The Club at Cordillera
Edwards, Eagle County, Colorado · Vail Valley golf market
- Access
- mixed
- Holes
- 54
- Architect(s)
- Tom Fazio, Hale Irwin, Jack Nicklaus
Thinking About Living in The Club at Cordillera?
Get connected with a local real-estate specialist who understands The Club at Cordillera and the surrounding Vail Valley golf market.
Cordillera is the largest and most architecturally significant golf-real-estate community in the Vail Valley, and arguably the most complicated to research cleanly. Built out from the 1990s across roughly 7,000 acres above Edwards, the community was originally planned around four golf courses, but a bruising 2011-2012 dispute between owner David Wilhelm and club members (a roughly $108 million class-action lawsuit over Wilhelm's decision to open only one of four courses in 2011, met by a Wilhelm countersuit) forced the property into bankruptcy. Wind Rose Holdings, a California investment group, bought Cordillera at a 2012 bankruptcy auction for $14.2 million; Troon began managing the club under its Troon Prive private-club division in January 2013, and finally purchased The Club at Cordillera outright from Wind Rose in a deal that closed December 10, 2024.
Today, The Club at Cordillera operates three courses -- Tom Fazio's Valley Course, Hale Irwin's Mountain Course and Jack Nicklaus's Summit Course -- each with a genuinely distinct character and, per club sourcing, a distinct access model. A fourth course, the Dave Pelz-designed 9-hole Short Course, still exists and still operates, but it was separated from The Club during the Wilhelm-era litigation and is now owned directly by the Cordillera Property Owners Association, functioning as a property-owner amenity rather than part of The Club's core membership product. For a golf-oriented homebuyer, that history matters: Cordillera's golf offering is real, large, and currently stable under new, well-capitalized ownership (Troon), but a buyer should understand the club/community's complicated recent past and verify course-specific access directly rather than assuming uniform terms across Valley, Mountain and Summit.
Golf & Course
Valley Course (Tom Fazio) sits at lower elevation near the Eagle River corridor; Mountain Course (Hale Irwin, a Colorado native and three-time US Open champion) is carved into rolling hillside terrain; Summit Course (Jack Nicklaus) occupies Cordillera's highest point. The formerly 4th course, the Short Course, is a Dave Pelz-designed 9-hole, par-27 short-game course, one of only a small number of Pelz signature designs anywhere, now CPOA-owned and separately operated with a recently rebuilt clubhouse.
Membership & Access
Does buying a home here include club membership?
The Club at Cordillera is managed by Troon Prive and membership is open both to Cordillera property owners and to the public (i.e., membership is not strictly gated behind owning real estate in the community), plus reciprocal access for members of other Troon Prive-managed clubs and guests of the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera. However, per club and press sourcing, the three courses are not uniformly accessible: Summit reads as the most exclusive/private-division course, Valley requires member/reciprocal/Lodge-guest status, and one source described Mountain as comparatively more open -- a claim this pass could not independently confirm or refute against the club's general private-community framing. The separate CPOA-owned Short Course is open to Cordillera property owners (Divide, Ranch, Summit & Territories) and accompanied guests, Club members who are not CPOA property owners, and Cordillera Valley Club residents with accompanied guests.
Lifestyle & Amenities
Beyond golf, The Club at Cordillera's amenities include pickleball, a Kids Camp, backcountry cat skiing and a Nordic Center, reflecting Cordillera's identity as a four-season mountain community rather than a golf-only club.
Location & Surrounding Area
Cordillera sits above Edwards in Eagle County, roughly 7,000 acres spanning several named neighborhoods (reported as including Divide, Ranch, Summit, Territories and the separately-branded Cordillera Valley Club) -- a granular, neighborhood-by-neighborhood breakdown was not independently verified this pass.
Interested in Homes in The Club at Cordillera?
We can connect you with a local real-estate specialist who knows the community, nearby golf communities, and the Vail Valley market.
What Buyers Should Verify
- Confirm current initiation fee and annual dues directly with the club -- no reliable current figure was found published this pass.
- Confirm the precise access rule for the Mountain Course (one source read it as more open than Valley/Summit, which was not independently corroborated).
- Confirm current operating status of the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera, whose closure was reported amid the 2011-2012 litigation -- this pass could not verify whether/how it reopened under Wind Rose or Troon ownership.
- Confirm a neighborhood-by-neighborhood breakdown of the Cordillera community (Divide, Ranch, Summit, Territories, Cordillera Valley Club) -- not verified in granular detail this pass due to time/budget.
- Confirm current membership waitlist status, if any.
Notable
- Troon purchased The Club at Cordillera outright from Wind Rose Holdings, closing December 10, 2024, after managing it since January 2013.
- Three current courses: Valley (Tom Fazio), Mountain (Hale Irwin), Summit (Jack Nicklaus) -- 54 holes across The Club at Cordillera specifically.
- A 4th course, the Dave Pelz Short Course, still operates but is owned by the Cordillera Property Owners Association, not The Club, following a 2011-2012 ownership dispute and bankruptcy.
- The community survived a roughly $108 million class-action members' lawsuit against prior owner David Wilhelm and a subsequent bankruptcy before Wind Rose Holdings bought it at auction for $14.2 million in 2012.
Nearby Golf Communities Worth Comparing
Related Comparisons
Considering a Move to The Club at Cordillera?
Whether you're comparing The Club at Cordillera with another Vail Valley golf community or you're ready to start looking at homes, US Golf Living can connect you with a local real-estate specialist.
US Golf Living provides independent real-estate research and can connect consumers with real-estate professionals. Golf membership, availability, fees and approval are determined independently by the applicable club.