort. Golfers play downhill to a green that, because of the depth perception, looks as if it is floating, but it is actually on a ledge.
Says Fry. “With the mountain topography, the views and the Raven service, it’s a fantastic experience. It seems like everything Intrawest touches turns to gold.”
This golden touch is evident in the gorgeous post and beam clubhouse whose restaurant and outdoor patio are very inviting for resort guests and club members. One special package — Golf & Dine— encourages players to tee off a bit later in the day and spread their fun into the evening.
“Golf & Dine gives people the opportunity to play the course and then enjoy a fantastic three-course meal,” explains Guinle. “The clubhouse is a great place to watch the sun go down.”
The package is $129 per person and includes a round of golf plus dinner. Gratuity is not included. Occurring at 4pm the second Monday of each month the Nine & Wine Series invites guests to play a nine-hole shotgun, then return to the Raven Grill for a wine tasting and canapés. Cost is $50 per golfer, and non-golfers can pay $25 for the wine and hors d’ouevres.
For the avid golfer, the Three Peaks package may be the best deal in the mountains. “The Three Peaks package lets golfers play as many rounds in a single day as daylight will allow,” notes Guinle. “That could be twenty-seven, thirty-six and even forty-five holes.” Continuing through late summer, the deal also includes lunch.
Regular greens fees for 18 holes range from $79 through June 5th, $109 through June 19th, $149 up to September 1st, $129 into fall and $75 after September 15th until close.
Twilight, early evening and nine-hole rates are lower, and all fees include the use of a golf car.
For those smitten with the Raven way, a club membership may be in order. Though the current non-resident initiation fee is $32,500 (plus monthly dues), people can test drive country club life via a $3,300 plan.
“The preview membership allows people to play as much golf as they wish during the season,” Guinle comments. “That fee would cover, say, a husband, wife and their children under the age of twenty-three.”
If someone owns real estate within the community the club initiation fee is $30,000. Raven at Three Peaks club members have a private patio space 
and a lounge with comfy leather couches and chairs, a big screen TV and DVD, and game tables.
The clubhouse is able to host 140 guests for a sit down event such as a wedding reception or corporate function and a tent can be set up for larger parties. A golf shop features the expected hard and soft goods (bags, balls, apparel, shoes) and the staff can do custom fittings on PING, TaylorMade and Callaway clubs.
Come ski season, golf club members may also gather at the Three Peaks Alpine Club, a private club located at the base of Copper Mountain. Within easy walking distance of the American Eagle lift, it has a fireplace, boot dryers, gear lockers and a cozy living room.
The Raven at Three Peaks season runs from mid-May through mid-October, which is typically two weeks earlier than any course in Summit County, and it often stays open two weeks later.
For more information or to book a tee time, call 970-262-3636. Tee times also can be booked online via GolfSwitch: www.ravenatthreepeaks.com.
Kim McHugh, a Lowell Thomas award-winning writer, is associate editor at Rocky Mountain Golf Magazine. His work has also appeared in SKI, Hemispheres, Luxury Golf + Travel and Colorado Expression. He is a member of the Golf Writers Association of American.
