Vail, Tee, and Me

Sonnenalp Golf Club At Singletree
Vail, Colorado
Part 1

by Anthony Scaggs
Golf Clubs, Golf Resorts, Golf Courses

Decisions, decisions, decisions, do I golf in the morning and ski in the afternoon or ski in the morning and play golf in the afternoon? What a life! At the Sonnenalp Resort in Vail our only decisions were what sport to play first and where to eat. With the Sonnenalp Golf Club nearby this is one of the few golf resorts located in a place where

I can participate in two of my favorite sports, golf and skiing.

Doug Wall, the Head Professional at the Sonnenalp Golf Club, must have thought the same thing. When he graduated from Vanderbilt, he went west to find "gold in them there hills." Skiing the hills of Colorado looking for those illusive nuggets, he soon realized that the gold nuggets were in the form of golf balls.

Doug Wall is very personable and loves to talk about his staff as well as his Golf Club. He has every right to be proud. The 18 hole Scottish links-style course was rated by Ski magazine as one of the top three mountain resorts courses in the U.S. Golf Digest has listed it among the top100 resort courses in the country. Colorado Golf magazine named the Sonnenalp Golf Club as one of the three best golf courses in the state. The Golf for Women magazine shared the same opinion ranking it as one of the top three courses for women.

The club, open to the public, has Championship tees, intermediate tees, member’s tee and forward tees. Respectively, the yardage is 7059, 6423, 5907 and 5293. While I was there, walking was allowed. The Golf Club provided pull carts as well as golf carts.

After talking with Doug Wall, I headed for the course. The staff had a cart and clubs waiting for me. The rental clubs are Titleist DCI woods and irons. As usual, I headed straight for the Driving Range and the Putting Green. I quickly got the feel of the irons, even the three iron. The woods took me a little longer.

At other driving ranges, I found baskets or buckets even pyramids of balls. This is the first range where I found mini-Titleist golf bags filled with range balls. I guess the old saying simple pleasures for simple people is true. Initially, I was distracted. I kept looking at the ski slope within arms reach.

The first two holes shattered my daydream. The first hole is a long par 5 with homes to the right and a street to the left. The tee boxes are strategically located on the left along the road. This is to insure that one cannot see the full length of the hole. You can only imagine what treats lie ahead. If you hook, draw or pull your ball to the left, you will be on the road.

If you can control the travel of your ball down the road for about 560 yards, there is an exit ramp off the road onto the green’s apron. I am surprised that someone has not put a sign at this off ramp, "Exit Ramp for Errant Balls”" Since we know for a fact that golf balls cannot hear no matter how loud we talk to them whether in flight or once they hit the ground, maybe they cannot read either (Yes, Virginia, people talk to their golf balls).