Staying the Horse

The Villas of the Lodge at Flying Horse open May 2015

Jon Rizzi | Colorado AvidGolfer

Commanding 1,500 acres in the northeast corner of Colorado Springs, The Club at Flying Horse routinely blows away visitors with its Tuscan splendor. Its turreted clubhouse evokes the magnificence of Lorenzo de’ Medici. Its extensive Athletic Club and Spa suggest an élite European retreat. And an abundance of water, riskreward holes and mountain views place its 7,301-yard golf course in the pantheon of Tom Weiskopf ’s finest architectural efforts.

The private club feels like a top-tier resort—and next month it will start becoming one. On May 1, the four two-bedroom Villas of The Lodge at Flying Horse will welcome their first guests. Situated along the 16th and 18th greens, the 1,650-squarefoot structures reflect the development’s signature architecture and feature a sumptuous parlor room and bedrooms that can be locked off and rented separately. The Villas also boast the kind of of highend appointments—hardwood floors, knotty alder cabinetry, crown molding, private terraces, 60-inch HDTVs, granite countertops, oversized bathrooms and showers—found in homes, not hotels.

“These residential appointments make you feel at home,” emphasizes The Club at Flying Horse’s General Manager Fredo Killing, who first masterminded the lodging component nearly seven years ago. The club originally planned to do 10 of these villas and had laid the foundations and utility infrastructure. “But that was in ’08,” Killing says, with no explanation necessary. “So we filled the foundations with sand and grew grass over them.”

Killing later revived the lodging component, but with a new model. He reduced the number of Villas to four and complemented them with a 40-room guest lodge that could serve as a fabulous, boutique meeting space. “It penciled out really well,” he remembers. “We took the plan to the owner, Classic Homes, commissioned an independent feasibility study that showed the high-end groups wanted to go to smaller places. The numbers turned out even better than what we thought.”

The Lodge will open in October along the ninth fairway. Its 40 rooms will have the same homey and upscale appointments as the Villas, each with its own private balcony. The spacious meeting rooms feature fireplaces, covered terraces and large windows with stunning mountain views. An ample outdoor reception area adjoins the building. Free Wi-Fi, executive conference tables and ergonomic meeting chairs come standard, as will access to the Athletic Club and pool. “We won’t nickel-and-dime you like an airline or hotel,” Killing promises. “The price we give will include everything; all you have to pay is the tax.”

Flying Horse also plans to transform its main dining area, La Fortezza, to cater to Lodge guests and conference attendees. The Tack Room and Rotunda will continue only to serve members— the majority of whom are excited about the The Lodge. “If they have guests coming into town for the holidays or member- guest tournaments, then they have a place to stay,” Killing says. “A lot of our members work for corporations, and they would love to have their meetings here.”

Killing says the lodging impact on the member experience is going to be “minimal. They see that with The Lodge, the club will be on firm footing for years.”

thelodgeatflyinghorse.com; 719-487-2662

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