The city-owned Haymaker Golf course is set to swing marriage on its scorecard as municipal staff work with Steamboat-based Destination Hospitality to plan a new wedding venue.

“We talked about trying to have some ceremonies in and around the clubhouse area and the dining room,” said Cody Hasten, the head PGA golf professional at Haymaker.

“We realized that many people are just looking for something a little bit more unique than the typical ceremony space right outside the clubhouse, so we did a little exploration on the golf course last spring and found a couple great little spots tucked off the golf course that are just beautiful areas for ceremony sites,” he added.

Hasten said he expects work on the selected site, located to the right of Hole No. 14, to begin this spring with completion sometime this fall. The venue is expected to host weddings for up to 100 people and offers a peaceful setting with great views of Mount Werner.

Hasten said crews will level the location and add grass with permanent all-weather benches to seat the guests and eliminate the need to set up chairs at the site. Hasten sees the planned wedding site as a great addition a golf course built in 1997 and a clubhouse constructed in 2006.

“We will have staff escort the wedding party to the site, which is real close to the clubhouse,” Hasten said. “We will have some large, people-mover carts that seat eight that we’ll be purchasing this spring to help transport people back and forth.”

The team from Destination Hospitality will take the lead arranging the weddings and receptions as well as any other gathering, celebration or special event. Catering services for events will be handled by Destination Hospitality’s culinary team, which specializes in seasonal, locally inspired menus.

Nicole Ouellette, director of events for Destination Hospitality, helped pick the site. She said the Haymaker venue will give guests plenty of options, including the new wedding venue, or setting up tents on the lawn outside the clubhouse for larger gatherings. Clients can also utilize an indoor space that can seat 58 people for dinner or up to 120 people for a cocktail party.

“It offers a venue that is pretty much turnkey where you can come and celebrate, and it can be nice and easy and it can also accommodate tented events,” Ouellette said.

Ouellette said the Destination Hospitality team can create a tented event on-site that can accommodate up to 200 guests she said the team works closely with top local vendors to help guests design a tented experience that brings their vision to life — from rentals and décor, to lighting and layout.

“If you want to do something inside a facility that’s already built out we can do that, but we can also bring a couples dream wedding to life in a tent with all the colors and the design that they want,” Ouellette said. “What a beautiful thing to have those options all in one place.”

Steamboat Springs City Manager Tom Leeson included the planned wedding venue in his latest report to the City Council, writing that “the venue is envisioned as a simple, uncluttered space that emphasizes the natural beauty of the surrounding landscape.” Once completed, he said the wedding venue is expected to generate additional revenue through catering and bar services, rehearsal dinners, and group golf outings.

“We will host more than just couples that are getting married. We can do other celebrations, corporate events and we can do golf tournaments,” Ouellette said. “I mean the options are kind of unlimited. If you are planning a group gathering, Haymaker can accommodate it.”