A golf club is never really done, and high in the Rockies Vail Resorts’ Red Sky Golf Club continues to reinvent itself
By Jim Bebbington
Red Sky Golf Club remains one of the elite golf experiences in the Rocky Mountains through constant evolution.
Members and guests from around the world have enjoyed the seclusion and amenities since the Vail Resorts club opened in 2003. It features two of the best golf courses in the state – one designed by famed architect Tom Fazio and one by Golf Hall of Famer Greg Norman. Readers also voted the complex as the state’s best mountain club in the 2024 Best of Colorado Golf CAGGY awards.
The mountainside courses lie between 7,000 and 8,000 feet in elevation and are the centerpiece of the residential complex that sprawls across 800 acres of former ranch land.
Visitors arrive primarily off the Wolcott exits of Interstate 70, turning south immediately and making a short climb into the foothills. The gated complex welcomes visitors year-round, while golf is available from late spring to early fall.
“We see two different profiles with a shared, common goal,” said Andrew Hedrick, the club’s general manager. “One is the ‘I really enjoy everything the Vail valley provides’ member – skiing in the winter, golf, hiking, biking, fly-fishing. Two, the ‘I’m getting out of the heat from Texas and Florida,’ member. They have a shared passion for the game and a unique properties Red Sky offers.”
Long a dream destination, the private club offers year-round memberships as well as golf availability for guests staying at a host of Beaver Creek and Vail hotels and lodges.
“Our members appreciate our unique culture and our unique setting,” he said.
The club’s two 18-hole tests have matured well – the Fazio Course and the Greg Norman Course. The Norman course received bunker upgrades in 2018, a project that saw club member Norman checking back in on the progress. The Fazio team returned in 2022 to provide a roadmap for a complete course upgrade that is working its way through the Vail ownership approval process before work begins.
“It’s not if, but when,” he said. Red Sky Golf Club is a private club but is open to guests who stay at one of the club’s partner properties. The partners include 26 facilities in Beaver Creek including Ritz Carlton Bachelor Gulch, Settlers Lodge and Westin Riverfront, and 10 in Vail, which includes Grand Hyatt Vail and Ritz Carlton Vail, Four Seasons Vail and The Sonnenalp Vail.
One stay-and-play package offers 18 holes each on the Fazio and Norman courses for $440 per person any time over a four-day stay.
Red Sky Golf Club
376 Red Sky Road, Wolcott
For membership information, contact
Tinsley Cusworth, 970-754-4250
Colorado AvidGolfer Magazine is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it, publishing eight issues annually and proudly delivering daily content via coloradoavidgolfer.com.