If you’re heading for the High Sierra and thinking golf among the Ponderosa pines, take a deep breath and plan to golf in the foothills or the Carson Valley. There will not be many open courses in June around Lake Tahoe and Truckee after the huge snowfall this year including May snowstorms.
For the golf courses, with few exceptions, the issue is the same as it is with campgrounds—waiting for snow to melt. The state campgrounds around Lake Tahoe are not even taking reservations until June 16. Typically, the Memorial Day weekend or earlier in May is the starting date for camping, but not in 2023.
It’s the same for the golf courses with the notable exception of Old Brockway on the North Shore. It opened May 13, the first around the lake. As the pro shop staffer said, “first to open, last to close.”
The huge snowfall this year has the Alpine Meadows side of the Palisades resort (formerly Squaw Valley) planning to stay open until July 4 on weekends. That opens up the possibility of a morning on the mountain and an afternoon on the course over the next several weeks. This month Alpine is open Wednesday-Sunday, while Palisades (formerly Squaw Valley) operates Friday-Tuesday. Alpine will be open Friday-Sunday in June through the July 4th weekend, while Palisades will be closed.
The South Shore resorts, Sierra at Tahoe, Heavenly and Kirkwood, are all closed. Kirkwood closed on Sunday.
It will be two more weeks before the next golf openings. Edgewood at Stateline is scheduled for May 26, while Old Greenwood in Truckee is planning for the next day. Its sister course, Gray’s Crossing, is targeting a June opening. The Lake Tahoe Golf Course on Highway 50 north of Meyers has scheduled a June 1 opening, while there’s no date set for Squaw Creek or Northstar.
So, if you’re headed to Lake Tahoe in June, here’s hoping you’re staying in a hotel or condo. There will be golf options, but they will be fewer than you’d expect given the abnormal winter of 2022-23.
By Tim Hunt