Summit County, Colorado
A complete self-contained golfing vacation destination.
Only about an hour’s drive from Denver, Summit County, Colorado, offers a summer visitor – and golfers in particular – a vast array of recreational and cultural options.
History abounds in such towns as Breckenridge and Frisco, the former also being one of the most visited ski resorts in the country and the latter bordering the shores of scenic Lake Dillon.
Both have maintained their historic downtown areas that reflect the heady days of the 1800s when gold and silver mining put the region on the map. Breckenridge’s downtown is a registered national historic site.
Both also have a myriad of summer activities ranging from the nationally acclaimed Breckenridge Music Festival, the Breckenridge Film Festival and summer-long performances by the National Repertory Orchestra to Frisco’s Colorado Barbecue Challenge, billed as “the world’s highest barbecue challenge.”
Keystone Resort, near the base of Loveland Pass, which crosses the Great Divide, is a self-contained wonderland of summer off- and on-mountain recreational activities.
Its quaint pedestrian plazas play host to numerous summer events, including the Keystone Arts Festival, the Blue Grass and Beer Festival and the Wine, Jazz and Art Festival and the Wine in the Pines wine and food extravaganza.
Copper Mountain resort, at the eastern base of Vail Pass, recently went through a renaissance that transformed it into a dynamic alpine-inspired mountain village. It too offers a host of activities as well as many on-mountain events.
Summit County also is home to five world-class golf courses, each unique and challenging and each offering signature views of the surrounding Rocky Mountains. 
The Breckenridge Golf Club’s course, set against a backdrop of the Ten Mile Mountain Range at the juncture of the Blue and Swan rivers, has the distinction of being the only Jack Nicklaus-designed public course.
Set in a scenic mountain valley, Breckenridge features three championship nines: the Bear, Beaver and the Elk.
Copper Mountain’s Pete and Perry Dye-designed Copper Creek golf course is at 9,600 feet, the country’s highest championship golf course and, not surprisingly, features dramatic mountain vistas at every turn.
The front nine winds through natural alpine terrain, clusters of pines and a variety of lakes and streams. The back nine cuts through the forest and the dwindling remains of a 19th century mining town.
Keystone Resort boasts two golf courses. The Keystone Ranch course, designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr., enjoys a beautiful setting along the winding Snake River. The front nine is designed in the Scottish links style while the back nine is a traditional mountain 
valley layout.
The Hurdzan/Fry-designed River Course, Keystone’s newest, also boasts an incredibly stunning setting. The front nine is oriented around the Snake River while the back nine meanders through a lodgepole pine forest.
The Raven at Three Peaks golf course, designed by Tom Lehman and Hurdzan/Fry, is located north of the Town of Silverthorne and adjacent to the Eagle’s Nest Wilderness Area.
Spread out along the base of the Gore Mountain Range, this six-year-old course features panoramic views in virtually every direction.
Complementing Summit County’s golfing experiences are such popular activities as fly fishing in Gold Medal water, boating on Lake Dillon, windsurfing at Green Mountain Reservoir, hiking and mountain biking, historic ghost town and mine tours, and tackling the slopes of Breckenridge on an Alpine Slide.
These and a host of other attractions — including a great dining and nightlife scene — make Summit County one of Colorado’s most complete vacation destinations.
Don Berger is the editor of Rocky Mountain Golf Magazine and Colorado Summit Magazine.
