In early 1990 Montreux Golf and Country Club was still a dream of local developer, Sam Jaksick. He had already developed many of the nicest places to live in the Reno area, with communities like Lakeridge, Caughlin Ranch and Saddlehorn under his belt. But it was apparent that the Biggest Little City was missing a high-end, private golf club.
 
He and his son Stan had been looking for a unique piece of property in and around the Reno area. They had also been traveling to neighboring states, checking out exclusive, private golf courses. They believed the timing was right to build a world-class club in our area.
 
The Jaksicks weren’t the only people in Reno who were working on a new golf course. Dr. Graham Simpson already had plans to build a wellness center that included a golf course on a portion of the property where Montreux now sits. Dr. Simpson just happened to be at a county commissioner meeting when he met Mr. Jaksick’s partner in Saddlehorn, Rob Nichols. 

 
After the meeting, Mr. Nichols approached Dr. Simpson and suggested that he set up a meeting with the Jaksicks. They discovered that their visions meshed and from there things moved forward quickly. After the Jaksicks got involved, the size of the project doubled to approximately 700 acres which made the project big enough to build all the amenities for a private, gated community. 
 
The next step was to choose a golf course architect. They interviewed several big-name designers: Tom Fazio, Tom Weiskopf & Jay Moorish and Jack Nicklaus. The Jaksicks believe that a Jack Nicklaus Signature design was worth the fee. Nicklaus Design had various levels for his design services with the Signature design being the top level and meant that Jack would be completely involved in every aspect of the golf course.
Working with Jack was a phenomenal experience and a dream come true for Stan as he was his childhood sports hero. Jack’s construction company Paragon was also selected to build the golf course. Montreux is one of only a few courses that was built by the Nicklaus construction company in the U.S.
 
Marketing for Montreux started early in the process and membership sales began around the time that construction started. Membership sales were strong from the beginning. A groundbreaking ceremony was held off until the initial tree clearing was completed in late summer of 1994.  
The groundbreaking took place on September 1^st on the approximate location of the 14th tee, with a special tee built for the Jack Nicklaus inaugural Tee Shot. The event was accessed through the forest service property and parking took place in the clearing of the 15th fairway. A large tent was set up for the first-class event. Jack gave a welcome speech, talking about his vision for Montreux and then hit the initial groundbreaking shot. The feeling of excitement was incredible and quickly turned into a membership frenzy were over 200 membership deposits were taken at the ceremony.  
That winter of 1995 was a heavy snow year and made construction activity on the course very challenging. As things moved along, Members were excited to see the progress of the golf course in the spring of 1995, so Montreux put together the Ponderosa Scramble on May 6.
 
Members used a small turf mat to hit their shots from and walked the back nine playing the rough-graded holes. Catered food followed the event, and some of the original members still talk about the “Dirt Open”.
 
Of course, the winter of 1995/1996 was again another above-average winter, making work difficult. 
 
Approximately 3/4 of the golf course had been seeded by the end of 1996. Other than a couple of holes, the balance of the course was finished during the summer of 1997. A soft opening for the members took place during the late summer. Jack’s Den was also completed and served as the “interim Clubhouse”. The final 2 holes (17 & 18) were seeded during the fall of 1997.
 
Every winter during the construction was difficult, however 1997 ended with a natural disaster. The “Flood of 1997” literally occurred on New Year’s Eve. Stan Jaksick remembered receiving a call from golf course superintendent Dan Moore that night, saying the 17th fairway had been completely destroyed. Stan headed out to survey the damage and could hear large boulders being moved down Galena Creek by the force of water. Thankfully the 18th fairway received minimal damage but the “Signature” 17th hole would have to be rebuilt later in the spring. With #17 out of the rotation for the time being, another hole might be needed to play in the coming Spring. This is the story behind the Patty Sheehan practice hole. The Jaksicks wanted to get the Hall of Famer and local resident involved in Montreux so they had her design the Par 3 practice hole, which could be completed much quicker and gave the Montreux members their own practice hole for future use.
The official Grand Opening of Montreux took place on May 8, 1998. This was a much-anticipated celebration (that included the Governor and U.S. Senator, to name a few) with Jack Nicklaus coming out to play the full 18 and discuss his design of Montreux. Patty Sheehan joined him for the round, for 2 days this covered the headlines in the local news.
A few years later, the Jaksicks were able to acquire an adjacent 40 acre piece of land that they originally wanted for the community and golf course. Mr. Jaksick called Jack to see if he wanted to come back and design three more holes. Mr. Nicklaus was thrilled to return. These holes are now #3, #4 and #5, and the original #1, #2 and #3 became practice holes (adjacent to the driving range) that members can enjoy and use any time, and with the Patty Sheehan hole gives Montreux a total of 22 holes.
 
Jack visited Montreux more than 20 times throughout the design process and kept in touch with the Jaksicks over the years. Montreux is still the only Jack Nicklaus golf course in Northern Nevada and always one of his favorites.
 

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Be sure to follow Montreux Golf & Country Club on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to stay up-to-date with all the latest happenings. Want to learn more about life at Montreux? Contact our Membership Director, Jackie Latragna, at jackie@montreuxgolf.com or by calling 775-683-3123.
 
Life is good at the Club!