Where the Wild Things Par: Walnut Creek Golf Preserve

The name of the Heritage Golf Course at Westmoor has gone the way of the triceratops on its logo. The City of Westminster, which has owned and operated the 215-acre facility since it opened in 1999, has officially rechristened it as Walnut Creek Golf Preserve.

According to Walnut Creek’s PGA Head Golf Professional Brian Carlson, the new moniker represents more than just a simple name change: “While we’ve always enjoyed our reputation as one of Colorado’s most scenic and affordable courses, over time we’ve strengthened our commitment to sustainability as well as the preservation of the unique biodiversity evident amongst our native flora and fauna.”

One of only two Audubon Certified Signature Sanctuary courses in Colorado—Haymaker Golf Course in Steamboat Springs is the other—and one of only 73 in the world, Walnut Creek Golf Preserve received that designation in 2002. Since then, it has sustained and supported more than 77 wildlife species as well as a staggering variety of native plants. The course’s diverse bird population includes bald eagles, great horned owls and more than 50 other avian species. And it has achieved all this while hosting multiple state championships and USGA qualifiers.

Walnut Creek Golf Preserve’s natural areas comprise more than half of the property and are non-irrigated and only mowed once a year for the sole purpose of seed propagation. The staff, directed by Superintendent Paul Sibley, relies upon state-of-the-art monitoring equipment to replace only the exact amount of moisture lost due to sun and wind. Drought-resistant vegetation landscapes the clubhouse, and the club currently recycles more than 90 percent of its waste.

Carlson recycled the dinosaur-logo merchandise by selling it off. Everything in the golf shop now features the new logo, which resembles a rustic cattle brand with an exaggerated “w” suggestive of flowing water, mountains and rippling wind and the “c” mimicking the letter in the state flag.

That logo will be on full display June 5-8, when Walnut Creek welcomes 96 of the world’s best boy and girl players (ages 12-19) to the AJGA’s Hale Irwin Colorado Junior by Transamerica. ci.westminster.co.us; 303-469-2974

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