Up for a Challenge

Keys to playing well on The Broadmoor’s East Course

The Broadmoor’s famed East Course has long vexed golf’s greats and amateur players alike. Its demanding layout, tight fairways, and challenging greens each present their own difficulties, but there are a few general tips for playing well on this beautiful mountain course.

Eyes On The Shrine

Players should narrow their focus to a specific spot—the 80-foot-high Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun on the flanks of Cheyenne Mountain. Putts tend to break away from the monument on nearly every green. “The main thing is keeping the ball on the other side of the flagstick from the monument,” says golf great Tom Watson.

Take A Measured Approach

Two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer described the East Course’s greens as “some of the most severe and punishing in the world.” Shoot for the front, rather than at or above the pin, to set yourself up for a more forgiving putt.

Ups And Downs

“Always keep the hole between your ball and the mountain,” says Director of Golf Russ Miller, “which will always ensure an uphill putt, even if it doesn’t appear to be uphill.”

.ESSENTIALS.

Golf At The Broadmoor

The Broadmoor features two world-renowned golf courses—the West Course and the famed East Course, where many USGA championships have been decided and a fully stocked golf shop with Callaway clubs, clothing, and available instruction. To book a tee time, schedule a lesson, or get more information, contact the Golf Pro Shop at (844) 794-6654.

A Legacy of Championship Golf

A short history of the eight USGA Championships contested at The Broadmoor.

1959 U.S. AMATEUR

A 19-year-old Jack Nicklaus defeated defending champion Charlie Coe, 1-up, on the East Course. The two went into the par-4 18th hole all square, with Coe’s birdie chip stopping an inch from the hole. Nicklaus then sank an eight-foot birdie, “the most important putt I ever made,” to kickstart his magnificent career.

1962 Curtis Cup Match

By a score of 8-1, Team USA trounced an inexperienced squad from Great Britain and Ireland, the second of 13 consecutive U.S. victories in the biennial event. Star teammates Barbara McIntire and future USGA President Judy Bell opened a store at The Broadmoor that year.

1967 U.S. AMATEUR

Competing in one of only eight U.S. Amatuers ever contested as stroke play, Bob Dickson edged Vinny Giles by one shot on the Robert Trent Jones-designed West Course to become the first and last golfer since Lawson Little in 1935 to capture the U.S. Amateur and British Amateur in the same year.

1982 U.S. WOMEN’S AMATEUR

Two-time defending champion Juli Inkster, an all-American from San Jose State, easily defeated Cathy Hanlon of SMU, 4 and 3, in the final on the Arnold Palmer-designed South Course. A member of nine Solheim Cup teams, Inkster won 31 LPGA Tour events on her way to the World Golf Hall of Fame.

1995 U.S. WOMEN’S

Open

The 50th edition of the championship marked the coming out party of Annika Sorenstam. Rallying from five shots down in the final round, the 24-year-old Swede came home in 2-under to notch the first of the 10 major victories and 72 official LPGA wins in her World Golf Hall of Fame career.

2008 U.S. SENIOR OPEN

An event remembered for a black bear clambering across the East Course on Friday saw a big cat lift the Ouimet Memorial Trophy on Sunday. Eduardo “El Gato” Romero of Argentina shot a smooth 6-under—one of only three players to finish in red numbers— to win his second senior major.

2011 U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN

The first U.S. Women’s Open course longer than 7,000 yards proved no problem for South Korean golfers So Yeon Ryu and Hee Kyung Seo, who finished tied after Ryu birdied the 72nd hole. Ryu also birdied the third playoff hole to win on Monday, as repeated weather delays pushed back the event.

2018 U.S. SENIOR OPEN

David Toms took practically all Sunday to separate himself from a logjam atop the leaderboard. Draining long putts on the 16th and 17th holes, the 2001 PGA Championship winner eked out a one-shot victory over Miguel Angel Jiménez, Jerry Kelly, and Tim Petrovic to claim his first senior victory.

potential birdie hole without changing 3 or 9, but if the par-70 setup remains, we’ll always have the excitement of 2018 champion David Toms’ 19-foot downhill par putt on the 71st hole.

Seeing green

The Broadmoor’s greens have always defended par with vexing reliability. Unlike many championship courses, however, these putting surfaces are not sped up for big events. “We always try to average about 10.8 to 11.2 on the Stimpmeter,” Dickman says. “Any faster and you can’t utilize all the best hole locations.” He also appreciates the 2025 event’s late June date. “In ’08, it was in August. When the temperature increases, the number of hole locations decreases.”

The stats bear him out. Players in the hotter 2008 U.S. Open averaged 31.43 putts per round, compared to 32.04 ten years later.

Dickman chuckles when asked about the “mountain effect” on putts. “They’ll probably show that shrine a hundred times on TV,” he says, referencing the Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun on Cheyenne Mountain, away from which putts mysteriously break. “It’s a visual thing. In comparison to the mountain, the course is flat, but it’s still up against the side of a mountain.” Comprised of about “50 to 70 strains of poa annua,” The Broadmoor greens get taken off growth regulators leading up to the Open, allowing Dickman and East Course superintendent Mike Sartori more flexibility to double-roll them. To ensure uniformity of speed, firmness, smoothness and trueness, The Broadmoor is one of the first courses in the country to use the GS3—a golf-ball-sized rechargeable device with sensors that collects more than 15,000 data points as it rolls along a green. The GS3 creates accurate, measurable agronomic benchmarks that Dickman and Sartori can use to make analytics-driven decisions.

Of course, humans need to execute those decisions. In addition to 60 members of the golf and grounds staffs, interns, and fellow superintendents will also help with everything from mowing and bunker fluffing to collecting the flags behind each day’s final group—and before a souvenir hunter does.