Silver Oak Golf Course in Carson City enhances reputation for family-friendly fun

Recent updates to the Silver Oak Golf Course in Northwest Carson City are turning the assumption of golf as exclusive recreation on its head.

"Silver Oak is a family-owned and run business," said Silver Oak General Manager Terrie McNutt. "Appealing to families is important to us."

Golf course owner Garth Richards has created a practice facility adjacent to the clubhouse and events center aimed at bringing more families together on the links.

"We wanted to add amenities," McNutt said. "One of those amenities is a complete practice facility that the whole family can come out and enjoy; not just the premier golfers, but everybody."

Featuring a covered patio to host outdoor gatherings that overlook a colorful and artsy driving range, new chipping green and enhanced putting green, the expanded practice facility is meant to draw both curiosity and fun out of visitors.

"It's updated, very unique and the only one in the United States," McNutt said. "This is where you are going to see it."

Nine antique Cadillacs from Richards' personal collection can be seen half-buried into the driving range and hand-painted with murals reflecting the heritage of Carson City.

McNutt said Richards was inspired by the look of the famed Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas, deciding to take nine of his non-functional Cadillacs and make one-of-a-kind sculptures out of them.

National Art Education Society students from Doral Academy Red Rock in Las Vegas visited Carson City earlier this year to paint the murals on the Cadillacs, which add an element of whimsy to the Silver Oak golf complex.

"They all picked a theme for their cars, they sketched them out, their art teacher approved them, then they came up and painted the cars," McNutt said. "It took them four and a half days."

All but one of the Cadillacs features a Carson City theme, such as the Eagle Valley, Virginia and Truckee Railroad, Kit Carson, and the Nevada State Capitol building, among others.

One Cadillac mural features artwork dedicated to the 58 lives lost at the Route 91 concert in Las Vegas last October.

McNutt said the visual appeal of the practice facility is making the Silver Oak golf complex more of a destination than just a golfing venue.

"Because of the practice facility we have created, we are now seeing a lot of interested in people using our covered patio out at the driving range, because it's a great place for families to come for gatherings, birthdays, and reunions," she said. "We're seeing a big uptick in that."

Antique golf carts and riding toys next to the covered patio and overlooking the driving range provide an ideal place for small children to play, too.

"You can spend hours out here with the family and it will cost you little to nothing to do it," she said.

The golf course itself — impeccably managed by Superintendent Jim Wiggins — offers family-friendly activities that go beyond traditional link-style golf.

Foot golf using a soccer ball can be played on the back-nine, a game McNutt said is not only fun for the whole family, but is also affordable.

"We are the only course in Carson City that has a foot golf course," she said. "Just follow the orange flag markers around to the oversized holes that you kick the soccer balls into."

McNutt said players need no experience or equipment. Everything, including a scorecard, is provided by Silver Oak Golf Course.

"It's affordable for the whole family to go out and have a good time," she said. "You can be three years old or eighty years old, it doesn't matter."

Visitors to the clubhouse and events center will notice some changes, too, but all of which are good for the golf course and its customers, McNutt said.

The Cadillac Cafe upstairs is no longer operating as a restaurant, she said, because the property hosts regular golf tournaments as well as corporate and community events that the upstairs restaurant area has proven ideal for and meets the demand for such a facility.

"We have manufacturers coming here once a week to do their training and using the rooms," McNutt said. "We have anniversary parties and we do a huge amount of golf tournaments at Silver Oak almost daily."

McNutt said offering a venue for tournament golfers to gather following competition is an important part of Silver Oak's business philosophy, which is to provide amenities that complement a first-class golfing experience.

"After the tournament, golfers need a place to go, to eat and to give out awards," she said. "We found it much more important to have that venue available, especially for our golfers, who are number one at Silver Oak."

But that doesn't mean the rest of the community can't come and enjoy a bite to eat at Silver Oak. McNutt said the snack bar downstairs in the pro shop area has been expanded to offer food fare for everyone.

"We do have food for anyone who wants to come in and eat," she said. "You can get everything from a polish dog to nachoes to deli sandwiches. You name and we've got it."

Full bar is available in the downstairs pro shop, too.

McNutt said the new indoor format of the clubhouse and events center is a formula that appears to be well received and is fulfilling the golf course's expectations.

We haven't eliminated anything, we've enhanced everything," she said. "It has worked very well and we're excited about that."

All of the antique eye candy inside the events center remains, piquing the curiosity of visitors who want to travel back in time when Big Boy restaurants, drive-in movie theaters, Betty Boop, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley defined Americana in a by-gone era.

"We have a little bit of everything that everyone can relate to," McNutt said.

The Silver Oak Golf Course Clubhouse, Events Center and practice facility is located at 1251 Country Club Drive off GS Richards Way in Northwest Carson City. For more information or to book a golf reservation, visit silveroakgolf.com, email silveroakgolfnv@gmail.com, or call 775-841-7000.