By:
GOLF’s Course Raters and Ran Morrissett, Structure Editor
December 21, 2022
Ballyneal Golf and Hunt Membership in Holyoke, Colorado.
Channing Benjamin
As a part of GOLF’s course ranking course of for 2022-23, our fleet of 100-plus professional panelists recognized the most effective golf programs in Colorado. Browse the hyperlinks beneath to take a look at all of our course rankings, or scroll all the way down to see the most effective programs in Colorado.
GOLF’s different course rankings: High 100 Programs within the World | High 100 Programs within the U.S. | High 100 Programs You Can Play | High 100 Worth Programs within the U.S. | America’s Finest Municipal Programs | The 100 Finest Brief Programs within the World
SYMBOL GUIDE
1 = High 100 Course within the U.S.
P = Public/Resort Course
V = High 100 Worth Course within the U.S.
M = High 30 Municipal Course within the U.S.
Ed. word: Some programs have been omitted from our rankings as a result of they didn’t obtain sufficient votes.
The very best golf programs in Colorado (2022/2023)
1. Ballyneal (Holyoke) [1]
Founding a personal membership in a distant vacation spot is just not with out peril and it’s cheap to anticipate a membership to take some time discover its footing. Now nicely in its second decade, Ballyneal enjoys its most interesting taking part in circumstances since opening. Fescue fairways assist the ground-game choices flourish as balls launch throughout the rumpled floor. Typically on a Tom Doak course, the easiest way to get a ball near the opening requires each creativeness and creativity. That’s true in spades right here as gamers delight find inventive methods to make use of banks and punchbowl options.
2. Cherry Hills (Cherry Hills Village) [1]
Whereas a lot of William Flynn’s work is clustered round Philadelphia, this design stands out as one of many few he did west of the Mississippi River. When it opened within the early Twenties, Cherry Hills was a ground-breaking design that featured America’s first par-5 island inexperienced. After a decade-plus-long restoration with Renaissance Golf Design’s Eric Iverson, the course as soon as once more showcases Flynn’s penchant for well-placed hazards and subtly crafted greens that demand that you simply keep beneath the opening. Its ending stretch makes professional use of a lake in addition to a creek that winds via the property. Standout holes embody its 14th, seventeenth (that includes newly restored cross bunkers at two completely different junctures) and its well-known 18th the place it’s important to flirt with the lake to take pleasure in a degree stance in your lengthy, uphill strategy. Nevertheless, for pure attraction, the stretch of the par 5 fifth, par 3 sixth and par 4 seventh are arduous to beat and deserves to be higher recognized.
Cherry Hills Golf Membership.
3. Colorado GC (Parker)
4. Fortress Pines (Fortress Rock)
5. Broadmoor – East (Colorado Springs) [P]
6. Sanctuary (Sedalia)
7. CommonGround (Aurora) [P, V]
8. Riverdale Dunes (Brighton) [P]
9. RainDance Nationwide (Windsor) [P]
10. Frost Creek (Eagle)
The attractive Broadmoor.
Courtesy of the Broadmoor
How we rank our programs
For GOLF’s course rankings lists, every panelist is supplied an inventory of a whole lot of programs and “buckets,” or groupings. In the event that they consider the course to be among the many greatest in its class (World, U.S. Worth, and so on.), they examine the corresponding field to put it in a particular bucket. Panelists are additionally free to put in writing in programs they felt ought to have been included on the poll. Factors have been assigned to every bucket; to reach at a median rating for every course, we divide its mixture rating by the variety of votes. From these level tallies, the programs are then ranked accordingly.
The important thing to the method is the expertise and experience of our panel. Hailing from 15 nations and all of the worldwide golf meccas, every of our 115 handpicked panelists has a eager eye for structure, each regionally and globally. Lots of our panelists have performed greater than 1,000 programs in 20-plus nations.
As a result of we don’t prescribe a set technique to evaluate programs as different ranks do, nobody opinion carries the day — our rank is a democracy. Some panelists consider that enjoyment is the final word aim, and thus prioritize design attributes akin to width and taking part in angles, whereas frowning on upon having to consistently hunt for balls in thick tough. Different panelists worth problem and the calls for of hitting each membership within the bag. Nonetheless others take into account a course’s environment and total setting of paramount significance, thereby emphasizing the setting and naturalness of the course. In the long run, permitting raters to freely specific their tastes is what produces the specified eclecticism in our High 100 lists.
Panelist integrity is significant. Voters with any ties or associations to eligible programs should flag such conflicts. Panelists additionally know to not let the standard of their play affect their poll — similar for a luxe expertise or clubhouse. Whereas opulence could make for a extra a memorable outing, it’s not what GOLF’s course lists are about. Our focus is on design and structure. We examine the course, not the trimmings round it.
Need assistance unriddling the greens at your private home course? Decide up a customized Inexperienced Ebook from 8AM Golf affiliate GolfLogix.