TRUCKEE — Some of the biggest names in golf are finding their way to Truckee.

Johnny Miller, a former Napa resident and winner of 24 PGA Tour titles, is among them.

“It’s going to be one of the spots people think of when they go to play golf now,” said Miller, an NBC Sports golf analyst. “It’s such a beautiful area. It probably is the area in California for quality of new courses.”

For a small mountain town, Truckee is home to some of the top championship golf courses in all of California.

There is Old Greenwood, designed by Jack Nicklaus. There is Lahontan, a Tom Weiskopf design.

There is Gray’s Crossing, designed by Peter Jacobsen and Jim Hardy. There is Coyote Moon, a Brad Bell design.

There is Northstar at Tahoe, designed by Robert Muir Graves. There is Martis Camp, a Tom Fazio design.

There is Tahoe Donner, designed by Bob Williams. There is Ponderosa, a Bob Baldock design.

And there’s Timilick Club, Miller’s latest creation which celebrated its grand opening in June. He designed the par-71 layout, which plays 7,042 yards from the black tees and promises to delight and challenge golfers of every skill level, in collaboration with John Harbottle III.

“The beauty of Timilick is that it is set on the most magnificent property with these mature pine trees and rolling terrain. No two golf holes look alike and every hole has a different challenge,” said Miller, a designer-architect and former U.S. Open and British Open champion.

“This course is a good combination of shot-making challenges and natural beauty. It’s a nice level of difficulty, and it is not so difficult that everyone can’t enjoy it, but if you play the back tees and tuck the pins you could hold any tournament here against the top pros and three or four under would be a top score.”

Harbottle wholeheartedly agreed on the course’s beauty.

“I think people will leave the course remembering those last three holes,” he said. “In fact, I’ll go so far as to say that I think that they are the best three finishing holes in the entire Lake Tahoe region.”

The Miller/Harbottle design offers two distinctly different nine-hole experiences. The front nine is called the Meadow, ambling through firs, spruce and pine trees at the base of the ridge. The back nine is called the Mountain, with elevation changes of up to 400 feet and magnificent views of the Martis Valley, Lookout Mountain and the Carson Range.

“There’s beautiful movement in the ground with rock outcroppings and mature pines,” said Miller. “Everything is there. That course was already there. All we had to do was just remove some trees.”

Miller, a World Golf Hall of Famer, said he likes the difficulty level of Timilick, which also offers bronze, white and blue tees.

“It’s a terrific piece of property. I think it’s sort of a throwback in that it’s got all kinds of different holes. It’s got some tough holes, but it’s got a lot of holes that you can take advantage of if you hit it down the middle. It’s just the right difficulty level. I’m really happy with the difficulty level of it. It’s right in that sweet spot.

“It’s just a fun course. I just like the balance of it all. With the elevation, it will play pretty short. But you’ve got to hit it pretty straight. The greens aren’t overly crazy. You don’t want a guy three-putting every other green. And you want the greens to be able to accept the shots that you’re coming in with.

“My main thing is that the holes speak to you, they tell you what you should do. And when you hit the shot correctly, it accepts it and a good shot is rewarded. I’m a big believer that if you hit a perfect shot, you should get a perfect result.”  

Some of the challenges that the designers created are the risk/reward carries on the tee shots, wide rolling fairways with smaller green complexes, and beautiful bunkering surrounded by the native fescue grass, said Matt Anderson, the club’s director of golf.

“But the main challenge is trying to stay focused on the golf course while the gorgeous views of Northstar ski area and the Carson Range captivate your eyes,” said Anderson.

Hitting greens in regulation is also key at Timilick.

“Although there are many chances for bump and run recovery shots around the greens, hitting these greens in regulation will lead to many scoring opportunities,” said Anderson. “With very little dirt moving during construction, the team of John Harbottle and Johnny Miller placed many green complexes in spots that were almost made for them. It is such a natural, flowing routing with no hidden shots or tricky holes.

“Most of the players rave about the back nine. It is spectacular and I’d put our back nine up against any in the area, but I love so many holes on the front that it’s tough to find one that’s not good.”

Timilick is a private golf community fashioned from 475 acres in North Lake Tahoe. It will ultimately be home to over 400 families, including 218 single-family home sites, with prices starting at $299,000, and 188 mountain lodges, priced from $1,050,000.

All real estate purchases include a full golf and social membership.

“Timilick is the perfect members course and won’t beat the players up during the round,” said Anderson. “I use every club in my bag while I play Timilick and that’s how I judge the greatness of a golf course. Timilick is a course you can play day after day and not get bored.”

In addition to the Miller/Harbottle-designed golf course, Timilick will feature a 25,000 square foot clubhouse with spa and fitness center, restaurant and lounge, swimming pools, and four tennis courts.

“Truckee’s become the spot,” said Miller, the lead analyst for NBC Sports’ golf team who also co-designed Eagle Vines Golf Club, a 7,283-yard layout, in southern Napa County.

Miller played his PGA Tour golf out of Silverado Resort at one time. A graduate of Lincoln High in San Francisco, Miller was named to a list of the 100 greatest California high school athletes by CalHiSports.com.

Timilick is located at 9045 Timilick Drive. For more information, visit www.timilick.com or call (877) 846-4542.

E-mail Executive Sports Editor Marty James at mjames@napanews.com or call 256-2223.