COVER STORY
ado was the rural feel of it,"
said Johnny Miller, the two-
time major championship
winner who became a part-
owner of Silverado in 2010
and redesigned its North
Course a year later. "It's a
very special property and a
fantastic setting with the
oaks and redwoods. There's
something about the Napa
Valley that has that cachet.
You can't duplicate it, and
that's the reason why I got involved with it."
For passionate golfers, Miller's redesign of
the North Course, where he grew up playing
and won consecutive Kaiser International
Open Invitational tournaments in 1974 and
'75, has only added to its prestige. Miller relo-
cated most of the bunkers to put them in play
for touring pros while simultaneously keep-
ing it friendly for resort guests and members,
and filled them with pristine white quartz
sand. He removed a large number of non-
native trees and widened the fairways
slightly to make it a more approachable
course off the tee.
The upgrades were enough to make it suit-
able for the PGA Tour to return in 2014. SIl-
verado will host the Safeway Open for the
fifth consecutive year this fall.
"There are only 49 PGA Tour events in the
world, and Silverado is host to one of them,"
said Jack Evans, the resort's General Manager.
"The improvements that Johnny made al-
lowed us to partner with Safeway and La-
gardere Sports to produce an award-winning
PGA Tour event that features an experience
centered around food, wine, music and golf."
Members and guests get to enjoy two dis-
tinctly different 18-hole loops. The North
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TOP-NOTCH TRAINING
Johnny Miller Golf Academy at takes
instruction to the course at Silverado
A
t the Johnny Miller Golf Academy, the instructors'
overarching philosophy is "Come to the Academy
a Golfer, leave a Player." It's an approach that
has served the academy at Silverado Resort and its
students well.
Director of Instruction Tara Fox said the academy is
unique not only because of its maximum 4:1 student-to-
teacher ratio, but because so much of the in-
struction is done on the golf courses rather
than the driving range. Miller learned the
game that way from his father, and it clearly
served the two-time major championship
winner and 25-time PGA Tour winner well.
"From the perspective of an instructor, Silverado Resort is
a dream, with its two championship courses and the ability
to teach on the course," Fox said. "There is no other academy
like the Johnny Miller Academy, period."
Added General Manager John Evans: "The majority of
golf schools have you hitting balls until your hands bleed,
but the Johnny Miller Academy spends the majority of ses-
sions on the course to create a practical way to change your
game."
The two-day sessions are available June through Septem-
ber starting at $1,352 per person, including three nights'
lodging. Miller said he's excited about the progress the
academy has made in recent years and how it has added to
the overall experience at Silverado.
"It's only going to get better as we go along," Miller said.
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