American Club Resort
Kohler, Wisconsin
Almost all conferences are looking for some form of recreation, and “if you can put it on a golf course such as [ours], the attraction is huge,” said Ed Elsner, tournament coordinator for the American Club’s Blackwolf Run and Whistling Straits.
The resort has four golf courses. Whistling Straits has two: The Irish and The Straits, which hosted the 2004 and 2010 PGA Championships and will host it again in August 2015. The Straits is a walking-only, Pete Dye-designed course that hugs Lake Michigan’s shoreline. The Irish is a grasslands-and-dune course that sits just inland.
Blackwolf Run offers two more courses: The River and The Meadow Valleys. Pete Dye also designed The River, which features large greens, and water or gorges on 14 holes.
With regard to hosting the PGA as well as the 2007 U.S. Senior Open and the 2012 U.S. Women’s Open, Elsner said. “that type of exposure is priceless to attract corporations.”
The Kohler Golf Academy provides golf clinics and group lessons for nongolfers or those who are rusty; avid golfers, however, can take on the courses.
The rustic Blackwolf Run clubhouse, built with fieldstone and lodge pole pine, has a meeting room that can hold about 150 people; it can also be divided into two smaller spaces. A boardroom that overlooks the 18th hole can hold about 50.
At Whistling Straits, the fieldstone-built Irish Barn has exposed rafters and an open wall that overlooks three fairways. The open wall can be closed off during inclement weather. And one of the guests’ favorite features at Whistling Straits is the herd of black-faced sheep that roam both courses.
Rosewood CordeValle
San Martin, California
Rosewood CordeValle is surrounded by 1,700 acres of environmentally protected land in northern California, “so it’s just you and nature,” Holland said. There are “unobstructed views of meandering creeks, a lot of old oak trees, a lot of deer running around,” he added.
CordeValle’s golf course was designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. who “He said this was one his best courses he designed,” said Holland. The course opened in 1999, and the resort and clubhouse followed in 2001. CordeValle has hosted the PGA tour the past four years and will host the U.S. Women’s Open in 2016.
Nestled in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, CordeValle has become a popular meeting destination among the Silicon Valley elite, such as employees of Google and Twitter. But because CordeValle is private, “you either have to be a member or staying here to play here,” Holland said, which makes the resort an intriguing destination for attendees who want to “see behind the gate” and play the course.
The resort offers classes and clinics for those who want to improve their golf skills, and CordeValle also hired a female instructor to work exclusively with women who want to learn the game or improve their play.
CordeValle has 45 guest rooms as well as meeting and event space for as many as 200 people. Meeting space includes a 2,600-square-foot ballroom, a 720-square-foot all-purpose room, three smaller boardrooms and a rose garden for events.
www.rosewoodhotels.com/en/cordevalle-northern-california
Sun Valley Resort
Sun Valley, Idaho
Surrounded by mountains — the Smokies to the west, the Boulders to the north and the Pioneers to the east — Sun Valley’s 45 holes makes it a must-play destination for many golfers, said Jack Sibbach, director of marketing and public relations for Sun Valley Resort.
The 18-hole Trail Creek course, which was designed by Jones, offers a lot of trees, water and elevation changes. The nine-hole White Clouds course, which opened in August 2008, offers 360-degree mountain views, Sibbach said.
The famous father-son design team of Robert Trent Jones Sr. and Robert Trent Jones Jr. designed the Elkhorn course, which originally opened in 1974. Sun Valley bought the course and the 16,000-square-foot clubhouse in July 2011, and although both are private, they’re available to Sun Valley guests.
The resort also has the 18-hole Sawtooth Putting Course, “a fantastic opportunity for people to go out here and have a great time, whether they’re golfers or nongolfers,” Sibbach said. Every hole is par 3, and golf attire is not required.
“They can go out there in bare feet or sneakers, go out with a cocktail in their hand,” he added. “It’s a place where a lot of groups will have a putting contest.”
The Sun Valley Club has a boardroom as well as event space that includes a deck and a terrace. Sun Valley Inn has about 16,000 square feet of meeting space, including an 8,400-square-foot ballroom that can be divided into three smaller rooms. Sun Valley Village has a 300-seat Opera House and two large meeting rooms, each more than 2,100 square feet in size.
