Invite a Sacramento-grown LPGA tournament champion, a Kiwi golf trick shot artist, and a former San Francisco Giant All-Star baseball player to headline the “Taste of Winchester” table and you’ve got the recipe for an entertaining extravaganza. That’s exactly what Winchester Country Club cooked up with Natalie Gulbis, Tania Tare and J.T. Snow to highlight a day of golf, food and music.
In an event geared to rediscover the 1,000+ acre residential Meadow Vista community near Auburn, California, the 18-year LPGA veteran and winner of the 2007 LPGA Evian Masters jetted overnight from Africa to conduct a half-hour clinic on Winchester’s spacious range, as well as hit a tee shot for each group on the par-3, 15th hole. The remaining 17 par 3s were left to each team. That’s correct. Just for this day on the 7,200-yard championship course co-designed by the renowned father-son team of Robert Trent Jones, Sr. and Robert Trent Jones, Jr., all par 4s and 5s were also converted to par 3s for every player to have one shot at a KP, including Winchester CC resident, J.T. Snow who claimed one to qualify for a shoot-out awarding a $250,000 Winchester home site for a hole-in-one. For the record, J.T. isn’t moving!
Once considered a residential jewel when it first appeared on the Northern California landscape in April 2000, with upscale housing, and lifestyle amenities that would appeal to the nouveau elite from the San Francisco Bay Area, Winchester Country Club became nearly unrecognizable after the landowner was forced to foreclose the property during the economic downturn. As a result, the golf course turned unruly, membership dwindled and the club was on the brink of survival.
Now nearly a decade later the economy has bounced back and so has Winchester Country Club thanks to its new owners, Jennings Holdings LLC, a Los Angeles-based real estate development company that is making a major investment into the property to elevate it to its full potential and make it more appealing for existing and potential members. That includes completing the build out of the undeveloped acreage and increasing membership within the golf club.
At Winchester CC, located below the snow line and above the fog line in the Sierra Nevada foothills, residents have the opportunity to create their own home design on a custom site and take advantage of an active lifestyle that offers a 35,000 square-foot clubhouse with panoramic views of the golf course and full dining services, plus fitness center, on-site tennis courts, swimming pool, equestrian trails, hiking, biking and nature paths with nearby outdoor adventures including skiing, fishing, hunting, rock climbing and rafting. Nearby schools and local area shopping and restaurants add to the appeal for active families and couples.
“We have 31 finished custom lots ready to go and you can bring your own architect, your own builder or we have plans,” says Sonja Leonard, who is in charge of real estate sales and development with Winchester Residential, as well as the member liaison at Winchester Country Club. “We have an additional 28 lots on undeveloped acreage that can be ready go at any time and we’re planning to develop another 200 acres in 2019.”
For information on Winchester Country Club, residential and membership opportunities, call 530-878-3000 or visit www.WinchesterCountryClub.com.
By Robert Kaufman