It’s time to let all Southland golfers in on a secret that my Orange County golf buddies and I have been taking advantage of every summer for more than a decade.
The tiny town of Truckee is a world-class golf destination that most of the world doesn’t know about. Everybody knows about Lake Tahoe and all that the area has to offer, but 18 miles to the north, just off Interstate 80 near the western border of Nevada, is the historic city of Truckee, a former logging town with about 16,000 residents, or roughly the population of the retirement community of Laguna Woods. That small.
Truckee is better known for having some of the coldest summer nights in the U.S. – the temperature reaches 32 degrees an average of 228 days a year – and, of course, Donner Memorial State Park where a monument commemorates the pioneers who failed to make it through the Sierra Nevada pass in 1846 because of 22 feet of snow. (Forty-eight of the 87 pioneers in the Donner Party survived only after they had to resort to cannibalism.)
But Truckee also should be known as a don’t-miss golf destination because it has more sensational courses than you can play in a week – nine, if you count the private and semi-private clubs – and because it’s a three-hour drive from the Bay Area, two hours northeast of Sacramento and only 30 miles west of Reno, which is a one-hour flight from Southern California.
You won’t know how great the golf is until you experience it: fairways framed by towering pines, clean and crisp air, blue sky and your golf ball rocketing farther than you’ve ever hit it because of the elevation in the shadows of the majestic Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Though it’s not publicized by the golf media as much as Oregon, South Carolina, North Carolina and Florida destinations, golf in the Reno-Tahoe area – and, specifically, Truckee – measures up to all of them in terms of variety, quality and affordability. (See truckeegolfgetaways.com for more information.)
There are a handful of spectacular courses that you’d never tire of playing, including Coyote Moon (2000), Old Greenwood (2004), The Golf Club at Gray’s Crossing (2007), Schaffer’s Mill Club (2008) and Tahoe Donner (1976). Beckoning a few miles away are California Northstar, also with a Truckee address, and Resort at Squaw Creek in Squaw Valley, site of the 1960 Winter Olympics.
Because of the economic downturn during the Truckee course development boom in the past decade, a few of the courses built to be private clubs now offer public play. And if you have good connections or know a member, Truckee has two ultra-exclusive private clubs where I’ve been invited to play: Martis Camp Club (Tom Fazio, 2008) and Lahontan Golf Club (Tom Weiskopf, 1998).
A closer look at my Truckee favorites:
Old Greenwood: A Jack Nicklaus-designed masterpiece featuring wide manicured fairways and huge undulating greens, it was named after Old Caleb Greenwood, a mountain man who led immigrants across the Sierras many moons ago. Rated among the top 10 new public access courses by Golf Magazine.
Schaffer’s Mill (formerly Timilick Tahoe): The breathtaking Johnny Miller-John Harbottle design keeps getting better from No. 9 on, as it showcases spectacular elevation changes and doglegs. Golfweek named it the No. 1 Best New Private Course in California and No. 9 nationally. Public play is now restricted to Mondays, but don’t miss it.
Coyote Moon: This Brad Bell design is a mountain course carved out of 250 acres of rolling hills distinguished by pines, granite outcroppings, wildflowers and – best of all – no houses in sight. I have 12 favorite holes, topped by the 227-yard, downhill, par-3 13th, featuring a 200-foot drop from tee to green.
Tahoe Donner: A longtime favorite and Truckee’s original championship course, this visually striking Roy Williams-Billy Bell Jr. mountain course, located a few par-5s up the road from Coyote Moon, got better during the 2006 Cary Bickler renovation. Highest elevation of all the area courses – that means longer drives and pitching wedges from 150 yards – and several unforgettable holes among the towering pines and creeks. No. 18 is one of a kind.
As Truckee mayor Alicia Barr told me during my annual golf pilgrimage last month, “The golf is great, but you just feel better here no matter what you’re doing. You breathe it in. It’s refreshing and rejuvenating. Truckee offers an escape.”
Now you know why I keep going back, year after year after year. Tell your friends. The secret is out.
Contact Randy Youngman at SouthlandGolfRY@aol.com
