Sorry if this is old news, but I just saw this.....The Colorado Golf Association has hired Tom Doak to re-do their course Mira Vista. Here is the story from the CGA.........(with permission of course).
In January of this year the Colorado Golf Association and Colorado Women's Golf Association hired Renaissance Golf Design to redesign the association-owned Mira Vista Golf Course. Renaissance Golf Design, led by world-renowned architect Tom Doak, is certainly a fitting choice for the redesign of the former Lowry Air Force Base golf course. Renaissance means "rebirth" and that is exactly what the associations have planned for the 250-plus acres of golf located at Alameda Avenue and Havana Street when the reconstruction begins this fall.
Tom Doak's name is synonymous with world-class golf, and his designs at Pacific Dunes in Oregon and Lost Dunes in Michigan have already landed on Golf Digest's Top 100 list. But what impressed the associations most was Doak's ability to maximize the best a site has to offer on a limited budget and a true understanding of the association's mission to build a fun, affordable golf course.
With the closure of the Lowry Air Force Base in the mid-1990s, the CGA and CWGA took over operations of Mira Vista in 1996 and officially purchased the course in December of 2005. In September of last year the associations approved a master plan to make strategic improvements to the golf course that will further enhance the mission of the associations to promote and serve golf in Colorado. Four months later the associations selected Renaissance Golf and Tom Doak to lead the effort to redesign the course while keeping it affordable to the community and to the CGA and CWGA members whose support has made it all possible. "Our purpose in owning and operating a golf course is really quite simple," said Kevin Laura, president of the CGA. "For the past 11 years we have used Mira Vista as a laboratory for programs to benefit the game of golf. We have used the course to host CGA, CWGA and USGA tournaments, to conduct a wide array of junior golf programs and as a training facility for our many association programs. We will continue to do all of those things, but now with a new golf course and practice facility that is designed to maximize those goals."
Over the past 10-plus years the CGA and CWGA have hosted an abundance of junior golf programs at Mira Vista. By partnering with organizations such as Open Fairways, Big-Brothers and Big-Sisters, Special Olympics and many other groups, the CGA and CWGA have been able to bring the game of golf to kids who would not otherwise have the opportunity to experience golf.
"The trade area that Mira Vista serves is one of the most diverse communities of its size in the country," said Ed Mate, CGA Executive Director. "This golf course is truly a melting pot which is ideal for our non-profit associations. It is the goal of the CGA and CWGA to bring the game to everyone, regardless of income, age or ethnicity. We can do that here better than anywhere else in Colorado."
While the Denver and Aurora neighborhoods that surround Mira Vista will be most directly impacted by the improved golf course, all golfers in Colorado will benefit.
"The CGA and CWGA are statewide associations representing all golfers throughout Colorado," said Pat Kuntz, president of the CWGA. "This golf course will serve the larger community by promoting the game in ways that can be duplicated throughout the state and by generating revenues for the associations which represent all of Colorado."
The redesign will include a completely new 18-hole championship course and an enhanced practice facility that will ultimately include a short course devoted to junior golf development. With a facility such as this, the new golf course should become the golf birthplace for generations of future golfers.