Colorado Golf Club: A Pictorial (18th hole posted)

[Kyle Henderson]

Pssst: The Short Course pictorial is here: http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,45694.0/



The Colorado Golf Club’s 18-hole course begins with a brawny par 5 that ranges from 504-653 yards. Mind you, the mile-high elevation and firm turf render the hole much less difficult than it would seem on paper.


From the back tees, the target for the opening shot is obscured.

However, from the front tees, players are afforded a much clearer target.


The fairway is tilted left, but don’t lost your tee shot too far right, lest ye be bunker bound or worse. The native areas do commonly conceal the final resting place of misplayed swipes.


Some care must be taken with the second shot, despite the generous playing corridor, as a layup pulled left may yield the dreaded long bunker shot for one’s third. Those going for the green in two can aim a bit right and short of the green, as the fairway feeds onto the surface from that corner.


Looking back, one can perceive that the right side of the green is openly integrated with the fairway. However, shots that hang up on this side will leave dicey recovery shots to a quick green that slopes away. Also note that the green is over 40 paces from front-to-back.

[Joe Bausch]

More please.

[Kyle Henderson]

A bit more for the birthday boy !!!

The 2nd hole is a short par 3 measuring between 84-154 yards. It features a green that is 25 paces deep and slopes from back-to-front and right-to-left along the axis of play. The only semi-safe place to miss is short left, as the other sides are bunkered and the rear portion of the green is narrower than the front. Given fast surfaces, the putting contours will make any shot greater than a few feet in length very testing.

[Lynn_Shackelford]

2nd hole looks like an inspiration from the 2nd at Prairie Dunes.

[RJ_Daley]

The mowing lines are offputting, and particularly take away from the neat groundlevel transition to the green on 1 front right. 

The tee shot looks like what ANGC 12 seems like on TV, but I'm sure there is no hourglass sort of green shape.  I looks like a snappy little par 3 however. 

[Kyle Henderson]

The mowing lines are offputting, and particularly take away from the neat groundlevel transition to the green on 1 front right. 

The tee shot looks like what ANGC 12 seems like on TV, but I'm sure there is no hourglass sort of green shape.  I looks like a snappy little par 3 however. 

The mowing lines were definitely unsightly on several different holes, but no where near as bad as during the Senior PGA Championship a couple of months before these photos were taken. Then, the rough bordering the fairways appeared to fill up more of the playing corridors than the remaining short cut! What's worse, I was told the rough was so thick it required most amateurs to pitch out sideways. Thankfully things are returning to "normal."

There are still a few mowing lines that need to be softened considerably, as you'll see later in the round.

[Mark McKeever]

Thanks for sharing!  Looking forward to the rest of them!

Mark

[Wayne Wiggins, Jr.]

A bit more for the birthday boy !!!

The 2nd hole is a short par 3 measuring between 84-154 yards. It features a green that is 25 paces deep and slopes from back-to-front and right-to-left along the axis of play. The only semi-safe place to miss is short left, as the other sides are bunkered and the rear portion of the green is narrower than the front. Given fast surfaces, the putting contours will make any shot greater than a few feet in length very testing.

Kyle - I seem to recall, this green featured a pretty substantial shelf in the back-middle of this green, and even though it's a short hole, if that pin is on top of that shelf getting your tee shot close, if not on the shelf, is quite difficult, and thus leads to a very tough 2 putt. 

[Kyle Henderson]

Kyle - I seem to recall, this green featured a pretty substantial shelf in the back-middle of this green, and even though it's a short hole, if that pin is on top of that shelf getting your tee shot close, if not on the shelf, is quite difficult, and thus leads to a very tough 2 putt. 

The rear shelf certianly plays havoc when the greens roll quickly, but I don't recall it being raised more than 18 inches or so from the front section.

[Kyle Henderson]

The 3rd hole (276-428 yards) struck me as an interesting routing solution to a difficult section of the property. I’m curious to learn if anyone in the tree house has played a similar hole elsewhere.

Much like the 1st hole, from the back tees the fairway is barely visible yet one is able to discern its leftward camber.


The green is also visible from the back tees and seems tantalizingly close down the left side. Stay right.


This view afforded from the high, right side illustrates the dramatic tilt of the fairway.


Fairway bunkers along the left side are poised to capture poorly-shaped shots. The longer the club one selects, the farther right one must aim to stay in the fairway, for it is angled a bit to starboard and narrows as it progresses.


Here is a closer look at the fairway bunkering and the dry wash that must be carried with the approach. The right greenside bunker is deeper than it appears and another sandy chasm is hidden behind the putting surface.

[Wayne Wiggins, Jr.]

Kyle - I seem to recall, this green featured a pretty substantial shelf in the back-middle of this green, and even though it's a short hole, if that pin is on top of that shelf getting your tee shot close, if not on the shelf, is quite difficult, and thus leads to a very tough 2 putt. 

The rear shelf certianly plays havoc when the greens roll quickly, but I don't recall it being raised more than 18 inches or so from the front section.

You're probably right -- 18".  Yet, add in the back to front tilt in the green and that putt (especially the first time playing it) has to be struck very firmly.  I remember very vividly 3-putting it from less that 20 ft, because i was on that lower shelf.

[Kyle Henderson]

The 4th hole  (par 4 328-500 yards) occupies the flattest portion of the property.

These first twp bunkers down the left side of the landing zone are relatively benign and a drive carrying 280 yards can clear the second trap from the tips.


However this bunker, which is partially hidden from the landing zone, can be found with a drive of 360 yards from the tips (190 from the front tees) and is obviously quite penal when seen from up close. Ahead, the green slopes from right to left, allowing long approaches to chase on from the starboard side while favoring short approaches and putts played from portside of the pin. The green is more than 40 paces deep and 20 paces wide.

[RJ_Daley]

Heck of a 3rd hole... I wonder if those crafty little turf tongues and turf wart islands will last over much time in that FW bunker on last pic?

[Kyle Henderson]

The 5th hole (358-479 yards, par 4) plays in the same direction as the 4th on the most mundane portion of the property. Two complete sets of tee boxes (5 teeing grounds in each) occupy opposite sides of the barranca that borders the port side of the hole, offering alternate angles of play from one day to the next.


This view from the right hand tees peers over a short carry bunker to the expansive fairway. Six bunkers (three are pictured) run along the left side of the fairway, the last of which is 150 yards short of the green.



A left/front view of the green reveals the options available for one’s approach shot: 1) A high draw that skirts the front/right bunker 2) a fade that circumvents the right/front bunker 3) a layup short of the right/front bunker for mortals playing for bogey 4) a shot played to the back left fringe for the easiest up and down.

Note the nasty false front protecting this day's pin position.

[Kyle Henderson]

The second par 3 is found at the 6th hole (170-251 yards), which plays downhill to green that is roughly 30 paces wide, 45 paces deep and angled slightly from right to left.



A generous fairway leads up to the green and encloses a large mound at the right front. This mound may be employed to kick shots onto the green for those wary of the left-side bunkering, but shots that carry the mound face grave peril.

[Adam Clayman]

I've played here a couple of times. The first hole is somewhat reminiscent of Spyglass' opener due to it's sweeping boomerang downhill nature. The green is much more receptive to Spy's , and is a nice start. The second exudes Prairie Dunes as does a few other C&C par 3's holes on other courses. I figure if a hole gets compared to that hole, It ain't a bad hole.

 The third is a bit of a problem for me. As Kyle points out it transitions the course through the dry wash, which reminded me of what The Rive must've been like before the Army corp came in. The reason the third is problematic is the combo of the canted fairway and the island like green. It's an awkward shot, and there's just not enough room for recovery with only a slight miss.

The holes on the flats are the most well done holes. They exemplify C&C's adherence to Thomas' principles of not building features that would've flowed against the natural flow of the property.

[Peter Zarlengo]

The holes on the flats are the most well done holes. They exemplify C&C's adherence to Thomas' principles of not building features that would've flowed against the natural flow of the property.

Adam,

I agree that the "dug-in" bunkers of the 4th, 5th, and 6th holes, along with a few others around the course, tend to look better than if bunkers were "cut out" of built up slopes.

Kyle,

Thanks for the photo tour. It's a nice trip down memory lane for me, as I spent a few months there helping finish and grow-in the course in the summer of 2006. Having spent a lot of time there, some post-opening, I think there's lots of things Colorado GC gets right. The short grass transition between the rolling 6th green and well positioned 7th tee in the last picture is one of them. The huge house looming large in the background behind it is not.

[Adam Russell]

I still say meh...your finish work aside. I thought some holes, although good as individual pieces, were awkward in the overall routing. Kinda like a nudge from someone else telling you "hey, we need this to hold up to a major championship". But in my defense, the course could never be as spectacular as our car crash, so maybe I need to give it another chance...

[Ian Andrew]

I was really impressed by the opening set of holes.

I played Prairie Dunes just before going to Colorado and they did a nice job of re-creating the feel (in particular with the green) of the 2nd hole at PD. The hole was tough as nails but fun to play. That was by far my favourite three.

I was particularly enamored with the 5th green and was perplexed that the club was apparently (according to our caddie) considering rebuilding the green. It was one of my favourite of the course and the aspect that really set this hole up as one of the finer holes I had seen recently. I always appreciate how well they tuck green sites into a hollow.

I’m really curious to get involved with the discussion of the final stretch of four.

[Adam Russell]

Same here Ian - I think the course is fascinating to discuss because it has spectacular hits and what I felt were some misses in the design.

[Peter Zarlengo]

Adam,

I'm still surprised we made it there at all, as long as it took for that whole scene to play out. And I'm even more surprised my directionally impaired sister made it out there to pick us up, otherwise we would have had to find an establishment even classier than the Golden Plains to stay the night in Parker.

But I think you're on to something when you talk about spectacular. Colorado GC is definitely at it's best when it's not trying to be too spectacular and just letting the interesting piece of ground it sits on do the talking. That may be why so many people I talk to about the course say their favorite holes are the ones through the flats (3,4,5,6,7,12) or the simpler ones through the pines (9,10).

Ian,

I'm still unsure if I prefer #2 or #6. Either way, they offer a nice balance between: 1) grand and intimate scale, 2) long and short, and 3) probably the largest and smallest greens on the course.

[Mike_Young]

I thought the overall experience was very good....I thought the golf course was very good....I agree with Ian as to the 5th green...why change it?  #2 was also very good as were 12 and 14....
I stayed there for one nite and also played the short course....mucho fun....
Oh yea....I played with Ian....he really eats at the turn....I think he liked the chicken salad more than the course.....

[Adam Russell]

Pete,

Forgot about your sister. Hah, good times...

It was a cool course for me to think about. I think it's so easy to overdue simple and good with a site like that, and that's why I think some of the flat parts are the best as well. But then there's also #11, the par-3 - the green is unlike anything I've seen. So you've got subtle good and knock-out good, but you've also got awkward, like the way the place flows along the hills until #8, where it just goes straight uphill. A bad connector to me, and the green's a bit over the top for it's size. Same with the last few end holes.

But I think I'm with Mike Young in the end - there's too much good there. It sure would be a nice place to explore every day...

[Kyle Henderson]

It seems that the main ridgeline occupied by holes 1-3 and 8-10 offers ackward slopes at times. Overall, the course is very good, particularly the grand setting (which is unfortunately marred by the mammoth houses) and native flora. But there are a few holes that were simply overdone in my estimation and it's a surprisingly unfriendly walk for a C&C course. In some ways, I thought the design team took an unusually high numbers of "chances" in the design, which I applaude, but not all of them panned out to their usual high standards.

[Kyle Henderson]

Measuring between 443 & 583 yards in total, the par 5 7th hole presents the first true set of markedly different strategic options from tee to green.

From the back tees, the prominent fairway bunkers seem to dominate the line of play. The good new is that a large swath of short grass was placed short of the bunkers to give a wide berth to short-hitters and conservative strategists. The bad news is that the second shot is blind from this position and the required launch angle over the bunker’s lip may affect the subsequent shot(s).

Note the 7th green is positioned above the right edge of the prominent bunkers.



The left-most portion of the bunker complex requires a drive of around 320yards to carry from the back tees for those seeking the green in two. A drive of 285 or less will stop short of the sand. In the distance, the barranca featured at the 3rd hole must be crossed once more to reach the green.
 

Looking back from the left side of the 7th green, it is clear that the terrain compels most approach shots to release this way towards the only greenside bunker. Long approaches should therefore be played a bit to the right, a line that will also reduce the required carry.