6TH ANNUAL "BEST COURSES IN COLORADO"

BEST OF THE NEW: Trinidad's Cougar Canyon
photo credit:Drinker Durrance Graphics

Calling anything “the best” invites challenges and disagreements. In the case of golf courses, what makes one better than another can largely depend on how well you scored there. But determining the state’s best courses requires a bit more objectivity. You have to factor in difficulty, service, pace of play, hole variety, design and conditioning. And let’s not forget the visual elements. We solicited opinions from the leading players from the Colorado PGA, Colorado Golf Association, Colorado Women’s Golf Association and select avid golfers. Here’s what they said. We'd like to hear what you have to say as well. Click here to tell us!:

BEST PUBLIC OR RESORT COURSE (DENVER REGION)
Winner: The Golf Club at Bear Dance (Larkspur)
How this course has stayed off the national charts remains a mystery. The piney setting wants for nothing and insulates each hole from the next. Every shot presents a challenge, and the bedeviling greens don’t shed shots like they once did.
Made the Cut: Fossil Trace Golf Club, Murphy Creek Golf Course, The Ridge at Castle Pines North, Riverdale Dunes

BEST PUBLIC OR RESORT COURSE (MOUNTAINS)
Winner: Raven Golf Club at Three Peaks (Silverthorne)
Competition for this honor is increasingly fierce as courses keep popping up in the high country, but the Raven Golf Club is consistently at the peak. The 2000 Hurzdan/Fry/Lehman design features some of the state’s most dramatic holes, like the downhill, par-three eighth.
Made the Cut: Red Sky Golf Club (Fazio and Norman Courses), Beaver Creek Golf Club, The Club at Cordillera (Mountain Course), Lakota Canyon Ranch Golf Club

BEST PUBLIC OR RESORT COURSE (WESTERN SLOPE)
Winner: The Golf Club at Redlands Mesa (Grand Junction)
“Surreal” best describes this Jim Engh design that’s seemingly Photoshopped into the red and ochre crags and canyons between downtown Grand Junction and the Colorado National Monument. Vertiginous tee boxes and wild fairway and green contours conspire to make this an unforgettable golf experience.
Made the Cut: Devil’s Thumb Golf Course, Glacier Club, Telluride Ski and Golf Club, The Bridges Golf & Country Club

BEST PUBLIC OR RESORT COURSE (NORTH/FRONT RANGE)
Winner: Pelican Lakes Golf and Country Club (Windsor)
This Ted Robinson layout employs two of the most intimidating elements in golf—water and wind—on every hole. Big hitters who favor a “grip it, rip it and chip it” approach will learn here that good golf requires smart club selection, course management and finesse.
Made the Cut: Highland Meadows Golf Course, Indian Peaks Golf Course, Mariana Butte Golf Course, Vista Ridge Golf Club

BEST PUBLIC OR RESORT COURSE (SOUTHERN REGION)
Winner: Broadmoor Golf Club (Colorado Springs)
Is there any argument here? Play any of the three courses, and you’ll experience tournament-quality conditioning, strategic design elements and greens that break so subtly that putts seem to go uphill. History defines this nonagenarian resort, but The Broadmoor never rests on its laurels. Why else would the USGA be holding two national championships here during the next four years?
Made the Cut: Country Club of Colorado, Grandote Peaks Golf Club, Cougar Canyon Golf Links, Rio Grande Club

BEST NEW COURSE
Winner: Cougar Canyon Golf Links (Trinidad)
Like the trip to Trinidad itself, this Nicklaus Design creation requires a long drive or two. Clocking in at 7,709 yards from the tips, Cougar Canyon insists as much on accuracy as on length. Semi-blind approaches across washes, chasms and barrancas, shots from black sand bunkers, and putts on topsy-turvy greens define an experience that gets more inspired with every hole.
Made the Cut: Heritage Todd Creek Golf Course

BEST OVERALL VALUE
Winner: Wellshire Golf Course (Denver)
Where else can you play a Donald Ross-designed course for $25? Drafted by the legendary architect in 1926, Wellshire was originally a private country club, but failed in the wake of the Great Depression. It has hosted a bevy of tournaments, including the Denver Open, which Ben Hogan won in 1948. Speaking of value, Ross charged only $1.50 per hole to design this Denver classic.
Made the Cut: Riverdale Dunes Golf Course, Green Valley Ranch Golf Club, Murphy Creek Golf Course, Fox Hollow Golf Course

MOST SCENIC GOLF COURSE (PUBLIC OR RESORT)
Winner: Arrowhead Golf Club (Littleton)
In a state where every new course seems to have raised the elevated tee shot to a panoramic art form, you’ll still find the sweetest eye candy amid the jagged, gigantic sandstone monoliths at Robert Trent Jones Jr.’s 1974 opus in Roxborough Park. With upgraded maintenance, course conditions now rival the majesty of the surroundings.
Made the Cut: The Golf Club at Bear Dance, Raven Golf Club at Three Peaks, The Golf Club at Redlands Mesa, Red Sky Golf Club (Norman Course)

MOST FAMILY-FRIENDLY
Winner: Green Valley Ranch Golf Club (Denver)
Thanks to proceeds from the Colorado Open Championships, Green Valley Ranch opened its short course in late 2006. Holes range in length from 50 yards to 130 yards, and unlimited daily play is only $6 for juniors and $10 for adults. Plus, two dollars of each green fee goes to The First Tee of Green Valley Ranch.
Made the Cut: Foothills Golf Course, Fox Hollow Golf Course, Indian Tree Golf Club, South Suburban Golf Course

MOST FEMALE-FRIENDLY
Winner: Broken Tee (née Englewood) Golf Course
Even with nine holes under renovation by Dye Designs (reopening June 1), this perky muni still supports active membership in its four women’s clubs—one of which plays Saturday mornings. Three sets of “ladies’ tees” afford challenges and variety. The price is right, as is pace of play for busy moms, many of whom enroll their kids in the club’s junior program, the largest in the state.
Made the Cut: Green Valley Ranch Golf Club, The Ridge at Castle Pines North, Foothills Golf Course, Red Hawk Ridge Golf Course

BEST PUBLIC OR RESORT CLUBHOUSE
Winner: Black Bear Golf Club (Parker)
Golfers dealt with a cramped, dull clubhouse for nearly a decade before Black Bear (formerly The Canterberry Club) built a permanent facility in 2006. And it was worth the wait. The new stone-accented structure includes an impressive grand entrance, fully stocked golf shop, pub and gourmet restaurant.
Made the Cut: The Broadmoor Golf Club, The Ridge at Castle Pines North, Buffalo Run Golf Course, The Golf Club at Redlands Mesa, Keystone Ranch

BEST OPENING HOLE (PUBLIC OR RESORT)
Winner: Fossil Trace Golf Club (Golden)
Say what you want about the kiln in the middle of the fairway. This 575-yard, downhill-left dogleg hurls you out of the chute. The green hides from the tee, but a decent poke might yield a peek; the landing areas are generous, but rarely produce a level lie. A menacing bunker fronts the multi-tiered green, and huge cottonwoods block any approach from the right. In all, it’s a pulse-quickening start to a roller-coaster of a course.
Made the Cut: River Course at Keystone, Red Sky Golf Club (Norman Course), Raven Golf Club at Three Peaks, Arrowhead Golf Club

BEST FINISHING HOLE (PUBLIC OR RESORT)
Winner: Broadmoor Golf Club-East Course (Colorado Springs)
As if a par-four dogleg right over water to an illegible green weren’t hard enough, in preparation for this year’s U.S. Senior Open, the fairway has been shrunk by 30 percent and the rough will stand at 5.5 inches. Look for the hole that anointed Jack and Annika to decide this year’s champion as well.
Made the Cut: Green Valley Ranch Golf Club, The Ridge at Castle Pines North, Pole Creek Golf Club (Ridge Course), Vista Ridge Golf Club

BEST PRACTICE FACILITY (PUBLIC OR RESORT)
Winner: Omni Interlocken Resort Golf Club (Broomfield)
The main practice facility for University of Colorado golf teams, the Omni has a practice area big enough to handle all 85 members of the school’s football team, including a full-swing area, a 12,500-square-foot putting green, and short-game practice greens. The addition last year of lessons with K-VEST, which employs wireless, three-dimensional motion swing analysis, gives an edge to the Broomfield resort just south of the Boulder Turnpike.
Made the Cut: The Club at Cordillera, South Suburban Family Sports Center, Murphy Creek Golf Course, Green Valley Ranch Golf Club

TOUGHEST GREENS (PUBLIC OR RESORT)
Winner: Broadmoor Golf Club-East Course (Colorado Springs)
Remember, putts on the East Course’s super-slick greens always break away from the Will Rogers Shrine. Even with that tidbit of local knowledge in mind, first-timers still spend most of the round ready to snap their putters over their knees. Don’t believe us? Count the number of  three-putts during this year’s U.S. Senior Open.
Made the Cut: The Golf Club at Bear Dance, Red Sky Golf Club (Norman Course), Collindale Golf Course, Inverness Golf Club

BEST COURSE TO HOLD AN EVENT (PUBLIC OR RESORT)
Winner: The Ridge at Castle Pines North (Castle Rock)
A well-organized, accommodating, solicitous staff, a magnificent Weiskopf-designed course and top-notch dining—it at all comes together at The Ridge, a public course that provides the “country club” experience better than many country clubs.
Made the Cut: Omni-Interlocken Resort Golf Club, Inverness Golf Club, The Golf Club at Bear Dance, Arrowhead Golf Club

PRIVATE SECTION

BEST NEW PRIVATE COURSE
Winner: Colorado Golf Club (Parker)
Golf magazine listed Colorado Golf Club as one of the “Ten Courses to Watch” in 2007. The 7,604-yard Bill Coore-Ben Crenshaw layout, routed through 1,300 acres of piney Parker terrain, has already hosted a U.S. Open Qualifying and has attracted a number of PGA Tour players and some of the state’s top amateurs as members.
Made the Cut: Harmony Club, The Golf Club at Ravenna, Adam’s Mountain Country Club 

BEST OVERALL PRIVATE COURSE
Winner: Castle Pines Golf Club (Castle Rock)
The loss of The International has not dimmed the luster of “Augusta West.” Rather, the absence of 100,000 visitors makes us appreciate the course and the place for the true gem it is.
Made the Cut: Ballyneal Golf and Hunt Club, Cherry Hills Country Club, Colorado Golf Club, Roaring Fork Club

BEST PRIVATE CLUBHOUSE
Winner: The Club at Flying Horse (Colorado Springs)
With even older clubs like Lakewood sporting enormous new clubhouses, the competition in this category is fierce. The Club at Flying Horse’s Tuscan palazzo gets the edge for its dramatic porticos, spacious golf shop, spa-quality locker rooms, solarium dining area, private balconies, two-story wine turret and candle-lit grotto.
Made the Cut: Valley Country Club, The Club at Pradera, Cherry Hills Country Club, Lakewood Country Club, Castle Pines Golf Club

BEST OPENING HOLE
Winner: Castle Pines Golf Club (Castle Rock)
The fairway on this 644-yard par five sits more than 100 feet below the “one-bird” tees, setting up insanely long drives and unreal views of Devil’s Head and Pikes Peak.
Made the Cut: Sanctuary, County Club at Castle Pines, Bear Creek Golf Club, Colorado Golf Club
 
BEST FINISHING HOLE
Winner: Cherry Hills Country Club (Cherry Hills Village)
With only a sliver of fairway separating the lake to the left from the OB backyards to the right, this 491-yard par five has intimidated some of the world’s best players. Cut off enough of the lake and you’ll have a shorter uphill climb to the heavily bunkered, heaving green. If you make five here, remember that when Birdie Kim’s birdie from the bunker won the 2005 U.S. Women’s Open, the hole played as a par four—from the men’s tees.
Made the Cut: Castle Pines Golf Club, The Club at Pradera, Valley Country Club, Plum Creek Golf and Country Club

BEST PRIVATE PRACTICE FACILITY
Winner: Meridian Golf Club (Englewood)
Not many clubs, public or private, can boast three regulation practice holes as well as a separate pitching area. Pairs of putting and chipping greens, as well as four practice bunkers round out the offerings at this haven for game improvement.
Made the Cut: Colorado Golf Club, Bear Creek Golf Club, The Club at Pradera, The Club at Flying Horse, Harmony Club

TOUGHEST GREENS
Winner: Hiwan Golf Club (Evergreen)
Press Maxwell, who helped redo Augusta National’s greens in the 1930s, designed Hiwan in 1962. According to club lore, President Eisenhower quipped that Hiwan reminded him of Augusta. The greens at this former Colorado Open venue have been compared ever since.
Made the Cut: Ballyneal Golf and Hunt Club, Bear Creek Golf Club, Lake Valley Golf Club, Lakewood Country Club

Don’t agree with our experts? Comment below.

Jan 22, 2008 3:22pm ago

alex

Man, that sounds nice. Home lots starting at $300K. Wow….