TOP 10 GOLF COURSES OF COLORADO 2009

The state’s industry experts name their choices for top
golf courses and pro shops

By Christine Loomis

Who knows Colorado golf courses better than the industry experts who work on and around them for a living? Once again Colorado Golf Magazine asked the state’s golf experts to name Colorado’s Top 10 golf courses in three different categories—private courses, resort courses, and public courses—and the votes were cast in record numbers.

Experts from the Colorado section of the PGA, Rocky Mountain Golf Salesman’s Association and Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendants Association named their picks among Colorado’s wealth of superb courses, and voiced their collective opinion on the state’s top five pro shops, too. We’re proud to present the results of our 2009 poll.  (To learn how you voted, turn to The Best of Colorado’s Golf Courses 2009, as selected by our golf-savvy readers and online visitors.)

TOP 10 PRIVATE COURSES
For 2009, Ballyneal Golf Club in Holyoke, Colo., heads the industry’s leaderboard.  That may be surprising, considering Ballyneal is three hours from Denver in the northeast corner of the state. Designed by Tom Doak with a nod to the great links courses of Scotland and Ireland, Ballyneal is all about tradition. It’s a walking-only course meant to foster the kind of golf that is “an expression of the land, the game and the player.” Membership is by invitation only.  Coming in at No. 2 is Cherry Hills Country Club, host of the 2005 U.S. Women’s Open and future host of the 2012 U. S. Amateur Championship. The No. 3 spot goes to last year’s winner, Castle Pines Golf Club, and in 4th is Colorado Golf Club, which is set to host the 2010 Senior PGA Championship. Rounding out the private courses is venerable Denver Country Club, Country Club of the Rockies, Sanctuary Golf Course, The Club at Flying Horse, Country Club at Castle Pines and Columbine Country Club.

TOP 10 RESORT COURSES
Four years running industry experts have named the Broadmoor East Course top resort golf course in the state. The layout, a melding of the original Donald Ross design with six holes crafted by Robert Trent Jones, Sr. in 1952, has hosted a long list of championship tournaments, most recently the 2008 U.S. Senior Open. It will host the prestigious U.S. Women’s Open in 2011. A pair of mountain courses come next. Sonnenalp Golf Club outside of Vail took second with its layout combining the best of links-style golf with Rocky Mountain vistas and challenges, while the Telluride Ski & Golf Resort course, perched at a heady 9,300 feet above sea level, captured third. Omni Interlocken Resort, Inverness Golf Club, Beaver Creek Golf Club, Keystone Ranch Golf Course, Eagle Vail Golf Club, The Club at Crested Butte and longtime mountain favorite Snowmass Club filled in the remaining slots.

TOP 10 PUBLIC COURSES
Few venues in the state can match the setting of Colorado’s No.1 public golf course, the Golf Club at Redlands Mesa, coiled at the foot of Colorado National Monument. Play here has been likened to golfing at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, but the beauty of it is that the Grand Junction course, for all its majestic terrain and visual splendor, is highly accessible. Experts voted a completely different sort of course second. The Riverdale Dunes Course is a Pete and Perry Dye Scottish links design that meanders along the South Platte River not far from Denver and has garnered numerous regional and national awards.  Proving Colorado’s extraordinary golfing diversity, the No.3 spot goes to the Red Sky Golf Club Norman Course in the I-70 corridor, framed by high alpine meadows and rugged rock outcroppings. The Golf Club at Bear Dance, Pelican Lakes Golf and Country Club, Fossil Trace Golf Club, Devil’s Thumb Golf Club, Cougar Canyon Golf Links, Fox Hollow Golf Club and the Heritage Golf Course at Westmoor complete the list.

TOP FIVE PRO SHOPS
Where should you look for golfing accessories, clubs, balls and more?  Not surprising, at shops located at the clubs and courses lauded on this very list. The Broadmoor Golf Shop, No. 1 in the state, takes its cue from the Five Star, Five Diamond resort’s other superb retail outlets, offering a comprehensive selection of quality goods serviced by an exemplary and knowledgeable staff. The remaining quartet of shops voted best of the best are the golf shops at Castle Pines Golf Club, Red Sky Golf Club Norman Course, Cherry Hills Country Club and, at No. 5, the pro shop at Sanctuary. 

TOP TEN LIST
PRIVATE
  1.            Ballyneal Golf Club
  2.            Cherry Hills Country Club
  3.            Castle Pines Golf Club
  4.            Colorado Golf Club
  5.            Denver Country Club
  6.            Country Club of the Rockies
  7.            Sanctuary
  8.            The Club at Flying Horse
  9.            Country Club at Castle Pines
10.            Columbine Country Club

RESORT
  1.            Broadmoor Golf Club – East Course
  2.            Sonnenalp Golf Club
  3.            Telluride Ski & Golf Resort
  4.            Omni Interlocken Resort
  5.            Inverness Golf Club
  6.            Beaver Creek Golf Club
  7.            Keystone Ranch Golf Course
  8.            Eagle Vail Golf Club
  9.            The Club at Crested Butte
10.            Snowmass Club

PUBLIC
  1.            Golf Club at Redlands Mesa
  2.            Riverdale Golf Club – the Dunes course
  3.            Red Sky Golf Club – the Norman course
  4.            The Golf Club at Bear Dance
  5.            Pelican Lakes Golf and Country Club
  6.            Fossil Trace Golf Club
  7.            Devil’s Thumb Golf Club
  8.            Cougar Canyon Golf Links
  9.            Fox Hollow Golf Club
10.            The Heritage Golf Course at Westmoor

PRO SHOP
  1.            Broadmoor Golf Club
  2.            Castle Pines Golf Club
  3.             Red Sky Golf Club – Norman course
  4.             Cherry Hills Country Club
  5.             Sanctuary

Christine Loomis is a staff editor and writer with
Colorado Golf Magazine