Weiskopf’s final course opens in Montana

Spanish Peaks Mountain Club will open its new Tom’s 10 — the final golf course designed by World Golf Hall of Famer Tom Weiskopf — on July 1. The 10-hole par-3 pays homage to Weiskopf’s favorite holes from around the world.

A member of Spanish Peaks and resident of Big Sky, Montana, Weiskopf designed the club’s original 18-hole championship course and, in his final years, collaborated with longtime partner Phil Smith of Phil Smith Designs on the new par-3 course. Weiskopf died in August 2022.

With increasing membership and the opening of Montage Big Sky on its grounds, Spanish Peaks began looking at options for a new golf course in 2020, an effort led by Ryan Blechta, senior director of grounds and mountain operations.

“Working with Tom on this course was such an incredible experience,” Blechta said. “From our first walk through the woods when he shared his vision till the last time he was on the site a week before his passing, I got to know Tom on not just a professional level, but a personal one, and will always cherish the time spent with him and his wife, Laurie. On behalf of the club, I’m proud to share this course with our members — I truly believe it kept Tom going in his final years.”

Weiskopf frequently visited Blechta in his office on occasion to talk. During one of those visits, Blechta told Weiskopf of the club’s desire to expand and Weiskopf said he knew the perfect location for a par-3 course — a 35-acre site where he liked to walk his dog among the timber, streams and wetlands. Soon, the two were scouting the site on foot with Weiskopf describing potential locations for tees and greens.

The club broke ground on the course in summer 2021. Weiskopf brought in Smith throughout the design and construction process. Frontier Golf was the primary contractor. Construction took three summers because of the complexity of the project and its elevation of more than 7,000 feet.

Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2020, Weiskopf was undergoing treatment during the initial design and construction of the course. When his cancer returned during the spring of 2022, a second shaper was brought in to speed up the process. Weiskopf was able to work on the course until the week leading up to his death and approved all but the final hole.

Spanish Peaks dedicated the course to Weiskopf as Tom’s 10 — an homage to his favorite par-3 holes from around the world, including the original 18th at the club, seventh at Pebble Beach, 18th at Loch Lomond, eighth at Royal Troon and 16th at Augusta National. Holes range from 90 to 161 yards, and total 1,199 yards. The course has 200 feet of elevation change.

Unique features include a man-made half-acre pond on 4 stocked with more than 1,000 westslope cutthroat trout — Montana’s state fish — a deep bunker at the front right of the fifth green set to Weiskopf’s 6-foot-3 height and an old log cabin from one of Weiskopf’s properties that was reassembled and converted into a comfort station filled with memorabilia from his career donated by his wife.

Greens were sodded with Dominator bentgrass, and tees and rough were sodded with dwarf Kentucky bluegrass. Native areas were hydro-seeded with a custom Rocky Mountain mix that includes wildflowers. Bunkers were lined with Capillary Concrete and have Uniman BB 205 white bunker sand. Cartpaths are poured concrete. Eight bridges were installed to avoid disturbing natural streams and wetlands.

“This new par-3 course really shows off the design principles we used throughout our time working together,” Smith said. “It’s a throwback to a lot of fun things we’ve done in the past. And it was very therapeutic for Tom. Because he lived nearby, he was able to keep his mind off his illness and give the project his personal attention. Being at Spanish Peaks from the inception of the original course till he couldn’t work anymore was such a gift. This final project is a direct reflection of his commitment to his craft.”