Tahoe Golf

I've often told people that for many reasons Bandon Dunes on the Southern Oregon coast is the best place in the world to play golf.

And, in truth, no one place has the quality and quantity of links golf: four internationally-applauded, open-to-the-public and by-the-Pacific Ocean - courses.

But having said that, for a summer retreat from the high heat, there might not be a better cluster of high-end courses than the sublime mountain area around Lake Tahoe, especially in the woods surrounding Truckee, CA.

The altitude is high - 6,000 feet in most places - the air clear, the humidity missing, the lake dazzling, the slot-machines humming in Nevada, at least, and the golf springing from designers like Jack Nicklaus, Bob Cupp, John Harbottle, Peter Jacobsen, and Robert Trent Jones, Jr.

It's a short season, about five months, but a marvelous one. There is so much to do: river rafting, hiking, kayaking, fishing, gambling, cycling or just gawking at one of the world's beautiful lakes.

Flying to Reno, Nev., is easy. From there nothing is more than an hour away, and Truckee, once a grizzly truck stop on the way over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, has become the crown jewel with an amazing collection of courses all within 25 minutes of one another. They range from the Links at Squaw Creek in Squaw Valley - soaring site of the 1960 Olympic Games - on one side of Lake Tahoe to Incline Village on the other.

Our trip began on the Nevada side of the mountains, spending a relaxing day in the venerable town of Genoa, Nevada's first settlement and backed up against the mountains.

We played the two courses at Genoa Lakes and finally rested at the spa just south of Genoa called 1862 David Walley's Hot Springs, named for the year and the person of its founding. Another world.

Genoa Lakes is an entirely playable design of the late John Harbottle, a course that meanders through a variety of waterways and although not as well-kept as it once was doesn't cost as much either.

From there it is a 30-minute drive to Lake Tahoe and Stateline, Nev, home of the American Century Celebrity tournament played at venerable -and open to the public - Edgewood Tahoe.

We spent the morning at the Lake Tahoe Golf Course, a good muni that runs through a valley and over and around a creek. Originally designed by William Bell it has been up-dated recently and is one of the best bargains - $87 including cart - in a gilded tourist area that doesn't have many.

Expect in the Tahoe area to pay $100 or more a round because of where you are and what you were doing. We're talking impeccably kept courses in jaw-dropping mountain scenery.

And because of the real estate blues that have followed the Great Recession, there are private courses that are now public. Truckee has a spectacular array of courses within 15 minutes of each other.

Coyote Moon, Tahoe Donner, Gray's Crossing, Schaffer's Mill, and Old Greenwood are all gorgeous, well-maintained layouts that suggest private, not public.

In addition, there are two very private courses in the same area - Tom Fazio-designed Martis Camp, and the adjacent Lahontan, a Tom Weiskopf splendid piece of work.

Given the economic collapse in 2008, it seemed surprising that Martis Camp would emerge, replete with its own private ski lift to nearby Northstar.

But,as we supposed, no matter how dreary the economic news the rich guys were still rich.

On the other hand, planned private courses like Gray's Crossing and Schaffer's Mill - plus Grizzly Ranch north and west of Truckee - had to open the doors to survive as real estate stalled.

The Ben Crenshaw-Bill Coore designed Clear Creek Tahoe, located on the Nevada side of the Sierra, was shuttered for a couple of years because of the recession and re-opened with some of the most imaginative work by possibly the world's best design team.

Schaffer's Mill is now open to the public only on Mondays, while Gray's Crossing, Old Greenwood and Grizzly Ranch have public times every day.

For me,the best nine holes of the bunch was the back nine at Schaffer's Mill, the work of Harbottle, fun,scenic, beautiful holes.

Old Greenwood is the favorite of many, a Jack Nicklaus design that while easier than some of his work still at times requires long, high shots to difficult green complexes.

Perhaps the most playable of the new courses around Truckee is Gray's Crossing, the work of Jim Hardy and Peter Jacobsen where greens welcome shots, not repel them.

Just a flew blocks from Truckee's new downtown - the old downtown is fascinating - is Coyote Moon with a back nine of spectacular shots, including a 150-foot drop over a raging creek to a small green. There's also a green that butts up against rugged rocks that are allegedly the dens of local coyotes.

Coyote Moon is a good, memorable golf course.

For the time that you don't play golf,Truckee's historic downtown sits along the river and adjacent to the old rail stop. It is loaded with places to eat and shop.

One morning, before a round, I ate at
Squeeze Inn, a tiny, narrow restaurant that is a local favorite, and for good reason. For dinner, the Cottonwood is a bit of Europe in the midst of rustic western.

For all the glamour that is South Lake Tahoe and the bevy of beautiful courses around Truckee, my favorite spot is nonetheless located an hour away - north and west of Truckee - when it could just as well be 60 years away, the beautiful Mohawk Valley, the surprising home to a number of wonderful courses.

If I wanted a week away from it all, I'd stay in once of the cabins at Grayhawk Ranch, fish a little, read a lot, enjoy the practice area when I felt like it, and came to grips with one of California's best public courses.

For me, Grayhawk Ranch is just right, from the size of the burgers they grill outside the clubhouse to the difficulty of the golf course. It is located six miles from the charming town of Graeagle, and its course, Graeagle Meadows.

For those wanting something more exotic there is Nakoma, with its Frank Lloyd Wright designed clubhouse and its notorious Dragon golf course, once about the most difficult play around but now de-toothed a bit.

The main lodge is stunning with all the elegance a Wright design can provide. This was the only time the work by Wright, designed for the Nakoma Golf Club of Madison, Wisconsin in 1923, was ever built.

The smaller cabins around the resort have many of the same features. It feels as if you're staying in an art museum.

Grizzly Ranch isn't more than 20 minutes away, a big, bold course designed by Bob Cupp and recently voted the 11th best course-you-can play in California. And California has a lot of golf courses.

A couple of the par 5s are too much, but the course is beautiful, pristine and away from homes although there are some to be built. Few things could be better than a couple of days playing ``the Ranches,' Whitehawk and Grizzly.