Travel writer Larry Olmsted tests the turf at Tributer. Photo by Harrison Shiels
Wintergreen, an impossibly scenic mountaintop golf and ski resort, has chosen to accept its “Mission Affordable,” which is not impossible. Its Devil’s Knob Golf Course has the highest holes in Virginia, elevated atop the Blue Ridge Parkway near Charlottesville.
Views from the condo deck furniture at the finance-friendly, family-friendly resort are sometimes above the clouds over a shrouded valley that looks like the sea. My gaze was only averted when the sound of galloping grabbed my attention. I turned in time to see a deer sprinting down the middle of the street.
“People pay to see wildlife at the zoo. Here it’s everywhere,” said Wintergreen’s event manager Heather Smith.
Each condo also includes an information sheet with instructions advising how guests can be smarter than the average bear when they encounter one. And, as a sign next to the resort’s mini golf course read: “If you see a snake, remain calm and avoid disturbing it.”
Might guests spot Bigfoot while skiing, hiking or golfing at Wintergreen Resort? Photos by Harrison Shiels
But no such advice is given during Wintergreen Resort’s annual Bigfoot Festival each September, when paranormal experts, researchers and guests gather to seek and celebrate the mysterious monster.
Smith explained, “A homeowner once put on a Bigfoot suit and tromped through people’s neighborhoods and yards. He was captured on their Ring cams and the videos were posted on social media. It made regional and national news, so we embraced it.”
I advised Smith that, for many years, I’ve kept a rubber snake in my golf bag to similarly scare fellow players. She laughed and, like many of Wintergreen’s staff and managers, had a healthy respect for nature to go with her colorful personality.
For instance, Mark Fischer, CEO of Wintergreen’s parent company Pacific Group Resorts, sailed in the Whitbread Round-the-World race. Director of Golf Geoff Redgrave was a minor league pitcher before turning to golf and caddied one round for grand slam-winner Gary Player. Herwig Demschar, general manager of the company’s SilverStar Mountain Resort in Canada’s Okanagan region, coached both Austrian and USA Olympic ski teams and guided Picabo Street to the Gold Medal.
“We want guests to ‘touch the snow,’” said Demschar when I asked if the tubing component of Pacific Group’s ski resorts is an example of the “Mission Affordable” edict.
Wintergreen’s Iron and Ale restaurant at its Stoney Creek Golf Course is fun! Photo by Harrison Shiels
Wintergreen’s golf course restaurants draw non-golfers too, including the fun “Iron & Ale” at Stoney Creek, the resort’s valley golf course designed by famed golf architect Rees Jones. And there are plenty of local brew pubs and cider houses in between.
“Touching the grass” is also easy for non-golfers and golfers at the Charlottesville region’s Tributer Resort, which offers a one-acre putting green next to the clubhouse for its Cutalong Golf Course. The massive, rolling expanse is lit until 10 p.m. and, from a distance, could be mistaken for nearby Lake Anne.
An authentic mine shaft in play on the Cutalong course at Tributer Resort. Photo by Harrison Shiels
And some of Cutalong’s holes might be mistaken for the linksland of the British Isles. But that is by design, literally, since architect Tom Clark and golf writer Ron Whitten wanted the layout to have hints of homage to golden age courses.
The Cutalong Course will someday be overshadowed by a track Tiger Woods designed and staked out on the property, which is just awaiting home and member sales in order to start construction. For now, resort guests can enjoy new, multi-bedroom, cozy cottages, including a nine-bedroom house with a kitchen island the size of a bowling lane, for golf trips.
Pete Dye’s design at Keswick suits the stylish resort. Photo by Harrison Shiels
Very different, stately lodging dating back to 1912 awaits at Keswick Hall’s manor house overlooking its sporty Pete Dye-designed golf course, named “Full Cry.” Keswick is also in the Charlottesville region. The classically stylish, pedigreed resort was once owned by the widower of designer Laura Ashley, who obviously did the decorating.
Current owners Molly and Robert Hardie renovated, expanded, and enhanced Keswick’s prestige by adding “Marigold – by Jean Georges,” the celebrity chef. Vongerichten (his last name), a Frenchman, has worked all over the world with his cuisine and culinary concepts attaining Michelin stars. He’s an author and a favorite on the television talk show circuit.
Beautiful bar at Chef Jean George’s Marigold Restaurant. Photo by Harrison Shiels
I was surprised to be greeted gently by name by an attendant waiting to welcome me amidst the fauna outside the front door of the Keswick’s splendid new spa. Not so gentle was the “percussion machine” used on me to work out the kinks during my “Fairway Fix” massage treatment. But it worked!
Contact Michael Patrick Shiels at [email protected] His new book: Travel Tattler – Not So Torrid Tales, may be purchased via Amazon.com Hear his radio talk show on 730 AM 1240 in Lansing weekdays from 3 pm – 6 pm.
