SILVERTHORNE — After eight years as part of Intrawest’s chain of upscale golf courses, the Raven Golf Club at Three Peaks has been bought by a division of a Front Range imported car dealership.
  Escalante Golf, described in a company press release as the “leisure real estate division” of Littleton’s McDonald Automo­tive Group, paid $4 million for the 18-hole semi-private course nestled in the foothills of the Gore Range in northwest Silverthorne. Escalante president David McDonald, whose family con­trols 50 percent of the compa­ny, described the purchase of the mountain course as “a dream come true.”
  “Growing up in Colorado, I’ve kept an eye on the property since it was built in 2000,” he said.
  When Intrawest decided to sell, he and his partners jumped at the chance to expand their business, and closed the deal in late July after nearly 14 months of negotiations.
  In operation since 1991, Escalante Golf owns one other golf course — Pine Creek in Col­orado Springs — and a yacht­and- racket club in Naples, Fla., and it manages Fort Lupton’s municipal course as well as a golf course in Port Charlotte, Fla. Intrawest acquired the exist­ing Eagle’s Nest club in 2000, redesigned the course extensive­ly, and added the course to its “Raven” brand chain, which includes a handful of other golf clubs located in Arizona, West Virginia, Florida and Canada.
  In 2005, the Vancouver-based resort company made a corpo­rate decision to sell off its free­standing golf courses, said Intrawest director of corporate communications Ian Galbraith. Intrawest Golf will continue to operate the course at Copper Mountain, he added.
  Under its sale agreement with Intrawest, Escalante will be permitted to use the Raven name, at least for a time, and McDonald said he doesn’t expect the course operations to undergo any drastic changes.
  “We want to continue to enhance the job that Intrawest did,” he said. “From the customer standpoint, I think the changes will involve little things.”
  Despite the ownership shift, prospective golfers still make reservations through the Intrawest Golf website, and greens fees haven’t changed.
  “So far, it’s been business as usual,” said clubhouse manager Hilary Little, who has stayed on through the transition. General manager Dan Guinle departed soon after the sale.
  According to McDonald, Escalante will continue its agreement with the Town of Sil­verthorne to groom cross-coun­try ski trails on the course for use during the winter. The town currently pays the golf club about $5,000 annually to main­tain the trails as a free amenity for skiers and snowshoers.
  Plans for possible new serv­ices — such as winter conces­sions or a tubing hill — are still under development, McDon­ald admitted.
  “I don’t know what’s there and what’s been there in the past,” he said. “What we’re try­ing to do is make the Raven a better asset for the town of Sil­verthorne and Summit County.” Longtime club member and Silverthorne resident Ken Gansmann said he hopes Escalante’s plans include increasing membership.
  “They only have about 75 members now, and they need 150,” he said. “Intrawest really dropped the ball on that.”
  Although McDonald lives in Texas, Escalante’s director of operations — Elcio Silva — lives in Colorado Springs, and McDonald said he and his partners expect to take a hands-on interest in the Silver­thorne property.
  “We’re long-term players,” he said. “Flipping golf courses has never been our strategy. The Raven is certainly a crown jewel, and it’s a property we’d like to own for a long time.”
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