Best Ski Town 19th Holes: Where Mountain Golf Meets Après

In case you don't know, the 19th Hole is not an actual hole on a course that you play. It's the après of the golf world. The bar, the clubhouse, the deck...the place where the round technically ends and the real scoring begins. Every golfer knows this. So too do many golf writers. However, for some reason, said golf writers pretend that the 18 holes before it are the whole story. They are not. In fact, the best ski town 19th holes prove that the course is merely the opening act.

What Makes a Mountain Golf 19th Hole Great?

There are a few components that make a clubhouse bar worth the drive (pun intended). Bars with a view that competes with the round itself (not your shitty score, the actual round), a drink menu that is intentional and not an afterthought, and a patio/deck that you would hang out on even if you hadn't just played 18 holes at altitude. The following three towns set the bar as high as the mountain towns they're in. 

Your Ski Town Après-Golf Toolkit

The Coffee: Start the round right with Ryze. Mushroom coffee before eighteen holes at altitude beats the jittery gas station drip every time, and you'll actually feel steady by the back nine instead of crashing on hole twelve.

The Gear: Akova Gear covers you from the first tee to the clubhouse patio, one less outfit change between golf and Après.

The Rental Car: These three towns are nowhere near each other, so DiscoverCars is doing the honest legwork here, not your rental car company's GPS.

The Stay: Book your clubhouse adjacent lodging through Booking.com, since a bed close to the course beats a long drive back after a few clubhouse cocktails.

The Recovery: Liquid I.V. matters more on a golf course than almost anywhere else on this blog. Four hours in the sun at altitude with a cart beer in hand is a dehydration recipe nobody warns you about until hole sixteen.

Sun Valley, Idaho: Trail Creek Clubhouse Terrace

Photo Credit: @sunvalley Instagram

Trail Creek is the original signature golf course at Sun Valley Resort. Opened in the resort's first summer way back in 1937, it expanded to a full 18 hole course in the 1960s and then eventually redesigned in 1980 by Robert Trent Jones Jr. Nearly 7,000 yards along the Big Wood River give way to mountain views at almost every tee box. It's the type of unhurried course that oozes old money confidence and knows it. When you're done, the clubhouse and its wraparound terrace is easy to find. There you'll enjoy cocktails and lunch as the mountains and the sun continue to do most of the work. Don't rush because no one else will. Revel in the moment, the views, and perhaps even your round.

Vail, Colorado: Vail Golf Club & Grill on the Gore

Photo credit: @vailgolfandnordicclubhouse Instagram

Vail Golf Club is the valley's most walkable course, if you're into that sort of thing. At 8,200 feet of elevation this is a lot of quiet, heavy lifting. With the lighter air your ball flies farther up here but your legs feel it by hole fourteen ensuring you will have earned your post round cocktails. The reward at the end is Grill on the Gore, the clubhouse restaurant serving specialty cocktails and Colorado craft beer on a patio that looks straight into the Gore Range. A view like this is tough to beat. The ski town golf course logic is sound. Suffer a little at altitude then get rewarded with a view and a beer that tastes twice as good because you earned it. 

Jackson Hole, Wyoming: The North Grille at Jackson Hole Golf & Tennis

Playing out beneath the Tetons, Jackson Hole Golf and Tennis Club a Robert Trent Jones Jr. course needs no help selling itself. The clubhouse restaurant, The North Grille, is open daily from 11am to 9pm. Time your round right and you'll finish up right in the middle of their happy hour between 4 and 5 pm. BOGO domestics is a rare deal where the 19th hole math actually works in your favor. Start your round late on purpose. It's the kind of strategy that makes a lot of sense for this all important hole. 

Which Ski Town Golf Course Has the Best Clubhouse Bar?

Tough to choose here. These are all world class. Sun Valley's Trail Creek Terrace wins on atmosphere and history. Vail takes the cake on effort rewarded by stunning views. And, Jackson Hole wins on value with that happy hour window. These are all different reasons to book different trips, but the bar decides which course gets etched into your memory.

The Round Ends, the Story Doesn't

Ranking a golf course by yardage and/or slope rating is pretty easy. That can be done on a spreadsheet, not in a story. The real ranking happens after you walk off the 18th green and walk into the clubhouse bar. The 19th hole is doing its job when you're sitting somewhere with a view and a drink and that round you just finished turns into the version of the story that you actually tell people. So book your tee time, but let the bar decide the rest.