The Legends of Old Baldy

George Storer was a visionary who dreamed of building a world class golf and fishing resort, when everyone else saw baron sagebrush fields, Linda Durbano said.

Durbano, who wrote "The Legends of Old Baldy", said the book will fascinate any reader who has a dream.

The Old Baldy Club is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Durbano, Carole Ward and Pegge Luchsinger Thompson released their book "The Legends of Old Baldy" earlier this summer in celebration of that anniversary.

Old Baldy Club is an exclusive golf course and grounds that was founded by George Storer in 1954. He turned a sagebrush-filled knob east of Saratoga into a lush 18-hole golf course. The book is about his vision for the golf course and the people it has attracted to Saratoga over the past 50 years.

One of Durbano's favorite stories in the book is of Sandra Day O'Connor, who was often a guest at the Old Baldy Club. Jeff and Sandy Streeter were working at the Club as the guide and tackle shop manager, when a young man from Mountain View, Wyo., was paired up with O'Connor for a guide trip. The guide was not aware that he had a member of the United States Supreme Court and her husband on his boat. The O'Connors were so impressed with his fishing style; they requested him as their guide every time they were guests. "It was so nice to just be called Sandra and be an ordinary person," John O'Connor had told the Streeters.

The people this resort attracts are leaders in their field, Durbano said. "Anyone who has an interest in history in any type of field, will learn about the moguls who helped shape America ... American commerce."

They will learn how these people "got away" to relax and recreate, Durbano said. "They were really ordinary people that we didn't look at as ordinary."

Durbano credits Ward with the idea of the book "The Legends of Old Baldy".

"Carole has written books before," Durbano said. Durbano was referring to the books Ward and her husband Bill had written about William Gollings, a prolific Western artist from the early 20th century.

The ladies that golfed with Ward suggested she write the book. "Carole got a group together and they talked about it ... and then we leave [town for the winter]," Durbano Many of the residents at Old Baldy Club stay for the summer months and leave in the winter.

The idea didn't die, but became stalled until Ward approached Durbano. "I've written a lot in the past," Durbano said, "but nothing of that size." Durbano said she owned a newsletter business, has written craft how-to books, and does the marketing and public relations for her and her husband's privately owned Verde Canyon Railroad.

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series about the journey to write “The Legends of Old Baldy.” The second part of the series will appear in the Aug. 27 edition of the Saratoga Sun.