Ray K. Erku/Post Independent
When it comes to disc golfing in Garfield County, Kevin Steuben’s head is in the clouds.
Quite literally.
In 2013, Steuben joined fellow enthusiast T.J. Lawrence in designing Sunlight Mountain’s very first disc golf course. Situated nearly 8,000 feet above sea level, the alpine 18-holer starts from the resort’s baselodge deck.
“You play up the slope to the Enchanted Forest and down again,” Steuben said.
Two signature holes occupy this alpine retreat.
There’s hole 7, a 700-foot uphill throw launched from a tee box underneath Tercero ski lift. The par 5 stretches toward the loading dock of another ski lift, Primo.
Then there’s hole 18, a 600-foot downhill glide back toward baselodge.
Sunlight Sales and Marketing Director Troy Hawks says this course offers all the same views — if not better — of winter at Sunlight.
“You get all the beautiful scenery you get in the wintertime, but this time it’s in the summer,” he said.
But this isn’t the only course on this hidden mountain.
In 2021, Steuben designed and installed an additional 27-hole course that follows Nordic trails along Old Four Mile Road, up into Babbish Gulch, up to the warming hut, and down again.
“The main course I now refer to as the Enchanted Forest, is a much more strenuous course working up the mountain, and has longer throws for more advanced players,” Steuben said.
The new “Sunlight II Babbish Gulch Disc Golf Course” consists of holes mostly under 300 feet but are much more technical in nature due to the tight fairways in the woods, Steuben said.
“But (it’s) very enjoyable to play and not nearly as strenuous as the original course,” he said. “It is an amazing walk through the woods.”
This season, Sunlight has another little secret. Steuben said there’s a plan to create another disc golf course — “Sunlight III Que Pasa Disc Golf Course” — on the east side of the mountain.
“If all goes well this summer,” Steuben said. “I feel the demand is there.”
Later this summer, the Glenwood Springs resort hosts its inaugural Sunlight Open 2022, Sept. 3-4.
Steuben also runs leagues on Saturdays officially sanctioned by the Professional Disc Golf Association.
Sunlight Mountain Ski Resort is located at 10901 County Road 117.
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