Written by Jim Collins, Summit Mountain Rentals Customer & Golf Expert
In the spring of 1990, I got the urge to find someplace I could go to get out of the Texas heat. Since I had never thought about where it might be cool in the middle of the summer, I started looking up temperature ranges in areas close enough to Dallas to reach within one day by automobile. One fine April morning while reading the comics in my Dallas Morning News, I came across an advertisement for golfing in Breckenridge. Using maps (no Google or MapQuest then) and advice from friends as to the best route from Dallas to Breckenridge, it was estimated to take about 13 hours to drive. No children or wife to worry about would make that possible.
As it turned out, I placed a call to Breckenridge and was set for two weeks of golf at Breckenridge Golf Club. Since it was a two week trip, I decided to fly to Colorado Springs and rent a car to drive to Breck. The next morning, after driving north on Highway 9, I found myself at the clubhouse of the golf course.
What a sight for this flatlander from Texas! In 1990, this was the Jack Nicklaus-designed eighteen hole golf course. About ten years later, the Elk course would bring a very interesting additional nine holes. With beautiful views of the Tenmile Range and a stunning vista of Bald Mountain from the then-hole number two (now hole number seven on the Beaver nine). This is my favorite hole on the golf course and is the background picture on my cell phone: a corridor of pine trees leading to the distant green with Bald Mountain looming large in the background.
After that first year in Breckenridge, I wanted to stay longer in the summer, so I set out to find out how to rent a house or condominium. It was determined that I could make golf reservations for the Breckenridge Golf Club through Summit Mountain Rentals, as well as rent a suitable place to stay. Since around 1992, that has been my summer vacation strategy.
Golfing in Breckenridge is a wonderful and comfortable experience. The golf course is well maintained and is always in excellent condition. I have met and played with many folks at the golf course and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves while on the course. The views while on the course are majestic. Mountains surround the golfers in every direction. The course itself has some modest yet interesting elevation changes. On a few holes, there are shots to be made over gullies or water.
On the seventh hole of the Elk course your second shot has to carry a ravine of considerable depth from a downhill lie. Favor the left side of the green on your second shot as the ravine wraps around the right side of the hole. The idea of favoring the left side of the fairway is a good general rule for a lot of the holes on the three courses: Bear, Beaver, and Elk. The Breckenridge Golf Club is at an altitude of about 9,500 feet give or take for different areas of the course. This means that the golf ball will travel roughly 10% further due to the fewer air molecules encountered at this elevation. (Thank goodness for a short hitter as myself.)
Bring your clubs and get out to the golf course for a rewarding round of golf in the cool mountain air and astonishing mountain scenery!
For information about the Breckenridge Golf Club, please visit the Summit Mountain Rentals' Summer Activities page or the Breckenridge Golf Club's website.