Greenhorn Creek - A Golf Getaway in the Historic Gold Country

By Melanie Anderson

If you close your eyes and listen to the silence, feel the breeze and breathe in deeply, you can almost imagine the first ranching family tilling the grass-covered rolling hillsides, rounding up the herd, working hard and living life simply.

Nearly 150 years later, remnants of the old Selkirk and McCauley family ranches still stand proud against the Calaveras County sky. An old chimney, stone corral and a Chinese oven dating back to the mid 1800s stand like a living museum, now part of the heritage of an exclusive golf resort community called Greenhorn Creek in Angels Camp.

Also hidden near the holes and fairways of the Robert Trent Jones, II redesigned golf course are four Indian village sites dating back thousands of years. The 18-hole par 72 championship golf course is set on 180 acres amid hundreds of old oak trees. Originally opened in 1996, the golf course was redesigned in 2000.

According to golf pro Mike White, the most difficult hole on the course is #17.

“This hole is difficult because the tee shot is so demanding,” White said. “It requires a perfect shot off the tee to allow yourself to see and be able to hit the green in regulation. There is out of bounds on the right and a section of trees on the left. Anything not down the middle of the fairway is trouble.”

White’s favorite hole is #13. “It’s a short par 3, downhill, with a view of New Melones Lake in the background. It’s not a very difficult hole, but the views are unbeatable,” he said ( and I agree).

After a day of golf, enjoy a hike around the surrounding property and get in touch with its history.

Greenhorn Creek’s past comes from one ranching family, the Selkirk’s, who arrived in 1856. David and Perlina Selkirk ranched 160 acres and lived in a small cabin until they built their homestead in 1862. The stone chimney near hole #4 is all that is left of the homestead. The family planted vegetable gardens and orchards, raised cattle, sheep, goats and poultry and harvested fields of hay. One of their daughters, Sarah Jane, married Isaac McCauley, and they continued to run the ranch after her parents’ deaths. Two of their sons operated a dairy on the ranch until the 1930s. After that, the land was used for grazing until Greenhorn Creek developed the property.

However, it wasn’t just the climate and beauty of the area that drew thousands through Angels Camp. The discovery of gold in nearby Coloma in 1848 forever changed the way of life in the Sierra foothills. Angels Camp was one of the earliest and largest Gold Rush camps. Hopeful miners passed through what is now Greenhorn Creek on the major thoroughfare between Angels Camp and Stockton.

Today visitors come to experience a different sort of treasure - a relaxing weekend golfing in the beautiful rolling hills of the gold country.

Above the fog and below the snow, Greenhorn Creek is open year-round with a full-service fine-dining restaurant, an award-winning wine cellar, pro shop, guest cottages and suites. Amenities also include conference rooms, spa, fitness center, two pools, tennis, a hiking trail and a fly-casting pond.

Located in the Lodge, CAMPS restaurant is open for dinner Wednesday through Sunday. Try the chilled, grilled prawn cocktail or fresh Dungeness crab cake for an appetizer and the firecracker salmon or pepper crusted filet mignon for the entrée. The

potatoes au gratin are mouth watering. The restaurant is also open for breakfast and lunch on the weekends.

Things to do:

Angels Camp is home of the famous Calaveras County Jumping Frog Jubilee, an annual event.

Stop by Mark Twain’s cabin off Jackass Road. Here Mark Twain wrote “Jumping Frog of Calaveras” from notes taken at an Angels Camp tavern. The cabin was a stopping place for packers carrying supplies to miners. Often 200 jackasses were on the hill. Of the original cabin, only the chimney remains. The cabin is now under reconstruction by the Rotary Club of Sonora Sunrise.

Visit Ironstone Vineyards off Six Mile Road. The winery is a seven-floor, 65,000-square- foot winery and entertainment complex. Below the building is 10,000’ of caverns where the wine ferments. Offerings include Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and others. Caverns hold 1,500 French and American barrels. Each barrel holds 60 gallons, which equals 300 bottles of wine. Ironstone bottles 100 bottles a minute, 2,300 cases a day, which are exported nationally and internationally. Ironstone has 1,150 acres of vineyards, 12 acres of Christmas trees and is also an active cattle ranch. Daily tours, art gallery, landscaped gardens, museum, gourmet deli and shopping are available.

Calaveras, Amador and Tuolumne counties offer hiking, biking, fishing, white-water rafting, water skiing, shopping at downtown Angels Camp and Murphys, art galleries, antique stores and wine-tasting tours. New Melones Reservoir and Columbia Historic Park are also nearby.