"We do have an abundance of really beautiful holes out there," says Okemo Valley Golf Club head pro Michael Santa Maria.

And he's right. This could be the defining work of Vermonter Steve Durkee in his career as a golf course architect. He's transformed a once-benign little 9-hole track into a venue Golf Digest has rated No. 1 among accessible courses in Vermont, time and again.

Golf Digest rates on playability, course condition and access.

Give Mother Nature a big hand for supplying the up-and-down, rolling property, but Durkee used it to build fairways that are extensions of Okemo's sprawling, undulating greens. The fairways have that "potato chip" effect of swales and shoulders where you often find yourself playing thoughtful shots from uneven lies.

Okemo Valley is really a treat to the golf psyche and imagination. There's a great variety of holes and they're beautifully framed by forest,and fescue that's a treat to the eye but not tender to the scorecard.

But you're lucky; you already know how to play from the hay. You only have to make yourself do it.

"Take your medicine and swing straight up and down… like chopping wood," Santa Maria tells first-timers here. "Make sure your direction is back toward the fairway and don't try to cut off more fescue. I see so many players is who get into it and they get to a spot that doesn't look bad and think they can hit 6-iron and what they end up doing is hitting it right in front of them. Take an 8- or 9-iron, whatever it takes to get back into the fairway."

Fescue aside, Okemo is player-friendly with four sets of tees (the course plays from 5,105 yards to 6,434) and in many cases you can run the ball up to the greens, which are not entirely covered by bunkers. But there is plenty of sand and the 94 bunkers are deep and penal.

For the accomplished player looking for a challenge, there's a 130 slope rating from the black tees, which ranks among the highest in the state. If you wish to play the blacks, it's by pro shop permission only.

"The last five holes is really where the teeth of the course come in," Santa Maria said.

"I feel like the first 11 holes or so it's more course management. If you're a better player you can hit hybrids or 3-woods off the tee. It's more risk-reward, position golf.

" … then really, all of a sudden, you have to hit long, accurate tee balls to score on this golf course."

Okemo Valley is also known as one of the best locations in the state to learn the game with indoor and outdoor teaching facilities. The driving range/practice area is 10 acres with numerous greens and a variety of terrain and teaching options.

Santa Maria remembers being very impressed when he saw the facility for the first time, calling it "one of the finest you'd see in the country. It's on a par with what you would see on (PGA) Tour events as far as a practice facility goes," he said. "The golf course is not long enough to handle Tour players but for a good scratch golfer it's more than a challenge here. It's the real deal."