r/coloradogolf

Greens were crazy fast and course was pretty hard in general

Getting way up north here, Highland Meadows is still certainly a course worth getting out to. Playing a *little* closer to resort golf, in a wide fairways and big greens sort of sense, but with some interesting hole design and hazard placement it still protects itself and makes the golf interesting.

A lot of the par 4s are landing area asks. Clear a hazard, be short of one, carry bunkers on your line of choice, etc. On a day where you can't miss, it's fun as hell to execute, but on an off day it will punish your scorecard severely.

I think the front nine belies the back a little. After a pretty cool par 5 opening hole, the next stretch of holes is a little pedestrian. But once you get through that loop, the closing holes on the front and everything on the back is really interesting golf. While parts of the course wind through houses, it never feels like a course restrained by the suburban landscape. As if the houses just happen to exist in the same area.

Lots of forced carries make it a not-so-beginner-friendly track, something I learned taking my newbie buddy here for a pre-wedding round when we were up in Loveland.

The range and practice facilities are good, although kind of funny they're a stretch away from the clubhouse. Can't give proper thoughts on the clubhouse, food, or beer selection because I haven't spent enough time here yet, but it seemed nice enough.

Side note: Enjoying the predictions in the comments of what's coming / possible winners! I may run a little predictions bracket, survivor pool, or something else coming down to the final 16. We'll see.

50. Overland Park
51. Twin Peaks
52. Aurora Hills
53. Eagle Trace
54. Indian Tree
55. Flatirons
56. Kennedy
57. Broken Tee
58. Hyland Hills
59. Buffalo Run
60. Foothills
61. Spring Valley
62. Wellshire
63. Thorncreek
64. City Park
65. Mariana Butte
66. Meadows
67. Riverdale Knolls
68. Broadlands
69. Raccoon Creek
70. Coal Creek
71. Saddleback
72. Ute Creek
73. West Woods
74. Saddle Rock
75. Todd Creek
76. Arrowhead
77. Indian Peaks
78. South Suburban
79. Heritage Eagle Bend
80. Fossil Trace
81. Highlands Ranch
82. Highland Meadows
    …

I have counted and played 50 public 18-hole full length golf courses in the greater Denver area. These are my rankings, lowest to highest. While I try to take some amount of objectivity into my rankings, note that ultimately it is a personal list wherein I may value some aspects higher or lower than any other golfer. I have been loving the conversation on these posts, so feel free to agree or disagree and tell me why!

To qualify for the list, here are the (admittedly obtuse) rules:

• Must be an hour drive or less away (traffic not accounted for). Depending on what area of Denver you live in and what time you drive, results may vary.
• Must be public enough that one can book a tee time online. You will see some semi-private courses on this list, but all of them you can book a tee time for online. It rules out a few courses that are technically playable, but with hard-to-achieve tee times, like TPC Colorado.
• Must be 6,600 yards in length or longer. A silly cutoff, but has helped me rule out short and executive courses (and helps round the list into the nice “50” number).

Anyone else have bags from defunct local establishments?