Scott Burroughs:
Comparing courses like: Murphy Creek, Buffalo Run, Riverdale Dunes, Heritage at Westmoor, and Green Valley Ranch to Wild Horse is extremely generous to all of those Colorado Courses IMHO. Every single one of those courses has at least one mis-fit water hole that is completely out of place, not to mention those courses bear only modest resemblence to links golf.
My question is, with the success of courses like Wild Horse and The Gailes at Lakewood Shores, wouldn't the closer proximity to much larger metropolitan areas give a course with a terrific site, such as those available within 90 minutes of Denver, a chance for success? This would be a far cry from comparing this to the financial challenges faced by, say, The Links of North Dakota. As stated in earlier posts, the land 90 minutes east of Denver, in the hands of someone like Doak, could yield a masterpiece. It bosts dramatic rolling hills, with natural sand blow-outs, tall prarie grasses and yucca plants. Perhaps the masses wouldn't get it, but I am confident the members of this fraternity would flock to it.
Perhaps this is simply the commentary of a Coloradan whose thirst for TRUE links golf goes unquenched! I see too many developers building redundant heathland courses on sites that MIGHT lend themselves to something TOTALLY UNIQUE to an area already blessed with great public facilities.