Shark-Bitten
The Cornerstone Club evokes oohs and aahs from golfers smitten with the Norman-designed course
Photos courtesy of Cornerstone, Stephen Collector
The most unlikely place you’d expect to see Greg Norman is on a snowmobile. But in the middle of winter four and a half years ago that is precisely where he was.
Norman, the notable Australian golfer with 91 career victories to his credit, was surveying ranchland near Montrose, Colorado, literally getting a lay of the land so he could figure out where to best put a golf course.
Hired by Hunt Realty Investments (HRI), a development subsidiary of Texas-based Hunt Oil Company, Norman and his design team were among several golf course design companies considered for the assignment, which was to create an 18-hole course somewhere on Cornerstone’s more than 6,000 acres.
Seven miles south of Montrose and about nine miles west of Colorado Highway 550, the new community is a tapestry of rolling ranchland, wide-open meadows, hillsides and ravines covered with scrub oak, and forests dense with aspen and ponderosa pine.
“Norman penciled in the initial layout after touring the property on snowmobile for about six hours,” says Brad Willett, director of sales for Cornerstone. “He really wanted to 
have a great understanding of the topography and based on the snowfall, he could see the contours of the land and also where the prevailing winds were coming from, which helped him better shape the holes.”
Contrary to how so many golf course developments are laid out, with the homesites identified first so a higher percentage of the best land is set aside for real estate, HRI did the opposite, giving Greg Norman Golf Course Design free reign to choose the site of the golf course first.
To get an appreciation of the daunting task ahead of “The Shark” and his colleagues, consider that they had more than nine square miles of ranchland from which to make their decision as to the optimal spot for the par 72 layout.
Just below the eastern side of Horsefly Mesa, the community ranges in elevation from between 7,800-feet at the low end to 9,600-feet at the apex.
As if drawn by magnet, Norman found the perfect home for the layout, a stretch of land running primarily west to east at an elevation averaging 9,000 feet. “The course winds through three distinct habitats with more than 700 feet of elevation change,” explains Norman. “At the lowest point, piñons, juniper and sage are part of the landscape and as the course rises, rolling alpine meadows come into play. I love what the mountains and Mother Nature give me in Colorado.”
Golfers at the “members only” private course, which celebrated its official grand opening on July 5th this year, can’t help but love what the two-time British Open champion created. Scratch and low handicappers teeing it up from the blacks tackle every bit of the 7,945 yards printed on the scorecard.
“Greg Norman has a reputation of building golf courses that are too difficult,” comments Mark Wood, Cornerstone’s director of golf. “But this course is a fair and fun one with generous landing areas, big greens and minimal bunkers.”
Employing his “least disturbance” philosophy, where the course is shaped to impact the native landscape as little as possible, Norman unveiled a design that is sure to garner high praise from the golf and travel magazines, and members cheerlead it at every opportunity.
“We belong to two clubs that have extensive caddy programs,” says Peter, a founding member from Los Angeles. “But the program put together here just makes you enjoy the game that much more.”
Wood, who imported professional caddies from Ritz-Carlton, Hamilton Farm Golf Club in New Jersey and Norman Estates at Tiburon, a Meddalist golf course community in South Florida, is keen on providing members with flawless service.
Whether on the golf course, in the dining room, at the stables, as a guest staying in the Golf Foursome Cabins, fly-fishing off property or skiing at Telluride, that service experience reverberates throughout the community.
“We call it ‘Pioneer Hospitality’, which incorporates frontier spirit and five-star service into a casual mountain lifestyle,” Jim Mikula, club general manager mentions. “It is thoughtful and authentic.”
Mikula, who spent ten years with Four Seasons, knows a thing or two about service that is refined, yet not fussy, and this relaxed style agrees with members.
With a caddie assigned, golfers make their way to the course, which offers five sets of tee boxes. Depending on where they are on the course, players are awed by views that showcase the San Juan Mountains, Mount Sneffels (one of Colorado’s fourteeners), the West Elk Mountains and Grand Mesa, one of the world’s largest flat top mountains with an area of about 500 square miles.
Located at the course’s highest point — 9,218 feet — Hole 1 is a par-4 playing downhill 393 yards from the tips. A “sweet spot” drive leaves big hitters just over 100 yards out and a short mown collar surrounding the green sets the stage for a par, if not a birdie.
“The average size of our greens is about 6,500-square-feet,” says course superintendent, Tom Huesgen. “What separates us from so many other courses is we have these welcoming approach areas and large collars around the greens.”
Huesgen, who spent more than eight years at Pebble Beach before joining Cornerstone, not only understands how to keep a course in pristine condition, he also believes this design is genuinely friendly to all levels of player.
“It is important that our members and guests enjoy their time out here,” adds Huesgen. “There are plenty of private clubs where members might only play a few times a week because of the difficulty factor. This is a course where the whole family can play and really enjoy.”
Golfers also find the 20 plus acre practice facility enjoyable. Designed with teaching tees, several full-length holes and a pitch and putt course, it is great for those wishing to practice in actual playing conditions or for families that want to get a few holes in, but not wanting to go out on the 18-hole course.
Hole 2 and Hole 4, stretching 617- and 668-yards respectively, buddy up with Hole 7, a 504-yard par-4 requiring a 280-yard carry over a ravine, to make the front nine particularly interesting. Hole 9, a 150-yard par-3 guarded by five steep-faced bunkers, provides a memorable conclusion to the first half of one’s round.
Most of the holes through nine are among the aspens, whose green leaves of spring and summer, transform to vibrant reds, yellows and oranges come autumn.
Hole 10 starts a golfers’ journey into the back nine, a layout made up of two par-5s, five par-4s, and two par-3s. Hole 14, a par-5 playing 659 yards from the blacks and Hole 18, measuring 603 yards are the longest holes on the scorecard, but the par-3 17th may be the one giving golfers the most evident gut check.
Though it is only 193-yards from the back tees (113 yards from the reds), it plays uphill and its green is guarded directly in front by a formidable bunker. Nothing good can come of hitting left, but carding par—even birdie—is not out of the question, thanks to the quite substantial green.
Hole 13, another cheeky par-3, requires a 200-yard (107 yards from the forward tees) drive downhill. If the four bunkers are avoided, a par or birdie is within reach.
Holes 10 through 14 give golfers a nearly 360-degree panorama of the region and especially the San Juans, with Hole 8 revealing one of the best views of the valley floor.
Finishing on 18, a par-5 stretching just over 600-yards, players take out their driver. Those taking the ball up the left side tempt trouble, given the aspen forest that lines the fairway. A well-placed approach shot (hopefully) carries the two left-side bunkers on the way to a par or birdie.
Wrapping up their rounds, golfers can’t help being wowed. But more impressive than the course is the effort expended to make it have such a modest effect on the land. Motivated by his “least disturbance” mantra, Norman instructed the shapers to move less than 300,000-cubic-feet of dirt. In an industry where it is common to move 700,000 to more than one-million-cubic-feet of dirt, Cornerstone’s over 6,000 acres were hardly touched.
“The golf course was designed with conservation in mind from the very beginning,” explains Susan McIntosh, Cornerstone’s naturalist and environmental coordinator. “The property had been seriously degraded by ranching, agriculture and logging. Today, we are actively restoring the land.”
McIntosh, a native Coloradoan and attorney who was legal counsel to the Sierra Club in New Mexico, joined Cornerstone to help create a community whose owners are ecologically savvy.
Between initiating a Wildlife Management Plan, having a geo-thermally heated clubhouse, encouraging the use of sustainable building materials in homes and common buildings, creating eco-minded education programs and only allowing for 412 residences on its more than 6,000-acres, Cornerstone is putting “environmental capital” in the bank. Its water conserving, 100 percent re-use wastewater treatment plant — the first in a private golf community in Colorado — is another example way the development seeks “green” solutions to eco-challenges.
The pièce de résistance may be cuisine from the kitchen in the new clubhouse. Captained by executive chef, Peter O’Brien, graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, the “on display” kitchen shares the space with the dining room, inviting members to pull up a chair—or grab a whisk—and either watch the scrumptious dishes get prepared or pitch in.
Those captivated by the Cornerstone way of life can buy a property and then apply for a club membership. The current initiation fee for golf is $95,000 (plus monthly dues). For more information or to inquire about real estate, call 970-650-2000 or log on to www.cornerstonecolorado.com.
Kim McHugh, a Lowell Thomas award-winning writer, is associate editor of 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.
