The Shining Golf Trip
Here's Johnny
OK, I've done a little research, and in order to pull off a golf trip revolving around locations from The Shining, you'd better be a high roller with a private jet. Or, as always, piece it together in a few smaller trips.
Before I get started, let me tell you a little story on how this Stephen King novel came to be.
It's 1974. King has just published his second book, Salem's Lot. He's not yet the massive success he would go on to become, but he's also not struggling to make rent on his double-wide anymore either. For his next work, he knows he wants a different setting than his home state of Maine, which he used in his first two books. So he decides to live for a year in another location as background for a new novel. Legend has it King opens a U.S. atlas on his kitchen table, closes his eyes, and randomly points to a location, which turns out to be Boulder, Colorado. So Steve picks up his wife and two kids and moves to Boulder.
Around Halloween, King and his wife need a break from the kids. After the Kings pawned the kids off on some friends for the weekend, they were just driving around randomly on an overcast day--"We went past this sign that said, 'Road may be closed after October,' and I said 'Woah, wait a minute. Something's happening here.' "--they proceeded up a mountain road and spotted a spooky-looking, run-down old neoclassical hotel, called The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado (www.stanleyhotel.com).
The Stanley was built by Freelan Oscar ("F. O.") Stanley (who invented the Stanley Steamer), based on the designs of his wife, Flora. It opened in 1903 and was "once a luxury hotel for the well-heeled Edwardian-era tourist." The hotel boasts having such guests as Teddy Roosevelt, Bob Dylan, Cary Grant, Doris Day, Billy Graham, Japan's Emperor Hirohito, and John Philip Sousa.
You just heard that chilling screeching violin scene-breaker note from the movie in your head when you looked at this pic, didn't you?
As fate would have it, the day the Kings arrived, October 30, happened to be the last night of the season before the hotel closed down for the winter before the roads got impassable. King talked the staff into giving them a room even though all the credit card slips had already been packed away. They were the only two guests in the hotel that night, staying in room 217 (the same room number from the book, which was subsequently changed for the movie, see below), which they later found out was supposedly haunted. "The wind was high and one of the shutters had come unanchored and was clapping against the side of the building," King said.
In fact, The Stanley is said to be home to several haunting presences, including staff and guests being shoved to the ground by unseen forces, Flora Stanley playing the lobby piano, and the regular disembodied laughter of children in the 4th floor corridor between 2AM and 4AM, among others. 75% of the staff at The Stanley have reported experiencing some kind of paranormal activity, guests regularly exchange ghost sighting stories over breakfast in the hotel restaurant, and the hotel has been the subject of paranormal investigations by everyone from the Travel Channel to serious paranormal scientists. A&E/SyFy Network's TAPS has done two shows from the Stanley, including a live show, and for a group that comes up empty more often than not, they documented some pretty freaky, unexplainable stuff on both occasions. These days the hotel has been completely refurbished, and the concierge holds daily ghost tours of the hotel ($10, reservations required, 970-577-4110).
Tabitha and Stephen had dinner that evening in the grand dining room, totally alone. They were offered one choice for dinner, the only meal still available. Taped orchestral music played in the room and theirs was the only table set for dining. "Except for our table all the chairs were up on the tables. So the music is echoing down the hall, and, I mean, it was like God had put me there to hear that and see those things," said King. After dinner, Tabitha decided to turn in, but Stephen took a walk around the eerily empty hotel, at one point getting lost in the endless corridors. He ended up in the bar and was served drinks by a bartender named Grady.
"That night I dreamed of my three-year-old son running through the corridors, looking back over his shoulder, eyes wide, screaming. He was being chased by a fire-hose. I woke up with a tremendous jerk, sweating all over, within an inch of falling out of bed. I got up, lit a cigarette, sat in a chair looking out the window at the Rockies, and by the time the cigarette was done, I had the bones of the book firmly set in my mind." Four months later, the book was done. Some internet sites have proclaimed that King actually wrote half of the book at the Stanley in room 217, although I have yet to find any "interview" proof of that straight from the horse's mouth, and the timing seems unlikely with the hotel closed all winter.
I mean, how crazy is that?! Soon-to-be-world-famous horror writer randomly points to a city on a map on a kitchen table in Maine… moves his family across the country basically on a whim… happens to stumble into a near-empty haunted hotel on Halloween… one nightmare later… the whole framework of this book practically fell in his lap. For those of you who say you don't believe in fate, read that story again. Tell me that somehow that hotel wasn't calling to this guy all the way from Colorado.
The Stanley Hotel was used as the filming location for The Shining miniseries, starring Steven Weber and Rebecca DeMornay. It was also used as the ski hotel in Dumb and Dumber.
Where To Play: Estes Park GC (1080 S St. Vrain Ave, 970-586-8146, 1954 Henry Hughes) is just down the road. A traditional course with abudant wildlife and a wide variety of scenic views. At 7,500 feet in elevation, you can hit it a mile up here. Or, how can you not brave the 3 hour scenic drive south to a course named Shining Mountain GC (1995 John Harbottle, 180 Lucky Lady Rd, Woodland Park, 719-687-7587, 70.7 & 131 from the Blues)? Native rough and natural terrain define narrow fairways, with water on 12 holes.
Golf Digest likes: Fossil Trace Golf Club, just north of Denver, in Golden. Named one of Golf Digest's Best New Affordable Courses in 2003, the ★★★★ ½ Jim Engh design (fossiltrace.com, 303-277-8750) is a paleontology course wrapped in drought-resistant bent grass. The holes snake through the abandoned equipment and sandstone remains of an old clay mine -- and around fossilized dinosaur footprints. You can feel like a superhero on the 659-yard ninth hole, blasting a 360-yard tee shot down the 50-yard-wide fairway. Or like a goat, when you hit a cocky 3-wood into the single, deep pot bunker 55 yards short of the green. Don't ask how many it took to get out.
For a post-round cocktail, make the 20-mile drive up State Route 93 to Boulder. It's the granola-y home of the University of Colorado -- and Illegal Pete's taco joint. Turn off your cell phone (or they'll make you -- trust me), order a rack of shredded beef tacos and a Fat Tire Amber and sit on the patio overlooking Pearl Street. Watching the fleets of street performers wheedle the tourists in "The People's Republic of Boulder," it'll be easy to forget you're in one of the most conservative states in the country.
Further Diversions: The Stanley is located right on the edge of Rocky Mountain State Park, perfect for day hikes, overnight camping, and other outdoor adventures.
The title of the book was inspired by the John Lennon song Instant Kharma, which contained the line "We all shine on…".
The opening photo of the movie is looking west down Saint Mary's Lake, Glacier National Park in Montana, on The Road To The Sun.
Where To Play: Meadow Lake GC (490 St. Andrews Dr, Columbia Falls, MT, about 13 mi away, 406-892-2111, ~$75) 4 1/2 stars and #6 Best Course in Montana by Golf Digest, with majestic views of the Rockies, and 7 streams and lakes.
Or, T&L Golf says:
WHERE TO PLAY
Eagle Bend Golf Club, 800-255-4651. Yardage: 6,711. Slope: 124. Greens Fees: $41-$71. Architects: William Hull Jr., 1984; Jack Nicklaus Jr., 1995. T+L Golf Rating: ****
Whitefish Lake Golf Club, 406-862-4000. Yardage: 6,579 (North); 6,551 (South). Slope: 120 (North); 119 (South). Greens Fees: $34-$41. Architects: Various, from 1935 on. T+L Golf Rating: ****
Big Mountain Golf Club, 800-255-5641. Yardage: 7,015. Slope: 126. Greens Fees: $34-$49. Architect: Andy North, 1996. T+L Golf Rating: ***
Buffalo Hill Golf Course, 888-342-6319. Yardage: 6,584. Slope: 121. Greens Fees: $29-$45. Architect: Robert Muir Graves, 1978. T+L Golf Rating: ***
Village Greens Golf Club, 406-752-4666. Yardage: 6,401. Slope: 114. Greens Fee: $33. Architect: Bill Robinson, 1992. T+L Golf Rating: ***
WHERE TO STAY
Grouse Mountain Lodge, 877-862-1505. Rooms: $99-$229. Suites: $149-$259.
Kandahar Lodge, 800-862-6094. Rooms: $99-$259. Suites: $359-$550.
WHERE TO EAT
Buffalo Café (Breakfast), 406-862-2833. $
The Grill at Grouse Mountain Lodge (Steak), 406-862-3000. $$
Truby's (Italian), 406-862-4979. $
Tupelo Grille (Cajun), 406-862-6136. $$
Wasabi (Asian/Seafood), 406-863-9283. $$
OTHER ATTRACTIONS
Walk in the Tree Tops; 406-862-2900, bigmtn.com
Glacier Park Boat Company; 406-257-2426, glacierparkboats.com
Montana Raft Company and Glacier Wilderness Guides; 800-521-7238, glacierguides.com
The gorgeous exterior shots of the hotel were of the The Timberline Lodge Hotel in Mt. Hood, Oregon (www.timberlinelodge.com).
Management at the Timberline requested that director Stanley Kubrick not use room 217 from the Stephen King novel, since it was an actual room number at the hotel, for fear no one would ever want to stay in that room again. Kubrick changed the script to use the nonexistent room 237. Also, there is no hedge maze there; one was partially fabricated on a sound stage out of styrofoam and salt for the chase scene, and for exterior scenes a matte painting was used.
Where To Play: Eagle Creek GC (25805 SE Dowty Rd, Eagle Creek OR, 503-630-4676, 1993 Frank Bastasch). Tree-lined, plenty of water, and a new back nine was completed in 2000.
From there, hop on your private jet for a quick flight to Yosemite National Park in California.
The interior shots of the hotel were all sets built on sound stages in England. However, several of the sets were very closely based on rooms at the Awahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park. The design of the Overlook's Colorado Lounge and Lobby were based on similar rooms at the Awahnee. The chandaliers, windows, and fireplace are nearly identical, so much so that guests often ask if it's "The Shining hotel".
Where To Play: Right down the road are Sierra Meadows Ranch GC (46516 Oprah Dr, Ahwanee, 559-642-1343, 1990 John Hillborn, www.sierrameadows.com) and River Creek GC (41709 Road 600, Ahwanee, 559-683-5600). Sierra recently underwent a $2 million facelift, and is routed through former grazing meadows, with stands of scrubby trees and rock outcroppings. River Creek features undulating greens, tree-lined fairways, rock formations, and the Fresno River.
Then, back on the Lear to Arizona. The red bathroom set where Jack Torrance and Grady the Undertaker speak for the first time was modeled after a bathroom in the Arizona Biltmore and Cottages (Phoenix, Arizona, 1927, www.arizonabiltmore.com, $350 PN & up).
Where To Play: The Arizona Biltmore Country Club has two world-class courses: the Links (rolling fairways, desert ravines, 5 lakes) and the Adobe (1928 w/ a 2004 restoration, wide fairways, cross-bunkers).
Music: That haunting dirge that everyone remembers from the movie is called The Shining by Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind, and was composed for the movie. The piece was based on the Dies Irae (Day of Wrath), a traditional Catholic funeral dirge. Carlos plays synthesizer while Elkind supplies the eerie vocal effects. This is Carlos' adaptation of Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz. Strangely, the original soundtrack was only available on LP for a short time and has never been re-released on CD, but you can get copies of this song on a few soundtrack compilation albums such as http://www.amazon.com/Rediscovering-Lost-Scores-Vol-1/dp/B0009G3C1O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1224514991&sr=1-1. For more info on the music from the movie, see http://www.drummerman.net/shining/music.html.
[Fat Guy Note: I have not taken this trip or explored any of these courses/locations. As always, proper research and reservations are required. I'm just the idea guy on this one.]