On and Off the Course - Spring
Framed by an awesome Rocky Mountain backdrop, Red Sky Ranch’s Greg Norman course is fun for its scale, handsomeness and audacity.
Red Sky Golf Club, Wolcott, Colorado
Lennon and McCartney. Spielberg and Lucas. Norman and Fazio. When collaborators are in the groove great things happen. Just look at Red Sky Golf Club.
Spread out over nearly 800 acres of former ranchland, the Norman and Fazio courses were deftly integrated into the undulating landscape. Measuring 7,113 yards from the tips, Tom Fazio’s layout opened in 2002. Greg Norman’s course, which debuted in 2003, plays 7,580 yards, and both par 72 courses continue to garner praise from golf and travel magazines.
Fazio’s design invites players to navigate through dense groves of aspen and sage covered hills, pausing now and again to admire views of Vail’s Back Bowls. Knots of scrub oak, deep gulches and craggy rock outcroppings combine with meadows of wildflowers to deliver a memorable golf experience on Norman’s layout.
The par-5 sixth and the par-3 tenth are notable holes on Fazio’s course with six stretching 606 yards. Wide fairways and really large greens make for a more forgiving layout than Norman’s. With three holes playing nearly 600 yards and the par-3 sixteenth playing 283 yards, The Shark’s design can leave teeth marks on any scorecard.
To mix things up, Red Sky Golf Club alternates play daily between the two semi-private courses and play is reserved for club members and guests staying in select RockResorts lodging properties. These include The Osprey and The Pines Lodge in Beaver Creek, The Lodge & Spa at Cordillera in Edwards, and The Lodge at Vail and The Arrabelle in Vail. Guests of The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch also have access.
The greens fee for resort guests is $195 for 18 holes May 23-June 5 and September 22-October 12; the fee is $250 June 6-September 21. Resort guests enjoy a gorgeous clubhouse at the Fazio course. For more information, call 888-500-5170 or visit www.redskygolfclub.com.
Four Mile Ranch Golf Club, Cañon City, Colorado
Originally established as a base camp for gold miners in 1859, Cañon City has a new glitter to it thanks to Four Mile Ranch Golf Club. Developer Ross Jeffrey tapped award-winning course architect Jim Engh to work his magic with the landscape.
The centerpiece of Jeffrey’s 1,640-acre community is a “grab the camera” design that plays approximately 7,000 yards (at press time it hadn’t been officially measured).
Unfurled in the contours, arroyos and nooks of the high desert, the layout has elevation changes ranging from 150 to 300 feet. But what should be of particular interest to golfers is that the course hasn’t a single bunker.
“This landscape has so much natural high drama, there was no reason for bunkers.” says Engh. “There are rolling fairways and blind shots; the course is going to blow people away.”
Views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, a range with ten peaks over 14,000 feet in elevation, are equally as enthralling as Engh’s accomplishment. Reservations are being taken on homesites ranging from $50,000 to $225,000. Homes range from the $190,000s to the low-$300,000s. A considerate master plan has set aside 46 percent of the total acreage as recreational open space.
Daily greens fee is $59 for 18 holes. An Avid Loyalty Program Annual Fee runs $400; a Loyalty Program Annual Fee costs $150. Twilight and nine-hole play are less. A cart is $15 extra. The course is planning a mid-July opening. For more information, call 888-851-8686, or visit www.fourmileranch.com.
The Broadmoor, Colorado Springs, Colorado
A trio of courses makes a visit to this legendary hotel a golfers’ fantasy. The setting for two U.S. Amateur Championships (1959, 1976), a Curtis Cup Championship (1962) one U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship (1982), a U.S. Women’s Open (1995), and this summer’s U.S. Senior Open is evidence the Broadmoor East Course is challenging.
Conceived in 1917 by notable Scottish designer Donald Ross, the course opened in 1918, the same year the hotel debuted. Though known for its wide fairways and large greens, the 7,310-yard layout won’t just hand over a great score. In 1955 the resort created the Broadmoor West Course, a marriage of the original 1918 Donald Ross design and the mid-50s Robert Trent Jones Sr. design.
With more doglegs, water hazards, treed fairways and multilevel greens than the East Course, this 7,016-yard layout looks incredibly tough, but the West Course is more bark than bite.
Opened in 1976, a third layout was designed by Arnold Palmer and Ed Seay. Officially called the Broadmoor South Course at the time, locals informally referred to it as the mountain course. Plagued by erosion issues the course was closed in 2000, and the resort decided to replace it. Nicklaus Design created the Broadmoor Mountain Course, a stunning layout stretching 7,637 yards from the black tees. At its highest point it plays at 6,800 feet.
Tee times for the three courses are reserved for hotel guests and members of The Broadmoor’s private golf club. Green fees range from $95 to $225, with the lowest rate applying at twilight from April to October.
For more information, call 866-837-9520 or visit www.broadmoor.com. The U.S. Senior Open is July 28-August 3. If you are interested in volunteering, contact Jeff Yeager at 719-471-6497 or email jyeager@broadmoor.com.
Devil’s Thumb Golf Club, Delta, Colorado
The last place you might find a golf course is among more than 10,000 desolate acres of maze-like shale mounds known as the Adobe Badlands. Yet, just three miles north of Delta is Devil’s Thumb Golf Club, a 7,176-yard layout that is masterfully woven into the rugged landscape.
Described by designer Rick Phelps as a “prairie style” course, the public layout opened in 2001, garnering second place honors from Golf Digest a year later as one of the “Best New Affordable Golf Courses” in America.
Between three lakes, more than 60 bunkers, forced carries over stark terrain and prevalent afternoon breezes, it presents a devilish challenge. Wide fairways and biggie-sized greens thankfully take some of the fight out of the course.
Golfers marvel at views of Grand Mesa to the north and the Uncompahgre Plateau, West Elks and the San Juan Mountains to the south. Bring the camera. A notable hole on the front nine is the par-5 number two, which plays 583 yards. Playing 628 yards from the tips, the par-5 fifteen is one of the longest holes in Colorado, and two bunkers front left on the par-3 seventeenth leave no room for error on your tee shot, particularly with a left side pin placement.
Monday through Thursday the greens fee is $35 for 18 holes; $42 on weekends. Nine-hole play is less and Delta County residents enjoy a special rate. Cart rental costs $12 extra. For more information, call 970-874-6262 or visit www.deltagolf.org.
