The best golf courses in Colorado

If Sand Hills Golf Club stands for the notion that there’s nothing more glorious than a round of golf beyond the range of cell phone reception, then Ballyneal (Tom Doak’s northeast Colorado answer to Nebraska’s Sand Hills) proves that isolated golf is even better when Spartan in nature. With no carts and with dry, tan fescue turf on fairways and greens, Ballyneal is even more austere than Sand Hills. It provides absolutely firm and fast conditions, and with many greens perched on hilltops, the effect of wind on putts must be considered. The rolling landforms, topsy-turvy greens and half-par holes make playing here feel like a joyride, and that sense of exuberance has catapulted Ballyneal from an original ranking of No. 95 in 2011 to its highest ranking to date at No. 36.

When Golf Digest began its annual Best New Course awards in 1983, the review panel selected Castle Pines as the Private Course winner, but Bill Davis, co-founder of Golf Digest and founding father of all its course rankings, didn’t care for the course and vetoed its inclusion. So no private course was honored that year. Davis soon recognized his error, and in 1987—its first year of eligibility—Castle Pines joined America’s 100 Greatest and has remained there ever since. Club founder Jack Vickers, a Midwest oilman, had urged architect Jack Nicklaus to produce a mountain-venue design worthy of a major championship. Jack did, but when a championship never resulted, Vickers established his own, The International, which for many years was the only PGA Tour event played under a unique Stableford format. It’s a pity that The International is no longer on the Tour’s schedule. Like Muirfield Village, the only other solo Nicklaus design in the top 50, Castle Pines has undergone a steady procession of hole alterations to keep pace with changing technology, and changing tastes.

When Cherry Hills opened in the early 1920s, it was a ground-breaking design, with the nation’s first par-5 island green and closing back-to-back par 5s, although in championships the 18th is played as a par 4. In the 1960 U.S. Open, winner Arnold Palmer popularized the idea of a drivable par 4 by going for the first green in every round. Curiously, when Palmer and partner Ed Seay remodeled Cherry Hills in 1976, they lengthened the first hole so no player could duplicate Arnie’s feat. Nearly 40 years later, modern equipment has once again made the first hole reachable from the tee. A decade's worth of renovation and individual feature restoration by Tom Doak and Eric Iverson of Renaissance Golf have primed Cherry Hills for the next phase of its illustrious tournament history, beginning with the 2023 U.S. Amateur.

The par-4 10th at Colorado Golf Club, playing downhill off the tee to a green hanging on a slope, with the Colorado Rockies in the far distance, has not a single bunker. Yet it sets the tone for what may well be Coore and Crenshaw’s finest example of how to massage a great golf course from topography that many would have considered ordinary. These designers made this stretch of Front Range southeast of Denver extraordinary. They ran fairways across sagebrush hills that are dotted with pines. They positioned greens on buttes and the far sides of barrancas. Colorado G.C. is a second-shot course where seemingly generous landing areas can result in awkward hanging lies for approach shots to greens that run left or right or even away from the direction of play. The massive par-5 fiirst is one of the most exciting first holes in a time zone known for exciting opening holes, and it's followed by a short cross-ravine par 3 benched into a hillside like its inspiration, the second at Prairie Dunes. In 2019, the course hosted the USGA Mid-Amateur.

In the late 1990s, Sanctuary debuted as a counterpoint to what was then the latest fashion, the startlingly outrageous architecture of Mike Strantz. Coloradoan Jim Engh introduced his stylistic philosophy of incorporating Art Deco themes of parallel lines, sweeping curves and repetitive patterns in his bunker, fairway and green shapes. The comforting nature of his architectural style proved to be popular and soothing to many golf fans. But Sanctuary’s site itself is startling. The first tee shot drops 200 feet. Fairways twist and tumble down narrow valleys and over chasms. Enormous greens are protected not just by Engh’s squiggly bunkers but by giant transplanted pines. Sanctuary’s developers, Dave and Gail Liniger, founded the Re/Max real estate empire, but they insisted that Sanctuary have no homes that could disturb the tranquility of the course. It’s a Sanctuary indeed.

The stretch of golf at Maroon Creek beginning at the par 4 fourth and ending at the 16th is one of the finest in Colorado. Tumultuous terrain paired with design elements employed by Tom Fazio allows for an incredible experience outside Aspen. The holes feel natural to the land, and Fazio’s routing constantly provides a challenge from start to finish. The constant change in elevations means golfers must correctly judge their distances on every shot. Off the tee Fazio offers some reprieve as oftentimes a good shot will find a speed slot, providing an opportunity to score, but the well-guarded greens means golfers are not out of the woods just with a good drive.

The Broadmoor Golf Club East is another timeless mountain course, built hard against Cheyenne Mountain with famed green contours that pose optical illusions. Many putts that look uphill are actually running downhill. Few golfers recognize that the East Course is a combination of nine Donald Ross holes (one through six and 16 through 18) and nine more added 30 years later by Robert Trent Jones (holes seven to 15), though a road crossing helps delineate these lower and upper holes. The East Course was the site of Jack Nicklaus’ first U.S. Amateur win in 1959 and Annika Sorenstam’s first U.S. Women’s Open win in 1995. It has also hosted 2011 U.S. Women’s Open won by So Yeon Ryu and the 2018 U.S. Senior Open won by David Toms, their first major victories as well (at least the first on the Senior circuit for Toms).

A Jack Nicklaus design in the beautiful mountains of Colorado, the Country Club of the Rockies offers beautiful mountain views without arduous elevation changes. Despite being 7,400 yards from the tips, the course is not that excessive in length, thanks to it sitting 7,200 feet above sea level. Originally built with very pronounced slopes, after a decade of use the putting surfaces were softened for playability. The course includes many Nicklaus trademarks, including the split-fairway second, an 100-yard bunker on the par-5 seventh that guards the layup area, and a carry over Eagle River at the 12th on the approach. Overall Country Club of the Rockies is an incredibly beautiful course that meanders through the Rockies, while still boasting the difficulty that is a hallmark of Nicklaus' design career.

The companion to the Norman Course at Red Sky, the Fazio 18 features more elevation change, with the mostly open front nine atop a bluff dotted with hand-planted sage and juniper bushes and the back nine rising in switchback fashion far up a mountain slope through groves of aspen before plunging downhill on the final three holes. The bunkers here are some of Fazio's most elaborate.

There are two 18s at Red Sky Ranch, one by Greg Norman, the other designed by Tom Fazio. Public play on each alternates on a daily basis. A ridgeline separates the two courses (the ridge is designated as a wildlife corridor), with the Norman 18 positioned on an old sheep ranch on the western slope, affording long-range views of the Rockies to the west and south as well as gorgeous sunsets. Typical of a Norman design, the greens are big but docile and the bunkering is plentiful and dramatically shaped.

Consistently ranked on our Best in Colorado list, Frost Creek, formerly known as Adam's Rib, is a scenic Tom Weiskopf design situated in the Rockies, a couple hours west of Denver. The course plays more open than you’d might expect from a course set in the mountains. Tall native grasses and large bunkers frame many fairways along the rolling terrain, set against a beautiful mountain backdrop.

Ravenna is terraced into the arid foothills of the Rocky Mountains southwest of Denver, so most of the holes run north/south, though several offer elevated tee shots with 20-mile views up and down the Front Range. The property, which includes upscale homes, is challenging and the course is basically unwalkable for most golfers, but the views and several gambling strategic holes like the short par-4 seventh and par-5 15th with a second shot that must either lay up or carry a lake, keep things intriguing. The one-shot holes stand out, with three that must fly over over wooded ravines, not an easy task in a market full of fun, exiting par 3s. Located just north of one of the Denver market's original must-see courses, Arrowhead, routed through 100-foot tall red rock outcroppings, Ravenna was one of the first the late architect Jay Morrish designed after going separate ways with his former partner, the late Tom Weiskopf.

From Golf Digest Architecture Editor emeritus Ron Whitten:
 

I walked TPC Colorado with its architect, Art Schaupeter, during a Korn Ferry Tour event in 2019. The course is located north of Denver, south of Fort Collins, on highlands where the Great Plains intersects the Rocky Mountains. It's a layout serving a residential development called Heron Lakes and stretches along the east side of Lonetree Reservoir.

Art explained to me that back in 2004, he'd done Highland Meadows Golf Club in nearby Windsor, Colo. for developer John Turner, who then hired him to design this course. But the project got put on hold until 2015. Art had just dusted off his 10-year-old blueprints and started staking the course when Turner informed him that he'd contracted with the PGA Tour to license the course as part of the TPC network.

Schaupeter, a 1990 University of Colorado grad who worked for architect Keith Foster for eight years before forming his own design company in St. Louis, was pumped. This would be the first TPC course built in over a decade, and the challenge would be to make it playable for homeowners yet difficult for pros. 

Explore our complete review here—including bonus photography and ratings from our expert panelists.

Denver Country Club mirrors the experience of many urban courses. When the club moved to its current location in 1905, the property was rural prairie, on the outskirts south of what is now downtown Denver. The presence of the country club added prestige to this nascent suburb and influenced the decision of the moneyed class to move this directlon. As the city expanded it consumed the area surrounding the club and course, and today, located in the heart of Cherry Hills Village, it is enclosed by expensive homes, high rises, shops and restaurants. The course has been tinkered with relentlessly through the decades as the club was never quite settled on how the design, hazards and issues with Cherry Creek, running through the middle of the course, should be handled. It seems to have found some relative peace under the ongoing consultation of Gil Hanse and his team who have helped dial in the bunkering and course conditions, especially following a comprehensive 2012 renovation, though tree clearing and other adjustments continue. These include the construction of new green complexes at the par-3 7th and lengthened par-3 17th in 2020. There's a lot of golf packed into a small footprint here with the creek coming into play on a third of the holes, and Denver Country Club seems to have found the design recipe to match its priceless setting.

Set against the backdrop of the Colorado National Monument in Grand Junction, Redlands Mesa is a must-play for its topography alone. Rocky outcroppings line nearly every hole, and some tees play high above the fairway, providing scenic vistas of the surrounding lunar-like landscape. The Jim Engh design was formerly ranked on our list of 100 Greatest Public Courses, reaching as high as No. 17 from 2005-’08.

While the East course has hosted the majority of USGA championships played at Broadmoor, the West course got its chance when it hosted the 1967 U.S. Amateur, won by Robert Dickson over heralded lifelong amateur Vinny Giles. Compared to its sibling East course, the West plays tighter off the tee with more doglegs and steeply angled greens.

From Golf Digest Architecture Editor emeritus Ron Whitten:
 

It was once said, probably first about California's Monterey Peninsula, that great golf courses breed great golf courses. That's certainly true of the foothills of the Rockies a half hour south of Denver, where The Ridge at Castle Pines North sits almost immediately next door to Sanctuary Golf Club and just to the north of The Country Club at Castle Pines, which in turn is bordered on its south by famed Castle Pines Golf Club.

The Ridge, the only one of the four courses actually located in the town of Castle Pines (the others are in Castle Rock), is the only one of the four open for public play. (According to the city website, The Ridge is municipally owned, but privately managed by Troon Golf.)

I'm not saying The Ridge is as great a golf course as Sanctuary or Castle Pines, both of which have resided on Golf Digest's list of America's 100 Greatest, or even quite as good as the Country Club at Castle Pines, one of Jack Nicklaus' relatively hidden gems. The Ridge at Castle Pines has far too many panoramic views of rooftops and power poles to make it a great course, in my opinion, but architecturally its Tom Weiskopf design, a residential layout that loops along pine-dotted foothill ridges and across rocky foothill slopes, does provide playing qualities very similar to those experienced at the three private neighboring clubs.

Explore our complete review here—including bonus photography and ratings from our expert panelists.

The newest addition to Front Range golf, opened in 2022, is a prairie style course from former Arnold Palmer associate Harrison Minchew and playing professional Fred Funks that’s laced with rugged ravines and can be stretched to over 8,400 yards, an asset in the mile high air (and somewhat ironic given that Funk was a notoriously "short" driver of the ball). Part of a large resort development that will continue to improve as it matures, there are a number of attractive but heart-pounding all-carry shots over the arroyos, meaning golfers better come with their A-games.

Formerly known as Lakota Canyon Ranch, Lakota Links sits just off I-70 and offers stunning views of the surrounding mountains. Many greens are quite small, and others are segmented, each requiring quality approach play to get close. Formerly ranked on our 100 Greatest Public list, Lakota Links presents a lot of elevation change, including some drops of over 100 feet from tee to fairway.