Denver Golf

[Bbo569]

I will be in Denver in the middle of June and have one day to get in a round of golf.  Any suggestions on the best place to play?  I would prefer for it to be relatively close to town as I will have to take an Uber there and back.  Thanks

[pseudoswede]

CommonGround is the closest nice public course to downtown.

 

I have yet to play the newly re-designed City Park Golf Course, but I've heard great things about it. That is the absolute closest.

 

After that, you're looking at longer Uber rides: Riverdale Dunes (public Pete Dye course), Green Valley Ranch, Murphy Creek, and Walnut Creek.

[jholz]

If you want in-town, can get a tee time, and don't mind playing a muni, I'd suggest Wellshire.

 

Having said that, there are tons of great options, and @pseudoswede hit on many of them. Riverdale Dunes is an excellent course. I'm also a relative fan of Saddle Rock, but that's way out on the SE side of town. 

[pseudoswede]

Just now, jholz said:

If you want in-town, can get a tee time, and don't mind playing a muni, I'd suggest Wellshire.

 

I was going to suggest Wellshire, but only if it's a weekday. It will be slow on a weekday, but painfully slow on the weekend.

 

Yes, it's technically still the only public Donald Ross course west of the Mississippi, but he never actually visited the site. He used topo maps and crammed 18 holes into a postage stamp size piece of land on the south side of Denver. That said, it does require shaping your shots both ways to do well, and most of the greens are ridiculously small and challenging.

 

There is also no golf range, and the 10th hole is perpetually under construction.

 

With all that said, it's very inexpensive, a very pleasant walk, and a course I like to play once a year.

[jholz]

1 minute ago, pseudoswede said:

 

I was going to suggest Wellshire, but only if it's a weekday. It will be slow on a weekday, but painfully slow on the weekend.

 

Yes, it's technically still the only public Donald Ross course west of the Mississippi, but he never actually visited the site. He used topo maps and crammed 18 holes into a postage stamp size piece of land on the south side of Denver. That said, it does require shaping your shots both ways to do well, and most of the greens are ridiculously small and challenging.

 

There is also no golf range, and the 10th hole is perpetually under construction.

 

With all that said, it's very inexpensive, a very pleasant walk, and a course I like to play once a year.

 

I grew up playing that course, so it will always have a soft spot in my heart. I personally love it. Can't get a much more dangerous O.B. than Hampden Ave. along 15 and 16, especially at rush hour. 

[MTgolfer]

47 minutes ago, jholz said:

 

I grew up playing that course, so it will always have a soft spot in my heart. I personally love it. Can't get a much more dangerous O.B. than Hampden Ave. along 15 and 16, especially at rush hour. 

My childhood course had OB on busy streets. I put a golf ball or two onto them. Ha. 

[jholz]

42 minutes ago, MTgolfer said:

My childhood course had OB on busy streets. I put a golf ball or two onto them. Ha. 

 

It's certainly no joke and bad things can happen. When I was in my late teens/early 20's, an elderly golfer was beaten to death at City Park GC in Denver for hitting a car on Colorado Blvd. Can't find the news story at the moment, but it did happen. 

[MTgolfer]

9 minutes ago, jholz said:

 

It's certainly no joke and bad things can happen. When I was in my late teens/early 20's, an elderly golfer was beaten to death at City Park GC in Denver for hitting a car on Colorado Blvd. Can't find the news story at the moment, but it did happen. 

Wow. People are crazy. 

[cubuffs]

Has been asked prior - but how far are you willing to go?  If you are willing to go 30 minutes, you have lots of great options:

 

Green Valley Ranch

Fox Hollow

Fossil Trace

Common Ground

Riverdale Dunes

Walnut Creek

Legacy Ridge

 

just to name a few.  Of course some of this is traffic dependent, but I would stretch.  Lots of great public tracks and golf at elevation is a trip.

[Bbo569]

12 minutes ago, cubuffs said:

Has been asked prior - but how far are you willing to go?  If you are willing to go 30 minutes, you have lots of great options:

 

Green Valley Ranch

Fox Hollow

Fossil Trace

Common Ground

Riverdale Dunes

Walnut Creek

Legacy Ridge

 

just to name a few.  Of course some of this is traffic dependent, but I would stretch.  Lots of great public tracks and golf at elevation is a trip.

Thanks everyone for the responses.  I would say no more than about 30 minutes.  What's the best course within that range?

[cubuffs]

So just doing quick look, fossil trace seems to be right at 30 minutes out in Golden (not sure where your staying in Denver, did this from 16th St. mall). Take a look at the website, a bit contrived but definitely a very unique experience if you only get one round.

[Chanceman]

Commonground is a superb course designed by Tom Doak and used for the  early rounds of the US Mid Amateur in 2019. It's also very reasonably priced and a lot of fun to play.

[Jetsguy1792]

I’ll be in Denver Saturday and have a 9am at fossil trace. How’s the pace there as I have a wedding later that day 

[pseudoswede]

On 6/21/2021 at 6:20 PM, Jetsguy1792 said:

I’ll be in Denver Saturday and have a 9am at fossil trace. How’s the pace there as I have a wedding later that day 

 

I would allocate for 5 hours and be pleasantly surprised if you play it quicker.

Edited June 23, 2021 by pseudoswede

[Jetsguy1792]

38 minutes ago, pseudoswede said:

 

I would allocate for 5 hours and be pleasantly surprised if you play it quicker.

Thanks that’s perfect. 

[Inferno2ss]

How did you like Fossil Trace?

 

Played it for the first time in August myself and really enjoyed it.  

[ztull]

On 5/18/2021 at 8:29 AM, pseudoswede said:

 

I was going to suggest Wellshire, but only if it's a weekday. It will be slow on a weekday, but painfully slow on the weekend.

 

Yes, it's technically still the only public Donald Ross course west of the Mississippi, but he never actually visited the site. He used topo maps and crammed 18 holes into a postage stamp size piece of land on the south side of Denver. That said, it does require shaping your shots both ways to do well, and most of the greens are ridiculously small and challenging.

 

There is also no golf range, and the 10th hole is perpetually under construction.

 

With all that said, it's very inexpensive, a very pleasant walk, and a course I like to play once a year.

Broadmoor East is public, Ross, and west of the Mississippi.

[ryder2015]

On 4/26/2022 at 1:07 PM, ztull said:

Broadmoor East is public, Ross, and west of the Mississippi.

Only 9 holes of it are Ross 

[ztull]

On 4/29/2022 at 7:41 AM, ryder2015 said:

Only 9 holes of it are Ross 

Yeah but RTJ did a great job there too, 9 holes or not it is a more complete golf experience than Welshire (at least 7 times better at 7x the price) and still public.

My rankings for BE:

6th best instate course (between Red Sky Fazio and Sanctuary).

2nd best public course (between Red Sky Fazio and Ike Blue).

My rankings for Welshire:

7th best muni (between Indian Peaks and Fossil Trace).

In terms of rankings, these courses aren't playing in the same league, but both are public, both were designed by Ross.

Beyond that, there are very few fully intact Ross layouts. This includes Welshire who REALLY screwed up 10 (Ross' 1) when they dredged the lake. Reversing the routing to have people turn onto that abomination of a hole absolutely decimates pace for the entire back nine. I have a feeling if we could ask Ross he would prefer the addition of 9 holes at BE. 

[Indy_Sly]

I have a guys golf trip in Denver in July, staying in wheat ridge (west of downtown a couple miles). So far I’ve flagged fossil trace, arrowhead and Todd creek (I’ve played previously). I’d like to be within 30 min of wheat ridge and potentially find a place we can play 36 in 1 day. Any local thoughts on better options or ideas?  We are from Indiana… so beautiful mountain views or mountain type courses get a couple bonus points. 

[Golf Pig]

It's been awhile since I was in Denver, but 2 great public tracks near you are Fox Hollow (27 holes) and Legacy Ridge. Out near Todd Creek I'd recommend Riverdale Dunes and Buffalo Run. Arrowhead has some unique views for sure but isn't worth it in my opinion.

[Indy_Sly]

4 hours ago, Golf Pig said:

It's been awhile since I was in Denver, but 2 great public tracks near you are Fox Hollow (27 holes) and Legacy Ridge. Out near Todd Creek I'd recommend Riverdale Dunes and Buffalo Run. Arrowhead has some unique views for sure but isn't worth it in my opinion.

Thanks man. Tell me more about the downside and upside to arrowhead. It’s a bit further away so if I can find others closer that are better/more fun, then I’d prefer those. 

[Golf Pig]

14 hours ago, Indy_Sly said:

Thanks man. Tell me more about the downside and upside to arrowhead. It’s a bit further away so if I can find others closer that are better/more fun, then I’d prefer those. 

 

Arrowhead is definitely scenic - the red rocks are beautiful. The commercial for the hammer driver was filmed there - POW!!! However, every time I played it the conditions were terrible. The layout didn't suit my eye either. It might be worth playing to check out the views but if it were me I would play Fox Hollow or Riverdale Dunes instead.

[pseudoswede]

On 5/2/2022 at 6:49 PM, Indy_Sly said:

Thanks man. Tell me more about the downside and upside to arrowhead. It’s a bit further away so if I can find others closer that are better/more fun, then I’d prefer those. 

 

If you've never played Arrowhead before, then by all means play it. Take lots of pictures. Appreciate the surrounding beauty. The course itself, however, is pretty meh.

 

In July, the mountain views won't be as pretty since the snow will basically be all gone. You really won't get decent mountain views until you are about in-line with downtown Denver (courses like Willis Case, Wellshire, and South Suburban). Anything on the western side of the metro area will only get your foothills views.

Edited May 4, 2022 by pseudoswede

[pinggg]

I will be visiting Denver late July and I am looking for the most scenery course. I am willing to drive up to an hour for a great course. What are the most scenery courses in the area? Also, steak house recommendations are appreciated!

Edited July 6, 2022 by pinggg

[Chanceman]

On 7/6/2022 at 1:30 PM, pinggg said:

I will be visiting Denver late July and I am looking for the most scenery course. I am willing to drive up to an hour for a great course. What are the most scenery courses in the area? Also, steak house recommendations are appreciated!

Bear Dance is a pretty scenery course. Elways for steak.

[pseudoswede]

On 7/5/2022 at 9:30 PM, pinggg said:

I will be visiting Denver late July and I am looking for the most scenery course. I am willing to drive up to an hour for a great course. What are the most scenery courses in the area? Also, steak house recommendations are appreciated!

 

Are you looking for a scenic golf course or a course that will give you a nice view of the Rocky Mountains? Granted, the Rockies lack snow, so it won't be as pretty as when playing in March or April.

 

Former - Bear Dance, Arrowhead, Ridge at Castle Pines North

Latter - pretty much any course straddling or east of I-25

 

Steakhouse - if you're staying near downtown, then Guard & Grace is supposed to be the phenomenal. Good luck trying to get a reservation. In the southern 'burbs, I'm a fan of Shanahan's. Not sure what is north or west of town worth going to.

[bnsn]

We are heading to Colorado in mid-August. I'm glad I happened upon this thread as we were planning to golf once or twice. We will be in the Colorado Springs area the first couple of days, Estes Park in the middle, then Denver the last couple of days. We will now be trying to golf Riverdale Dunes when we are in Denver. I'm still not sure about the other part, but we will see. It's myself and my 2 kids. My wife figured she'll go for a hike while we golf.

 

Thanks for the info though, looks like a few courses to check out.

[pseudoswede]

On 7/27/2022 at 10:58 AM, bnsn said:

We are heading to Colorado in mid-August. I'm glad I happened upon this thread as we were planning to golf once or twice. We will be in the Colorado Springs area the first couple of days, Estes Park in the middle, then Denver the last couple of days. We will now be trying to golf Riverdale Dunes when we are in Denver. I'm still not sure about the other part, but we will see. It's myself and my 2 kids. My wife figured she'll go for a hike while we golf.

 

Thanks for the info though, looks like a few courses to check out.

 

There is not much hiking (actually zero) in/around Riverdale Dunes.

 

If anything, I would probably recommend Fossil Trace and your wife could hike around Red Rocks Amphitheater*, which is just 10-15 minutes away. City Park Golf Course would also be an idea, as the park itself is a nice walk. There is also Arrowhead since Roxborough State Park* is close by.

 

* - make sure she brings a decent size bottle of water and at least one hiking pole (for snakes)

Edited July 29, 2022 by pseudoswede

[bnsn]

On 7/29/2022 at 12:58 PM, pseudoswede said:

 

There is not much hiking (actually zero) in/around Riverdale Dunes.

 

If anything, I would probably recommend Fossil Trace and your wife could hike around Red Rocks Amphitheater*, which is just 10-15 minutes away. City Park Golf Course would also be an idea, as the park itself is a nice walk. There is also Arrowhead since Roxborough State Park* is close by.

 

* - make sure she brings a decent size bottle of water and at least one hiking pole (for snakes)

Thanks for this! Fossil Trace looks like an interesting course, and sounded vaguely familiar. I also see they accept tee times now for multiple weeks out so I could even plan to play there now.