Roughing It

Golf courses, especially those designed by the big names, have long been the main attraction at many private-club communities. Increasingly, though, these layouts are sharing top billing with other more rugged activities at a growing number of sporting clubs from West Virginia to Wyoming.
Sure, the Greenbrier Sporting Club in West Virginia, adjacent to the historic resort, boasts a first-class Tom Fazio course that winds through the 6,500-acre property framed by the Allegheny Mountains. But make no mistake that golf at the Greenbrier is just one activity: An equestrian center and 10 miles of riding trails, fly fishing, whitewater rafting, sporting clays and falconry help residents enjoy what Steve Schram, managing director of club developer Dolan, Pollak & Schram calls "the sporting life."
"The sporting life is a concept of being active, interacting with nature, enjoying the land and trying different things," say Schram, whose group has sold nearly 400 home sites. Other communities that provide plenty of outdoor opportunities to occupy residents' time and interest when they're not on the links include the Residence Club at Teton Springs, 20 minutes outside Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and The Cliffs Communities in North and South Carolina.
"In the older-style golf developments, you might have had tennis courts and pools, but if you didn't play golf, you were kind of a second-class citizen," says Schram, whose company also owns the Snake River Sporting Club in Wyoming. "But these other amenities are just as important, and we put as much emphasis on our fishing tournament as we do the golf."

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