Best New Private Course
Colorado Golf Club
Parker, Colo.
7,604 yards, par 72
coloradogolfclub.com
Architects Bill Coore and Ben
Crenshaw—the partnership behind
Sand Hills and Bandon Trails—were
handed a 1,700-acre former Arabian
horse ranch dusted with deep gullies,
meadows and clusters of tall pines. Not
a bad start, right? And they improved
on it. The fairways hew to the lay of the
land, and the artfully crafted, multitiered
greens ensure that a variety of
shotmaking skills are required to
navigate the challenges. After the 653-
yard downhill opening hole, the course
switches gears abruptly at the 154-yard
2nd, requiring a precise pitch over a
wash and a pot bunker to a tiny green
that rejects balls hit to the edges. Game
on. Brutal two-shot holes are balanced
by reachable, short par-4s; split-fairway,
thinking-man's par-5s mesh with the
occasional grip-it-and-rip-it test. The
result is a terrific medley of holes that
appear to have evolved rather than
been manufactured, a true expression
of least-disturbance design by two
of its finest practitioners.