COLORADO GOLF CLUB

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THE LONG PAR-THREE SIXTH

I was fortunate to visit Colorado Golf Club during construction/grow-in and I came away thinking that the course had a lot of potential, but of course, the proof is in the playing. After a visit this summer, I can report that the potential was met and surpassed. I was blown away by how good this course was. The course features all off Coore/Crenshaw’s normal tricks- Jeff Bradley bunkers, beautifully contoured greens, and well thought out, strategic holes. What sets Colorado Golf apart is the beautiful setting and the wonderful native rough. (Video after the jump)

The course plays off a high ridge down into a wide valley and then back up the slope. There are spectacular views of the Rocky Mountains on many of the holes, but what really struck me was the texture of the rough and vegetation. The native soil is fairly gravely so that the rough is wispy and playable even after a very wet spring and early summer. There a myriad of wildflowers and grasses. It is quite different than the rough seen at Shinnecock or National, but no less beautiful and much more playable. To me it is an ideal native rough.

The course opens with a long par five that is reachable due to the altitude and solid downhill nature of the hole. It is a good hole that requires solid ball striking. It is quickly followed be a short three to a benched in green that is fairly severe from back to front. The hole is stunning and if the green is not hit in regulation it can do damage to your score. The third is a unique hole. The tee shot is blind to a fairway falls away. The large green sits on the far side of a gnarly wash that is filled with native plants. This hole is the first that lets you know that this is not just another Coore/Crensahw course (not that is a bad thing).

The fourth and fifth are two long par fours that play in the bottom of a wide valley. They are very good holes that require strong shots especially into the wind. The par three sixth, even at altitude, will be a long iron or a hybrid for most and is a nice compliment to the short second. The knob short and right requires the player who bails out to play an interesting and tricky recovery shot. The seventh plays along a wash to a fairway that wraps around two large cross bunkers. A great drive could carry them leaving a long second to a green on the far side of the wash. A lay-up short of the wash will leave a little wedge.

One of the trademarks of a Coore/Crenshaw course are great short-fours and to be honest I was disappointed with the eighth which plays directly up a fairly steep slope. The green is severely sloped from back left to front right. What I did not like is that there is not a lot of strategy to the hole. To access the back pins the best angle would be way out to the right in the native. What is left is basically to just either take a rip ant the green or hit something 200 yards and then hit a very good wedge. It is not a bad hole but just not very interesting or inspiring. It is the one discordant note on the front.

The front finishes with a very good hole which plays up and over a ridge, across a valley to a green that gently lays on the natural slopes. Most architects would have cut through the ridge to improve visibility, but Bill and Ben were content to have the tee shot play over this feature. It is another example of why they are one of the best firms working today.