By Vinnie Manginelli, PGA
Located at 5,500 feet in the Wasatch Range of the beautiful Rocky Mountains, ParOne at SkyRidge is a public golf facility due to open in the spring of 2026. Coastal Carolina University PGM graduate Brandan Albee is the PGA of America Director of Operations. He will not only run golf operations when the facility opens next year, but he has also been instrumental in the design of the course and practice facilities.
Originally from Maine, Albee graduated from CCU in 2016, did his final PGM internship at Pebble Beach, and was soon hired to work at nearby Spyglass Hill Golf Course. After three years at Spyglass, Albee was hired to be the first assistant professional at Park Meadows Country Club in Park City, Utah.
The husband of a student whom Albee was teaching at Park Meadows was building an innovative new facility right there in Park City and invited Albee to join his team. As a result, Albee has overseen the construction of the many golf amenities that ParOne at SkyRidge will offer its golfers in a mere matter of months.
“I’ve come in and have had some say in the design of the driving range, the building and even the three-hole public golf course,” Albee boasts. “In addition to that public play, we anticipate many of our golfers being guests of the 70-room luxury boutique hotel that our course ownership group is building adjacent to the golf facility’s property.”
Also, SkyRidge Resort Community homeowners will be issued house accounts that will allow them to charge food, merchandise and golf fees as if they were members; however, there are no memberships as you’d consider them in the traditional sense. They may also have an extra two- or three-day booking window—this policy will be finalized by opening day, of course. And on that note, we plan to highlight the facility’s opening in a Golf Range Magazine follow-up piece next spring.
ParOne has a 310-yard driving range with 30 hitting bays—15 on the lower level will be heated cabanas equipped with Toptracer Range monitors and will offer F&B table service. The upper level will have another 15 open-air hitting bays. Both levels will be time-based, with apple crates full of high-quality practice balls, rather than sending golfers to the range with a bucket of balls. Albee says the entire facility will have an upscale resort feel.
There will be a large putting green and short game area, featuring a chipping green and practice bunkers, allowing golfers to work on their game. In addition, ParOne at SkyRidge will have three Full Swing indoor golf simulators for lessons, custom club fittings, special events and daily public play, when available. The adjacent bar and marketplace will serve golfers’ food and beverage needs while they enjoy time on the sims with family and friends.
Albee, who trained under two Top 100 instructors during his time at Pebble Beach, will hire two assistant PGA Associates or Class A Professionals to assist in the player development programming, special event/tournament facilitation and merchandising in their full-service golf shop that will have apparel, accessories and equipment from some of the biggest brands in the business. The golf shop will double as a resort shop for the hotel, as well. Programming will include private instruction, juniors and women’s programming and PGA HOPE.
As for the main feature, the golf course. This unique and innovative three-hole layout will have one Par 3, one Par 4 and one Par 5 open for tee times each morning. The idea being golfers can spend an hour hitting balls on the range, OR they can spend that same limited amount of time on the course, working on their game where it counts the most.
Within these three holes will be six other putting greens that will complete a nine-hole Par 3 course with holes ranging from 50-115 yards. This layout will be open in the afternoons for beginners, juniors, women or even seasoned golfers looking to hone their wedge and short game skills. Both unique course layouts will be perfect for the modern golfer who might not have time for a full nine- or 18-hole round of golf.
Around the SkyRidge Resort Community, single-family homesites are available—check out the SkyRidge website for more info on that! And they’ll have biking and hiking trails, as well as an equestrian center with boarding and horseback riding, to complement the golf facility—the three passions of the ownership group all being represented.
“The community as a whole, whether they live in SkyRidge or not, will be able to come in and enjoy our facilities and access everything,” Albee says. “We’ll have a private pool and fitness center for our homeowners—the only private amenities at our facility—and the hotel will have a pool for its guests.”
Albee is a new dad, and he’s a mentor in the Coastal Carolina University PGM Mentorship Program. With that level of leadership from their young PGA of America Golf Professional, the SkyRidge ownership team and the many golfers they’ll welcome in the new year have much to look forward to!
