The Colorado Trifecta (ski, golf, gamble) - all in the same day

pseudoswede · March 11, 2015

Very few places in the world allows someone to do three awesome things in the same day, for as many days as you can handle. I have to give my uncle props for doing this solo a few years ago. We plan on doing it together next year as a three-day weekend adventure. If anyone else wants to copy this, by all means go for it.

You'll want to try this no earlier than late March/early April in order to get decent golf course conditions while also having decent snow conditions. You can do this in mid/late May while skiing in a golf shirt/shorts at Arapahoe Basin--just swap your boots for spikes, and you're ready to hit the links!

Sample Itinerary

Ski 8:30am-11:30am

Golf 2:00pm-6:30pm

Casino 7:30pm-??

You could even make this a "quadfecta" by incorporating a professional sporting event (Avs, Nuggets, or Rockies) before heading to the casino. This option will greatly reduce the hours of sleep available.

My question here is: what golf courses are close enough (under 90 minutes from Summit County) to the mountains but won't (in theory) be snowed out in late March/early April? I'm trying to limit it to golf courses that are worthy of this kind of endeavor (so ruling out Willis Case, Foothills, and Homestead).

Fossil Trace
Fox Hollow
Meadows Golf Course
Raccoon Creek
Omni Interlocken
Arrowhead Golf Club

Any others that I'm missing? I'm trying to stay west of I-25, and not too far from I-70, if possible.

PhocusOne · March 12, 2015

[list]
[*]Fossil Trace - Close to C470 and I70 Junction. Makes coming down the hill less stressful if time is an issue.
[*]Fox Hollow - Close to C470 and I70 Junction. Makes coming down the hill less stressful if time is an issue.
[*]Meadows Golf Course - I would skip this as it is farther south and I think the first two are better tracks.
[*]Raccoon Creek - Biased towards this as it was one of the courses I grew up playing. Not that close to I70 though, not as far south as Meadows but more east.
[*]Omni Interlocken - Pretty far North and not really close to I70, have to take 36 up there.
[*]Arrowhead Golf Club - Iconic but pretty far south and I don't think it's worth the green fees.
[/list]

pseudoswede · March 12, 2015

I think Fossil Trace and Fox Hollow are no-brainers to play. Trying to find a third and/or a FT/FH substitute.

irvtrain · May 6, 2015

You forgot mountain biking. I know a group that does all three and then hits the micro breweries hard.

thaar · May 7, 2015

I think you'd be better suited to play golf first, then ski (let the conditions soften up and enjoy some beach time) and hit up the casino's on the way back. I was going to the do the ski/golf thing last April or May since late season was so good. Had a tee time booked in Evergreen for early, but it ended up snowing lol. Skiing was great though!

pseudoswede · May 7, 2015

[quote name='thaar' timestamp='1431015924' post='11517101']
I think you'd be better suited to play golf first, then ski (let the conditions soften up and enjoy some beach time) and hit up the casino's on the way back. I was going to the do the ski/golf thing last April or May since late season was so good. Had a tee time booked in Evergreen for early, but it ended up snowing lol. Skiing was great though!
[/quote]

I went skiing at the end of March this year, and it was slushy by 10am except for maybe the top 10% of the mountain. I'm not a particular fan of slushy conditions because it increases the risk of a torn ACL--for skiiers, anyways.

TomWishon · June 4, 2015

Back when I was a kid in northern CO, the old Samsonite luggage company in Denver used to sponsor a competition in early to mid April each year they used to call the Samsonite Cup. Giant Slalom run for time at Vail followed in the afternoon with 18 holes on the original Vail golf course in the valley near the river. Lowest ranking on both events was the winner. My former bro-in-law won it twice - he was captain of the Univ of Wyo ski team in college and an alternate on the US Olympic ski team in 64 so he had that part covered very well, and he was a solid 5 hdcp to go with it.

irvtrain · June 6, 2015

[quote name='TomWishon' timestamp='1433458234' post='11691532']
Back when I was a kid in northern CO, the old Samsonite luggage company in Denver used to sponsor a competition in early to mid April each year they used to call the Samsonite Cup. Giant Slalom run for time at Vail followed in the afternoon with 18 holes on the original Vail golf course in the valley near the river. Lowest ranking on both events was the winner. My former bro-in-law won it twice - he was captain of the Univ of Wyo ski team in college and an alternate on the US Olympic ski team in 64 so he had that part covered very well, and he was a solid 5 hdcp to go with it.
[/quote]

That would be an awesome event. I don't think logistically Vail could accommodate that kid of competition today as I would assume hundreds would sign up.