Balsam Mountain Preserve
Sylva, N.C.,  866-542-3546
BalsamMountainPreserve.com

In deciding on a golf-course partner, developers Chaffin/Light Associates, turned to Arnold Palmer, whose firm is known for creating courses that connect golfers to the land. Beginning its second year of play, the 6,750-yard Arnold Palmer Signature Course has 11 different water challenges for golfers, from trickling creeks to flowing streams. Elevation changes from 3,200 to 3,700 feet make every round an enjoyable journey, while wide and ample fairways make the course playable for golfers of all experience levels.

Balsam Mountain’s commitment to sustainability and stylish luxury extends to its residential options, like its new Portfolio of Homes. Situated on high ridges overlooking virgin forests and spectacular mountain vistas, six homesites have been custom designed in partnership with Platt Architecture, designer of HGTV's 2006 Dream Home, for a specific homestead to ensure the best utilization of available terrain and maximized views.

For those desiring less maintenance and responsibility, The Boarding House offers fractional ownership with full community privileges. Only 40 partnerships are available for these 10 mountaintop cabins, which share a central gathering place, with a dining hall, rustic living room with large stone fireplace and lounge.

Bright’s Creek Golf Club
Mill Spring, N.C., 866-302-7335
GolfatBrightsCreek.com

Nestled against North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, Bright’s Creek sits amid 5,000 acres of inspired land, with waterfalls, rivers and soaring mountain peaks providing a natural backdrop to one of the country’s most luxurious private communities. Since opening in 2003, more than 200 families have come together to call Bright’s Creek home.

Here friends enjoy a daily blend of first-class amenities, from championship golf to a state-of-the-art equestrian center. At Bright’s Creek, golf is a true passion. The 200-plus members tee it up on a Tom Fazio-designed layout that’s been called one of the best new courses in the country. And with plans underway to make Bright’s Creek the world’s only club to offer three Fazio courses, it’s
no wonder that the club was selected to host the 2008 BMW Charity Pro-Am. 

Beyond golf, horse lovers appreciate the expert equine facilities and available professional training. The planned fishing and shooting club takes advantage of the trout-stocked Green River and the thousands of acres of nearby protected hunting lands. Extensive hiking trails and a planned swim and tennis center will help complete this natural playground. Nearby, you’ll find both Lake Lure and Lake Adger, the quaint Main Street of Greenville, South Carolina, and the internationally recognized shops, restaurants and acclaimed theaters of Asheville, North Carolina. 

Several lifestyle options are available at Bright’s Creek. Homesites from one acre to more than five sit above the golf course, affording dramatic views. “Living here in North Carolina since 1999 and touring all around the Blue Ridge Mountains on weekends, I thought I’d seen everything until I drove into this valley,” says owner Jim Rash. “It took my breath away.”    

Golf villas offer a luxurious, low-maintenance lifestyle, while the just-completed Lodge at Bright’s Creek provides members unique, overnight accommodations and exceptional service. Homesites begin at $175,000 and custom homes from $900,000. And all residents enjoy living in one of the few fiber-to-home developments in the country.

You know you’ve arrived in the special place that is Brasada Canyon when you pass under the restored trestle bridge just off the 18th green, on your way to the clubhouse. Used as an irrigation flume on what was once a working ranch in the high desert of central Oregon, the bridge is truly a link between the property’s past and its future as the “greenest” of golf and recreational communities. The development has been lauded for its sustainable building practices, including the use of salvaged wood and materials, natural heating and cooling sources, as well as for its preservation of open space. Among other environmental honors, it’s the first new destination resort to receive a gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).

Peter Jacobsen and Jim Hardy also treaded lightly when it came to designing Brasada Canyons Golf Course, completed in July, 2007. “There’s so much to see during a round at Brasada, that we had to make some strategic decisions about when to create visual drama and when to simply get out of the way,” said Jacobsen. Hardy elaborates: “Folks have latched onto the 15th”—a drivable par-4 across a canyon in full view of the Cascades—“but the ninth might be our favorite hole out there. You play across a baranca, to a hugely generous landing area. There is no fairway bunkering—there is no need for it when you consider the natural roll of the terrain. The green sits out at the terminus of this ridgeline with the white-capped mountains as a backdrop. Just stunning.”

Stunning, indeed. Brasada Ranch is located on juniper- and sage-covered slopes of the Cascades, some 16 miles northeast of Bend. In time, a total of 900 residences will be built on 1,300 acres. The clubhouse—a 24,000 sq. ft. facility complete with a private swimming pool for members—opened last fall, and will be followed this year by the completion of the Athletic Club and, after that, an elaborate equestrian center.

The Cliffs Communities
North and South Carolina; 866-435-5123
CliffsCommunities.com

Having already raised the bar for premier golf living with its first seven master planned communities in the southernmost  Blue Ridge Mountains between Asheville, N.C. and Greenville, S.C., The Cliffs Communities raised the bar higher still with its eighth,  The Cliffs at High Carolina, which will feature Tiger Woods’ first American golf-course design. Together, The Cliffs now span 20,000 acres over hundreds of thousands of acres of protected forests.

The gently rolling meadow on which Woods will design his landmark layout sits at 4,000 feet and features 50-mile views. “It’s a beautiful piece of property,” he says. “You really can’t mess this up.” Woods and his lead designer, formerly Tom Fazio's top man, are fine-tuning the routing, with construction likely to begin this summer. Walking will be strongly encouraged on the course, highlighting an emphasis on fitness and health shared by Woods and the Cliffs, whose wellness program is a major amenity for residents.

Tiger’s design will bring the The Cliffs’ line-up of championship courses to eight. It’s the only club in America with two Nicklaus Signature Golf Courses and two Fazio designs, along with courses by Gary Player, Ben Wright and Tom Jackson. All are located within a short drive of one another and accessible via one membership.

And that membership extends beyond the incredible range of amenities, including marinas, equestrian centers, wellness centers and spas. Cliffs property owners and members are part of a private residential club with access to a stunning collection of properties, from the Bahamas to British Columbia to Patagonia, Chile.

The Cliffs Golf Membership provides unlimited access to all its courses through a reciprocal play program, plus preferential tee times and club-sponsored member golf events at your home course. Members are provided with full use of The Cliff’s many sports, wellness and fitness centers, clubhouses, dining facilities, equestrian and marina facilities.

The Santa Fe Trail brought first the adventurers, gunslingers and miners to the southern Colorado way station of Trinidad; these days I-25 is the major conveyance. Located halfway between Denver and Albuquerque, where the high plains meet the Sangre de Cristo mountains, today this historic crossroads is sometimes called the poor man’s Santa Fe, boasting one of the largest collections of Victorian-style homes and a historic downtown district chockfull of museums and laced by some 6.5 miles of brick streets.

Unfolding on 1,500 acres of high-desert mesa northeast of town, is Cougar Canyon Golf Resort Community, a new destination for those seeking a mild climate with year-round play and outdoor living. When Cougar Canyon reaches completion, the community will be home to over 1,700 residences, clustered in neighborhoods with state-of-the-art infrastructure down to wireless and optic fiber connectivity. A community recreation center will feature fitness facilities, swimming pools, tennis courts, volleyball courts and sprawling lawns for croquet and casual picnics. And construction has begun on a 117-suite boutique hotel; scheduled to open in the spring of 2009, it will feature a spa, restaurant and lounge, shop, concierge service and a business center.

Cougar Canyon Golf Links, a Jack Nicklaus Design, opened in September, 2007—and was named the state’s best new course by Colorado Avid Golfer magazine. Stretching to 7,789 yards in the high-mountain air, the course begins in links style before dipping down into a deep wash that creates amazing shot values like the 16^th hole, with its island green. Eye-catching, as well, are the 40 bunkers filled with black sand—a tip-of-the-hat to the coal mines that made Trinidad prosper. In keeping with Cougar Canyon’s lack of pretentious attitudes or high prices (homesites start in the low $100s; semi-custom homes in the $200s), daily fees are just $59—surely the best value per yard of Nicklaus golf around.

Take it all in from the veranda of Currahee Club’s new clubhouse, the social hub of this golf, lake and mountain community located just 90 minutes from Atlanta and 60 minutes from Greenville, S.C. Set on a ridgetop at the southern base of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the 48,000 sq. ft. clubhouse and its expansive porch offers panoramic views of Lake Hartwell and a tantalizing glimpse down the first fairway of the Jim Fazio-designed, 7,513-yard golf course that encircles the clubhouse, winding its way through forested slopes with many fetching views of the lake and mountain beyond. The strength, and beauty, of the course has helped it and the club win numerous honors since its debut three years ago.

Currahee Club’s founders, Bob and Chris Whitley, are known for creating some of the most distinguished golf communities in the southeast, among them, Jack Nicklaus’s home course, the Bear’s Club in Palm Beach County, Florida; The Ritz-Carlton Golf & Spa in Jupiter, Florida; and Colleton River Plantation near Hilton Head. They had the vision, the know-how to execute it--and the location: The 1,200-acre north Georgia property includes three miles of shoreline along Lake Hartwell, one of the largest lakes in the Southeast and a fisherman’s paradise year-round. Not many mountain communities can boast lakefront homes—or, soon, a full-fledged marina—as an amenity. And not many lakefront resort communities can boast 360-degree mountain views encompassing four states.

Currahee Club will also add a recreation center, swimming pool, tennis club, children's playground and general store for what will become a vibrant, close-knit community of some 800 residences. As part of its goal to create a family-friendly atmosphere, Currahee Club even has a Director of Adventure and a Director of Fun to organize activities for all to enjoy. The club currently offers mountain, lake, and golf-view homesites, maintenance-free cottages, as well as custom homes created by preferred builders.

Glacier Club
Durango, Colo.; 888-382-7888
TheGlacierClub.com

Just north of the historic mining town of Durango, nestled in the ultra-scenic Animas River Valley and surrounded by snow-capped peaks that rise to 14,000 feet, is the Glacier Club. In transforming a property once known as Tamarron Resort Durango, Glacier Club now exists as a private real estate and golf community with the aim of offering a mountain lifestyle without equal. So far, so good, especially when it comes to golf: The new owners spent millions elevating the original Arthur Hills 18-hole course to a new standard, and added a third nine holes. The result is 27 holes of classic mountain golf, with expansive views in every direction. Starting with a 190-foot drop off the first tee, the Glacier nine is a splendidly rugged routing through forested slopes of rock and pine. The Hermosa nine (Spanish for “beautiful,” and named for the postcard-worthy Hermosa Cliffs that sidle along the property) takes you up, down and around gently rolling terrain. The Cliffs hugs the beautiful you-know-what and threads its way around meadow ponds.

Designed by award-winning architect Jon Pomeroy, the massive ski lodge of a golf clubhouse overlooks this landscape of wetlands, meadow and fairway, with cliffs and towering peaks above. Inside the views are memorable, too: The club boasts a remarkable collection of fine western paintings, photography and sculpture.

You’ll be tempted never to leave, but then again, there’s no end of things to do in and around Durango: There’s trout fishing in clear, cold waters, plus hiking, biking, river rafting, kayaking, horseback riding and 4-wheel-drive expeditions. Just up the road is Durango Mountain Resort, one of the West’s premier ski mountains.

Limited to some 400 residences, Glacier Club’s community ranges from Club Cottages and Townhomes to expansive custom homesites and single-family homes. ?>

Mountain Air Country Club
?>?>?>Burnsville, N.C.; 828-682-4600
MountainAir.com

About the only thing that can top Mountain Air Country Club is Mount Mitchell, at 6,784 feet the highest point in the eastern U.S., and it’s directly across a valley from this 1,000-acre mountain community just 35 minutes from Ashville, N.C. At 4,910 feet above sea level, Mountain Air boasts the highest clubhouse and amenities for 1,000 miles in any direction—not the least being a paved 2,875-foot runway used by scores of the private-equity club’s members. It’s set alongside the community’s new Settler’s Edge neighborhood, which includes 26 trophy homesites and 36 grand condominiums in four mountain lodges designed by Cottle Carr Yaw, the firm that conceived the community’s award-winning Falling Leaf Members' Lodge. The gathering spot for members and their guests, the Lodge features a spacious great room with soaring vaulted ceilings and a massive stone fireplace, with wall-to-wall views that can only be described as “peak.” 

The facility also houses the golf shop for its 6,425-yard, ruggedly splendid course. What it lacks in length it makes up in the challenge of blind tee and approach shots, and panoramic views, courtesy of more than 1300 feet in elevation change. It will be joined this fall by the Banks Creek Nine, located just down the mountain.

The Mountain Air master plan encompasses a variety of developer-built residences, including deluxe single-family homes, cabins, villas and condominiums. Among the latest developments are the Waterfall Cabins, a collection of rustic homes along a tumbling stream that feeds into the community’s award-winning Creekside Park. Timber Sky, an exclusive collection of 15 custom homesites, extend from the Old Growth Forest Preserve and boast stunning panoramas from near the mountain’s highest point. And the new Logging Horse Villas will feature three bedrooms on one expansive level and screened living areas with outdoor fireplaces, to enjoy views of the Banks Creek course and sunsets al fresco. Mountain Air just keeps topping itself.

Outlaw at Lincoln Hills
Alto, N.M.; 800-841-0168
OutlawGolfClub.com

Here’s a new hideout for any golf-loving refugee from the big city and ‘burbs: The Outlaw at Lincoln Hills golf-course community located among the pine-covered slopes, high-country meadows and rock outcrops of Alto, New Mexico, some 10 miles northeast of the town of Ruidoso. Spread over nearly 500 acres, the property sits on an elevated point more than 7,000 feet above sea level, with striking views of the dramatic snowcapped Sierra Blanca and Capitan Mountains.

The Outlaw’s golf course opened July 2, 2008 to resounding applause. Designed by John LaFoy, the 6,881-yard course is a target-style course, with strategically placed landing areas in the fairways and with native grasses and natural landscaping spanning the carry area. And the finishing touches are being completed on the construction of the clubhouse.

The gated community will be limited to 235 home sites, ranging between 1 to 9 acres, with an average of 1.4 acres. There are 150 golf-course lots, many with views of the surrounding mountain ranges. Each lot owner will be rewarded with a membership in the exclusive Outlaw Club, with total membership to be limited to 550 members including social members. 

Within view of the property is the Spencer Theater for the Performing Arts, which presents touring Broadway shows, concerts and dance performances; also close at hand are the table games at the Inn of the Mountain Gods Casino.?>

Further afield—actually, all around you in Lincoln County—is horseback riding, fishing, ATV trails, rock-climbing and all the pastimes of summer in the mountains. In winter, there’s cross-country skiing as well as the groomed powder slops at Ski Apache. The area is also home to Ruidoso Downs, which offers horse racing from Memorial Day through Labor Day, including the world’s richest quarterhorse race.

Paramonte Private Residences
Vail Valley, Colo.; 800-624-0632
Paramonte.com

The Paramonte Private Residences will share the Lodge’s sweeping views of the Vail Valley—and the many services and amenities of this world-class hotel property. Approximately 1,900 sq. ft. of high-end design, each residence will have three bedrooms, each with en suite bathrooms, granite kitchens with custom cabinets, fireplaces in three rooms as well as one outside on the large, private deck.

The first fractional ownership opportunity in Cordillera, the Paramonte Private Residences will be offered in one-eighth shares, with homeowners guaranteed a minimum of 28 days per year of use. You can stay as often as you choose, subject to availability, and unlike a time-share deal, no homeowner is permitted to monopolize holidays or other high-demand dates. What’s more, you can rent to whomever you please, allow friends to use your home, sell it to whomever you please or bequeath your share to your heirs. Simply put, Paramonte homeowners enjoy the rights, privileges and security of owning ultra-prime, fee simple real estate without the stress and maintenance overhead of whole ownership.

What will be wholly yours as a Paramonte owner are all the things that have made Cordillera one of America’s premier four-season resort communities. Among them: Three championship courses designed by Tom Fazio, Jack Nicklaus and Hale Irwin and a stunningly set Dave Pelz Short Game Golf School; private fishing on 1.5 miles of the Eagle River; equestrian center; and over 30 miles of hiking, biking and riding trails. All yours to enjoy, at your leisure.

Pine Canyon
Flagstaff, Ariz.; 866-779-5700
PineCanyon.net?> 

“I’m a happy camper,” says retired investor Fred Westland of his decision to build a home in the luxurious Pine Canyon golf community in Flagstaff, Arizona. There’s certainly no roughing it for Westland and his fellow “campers” at Pine Canyon. That much is clear from the first look at the sprawling new 35,000-square-foot clubhouse. Built of Telluride stone, copper and slate, it’s won national design awards for its rough-hewn charm and luxurious amenities, including a full-service spa and fitness facility.

The clubhouse overlooks a Jay Moorish Signature golf course. Opened in 2004, it’s already risen high in state and national rankings. “I’ve played many of the finest and famous golf courses in the world, and belong to a few, too,” says Westland, whose home is along the eighth fairway. “I believe every course has three, or four or maybe five memorable holes. Except Pine Canyon: They have 18. It’s the prettiest golf course I’ve ever played.” Actually, they have 19, if you include the short 19^th hole that Moorish added to help golfers settle their bets.

Golf is just a part of Pine Canyon’s pleasures. The community’s Trout Creek Park has a children’s playground, a climbing wall, a dog park and even a lake stocked with rainbow trout for catch-and-release fishing. And scheduled to open this summer is Camp Pine Canyon, chock-full of events and hands-on learning experiences for members’ children.

Situated at 7,100 feet above sea level among a Ponderosa pine forest, the community features an array of residential options. Custom homesites are an average of a half-acre and can range from 2,400 to over 6,000 square feet. Some have views of San Francisco Peak, the snow-capped mountain that lords over Flagstaff, some look out onto the rolling fairways, while others back up onto Forest Service land. Creekside Village offers the choice of five home models, from 2,300 to 3,300 square feet, with townhome and condominium options as well. 

The PowderHorn Golf Community
Sheridan Wyo.
ThePowderHorn.com

If a home on the range is what you seek, find your way to The PowderHorn Golf Community, near the historic cowboy town of Sheridan in north central Wyoming. Set on 900 wide-open acres with views of the Bighorn Mountains, at 3,700-feet above sea level, PowderHorn is high-country living with a distinctive Old West flair. The centerpiece of the community is 27 holes of high-caliber golf. The original eighteen holes opened in 1997, followed by the addition of a third nine in 2002. The Mountain nine is reminiscent of a traditional Scottish links, playing over rolling, open rangeland and even featuring a small replica of the famous Swilcan Burn Bridge. Cottonwoods and wetlands surround the property’s Old Red Barn to create western-style target golf on the Stags nine. The Eagle nine rounds out the course with a mix of meadow and creek-side terrain. The area boasts many blue-ribbon trout streams, including the mile of Little Goose Creek that winds through property.

The Powder Horn is a semi-private course that offers a variety of amenities through two membership opportunities, Premium or Social. Each membership includes the use of the fitness center, pool house, locker rooms, tennis courts and membership to the Clubhouse for social and community activities. Memberships are offered to Powder Horn Property Owners. Real estate opportunities include Club Cottages, Deck Homes, Patio Homes, homesites, and custom homes. PowderHorn also offers Stay & Play packages; visitors interested in real estate are invited to stay in one of the property’s patio homes or cottages or the rustic Red Barn Ranch House. Discounted golf rates and access to on-site fishing are part of the deal. 

Honored as the top Western town in 2006 by True West Magazine, Sheridan is steeped in Western culture. The County Fairgrounds features rodeo and roping events from May to the end of September, and a high point each summer is the Sheridan WYO Rodeo, held every July and jam-packed with a week of buckin’ broncos and all manner of western fun and festivities.

“Although there are many other developments in western North Carolina,”Draper continues, “Queens Gap has an extremely financially stable developer; they offered significant buying opportunities at this early stage of development; and the fact that Jack Nicklaus is creating the golf course is a huge benefit.”

Given free reign to cherry pick his routing path through the community’s spectacular mountainous terrain, Nicklaus has said, “Before we ever put pencil to paper or shovel to dirt, we knew the canvas exists for something truly special at Queens Gap.” Under construction now and slated to open in 2010, the Nicklaus Signature Course will weave its way along mountain streams, through forests and past scenic rock outcrops with long mountain views.

The private golf course community will feature 1,500 residences, mostly single-family homes, with every amenity you can think of for a life well-lived out of doors: Anglers and water sports enthusiasts will love the Outfitters Lodge and other resort-style water features; tennis fans will volley on courts made of DecoTurf, the same surface used on the courts of the U.S. Open; and Horse lovers will have a beautiful equestrian center and riding ring to compliment the miles of bridle trails throughout the property.

Above it all will rise the 10,000-square-foot Wellness Pavilion, a luxurious spa perched on a ridge with 60-mile views of the mountains.. 

Red Ledges, is a private golf and four-season recreational community in the making near Heber City, Utah, a small, friendly town situated in a farming valley between the Wasatch and Uinta mountain ranges. Less than an hour’s drive southeast of Salt Lake City, Red Ledges will encompass approximately 1,200 homes across nearly 2,000 acres, and boast an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course, a Nicklaus Design nine-hole short course and a Jim McLean Practice and Instructional Facility as well as a premier spa and fitness facility. Troon Golf will manage the golf operations; the world’s largest golf-management company, with 38 facilities in a Top 100 ranking by national or international publications.

Tennis, anyone? Red Ledges will be the site of the first Cliff Drysdale Tennis Academy in the western U.S. and the first in a high-altitude location. In the coming years, The Red Ledges community will also feature private ski-in/ski-out club at nearby Deer Valley Resort, an equestrian center with indoor and outdoor facilities, private club boats at Jordanelle Reservoir and an extensive network of hiking, biking and riding trails for four-season activities.

The award-winning Zmistowski Design Group will be responsible for setting the architectural tone for the entire community and is designing the golf clubhouse, the Village Center, and amenity buildings. The firm also developed the architectural design guidelines for owners when designing and building their custom homes.

Find out more about Red Ledges by visiting the community’s “discovery centers” in Park City or at 2 Main St. in Heber City, as well as at the on-site center that opened earlier this year.

Situated on the Cashiers-Highlands Plateau over 3,000 feet high in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, the exclusive mountain community of River Rock will be composed of five separate villages, each with its own charms and amenities yet joined through a common thread—the desire to create “properties for generations.”

The topographically distinct parcels of land are arranged in a cluster between the ?>Tuskasegee River and Lake Grenville, the most elevated lake east of the Mississippi River and one of the cleanest bodies of water in North America. From the top, there’s Bear Pen, with 4,400-foot Wolf Knob as its high spot and, fittingly, the River Rock Stargazing Pavilion, with telescopes and cantilevered deck as this 96-home neighborhood’s keynote amenity. At Lake Grenville’s 70-home Summer Sail area will be croquet lawns, swimming docks a Victorian-style clubhouse and in the marina a fleet of wood-hulled Chris Craft boats reserved for residents.

The largest parcel, 1,800-acre Webster Creek, with 800 home sites, will be home to The River Rock Golf Club, Phil Mickelson’s first project since forming his golf-design company a year ago. Scheduled to open in late 2009, the course taking shape has some fascinating features, most made possible by its 2,000-foot range in elevation, from 2,250 to 4,250 feet. Rest assured, Phil won’t be giving you billy-goat golf: 12 of the 18 holes play downhill, including a 65-foot drop on the second hole, a 305-yard par-3 from the tips, to the 114-descent on the fourth hole. The River Rock course will be joined at the 800-home Webster Creek by a unique, 20-hole instructional short course, called King's Grant, designed by Mickelson's one-time swing consultant and close friend Rick Smith.

More leisurely options are in store for Trout Creek and Tuskegee, from the infinity pool and culinary school at Grand Tuskegee Lodge, with an equally diverse and appealing array of residential options.

Running Y Ranch
Klamath Falls, Ore.; 877-851-6975
RunningY.com

If you aspire to get away from it all at a place that has it all, steer a course for the Running Y Ranch, in the high desert of south-central Oregon near Klamath Falls. The Running Y Ranch is a full-service resort community framed by the Cascade Mountain range to the west and Upper Klamath Lake, with the California border to the south, and golf-rich Bend, Ore., a two-hour drive to the north, past world-famous Crater Lake National Park. Ashland, an hour away to the east, is home to the world-renowned Oregon Shakespeare Festival from March through October.

Now that we’ve got you situated, kick back and relax at the Running Y Ranch Lodge. High above scenic Payne Canyon, the 82-room western-style resort has a mix of comfortable guest rooms, executive king rooms and one-bedroom suites, some featuring balconies overlooking the Arnold Palmer-designed golf course—the only Palmer design in Oregon. Play along meadows and through wetlands on the front nine, then besides lakes, stands of Ponderosa pine and into Payne Canyon on the back. The area boasts 300 days of sunshine a year, so take advantage of the long summer days with one of the unlimited golf packages: One night’s stay in the lodge and a day of unlimited golf for two is $290, cart and range balls included.

Klamath Falls is a gem of a small town, with a wealth of recreational activities within easy reach. The Klamath Basin itself is the most important gathering point for migratory birds along the Pacific Flyway, making the area a top destination for bird-watchers. An elevation of 4,095 feet helps keep the humidity and summer temperatures pleasantly low and comfortable.

Like to stay awhile? Know that the Running Y Ranch has a wide selection of town homes, chalets, homes and homesites. You’ll soon see why Relocate-America.com named Klamath Falls to its 2007 list of Top 100 places to live in America. Seems like once you get to Running Y Ranch, it can be hard to leave.

Seven Falls Golf and River Club
?>Hendersonville, N.C.; 866-473-2557
SevenFallsClub.com

If practice makes perfect, then the Seven Falls Golf and River Club near Hendersonville, N.C., is proceeding according to plan. This spring, the ambitious new 1,400-acre gated community in the Blue Ridge Mountains, some 27 miles south of Ashville, opens its 58-acre practice facility. The first of many community amenities to come, the game-improvement area includes a nine-hole short course and Golf Performance Center, with covered hitting bays, video swing analysis and a separate short-game practice area.

Next up on the tee at Seven Falls: The first Arnold Palmer Premier golf championship course. Scheduled to open this fall, the links style “core” layout is situated in a natural amphitheater set in the valley floor. The Palmer Premier brand ensures that each project bearing The King’s name will feature a national-tournament caliber golf course designed without compromise by homes or roadways and maintained to tournament-ready conditions at all times. Those standards will be matched by the quality of service within the 25,000-square-foot clubhouse, which broke ground last fall.

In time, Seven Falls will also offer a tennis center, a family activities center and a 15,000 square-foot wellness center, as well as an amphitheater, pocket parks and gazebos in its Town Village. On the banks of the French Broad River, which borders the property, will soon rise the River Lodge, home to a top-notch outfitter and pub. The river is ideal for canoeing and kayaking, not to mention a haven for trophy smallmouth bass.

The gated community will eventually comprise 900 residences. Half will be built on homesites, the rest will be town houses, condos and villas, including The Villas at Palmer Place, which will be available starting in June. Each comes ready to move into: professionally decorated, fully furnished, and with one-of-a-kind Arnold Palmer memorabilia.?>?>?>

Shooting Star
Jackson Hole, Wyo.; 877-739-8062 or 307-739-1908
ShootingStarJacksonHole.com
Contact: john.resor@sothebysrealty.com

 “Golf courses should reflect the natural beauty of the setting,” says noted architect Tom Fazio. If that’s the case, then Fazio’s work at Shooting Star, a residential community taking shape in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, will be a stunner.

The backdrop to Fazio’s 18-hole course, scheduled to open next summer, is the Teton Range—one of the world’s most majestic mountain views. The Snake River Ranch, a historic working cattle ranch, borders the course on three sides; to the north is Teton Village and the modest footprint of Shooting Star’s planned residential community.

The development of Shooting Star is proceeding according to a carefully crafted master plan that protects the property’s natural resources—including Fish Creek, a Class I trout stream—and Jackson Hole’s distinctive ranching heritage. Residential development will be limited to a total of 100 single-family homes, 34 hand-hewn cabins and 48 townhouses. More than 75 percent of the lots adjoin creeks or ponds, with 1,300 acres of the community protected by conservation easements. The first phase of Shooting Star will include approximately 20 single-family lots, averaging 1.4 acres in size, many situated near the clubhouse.

Last fall, Shooting Star released 50 charter memberships, allowing people who won’t be buying real estate in the development to still enjoy the golf course and its Western-style clubhouse, to be unveiled after the course opens in July, 2009.

Given 254 acres to work with, Fazio’s core course will be unhindered by views of homes or roads; stands of aspens, cottonwoods and spruce separate each hole. The formerly flat pastureland has been remolded into a gently rolling landscape sprinkled with nearly 50 acres of lakes, ponds and streams fed by the Snake River aquifer.

Though Fazio’s design allows you to feel like you’re “in the middle of nowhere,” Teton Village and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort are close at hand, and the galleries, shops and restaurants of downtown Jackson are a short drive away.

Keystone Resort
Keystone, Colo.; 800-322-2094
KeystoneResort.com

Keystone Resort may have gotten more snow than they could’ve dreamed of this past winter—we’re talking upwards of 20 feet—but there comes a time to put away the skis and pick up your clubs.

And that time is now, for Keystone’s two championship golf courses are open for play, May until late September. The Keystone Ranch Golf Course winds through lodgepole pines, across sage meadows and along a nine-acre lake. Designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr., the 7,090-yard, par-72 layout dazzles with views of the Continental Divide, Ten Mile Range and Buffalo Mountain. Close by is The River Course at Keystone, a Hurdzan-Fry design that runs along scenic Snake River with more spectacular mountain views.

Guests of Keystone Lodge & Spa can rent bikes and get free access to special activities in and around the resort, including wine tastings, yoga classes and short-game clinics, with an exclusive Adventure Passport. Sort out your sore muscles in the resort’s hot tub, sauna and pool, or avail yourself of the newly renovated RockSpa. Opened last November, the 10,000 sq. ft. spa includes 10 treatment rooms plus an outdoor pool. New features of the spa include an infinity-edge chromo therapy tub, a Vichy shower room, a couple’s room and a relaxation room. The resort’s one-night Stay, Play & Pamper package includes 50-minute massage—along with two rounds of golf at The River Course—and is available from $224 per person, starting May 16, 2008.

For R&R around town, there are festivals and special events nearly every weekend in the summer. The Frontier Fair is always fun for the kids, and the Bluegrass and Beer Festival has its charms for the grown-ups—like samples from two dozen of 25 of Colorado's finest microbreweries. Check with the resort for specific dates for these and other festivals.

The Virginian Golf Club
?>Bristol, Va.; 276-645-7050
TheVirginian.com

“No noise, no beeping of horns, just a relaxed type of living,” Jack Orcutt says by way of explaining how he chose The Virginian Golf Club as his summertime retreat from Naples, Fla. Nestled in the western corner of the state, 95 miles north of Asheville, N.C., this serene and stately community also cast its spell on Tom Fazio: “From the country drive, through the stone entrance walls: You know something special is going on out here.”  The 7,110-yard course Fazio designed for The Virginian unfolds amid stands of mature oaks, poplar and evergreens, with long-range views across Zoysia fairways to the valleys and the mountain slopes beyond. Situated on a knoll overlooking Fazio’s handiwork and its scenic backdrop is a 44,000-square-foot clubhouse designed by Atlanta architects Chapman Coyle Chapman. The Swim & Racquet Club, with its large pool, two clay and two hard surface tennis courts and Fitness Center, is another busy place in summer.

The Virginian offers a range of custom homes, cottages, and home sites. Homes are carefully sited to preserve the character of the land and to maintain the natural landscape and panoramic golf course views.