The 6-year wait over, Timilick Club opens in North Tahoe/Truckee

It took longer to plan the course than build it. That’s because all the environmental constraints had to be met. These included the re-designing around 100 year old trees, the working only May to October, blasting stubborn rocky areas, irrigating 100 of the 200 acres of fairways and greens, having drainage areas treated first with underlining, then covered with thousands of large rocks to prevent any erosion.

And that’s the part you can SEE! Imagine what genius figured out how to get wide fairways and large greens in between natural lakes, steams, rocks and those healthy trees. Well, Johnny Miller and John Harbottle III did it…. again. Again because they did an excellent job late last century in the Carson Valley. 

Here are the two designers in August of 2006  as a watering truck keeps the dust off them and guests there for a preview. “What a difference a day makes” is a fine song but let’s make it a couple years and this is how it looks today.  Lush green fairways, asphalted cart paths, gentle elevation changes, bail out areas for the shorter hitters, aprons you can putt on up to the greens.  How do they DO that?

You will hear Timilick Club and Timilick Tahoe. The Club refers to the golf course and its immediate surroundings, driving range, practice bunkers, putting green, etc.  The Tahoe portion is the overall picture of golf and of homes and home-sites that are part of the 475-acre private club community. Just thought you should know.
The par 71 goes from 7,042 from the tips to 6,044 from the forward tees. Every hole had a different feeling, its own personal vista of trees, lakes, steams, mountains and …ski runs.  Right behind the flag on #18 are the runs at Northstar-at-Tahoe’s Lookout Mountain. While the course may be open only May though October there is still plenty to do in the winter.

That is the good news. The not-so is that it is private. You must go with a guest or belong to another private club and have the pro there call for what is called a reciprocal.

The cost is $145, which in today’s market for a course of this stature is a true value.

The Blackrock Clubhouse area is under construction. When completed is will include a restaurant and bar, swimming pool, tennis courts, fitness facility, locker and meeting rooms. Also featured will be a fly-fishing casting pond (Johnny Miller will like that as he is an expert, his definition, and avid fisherman), playground, family picnic and bbq area with a hiking trail system that links to the neighboring Tahoe National Forest.

Where is this Nirvana-de-golf? About 10 minutes from the metropolis of Truckee. And you ask as you are getting this from our website and you are in Nepal, where is Truckee? In California 30 miles West of Reno Nevada at the base of Donner Summit. The Schaffer Mill road begins as you go straight out the Truckee-Tahoe Airport and it takes you there. More info?  Web site www.timilick.com.