Colorado AvidGolfer Magazine June 2023

Teeing It High &

Trumark is delighted to be in Colorado. With over three decades of experience in homebuilding and masterplan community development, Trumark Homes couldn’t be happier to tee it up at RainDance National, Pelican Shores, and soon at a new golf course community in Douglas County. Please

CONTENTS

DEPARTMENTS

08 Forethoughts

Why we play the game

By Jim Bebbington

12 The CGA

The Colorado Golf Association supports caddies as they try to learn the craft and gain skills to use later in life.

17 The Gallery

The Inspirato Colorado Women’s Open; Colorado’s Wyndham Clark wins big; a new golf event center; a Denver Realtor wins long-drive competitions; new course, Bella Ridge, planned for Johnstown.

88 Blind Shot

What our fathers teach us.

51

It’s The Ladies’ Turn

The U.S. Women’s Open visits Pebble Beach for the first time in July. By Tom Mackin

75

How Do You Get a Tee Time?

What are some tricks to play our best courses? By Jim Bebbington 80

Growing The Game

Denver attorney Molly Greenblatt is the Robert M. Kirchner Award By Jim Bebbington

84 Round ‘Em Up

Dream Golf is coming to Colorado for their Rodeo Dunes project. By Jon Rizzi

SECTION

55

Colorado Getaways

The best of Steamboat, Colorado Springs, Grand County, Red Finger Lakes and other hot summer spots. By Todd Hartley

PLAYER’S CORNER

25 Father’s

Day

What are the best gifts for the golfing new father?

By Suzanne S. Brown

31 A Pin And Ace Up Their Sleeve

Local golf supplier Pins and Aces readies their first large-scale retail location.

By Suzanne S. Brown

35 Pelican Lakes

The Weld County course uses lakes and reservoirs to give players a water-front experience rare between the coasts.

By Jim Bebbington

SIDE BETS

40 Fareways

Remember in the 1970s when distillers couldn’t give bourbon away? Neither do they. Dozens of Colorado distillers are rushing to meet huge demand.

18

/// ON THE COVER

Wyndham Clark grew up in Highlands Ranch, won state and college titles, and then struggled through five years of what-ifs and near misses on the PGA Tour. Until May. His first victory on the Tour could break the dam open for more. Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

By John Lehndorff

46 Nice Drives

Two great rides from Ford and Audi and the groundbreaking Lucid Air. By Isaac

Bouchard

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JUNE 2023 | VOLUME 22, NUMBER 3

coloradoavidgolfer.com

PRESIDENT & GROUP PUBLISHER

ALLEN J. WALTERS

CONTENT DIRECTOR

JIM BEBBINGTON

SALES, MARKETING & ADVERTISING

associate publisher

CHRIS PHILLIPS

vp of sales & marketing

LORI PERRY

digital marketing manager / content strategist

BRANDON KUSEK

business manager

KARI L. JOHNSON

golf passport & special events manager

MICHAEL T. COLANDER

ART & EDITORIAL

art director

D.T. CAREL

art director , avidlifestyle

BRENNA FARRELL

editor -at- large

TOM FERRELL

automotive editor

ISAAC BOUCHARD

style editor

SUZANNE S. BROWN

contributors

SAM ADAMS, ANDY BIGFORD, E.J. CARR, CLARKSON CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY, ANTHONY COTTON, TONY DEAR, DENNY DRESSMAN, SUE DRINKER, DICK DURRANCE, CHRIS DUTHIE, SCOTT GARDNER, GARO PRODUCTIONS, TED JOHNSON, JOHN LEHNDORFF, TOM MACKIN, KIM MCHUGH, CHRIS WHEELER

CHERRY CREEK COUNTRY CLUB

OCTOBER 9, 2023

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Entry fee includes your golf, cart, a meal and contests like hole-in-one, closest to the pin and longest drive. Enjoy these golf courses, clubhouses, cuisine and private atmosphere.

Colorado AvidGolfer (ISSN 1548-4335) is published eight times a year by Baker-Colorado Publishing, LLC, and printed by Publication Printers Corp. 9350 E. Arapahoe Road #210, Greenwood Village, CO 80112. Colorado AvidGolfer is available at more than 250 locations, or you can order your personal subscription by calling 720-493-1729. Subscriptions are available at the rate of $17.95 per year. Copyright © 2023 by Baker-Colorado Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. Postmaster: Send address changes to Colorado AvidGolfer, 9350 E. Arapahoe Road #210, Greenwood Village, CO 80112.

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Why We Play the Game

A ROUND OF GOLF is 1,000 special moments. Some you share with buddies, some with strangers, and some are yours alone.

We seek those moments when we tee up. A friend plays with a foursome who celebrate everyone’s birdies with shots from flasks. The birdie-shot celebration is a very important moment!

Last summer I watched a mom walk with her pudgy tween son onto the driving range at Broadlands Golf Course in Broomfield. It was junior high golf team tryout day, and the boy had a driver, a putter and one or two other clubs in a bag. Young boys lined the range - polo shirt collars up - hitting crisp irons with grooved swings. Mom and son looked bewildered. But he was there, and she was right there for him. I am rooting for him, and hope he sticks with it. The game of golf has a special moment waiting for him.

I was paired for 9 holes at City Park last year with a three-some of rock musicians - tatted arms flexing and faces still tired from recent gigs. They were all over the course; they also took the round very seriously. We had to play from the tips, because they said that was important to them.

As I begin my time as content director for Colorado AvidGolfer, I inherit a brand that for more than 20 years has shared the stories of thousands of special moments like those. In this month’s edition – and in the ones ahead – it is my job to make sure you will see yourselves, your partners, your children and the courses you love or would love to play.

Being a golfer is a little like how Bruce Springsteen describes being a musician. You don’t work music, he says; you play music.

We play golf.

In this edition you will meet Molly Greenblatt. She is a Denver attorney who found herself installed as the chair of the Colorado Open Golf Foundation board for what she thought would be a two-year term. Then Covid hit. Four years later, she had helped the organization acquire a new title sponsor – the Denver-based luxury travel provider Inspirato – for their

She had made the tournament series unique in the country by advocating women and men winners get the same purse. And she helped lead the board through Covid protocols at a time when other state organizations suspended their tournaments.

You’ll also see fantastic photographs by John Leyba, a 30+ year photojournalist. I felt lucky to watch John work with Molly on a Sunday afternoon at Green Valley Ranch as he made it possible for us to tell her story in words and images.

Food writer John Lehndorff highlights why Centennial State bourbon is putting Kentucky and Tennessee on notice.

And Suzanne S. Brown introduces you to a local success story – Pins And Aces – that is growing. The company is part of the new wave of golf merchandise, bringing bold design to functional tools and clothes for the game. And they’re doing it from their new space in Arvada.

The game of golf can seem relaxing, frustrating, competitive, exhilarating, churlish and insubordinate. We never know what we’ll get when we start a round, or what is in store years later when we introduce someone to the game. That is why the special moments are so special.

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Todd Creek: As Low As $50

CGA and ACE Scholarships Team Up to Change Lives

In 2012, when the Colorado Golf Association launched the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy (SCLA) at CommonGround Golf Course, we needed help. One of the primary objectives of the SCLA was to strengthen the pool of candidates for

Golf Course architect, Tom Doak, is that golf is a walking game. The routing and placement of features of CommonGround were done to make it a walker-friendly experience. This approach helped make CommonGround Golf Course an ideal course to create a caddie program.

The next challenge was finding the right kids who had the financial need and academic drive to qualify for the Evans Scholarship. Enter, ACE Scholarships. The mission of ACE Scholarships, a non-profit founded in 2000, was almost too good to be true—to provide children of low-income families with scholarships to private schools in grades K-12. Linking up the CGA and ACE is like teaming up Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods — when both were in their prime!

Starting in 2012 the CGA and ACE rolled up their sleeves and went to work. ACE opened its doors to the CGA and helped make its scholarship recipients and their families aware of the life-changing opportunity of an Evans Scholarship. ACE quickly became the CGA’s number-one source to recruit eight and ninth graders for the SCLA. The results?

Since its inception in 2012, the SCLA has helped qualify over 40 student-caddies for the Evans Scholarship. Conservatively valued at $120,000 per scholarship that is nearly $5 million in college scholarships.

But that is only part of the story. The Evans Scholarship is so much more than a financial re -

ward. All Evans Scholars live together in the Evans Chapter House at 1029 Broadway in Boulder. The former Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity House now houses 55 Evans Scholars, young men and women from an array of diverse backgrounds. The Evans House is a community where former caddies share the “common ground” of pursuing their dream of a college education.

One of the latest to earn this “full walk” to college is Ellie Rodriguez—a senior at Mullen High School and ACE Scholarship recipient. Ellie began caddying at CommonGround in 2019. Over the next four summers, Ellie completed more than 100 “loops” (rounds), and maintained a near-perfect 4.0 GPA, all while participating in an array of extracurricular activities that would make your head spin.

“Receiving the Evans Scholarship is absolutely incredible,” Ellie reflected recently. “My parents worked so hard to put me and my brother on a path to achieve our dreams, and this is my way of thanking them. College is so expensive. Thanks to the Evans Scholarship, the Solich program and ACE I can say to my parents—‘I’ve got it from here.’”

The BMW Certified Program is designed to take all the guesswork out of buying a pre-owned BMWwhich means only the best-of-the-best get approved by us.

Before a pre-owned BMW can receive the distinction of being Certified, it has to go through a detailed 360° vehicle inspection, get reconditioned and approved by our trained technicians who know it bestbecause who’s doing the certification really matters. We inspect every vehicle for safety, performance, and wear - all the way down to the subtle details. If it can’t be fixed to our high standards, it can’t be Certified.

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The Hangar Club – A Golf Event Space on Another Level

Anew golf course is coming to the Lowry Neighborhood of Denver - on the second floor of a former Air Force hangar used to train bombardiers.

Workers this month are putting the finishing touches on latest new project called ‘The Hangar.’

The facility is part golf bar, part event space, and part something else entirely. It is enormous. With 10 of the newest TrackMan 4 simulator systems, The Hangar will allow customers to hit into the largest screens available - 180 square feet. Ceilings that were raised to accommodate aircraft tail-fins soar high overhead.

It is the first such effort by the developers, led by James Love, a former member of the Canada PGA, and Daren Schmidt , one of the principals of Allante Properties in Denver. Some small gatherings are planned for a soft-open in June, with the wheels leaving the tarmac full-throttle the first week of July.

The building has quite the history. First built as a World War II-era Air Force training hangar on Lowry Air Force Base, the building was used to train bombardiers during the war. It was decommissioned in 1994 when the Department of

Defense shuttered the base. Schmidt’s father, Darell, took his oath and was inducted into the Air Force Academy in the building; Schmidt still has the photo of his father shaking hands with the base commander.

The building was among the first to get re-purposed as part of the Lowry Redevelopment Corporation’s work to transform the neighborhood; it became a manufacturing facility for Netflix DVD’s for nearly 20 years as a neighborhood of 25,000 grew up around it.

Then that work went away in 2020, and the building became available - large, heavily over-engineered exposed girders, and a second-floor installed for manufacturing that effectively doubled the square-footage.

“It will be a premier indoor golf facility with the opportunity to host the events and bring the community together in a historic building that was under-utilized for 20 years,” Schmidt said.

The project began when Love approached Schmidt with the idea of opening a small indoor golf facility - maybe one or two bays. Schmidt said they immediately began dreaming bigger. He thought about the empty building he kept riding past on his bike.

“Then we walked in here and James said ‘Oh man, we’re going to buy this building, aren’t we,” Schmidt recalled.

Love grew up in Canada, played at Denver University for four years, then played professionally for 12 years through the PGA of Canada.

After his second daughter was born in 2019 he began looking for a new opportunity that would avoid the 30-plus weeks of travel that is required of a touring pro. He was at first just looking for

backers for a nice, little golf training facility and bar. “Things changed pretty quickly when we walked into this space; it lends itself to something much bigger than we had been planning on,” he said.

With an enormous, two-story opportunity - and the second floor filled with natural light from the massive windows - the team made a fascinating choice. The first floor is being converted into an indoor parking garage - covered parking for the winter season and special entry-ways for private events and parties.

The second-story is where the fun will be. The 10 enormous hitting bays are arrayed on both sides of the central space. On the backs of those bays are lounges, with big-screen TVs and those massive windows. In the middle will be the bar and food options.

The Hangar is going to be available for total or partial rental. The club is also selling memberships with an array of features available only to members. Then beginning in early July the public can book time on the simulators and play the video equivalent of some of the best courses in the world.

What you need to know:

What’s the Big Deal?

The Hangar, a new golf event and social space, featuring 10 enormous golf simulator bays, hopes to open in early July.

Where is it?

7600 E. First Place, Denver - Lowry Neighborhood

I’m intrigued; where can I find out more? hangarclub.co

DAREN SCHMIDT JAMES LOVE

A Great Wyndfall

For the last five years on the PGA Tour, Highlands Ranch native Wyndham Clark has been so close, so many times. He was the 54-hole co-leader in the 2019 Honda Classic - but finished tied for seventh place. Before the PGA Tour’s Wells Fargo Classic in May, Clark had 14 top 10 finishes.

If any small thing went wrong on a Sunday, he has said, that usually meant the beginning of a slide down the leader board.

That all ended May 7 in North Carolina. The Saturday leader of the Wells Fargo Championship, Clark bogeyed the first hole and quickly saw a 2-stroke lead evaporate. He and Xander Schauffele were tied.

“...to be honest, when I lost in - where were we, in the Dominican this year - I was beginning to think that maybe I’ll never win,” Clark told the PGA’s Amanda Herrington. “I know that sounds crazy because I’ve only been out here five years, but I had a lot of chances to where I was within two or three shots either going into the back nine or starting on a Sunday and I always seem to fall short, and not only that, but seem like I fell back in positions.”

But this time Clark steadied his ship. He said he played conservatively in order to make Schauffele have to make the big play. Clark played that way all the way to 18, where he found himself four shots ahead.

“Yeah, I really walked up the fairway and I tried to do as good a job as possible to stay in the present but also look around and keep my head up and look at the sight and having all those people there,” he said. “You only can win your first tournament once, so I was really trying to soak it all in.”

His victory granted him a two-year exemption on the Tour, access to this year’s Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, and earned him $3.6 million.

“Honestly, it’s really, it’s surreal,” he said. “I’ve dreamt about this since I was probably 6 years old. Since I’ve been on the PGA Tour, you fantasize about it all the time, and I’ve done it multiple times this year where I catch

myself daydreaming about winning, and to do it at this golf course against this competition is better than I could ever have imagined.”

After the win, he talked about his mother - Lise Thevenet Clark - who died in 2013 when Clark was 19.

“My mom got me into golf, like she’s the first one that took me to the golf course,” he said. “She was not a golfer, so outside of after getting me into golf, she didn’t do much as far as golf. She was always my, kind of my rock in my life. Even in junior golf there’s times when you’re so mad and you feel like you should have done better or you’re embarrassed with how you played, or other sports, she was always there to comfort me.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE PGA

PHOTO: AVIDGOLFER ARCHIVES

WYNDHAM CLARK

WYNDHAM CLARK, EARLY IN HIS PRO CAREER, IN PROMOTIONAL PHOTO FOR PXG GOLF

Denver-area Realtor Monica Lieving is one of the hottest acts in the world of long-drive competitions.

Lieving, 25, has won the first two long-drive competitions held this year by the World Long Drive Tour. In April Lieving won the World Long Drive Hobe Sound competition in Florida with a drive of 331 yards in the finals. Lieving made it to the finals by winning her quarterfinal competition on her very last drive, a 324-yard hit.

Lieving won the tour’s first competition of 2023 as well, winning a competition in March in Mesquite, Nev., with a winning drive of 362 yards.

The two wins have made her the No. 2 ranked competitor on the women’s division of the Tour, behind No. 1 ranked player Devon Casazza of Scottsdale, Arizona.

Lieving began golfing at the age of 12 in her home state of Illinois. She said her driving was

quickly a strong suit, and she won one long-drive hole during a match in high school. But she did not think about competing as she golfed four years for Arkansas State University, then took a job after college in Denver with Lockheed Martin. After switching to a career as a Realtor, Lieving was playing a round of golf with friends from her former job when she drove the green on a par 4.

“A guy on neighboring tee - Andrew Eigner, a pro long driver - saw me and came over and asked ‘Do you always hit it that far?’” she said. He encouraged her to meet him at a TrackMan facility to test her swing speed. “We met three months later and I hadn’t swung since that day. That day I got up to 168 mph. He said ‘I don’t think you know this but you can compete against the best women in the world.’ “

Lieving competed in 2022, winning one tournament, before starting out this year 2-for-2. She is

Denver Realtor Nearing Top of Long-Drive World Inspirato Colorado Women’s Open Ready for Strong Field

The field for the 2023 Inspirato Colorado Women’s Open features past-champions and other top pros and amateurs.

The women’s tournament, June 14 to 16 at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in northeast Denver, is attracting world-class golfers thanks inpart to the prize money offered.

Both the Inspirato men’s and women’s Colorado Open’s are the highest paying state open tournaments in the country. Each has a $250,000 total prize package with the winners receiving $100,000 each.

Three past champions - Savannah Vilaubi, Clariss Guce and Becca Huffer - have signed up for this year’s women’s open.

Guce, from Artesia, Calif., won last year’s tournament with a tournament score of 14-under.

Huffer won in 2013 and 2019, and is playing on the Epson Tour this year.

Vilaubi won the Epson Tour’s Copper Rock Championship earlier this year.

Also planning to compete are Gerina Mendoza, a three-time member of the Solheim Cup Team, as well as two-time U.S. Women’s

Amateur champion Kristen Gillman. Mendoza, from Roswell, N.M., finished tied for 14th in last year’s tournament.

Other Epson Tour pros expected include Daniela Iacobelli , Alyaa Abdulghany, Haley Moore and Jillian Hollis. Colordado Golf Hall of Fame member Jill McGill is signed up.

“Overall our field is as strong or stronger than last year,” said Kevin Laura, president of the Golf Club at Green Valley Ranch. “The biggest difference is we had to move our dates because of US Women’s Open in July. We moved ours two week later than usual because we wanted to be opposite an open week in Epson Tour.”

The tournament is likely to move back in 2024 to the first week in June, Laura said.

The men’s tournament, also at GVR, is scheduled for July 20 to 23. Last year’s tournament was won by Wil Adams of Albuquerque with a score of 23-under. The third-leg of the Inspirato series, the Colorado Senior Open, is Aug. 23 to 25 at Green Valley. It was won in 2022 by Guy Boros of Ft. Lauderdale, the son of the threetime PGA majors winner Julius Boros. Guy Boros shot 15-under to win by one stroke.

scheduled to compete again June 9 through 11 at Colorado’s Big Foot Turf Farm in Lasalle.

“I like it for so many reasons,” she said. “It provides a competitive outlet for me. I’m very competitive. I’ve never felt adrenaline like me in my life. People are cheering, there’s loud music. You have to hit it in the grid that’s 25 to 40 yards wide. I just want to keep going. You can’t win them all but I might as well try.”

MONICA LIEVING

PHOTO BY DANE CARLSON WITH WEDGE GOLF CO PHOTO: AVIDGOLFER ARCHIVES

SAVANNAH VILAUBI

Bella Ridge: From Dairy to Drives

Anew course on an old daiy farm has been proposed for Weld County.

The Podtburg family, long-time dairy operators in the area, are developing an 18-hole course on land one-mile east of Interstate 25 near the towns of Johnstown and Mead. It will be dubbed Bella Ridge, and the course will be managed by Troon Golf, according to course architect Art Schaupeter.

Schaupeter, who is based in St. Louis, has experience in the region. He designed the TPC Colorado course in Berthoud, which will host the mid-July Korn Ferry tournament The Ascendent Presented by Blue. He also designed Highland Meadows in Windsor.

Schaupeter said Bella Ridge will continue his design style of creating experiences that give golfers options. A preliminary design for hole No. 17 shows it has three different paths golfers can take depending on their ability and comfort with risk.

“Typical of my design philosophy and how the entire course will play – put the golf in the golfer’s hands and let them decide what they want to do

on each shot,” Schaupeter said.

Construction is expected to begin this summer and the operation is looking to have practice facilities ready for a soft opening fall 2024 and the course open in 2025.

Schaupeter said the course is intended to be an anchor for new residential development and that the Podtburg family is committed to doing things the right way.

“The family was focused on creating a great golf course with the development used to support the effort, not the other way around,” he said. “As a result, and partly due to the nature/quality of the site, golfers will experience a core golf course with

minimal housing impact. The housing parcels are all elevated above the golf holes creating a nice, natural separation between the two. Golfers won’t feel like they are playing through backyards and the homeowners are going to have wonderful views looking across the golf holes with strong distant views to the west, north and east. Will be a “win/win” for both golfers and homeowners.”

The holes will be designed to enable players to fit in rounds of 6-holes, 3-holes as well as the traditional 9 and 18.

“There will be a lot of options for players to partake depending upon their time,” Schaupeter said.

DESIGN FOR HOLE 17 AT BELLA RIDGE GOLF COURSE

IMAGE COURTESY OF BELLA RIDGE GOLF COURSE

THE SEAMLESS PLATFORM FOR PRIVATE CHEF DINING

Gifts for Modern Dads

By Suzanne S. Brown

Clothes and gear let him reveal his personality

01. GET A GRIP

Denverite Zach Fanch and his dad like to go on golf trips. During one outing, the clubs they rented had worn grips. It gave Zach the idea to start manufacturing grips that combine function and style. Made of lightweight polyurethane rubber, Grips are available for irons, drivers and putters, $15-$30, and in sets. The top-selling grip is in a bee motif, and other favorites include plaids and palm trees, tropical fruits and flags. stingergrips.com

Player’s Corner Style

Player’s Corner Style

02. LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

Boys want to dress like Dad for a day on the links, so Littletonbased Chuco Golf offers polos in matching prints, such as the T-Rex, sized in small through triple extra-large for men, $70, and boys size small through double extra-large, $35. The designs come in moisture-wicking polyester fabric that is anti-microbial and stretchy. chucogolf.com

03.

TUNE IN

Guys who would rather listen their favorite music on the golf course than bird song or the occasional “FORE!” will love Bushmen’s Wingman Mini GPS Speaker. It attaches to the golf cart with a powerful magnet or to your bag with a carabiner clip. Among its many features is water resistance and a 10-hour battery life, $100. bushnellgolf.com

04.

FEET FIRST

Cool dads want golf shoes that can pass for sneakers as well as perform on the fairways.

Biom C4 not only looks stylish, it is breathable and waterproof. With a stretchy mesh sock and grippy outsoles, the C4 has removable insoles and is offered in five colorways, $250. us.ecco.com

THE U.S. AMATEUR

is the oldest USGA championship in golf having been created in 1895 and won by the greats: Palmer, Nicklaus, Woods and many others. Many legends of golf credit the U.S. Amateur as a “turning point” or stepping stone in their careers.

PLAYERS UP CLOSE

Unlike other Championships, the U.S. Amateur has no grandstands. Fans get to walk side by side the competitors and see each shot up close as they cheer for their favorite player.

JUNIOR GOLF EXPERIENCE

An added addition at Cherry Hills will be a Junior Golf Experience where youth can come into a pavilion and challenge themselves to a long putt contest, try out a golf simulator and learn about sustainability and golf. There will also be opportunities for youth to be exposed to all that golf can offer them through scholarships, job opportunities and life lessons.

BE PART OF THE ACTION

Cherry Hills and Colorado Golf Club look forward to welcoming the community as we dwindle from 312 players to 2 and crown our champion in 2023. We can’t wait to welcome you. For tickets and information, please go to chcc.com.

05. TEEING UP FUN

Club headcovers and accessories add personality to a golf game. Dads with a sense of humor will love covers from Pins & Aces in such motifs as Sasquatch or sugar skulls, state flags and boxing gloves. The Arvada-based company also offers ball markers, towels, hats, gloves, apparel, golf bags and more, priced from $15-$200. pinsandaces.com

06. HAT TIP

Golfers love showing their support for favorite teams - from college to professional sports - in their on-course attire. They also appreciate a little luck when playing and Black Clover extensive array of headwear with its signature four-leaf clover logo and symbols for teams as the University of Colorado Buffaloes and the Colorado State University Rams, $38. blackcloverusa.com

Player’s Corner Style

SEE MORE GREAT PRODUCTS FROM PINS & ACES ON PAGE 31!

Suzanne S. Brown is the former fashion editor at The Denver Post

GOLF HISTORY

JOIN US!

123RD U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

AUGUST 14-20, 2023

JOIN US!

CHERRY HILLS COUNTRY CLUB | CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, COLO.

123RD U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

COLORADO GOLF CLUB | PARKER, COLO.

AUGUST 14-20, 2023

CHERRY HILLS COUNTRY CLUB | CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, COLO.

COLORADO GOLF CLUB | PARKER, COLO.

To volunteer, purchase tickets or learn more about the upcoming U.S. Amateur, please scan the QR code with your smart phone.

We can’t wait to see you there!

To volunteer, purchase tickets or learn more about the upcoming U.S. Amateur, please scan the QR code with your smart phone.

We can’t wait to see you there!

By Suzanne S. Brown

Scoring A New Location

Pins & Aces expands, opens retail outlet

When Pins & Aces gets settled into its new 16,000-square-foot distribution center and retail space in Arvada this month, it will have tripled in size. That growth signals a major expansion for this Colorado golf accessory and apparel company from its beginnings as an e-commerce site in 2019.

Founder and owner Nicklaus Mertz is a Colorado State University business graduate who, along with partners John Major and Alex Bard, saw a need in the business for golf club headcovers and other products that stand out rather than blend in.

“I bought a Callaway Epic driver a few years back and the headcover was so ugly, I started looking around,”

Mertz says. “I like clothes and accessories, and the covers I saw were expensive and not worth the money.”

With experience in the apparel industry stemming from a company he started while in college, Mertz began exploring how to manufacture his own designs in bright colors and offbeat patterns like dancing flamingos, clowns and icons ranging from Abe Lincoln to the Joker. Ball markers are in the shape of crackers, emojis and marijuana leaves, among dozens of designs. They added clothing for men and women in 2020 and the golf hoodie is currently a hot item. Pins & Aces has been savvy about limited edition collection for holidays like Cinco de Mayo and collaborations with pop culture characters from TV’s “South

Player’s Corner Style

PINS & ACES

APPAREL INCLUDES SHIRTS WITH DENSE, COLORFUL PATTERNS

PINS & ACES PUTTER COVER

Park” to musician Jimmy Buffett.

The company logo - an ace of spades with a golf pin at its center - is popular as well.

The typical customer for Pins & Aces, Mertz says, is “a weekend golfer who wants to have a good time. He’s not so worried about his score and he’s probably drinking.” Among the best sellers is a beer sleeve, $24.95, which keeps beverages cold and fits into a club slot in a golf bag. While the original intent was for the sleeve to be snuck onto a golf course, pro shops around the country now sell the sleeves with their club logos on them. “We originally thought the courses would hate them, but ironically, 600 pro shops around the country sell them,” Mertz says.

A surprise for Mertz is that the brand is taking off in Japan and South Korea. “There’s an affinity for American brands like ours in the Asian market and we’re going to be opening stores there,” Mertz says. He says he has learned “if you build a strong brand with high-quality products, there is a demand.”

With 27 employees and annual sales of $12-$15 million, Pins & Aces is expanding its presence in the professional golf world. It is supplying custom covers, polos, hoodies and beanies for the Korn Ferry Tour stop the Ascendant to be played July 10-16 at TPC Colorado. The company also has a charitable side and is sponsoring a tournament June 5 at Fox Hill Club in Longmont to raise money for the Children’s Hospital neonatal intensive care unit. In April of 2022, Mertz’ baby girl twin spent 10 days in the NICU and he and his wife are grateful to the hospital and staff who cared for the infant.

While 75 percent of the company’s business is done online, Mertz says he regularly gets requests for a retail space for people to visit and see all of its products. The public will be able to do that soon in the new space’s 800-square foot retail shop, which will also serve as a spot to test merchandise displays for stores and clubs.

WILD DESIGNS: The company began because of a hunt for clubhead covers that allowed players to express themselves.

PINS & ACES SHIRTS IN MEN’S AND WOMEN’S STYLES

PINS & ACES HOODIES ARE AMONG TOP SELLERS

ACES

Suzanne S. Brown is the former fashion editor at The Denver Post.

Player’s Corner

By Jim Bebbington

Water Valley Courses Ready for Company

Pelican Lakes and Raindance offer a taste of what is to come in Northeast Colorado

With two new golf course developments announced for the prairie lands of northeast Colorado, the courses that are already up there could be excused if they felt a tad unappreciated. Not So.

“The more the merrier,” said Kurt Hinkle, director of communications for the Water Valley Company. The Water Valley folks – it is owned by developer Martin Lind, who also owns the Colorado Eagles minor league hockey team - entered the frey between Denver and Fort Collins in 1999 with Pelican Lakes Resort and Golf Club.

Clustered around the ponds and reservoirs that feed drinking water to Weld County, the course created a lakefront golf experience that would not be out of place in the Ozarks.

Then last year they doubled-down by opening the longest 18-hole tract in North America – Raindance National Resort near Windsor. The course offers six tee boxes for all manner of normal homo sapiens, but for those who flew in from Krypton as a baby their tips measure out at 8,463 yards.

The 713-yard second hole is just one way it separates the wheat from the chaff.

“The second hole from the back is a 300-yard carry,” Hinkle notes.

That typically is all the mortals need – and most march humbly but wiser up to the more forward tees.

Plans for the region now call for Rodeo Dunes – a project by the Bandon Dunes family of Dream Golf – to break ground near Roggen later this year on land that could ultimately support up to six courses.

Also recently announced - architect Art Schaupeter, Troon Golf and a long-standing Weld County dairy family, the Podtburgs, are developing Bella Ridge, an 18-hole course onemile off Interstate 25 near Johnstown and Mead.

The region legitimately has the makings of an epic golf-week destination. As players arrive to play TPC Colorado or Raindance or Ballyneal Golf and Hunt Club on the state’s eastern edge, they will have Rodeo Dunes, Pelican Lakes and other options to fill out their scorecard.

The drive from Ballyneal, through Roggen and

on to Windsor for Raindance will clock at a little more than three hours. That’s not much more than, say, the drive from Muirfield, through St. Andrews, and on up the Scottish coast to Carnoustie.

“I think it’s a compliment,” Hinkle said. “It just means that golf is strong. Our course helps their course and vice versa.”

For Pelican Lakes and Raindance, Water Valley created a bundled membership offering where joining the two courses together offers 45-holes of golf options. That is now their largest category of members, Hinkle said.

They have even tweaked Raindance a smidge this season to make the No. 13 hole more palatable. It played last summer with the typical land -

ing zone off the tee pitching balls either right or left. This year the mowers widened the fairway just at that spot, giving players a better chance of hitting two from a fairway.

So as the new courses come online between now and 2025, Hinkle says Water Valley is happy to wet people’s whistle for the bountiful options to come.

“There wasn’t any new excitement up here (for awhile) so it’s been nice to see the new projects,” Hinkle said. “It just helps grow the sport up here .”

Jim Bebbington is the Content Director at Colorado AvidGolfer

PELICAN LAKES

Saturday, August 5th, 2023 6:00 - 9:30 PM

An AvidLifestyle and Colorado AvidGolfer Signature Event

Presented by Quantum Resistant Ledger

You don’t want to miss this unforgettable evening benefiting local children’s charity Bags of Fun. Wheels of Dreams is a charity fundraiser that raises awareness and financial support to help provide Bags of Fun to kids fighting long-term and life-threatening illnesses.

www.coloradoavidgolfer.com/events/wheels-of-dreams

The Evening at a Glance

The Evening at a Glance

You’ll be valeted to the Vehicle Vault: stroll through a highly curated private collection of vintage and exotic automobiles valued over $20 million, mingle amongst exquisitely mix and mingle amongst exquisitely decorated lounges from Howard Lorton Furniture and Design, Colorado Style Home Furnishings and more, be entertained by a professional aerialist, food stations with live chefs from INTUEAT, enjoy open bars throughout and an unplugged, intimate performance by Sean Kelly of The Samples, artist presentations with Colorado Artist –James Holmes, state-of-the-art golf simulator from Optimum Golf and today’s hottest luxury cars and more!

You’ll be valeted to the Vehicle Vault: stroll through a highly curated private collection of vintage and exotic automobiles valued over $20 million, mingle amongst exquisitely mix and mingle amongst exquisitely decorated lounges from Howard Lorton Furniture and Design, Colorado Style Home Furnishings and more, be entertained by a professional aerialist, food stations with live chefs from INTUEAT, enjoy open bars throughout and an unplugged, intimate performance by Sean Kelly of The Samples, artist presentations with Colorado Artist –James Holmes, state-of-the-art golf simulator from Optimum Golf and today’s hottest luxury cars and more!

Toast the Night

Toast the Night

Guests will enjoy amazing cocktails and the mouth-watering tastes and sophisticated flavor of decadence at seven culinary action stations! From sushi to tomahawk steaks and fresh Colorado produce sizzling away on Mountain High Appliance’s luxury grill to the creative recipes of Pint’s Peak Ice Cream and The Donut, while the Personal Chefs from INTUEAT will deliver a Culinary Experience worth remembering! Fresh-shucked oysters from Blue Island Oyster Bar and Seafood, Charcuterie with Ornery Olive, and the infamous Colorado Mountain Crust of Beau Jo’s Pizza round out an evening of food and fun that won’t soon be forgotten!

Guests will enjoy amazing cocktails and the mouth-watering tastes and sophisticated flavor of decadence at seven culinary action stations! From sushi to tomahawk steaks and fresh Colorado produce sizzling away on Mountain High Appliance’s luxury grill to the creative recipes of Pint’s Peak Ice Cream and The Donut, while the Personal Chefs from INTUEAT will deliver a Culinary Experience worth remembering! Fresh-shucked oysters from Blue Island Oyster Bar and Seafood, Charcuterie with Ornery Olive, and the infamous Colorado Mountain Crust of Beau Jo’s Pizza round out an evening of food and fun that won’t soon be forgotten!

An Evening to Help

An Evening to Help

For more than 19 years, Bags of Fun has brought joy, laughter and relief to children fighting a life-threatening disease or condition. The organization creates “Bags of Fun” that are carefully crafted for each child taking into consideration the best means to reduce their tension, anxiety and fatigue during their treatments. We believe in the rehabilitative power of play for all children fighting for their health and happiness.

For more than 19 years, Bags of Fun has brought joy, laughter and relief to children fighting a life-threatening disease or condition. The organization creates “Bags of Fun” that are carefully crafted for each child taking into consideration the best means to reduce their tension, anxiety and fatigue during their treatments. We believe in the rehabilitative power of play for all children fighting for their health and happiness.

For information and tickets, SCAN HERE:

For information and tickets, SCAN HERE:

A Round of Bourbons

Yes, Kentucky - Colorado really does distill some of the best aged bourbons in America

The French have always insisted they make the world’s best cheeses and Italians passionately defend their pasta against all others’ noodles.

In the birthplace of American corn whiskey, Tennessee and Kentucky, folks are touchy about their bourbons from Jack Daniels to Pappy Van Winkle. They tended to dismiss whiskies from elsewhere with a comment: “Bless its heart” and a little pat on the bottle cap.

Then a funny thing started happening. New craft distilleries sprang up across the nation in the past two decades, many crafting bourbons that started winning prestigious spirits competitions over the usual

suspects.

Bourbon is clearly having its day, and some of best examples of the beloved spirits are now being distilled and aged here in Colorado.

One nationally known bourbon expert is not surprised, especially since Colorado is home to more than 100 distilleries and the state is revered as the epicenter of the U.S. craft beer boom.

IT’S THE WATER ...AGAIN

In fact, the same critical ingredients in brewing also matter the most when making spirits, according to Tom Fischer of The Bourbon Blog.

“It’s the water. The water here really

picks up beautiful minerality in the Colorado mountains that’s so fundamental to the flavor,” Fischer says, comparing it to the Appalachian aquifer tapped by distillers in his native Kentucky.

Fischer also attributes Colorado’s success to entrepreneurial zeal, a collaborative spirit among the state’s distillers, a commitment to sustainability and a focus on using locally grown grains.

The place itself also plays its part, he says. The low humidity and high altitude extract an extra generous “angels’ share” - the alcohol that evaporates through the wood of the aging barrels thereby concentrating the flavor.

By John Lehndorff

BARRELLED

AGED: Bourbon is having its day, and Colorado distilleries have many brands to try.

BRANCH & BARREL

A former school teacher, Tom Fischer produced a documentary film on bourbon, and now leads tastings and judges whiskey competitions.

“I connected with Colorado early on, just as the craft distillery boom was starting here at places like Breckenridge Distillery,” Fischer says.

BUSTING THE BOURBON MYTHS

Many of its fans don’t realize that “bourbon” is, by definition, a very different spirit than single malt Scotch and other whiskey relatives.

“To be bourbon, it just has to be made in the U.S.A using at least 51 percent corn and aged in new charred oak barrels. It can really be aged for any period of time, but most are aged for at least two years,” Fischer says.

The “mash bill” for a whiskey describes the percentages and types of grains that are fermented.

“For bourbon, the other 49 percent of the mash bill can be wheat, or rye or other grains and they all change the flavor. Wheat will soften it. That’s what you taste in Maker’s Mark. Rye is going to give a little spice. Barley is going to pack it with a little bit more earthiness. I’ve seen everything from quinoa to many different variants and colors of corn,” he says.

For instance, Denver’s Block Distilling produces its Bottled in Bond Bourbon using yellow, red

and blue corn, as well as millet and malted barley.

BOURBONS THAT SING DIFFERENT TUNES

Tom Fischer’s favorite bourbons among the hundreds he has sampled are those that hold up over time and repeated tastings. “It’s always about coming back to a bottle and finding more. I don’t mind some spirits that sing the same song every time. For bourbon, I want to experience something new every time I taste it,” he says.

When it comes to Colorado, the bourbon expert has a hard time narrowing down his favorites.

“There are so many bourbons worth exploring in the state. I love what Laws is doing. Their fourgrain bourbon is beautiful. I think what Todd Leopold at Leopold Bros. has done is very special,” Fischer says.

He also praises the bourbons produced across the state by Distillery 291, Woody Creek, Peach Street, Golden Moon, and The Family Jones.

“I still enjoy Breckenridge a lot, especially the rum- and sherry cask-finished bourbons. They’re perfect with a nice cigar, or paired with some great cheeses,” he says.

Looking ahead, Tom Fischer points out that Colorado’s best bourbons may be yet to come. “Some of the oldest bourbons in the state were laid down in barrels a decade or more ago so they will become available in the coming years,” he says.

ROCKER BOURBON WHISKEY

THE HEART DISTILLERY

PHOTO COURTESY OF ROCKER SPIRITS

Fareways

Side Bets

TOURN AMENT

A COLORADO BOURBON PRIMER

The exact number of bourbons produced by Colorado’s distilleries is a little hard to pin down, but there are at least 30 being bottled in the state. One of the best ways to learn more about how bourbon is made is by visiting one of the many distillery tours and tastings that are available.

The following guide to Colorado’s best bourbons is based on recommendations from Tom Fischer, members of the Colorado Bourbon Society, and awards in national competitions.

Some Colorado distilleries import spirits from other states to produce their bourbon and other whiskies. The following bourbons are all distilled, not just aged, in Colorado, and in many cases, use Colorado-grown grain.

291 SMALL BATCH COLORADO BOURBON WHISKEY

Story: This is a single barrel bourbon, 100 proof grain to barrel to bottle, aged in charred American white oak and finished with toasted aspen wood.

Tasting Notes: Notes of vanilla, cherry and spice

Awards: San Francisco World Spirits Competition Double Gold winner and an American Whiskey Master award, 2019

Tasting Room: Distillery 291, 647 South Tejon Street, Colorado Springs, distillery291.com

BOULDER SPIRITS BOTTLED IN BOND BOURBON

Story: Boulder Spirits are distilled at Vapor Distillery using the biggest pot still in the state. The mash bill is 51% corn, 44% malted barley and 5% rye.

Tasting Notes: Distinct apple notes in a less sweet bourbon. The high amount of malted barley adds apple butter, cinnamon, and kettle corn notes.

Awards: Gold medal, 2022 San Francisco World Spirits Competition

Tasting room: Vapor Distillery, 5311 Western Ave., Boulder; boulderspirits.com

BRECKENRIDGE RUM CASK FINISH BOURBON

Story: Breckenridge Bourbon’s mash bill is 56% corn, 38% rye, and 6% malted barley. After aging, it is finished in Breckenridge rum casks.

Tasting Notes: Candied apple, cinnamon, dark chocolate, and cacao with lingering allspice

Awards: Breckenridge Bourbon is a four-time winner of Best American Blended (2016- 2019) from the World Whiskies Awards

Tasting room: Breckenridge Distillery, 1925 Airport Road, Breckenridge, breckenridgedistillery.com

LAWS FOUR GRAIN STRAIGHT BOURBON BONDED

Story: Laws was the first Colorado bonded bourbon, meaning it is at least 4 years old, a product of a single season and a single distiller, and has been aged entirely in a federally bonded rickhouse. The mash bill is 60% corn, 20% heirloom wheat, 10% heirloom rye, 10% heirloom malted barley, aged 8-plus years in new charred oak barrels

Tasting Notes: Black tea, orange, brown butter and dates, with notes of sandalwood

Awards: Double Gold at the 2022 San Francisco World Spirits Competition for 8-Year-Old Bottled in Bond Four Grain Bourbon

Tasting room: Laws Whiskey House, 1420 S. Acoma St., Denver, lawswhiskeyhouse.com

LEOPOLD BROS BOTTLED IN BOND STRAIGHT BOURBON WHISKEY

Story: Made from 64% corn, 21% malted barley and 15% Abruzzi heritage rye, aged four years in new American white oak charred barrels in a bonded warehouse.

Tasting Notes: Notes of cocoa, apple, and crusty bread with hints of ripe pear, toffee and baking spices

Tasting Room: Leopold Bros., 5285 Joliet St., Denver, leopoldbros.com

OLD ELK STRAIGHT BOURBON WHISKEY

Story: The mash bill includes corn plus a high malted barley content plus rye, aged five years in charred new oak.

Tasting Notes: Maple syrup, almond, chocolate, coconut, and clove

Awards: Gold medal, 2018 San Francisco World Spirits Competition

Tasting Room: The Reserve Tasting Room: 253 Linden St., Fort Collins, oldelk.com

ROCKER BOURBON WHISKEY

Story: The mash bill of 70% corn and 30% wheat includes grain grown in Burlington and Loveland. The bourbon is aged a minimum of 3 years in charred American oak barrels

Tasting Notes: A slightly sweeter bourbon with notes of vanilla, caramel, butterscotch, and honey with a hint of citrus

Tasting Room: Rocker Spirits, 5587 S. Hill St., Littleton, rockerspirits.com

LAWS WHISKEY HOUSE

John Lehndorff is the former Dining Critic for the Rocky Mountain News. He hosts Radio Nibbles on KGNU.

By Isaac Bouchard

Three Fresh Faces

2023 AUDI RS 3

The RS 3 is a staple of European hot hatch royalty. It finally deigns to step Stateside—at least in sedan form.

Powered by a contemporary version of Audi’s turbocharged inline five-cylinder engine, its iconic, warbling exhaust note echoes those that cascaded across rally stages for decades, as the original Audi quattro reset the bar for how fast a car could travel over gravel and dirt.

This latest one is a fizzing ball of energy, characterful and exuberant. Its frontal aspect is very aggressive, and its widened, boxed wheel-well flares mark it out. Inside, the design is current Audi—all sharp angles and bold shapes. The front seats lock one in place and the driving position is spot-on. Some cheap plastics remind one of the Audi’s humble origins, but everything works as it should and both the back seat and trunk are well sized for daily usefulness, making the RS 3 a practical proposition.

EPA RATINGS: 20/29/23mpg

0-60MPH: 3.3sec PRICE AS TESTED: $65,440

Obviously, that’s not what a weapon like the RS 3 is about, though. What it does well is pull in the horizon at a rapid rate, no matter the road conditions or weather. The test period coincided with a snowstorm, and since the Audi was rollin’ on winter tires, it would have seemed a serious breach of etiquette not to indulge its penchant for sideways antics.

Despite that 401hp “five pot” engine being situated ahead of the front wheels’ centerline, the RS3’s nose remained resolutely pinned the slick tarmac, never washing wide and instilling great confidence. The tail was as sedate or as mobile as one might want in any given moment, and such was the precision with which it sent its 369lb-ft of torque to the correct tire’s con tact patch, it could be bent into pretzel-like contortions and then pull straight, slingshotting down the road with complete confidence.

The iron-fisted body control that allows the RS 3 to do this has a downside, which is too much vertical body motion when the Audi is set to the softer of the damp er’s settings. Firming them up means the ride is never less than starchy. It isn’t exactly quiet, either. But the RS 3 offers a level of performance, fun and interaction that is rare in a modern sedan, and it brims with char acter. A modern day, almost-affordable classic.

Three new entries into the U.S. are fighting for market share; all are good but one in particular is the new leader in the clubhouse.

2023 LUCID AIR GRAND TOURING

Lucid has garnered lots of headlines; some for the trials and tribulations of their production ramp up, which has been hamstrung by parts shortages, and others for the way in which the company is financed. But most of the press has been about the car itself, which has reset the standard to which electric vehicles aspire. All Lucid models have EPA ranges that exceed 400 miles, and some can go over 500 miles on a charge. Simply put, nothing else is even close.

Getting seat time in a Lucid hasn’t been the work of a moment, but it was worth the wait and the effort. Simply put, the Air Grand Touring is the finest driving sedan your humble reporter has ever experienced. It rides more smoothly than a Mercedes S-Class, or even a Rolls Royce, in some ways, especially in how it avoids the crash and chop of traversing sharp-edged road blemishes.

EPA RATINGS:

516 miles (with 19in wheels); 469 miles (with 20or 21in wheels)

0-60MPH:

It also handles like a big Lotus sports car—no surprise, in that its chassis set up was guided by former execs of the storied British company. The Air’s “go pedal” has incredible calibration, allowing the 819 horsepower to be meted out precisely. Within minutes of sliding into its supple, support ive massage seats and grasping its precise helm, it was pos sible to toss the Lucid into the kind of blind, poorly surfaced and bizarrely radiused on- and offramps that are strewn all over the Los Angeles basin, with complete abandon. The Air stayed planted, putting its massive 885lb-ft of torque down without drama. And when all the electrons were unleashed, the scenery blurred through the glass canopy that extends, uninterrupt ed, behind the front seats, just like when the Millennium Falcon first made the jump into hyperspace.

0-60mph: 2.9sec

PRICE AS TESTED:

$145,725

The Lucid’s interior is a highlight too; stunningly rendered in midcen tury tones and materials—including the most sumptuous wool-like twill, and wood and metallic armrests that beg to be caressed. The tech is impressive for a new company, with stunning graph ics, fast responses and mostly intuitive menu structures. It was easy to do an over-the-air update that enabled wireless Apple CarPlay, but the highlight was streaming high resolution music files directly to its impeccably toned and superbly imaged Dolby Atmos audio system, straight from my own accounts.

The cockpit is very roomy in front and back; the only annoyance was air con that can’t move large volumes of cool air quietly. In the plus column, Lucid’s DreamDrive semi-autonomous system is on par with the best for how intuitively it deals with rush hour traffic, without being overly intrusive. The Air makes one feel special in a way few vehicles do, whether it’s the Close Encounters-esque light show it unleashes as the driver approaches, or the way car-jaded Angelenos want to talk about how groovy it looks when one emerges from its Jetson’s-like cockpit.

The Tesla Model S made people react the same way a decade ago and it’s exciting to bear witness to the next great leap forward in electrification.

2023 FORD MAVERICK

Everyone knows SUVs have replaced sedans as the main form of transport for Americans. And pickups have been the best-selling vehicles on these shores for decades. Therefore, it seems a no-brainer that car companies would create small pickups off of existing, crossover platforms. Honda’s been doing it for years with the midsize Ridgeline, and now both Hyundai and Ford have done it in a compact size.

The Maverick name harkens back a “mini truck” Ford sold decades ago, and in beefed up Tremor trim is a superb all-around rig. One can ID Tremors by their orange accents and front bumper fascia with built in steel skid plate, which allows for a better approach angle. Combined with more ground clearance (9.4in), this Maverick can actually go to many of the wild places implied by typical truck advertising. Aiding in that is a rear differential that will direct torque to the wheel with more traction, multiple off-road electronic settings to grab the most grip available no matter the surface, revised spring and damper rates and relatively tall all-terrain tires.

The benefits on the pavement are a very supple

ride—certainly better than trad body-on-frame pickups and a match for many crossovers as well. The Maverick is fast too, with a torquey turbocharged four and savvy transmission that won’t relegate it to the right lane on the way up mountain passes.

The Ford is fairly thrifty as well too, and it was possible to match its EPA ratings without undue restraint. The Maverick isn’t exactly what one would call refined, but it does resist wind and road noise fairly well, and the front seats are supportive. The back bench seat is comparatively small, and interior material quality is not great—a shame, really, as the design itself is really fresh.

The Maverick’s bed is thoughtfully designed and practical; there are also a plethora of Ford-designed hacks to make it even more useful. Ford really knows pickups, and how people are likely to use them. That expertise is on clear display in the Maverick, and the Tremor version sets the standard in this new class.

Automotive Editor Isaac Bouchard owns Denverbased Bespoke Autos (isaac@bespokeautos.com; 303-475-1462).

SCAN TO READ MORE OF ISAAC BOUCHARD’S AUTOMOTIVE WRITING, REVIEWS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.

THE LADIES TURN

2023 U.S Women’s Open Heads To Pebble Beach

By Tom Mackin

When you finally book that much-dreamed-about trip to play Pebble Beach Golf Links the anticipation can be overwhelming.

Mina Harigae knows how you feel, even though she’s been a professional golfer since 2010. Despite having played the famed layout more than 50 times, the native of nearby Monterey is still sure to feel some butterflies on the first tee when the U.S. Women’s Open kicks off there on July 6th.

It will be the first time that particular national championship visits, although Pebble has hosted the U.S. Open six times since 1972 and will do so again in 2027. Even better news is that you can follow in the footsteps of the world’s best women golfers, albeit for a hefty green fee ($625 through March 31, 2024). It’s a tough ticket, too; through this December, there’s a three-night minimum stay at the resort to book a tee time in advance; plus on average, there is currently tee time availability just five days per month through this November). But playing where the pros play in a national championship is fairly rare, given 13 of the past 20 U.S. Women’s Open championships have been played at private courses. Not this year, though.

Harigae, who will be playing in her 12th U.S. Women’s Open (her best finish was a second place last year), offers some very specific advice if you do book that dream round.

“Get a Pebble Beach caddy, walk the course, and listen to their advice!” she said. “They’ve walked it hundreds of times in all types of weather, they know what they are doing. It makes a huge difference and makes the experience so much better.”

If your weather luck holds out, the experience can be unforgettable. While the three opening holes ease you into the round, the par-4 fourth opens up to a mesmerizing view of the Pacific Ocean on your right. Then the hits keep coming. The daunting par-5 sixth. The short but testing downhill par-3 seventh. The dazzling eighth with its demanding approach over the waves far below. Catch your breath after that trio. The widest fairway on the course takes you to the green on the par-4 10th; it’s the farthest point from the clubhouse, providing a good view of dogs (and humans) frolicking on the

PHOTO BY JOHN MUMMERT/COURTESY OF THE USGA

Carmel beach below.

The course then veers inland before returning to the seafront at the par-3 17th, best known for Tom Watson’s stunning chip-in birdie on the hourglass-shaped green enroute to winning the 1982 U.S. Open. The closing par 5 comes all too soon and puts a memorable exclamation point on the round, especially if you do not go left into the waves lapping up against the seawall. Throughout you will encounter small greens, probably some wind off the water, and a slower pace of play than desired given all the pictures that usually get taken along the way.

And while it’s the first appearance of the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach, women’s amateur and professional golf actually has a strong legacy at Pebble Beach Golf Links. The Pebble Beach Championship for Women was played from 1923 through 1951, and the U.S. Women’s Amateur stopped by in 1940 and 1948. Other events have included the LPGA’s Weathervane Transcontinental Women’s Open in 1950 and 1951, the 1952 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship, and the California Women’s Amateur (1967-1986). More recent events have included the TaylorMade Pebble Beach Invitational Presented by Dell Technologies, which has included LPGA players since 1979, and The PURE Insurance Championship, which since 2004 has paired senior professional golfers with junior girls and boys.

Pebble is not the only game in town, either. Short drives away are Spyglass Hill ($465 green fee), where the first six holes are a course unto themselves (the downhill par 5 first is one of the best

opening holes anywhere in the world) and the Links at Spanish Bay ($335 green fee), where the aforementioned Watson, along with former USGA president Sandy Tatum and course architect Robert Trent Jones II, brought a touch of Scotland to the California coast. There’s also the recently transformed The Hay, located right across the street from Pebble Beach Golf Links. It’s where none other than Tiger Woods took a worn down, nine-hole par 3 course and created an engaging, modern, and fun layout.

There’s plenty to do off the course, too, according to the 33-year-old Harigae. “The Monterey Bay Aquarium is world renowned and it is a really cool place to visit,” she said. “17 Mile Drive is also a great way to see Pebble. Big Sur is a must. You can pull off to the side of the road almost anywhere there and you’ll get a great view. And there’s also my parent’s Japanese restaurant, Takara Sushi (located in nearby Pacific Grove)! My dad is the sushi chef and my mom is the kitchen chef/waitress. It’s a small place but they’ve been there almost 35 years.”

The U.S. Women’s Open will be the 14th USGA championships played at Pebble Beach, a relationship that began back in 1929. At the 1947 U.S. Amateur, then USGA president Charles Littlefield exclaimed during the awards ceremony that, “If I was going to be the president of the United States Golf Association any longer, I’d hold’em all here. This is the grandest place to hold a golf tournament I’ve ever seen.”

Here’s hoping the ladies agree with that description next month.

: Pebble Beach is hosting the U.S. Women’s Open for the first time in July.

PHOTO BY JOHN MUMMERT/COURTESY OF THE USGA

PHOTO COURTESY OF BRIAN KREHBIEL

How To Play:

Pebble Beach Resorts guests can reserve a tee time up to 18 months in advance, subject to minimum stay requirements (currently 3 nights at the resort). Nonguests can only reserve tee times 24 hours in advance.

How To Go:

Fly into Monterey Regional Airport (8 miles east of the course; direct flights from Denver on United), San Francisco International Airport (105 miles north; direct flights from Denver on United, Frontier and Southwest), or San Jose Minetta International Airport (80 miles north; direct flights from Denver on United and Southwest).

Where

To Stay:

Ocean View rooms overlooking the 18th hole at The Lodge at Pebble Beach start at $1,465 per night while a Garden View room in the Fairway One building start at $1,095 per night. A short drive away is The Inn at Spanish Bay, where Garden View rooms start at $960 per night. Much less expensive options can be found in the nearby towns of Pacific Grove, Monterey, and Seaside.

Tom Mackin is a golf and travel writer based in Scottsdale.

HOLE NO. 12

PHOTO BY JOHN MUMMERT/COURTESY OF THE USGA

Get Well Sooner

A FIXTURE IN THE heart of Colorado Springs for more than 70 years, Garden of the Gods Resort and Club has played host over the decades to movie stars, captains of industry, politicians, authors, artists and musicians drawn to the club’s luxury ethic and incredible setting overlooking the otherworldly sandstone formations of Garden of the Gods. Originally a private, members-only club, these

WHILE YOU ARE THERE

days the resort also features casitas, cottages and lodge rooms for discerning guests looking for one of the finest wellness retreats in Colorado. Services include Strata Med, which offers personalized concierge medicine and health consultations; Strata Spa, a 10,000-square-foot spa and salon serving up a full menu of wellness and beauty treatments; and Strata Fit, where guests can enjoy personal training, an expansive fitness center and a wide

PIKES PEAK You can drive, take the Cog Railway, or hike to the top of one of America’s most iconic mounts. The trail to the peak begins in town and winds 13.5 miles uphill with an elevation gain of 7,400 feet. The hike is no joke, and the park offers this notice: “Basically, it’s a half-marathon in hiking form. Please only attempt hiking Pikes Peak if you are healthy, able to hike long distances, able to navigate difficult terrain, and able to perform high-cardio activity with low oxygen!” pikes-peak.com

GARDEN OF THE GODS PARK is the entire outdoor lifestyle in one place. The park is open 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., and the visitor center is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The park is where Great Prairie meets the American Southwest. Hike, bike, ride horses, go birding and rock climb throughout the park. Visitcos.com

BEAUTIFUL MUSIC The Colorado College Summer Music Festival runs June 4 to 23. Chamber music, orchestral concerts and festival performances give visitors a chance to unwind after a day on the trails, courses and courts nearby. ColoradoCollege.edu

variety of yoga, pilates and other fitness classes designed to promote healthy bodies and minds. Golfing guests and club members are afforded the chance to play the 27-hole, private Kissing Camels Golf Club, where sensational views, topnotch conditioning and a classic layout courtesy of renowned course architects J. Press Maxwell and Mark Rathert combine to create one of the best golf experiences in the state.

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Garden of the Gods Resort and Club was built surrounded by natural wonders in a one-of-a-kind setting providing for the senses while inviting you to become part of our social community Secure your membership today before t he start of golf season and enjoy 20-30% OFF Initiation Fees through August 31st !

OUR MEMBERSHIP TEAM IS HERE FOR YOU. PLEASE CONTACT US AT 719-520-4980 OR MEMBERSHIP@GARDENOFTHEGODSRESORT.COM

Moving in the Right Directions

IF THERE’S ONE resort in Colorado Springs that can match anywhere when it comes to luxury amenities and great golf offerings, it’s The Lodge at Flying Horse, which boasts one more golf hole than the the nearby iconic Broadmoor across its two courses (that’s 37 holes, rather than 36). Wait, what?

“There’s a 19th hole at Flying Horse North,” says Branden Phillips, Flying Horse’s membership director. “It is a true wager hole. It’s kind of the unique component to that course.”

Winding across open prairie and through the dense pines that give the Black Forest area north of Colorado Springs its name, the Phil Smith-designed Flying Horse North opened in 2020. The Club at Flying Horse, designed by legendary golfer and course architect Tom Weiskopf, opened for play in 2004 and has more of an open, links-style feel, making the wind a constant factor.

Both courses at the fully-private club and spa are open only to members, their guests and those staying at the luxurious Lodge at Flying Horse or the new East Lodge, which opened for business in December 2022. The opening doubles the number of lodging beds on the property and further cements Flying Horse’s reputation as one of Colorado’s most desirable getaway destinations. flyinghorseclub.com

WHILE YOU ARE THERE

AIR FORCE ACADEMY The academy is near Flying Horse and is open for visitors from 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day. The Cadet Chapel is the most famous building on the campus but is closed for renovations until 2027. The campus B-52 display will leave you in awe.

WHISKEY-A-GOGO The SoCo Still Fest, June 24, is held by the Colorado Spirits Collective and features new spirits from the West’s burgeoning distillery community. Craft offerings from distillers in Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico are featured. www.socostillfest.com

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Cheyenne Mountain High

A DOLCE MOUNTAIN DESTINATION, Cheyenne Mountain Resort is nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in southwest Colorado Springs.

Staying there entitles visitors to try out the Pete Dye-designed championship course of the Troon-managed Country Club of Colorado. The course starts low, and slowly climbs the foothills of the complexes namesake mountain. The finishing holes on the back nine make extensive use of the lake, and require players to know their game and make choices accordingly: Big hitter? Try to fly the lake to the green. More of a punch and runner? Take the long, safe way around and avoid the big numbers.

The on-site spa and pools make the facility a perfect place to relax, train and challenge yourself to workouts – and recovery. It has five pools, including a 50-meter outdoor pool that is open in the summer, heated indoor pools open year round, and beachfront for a 35-acre lake. Tennis and pickleball courts, basketball and beach volleyball are available this summer.

From June 12 to 18 the resort is also hosting an ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour event. Competitors are vying for a $25,000 purse and the event is part of the tour that gives athletes a bridge from youth competitions to the professional WTA tournaments. Guests at the resort can attend the matches for free.

WHILE YOU ARE THERE

CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN ZOO: The zoo features more than 750 animals. Ten minutes from Cheyenne Mountain resort, the zoo cares for animals from all over the world. The Sky Ride takes you over the pens for the Rocky Mountain goats and grizzly bears.

DINOSAURS, RODEO OR MINING: Colorado Springs has a passel of local museums, interpretive centers and other attractions for children or adults. Nearby are the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center, the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame and Museum, the Western Museum of Mining and Industry and others. The Race to the Clouds is held June 23 and 25 in Manitou Springs and downtown Colorado Springs. This year the race marks its 101st running.

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Something to Bugle About

DESIGNED BY THE INIMITABLE WALRUS HIMSELF, PGA legend Craig Stadler, Grand Elk Golf Course serves up big views and championship-caliber golf an easy drive or walk away from everything Granby has to offer. And with 130 homesites in the project, Koelbel at Grand Elk is the premiere way to experience the course and community firsthand.

Choosing from a mix of smaller cabins and luxury homes backing up to the golf holes, Koelbel at Grand Elk’s homeowners are also partially owners of the golf club, which is controlled by the Grand Elk homeowners’ association. Local residents’ greens fees are included in their HOA dues, giving them free golf all season. The course, which is also open to the public, plays across rolling terrain and low-lying areas replete with wetlands, giving Grand Elk a rare-in-Colorado heath land feel reminiscent of the British Isles. Homeowners also have access to the members-only clubhouse, with its pool, hot tub, round drinks and grub. koelbelatgrandelk.com

WHILE YOU ARE THERE

IT’S FOR THE BIRDS: June 5-7, a three day workshop for birders will bring enthusiasts from all around to hike, watch and learn about birds of the Rocky Mountains. YMCARockies.org

GOLFING: Grand Elk is one of four Grand County courses. The others are Pole Creek Golf Club, Granby Ranch Golf Club and Grand Lake Golf Course. Learn more at golfgrandlinks.com

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Just A Hike

JUST NORTH OF THE SKI SLOPES of Winter Park Resort in the town of Fraser, Rendezvous Colorado is the perfect home base for wintertime adventures, but it might be even more appealing when the snow melts. Summertime unlocks the Rendezvous and Idlewild trail systems, which connect hikers and bikers with Winter Park and the vast Arapaho National Forest.

“Miles and miles of trails,” says Dana Keller, vice president of sales and marketing with Koelbel and Co., the Denver-based developer behind Rendezvous “And we have a wellness program where you can scan a QR code at each trailhead, and you’ll get a video workout that kind of encompasses nature. It’s a fun amenity for our homeowners and the public.”

With property sales starting in 2002, Rendezvous Colorado, a mix of townhomes, single-family and custom homes, is nearly complete, meaning Koelbel is moving on to the project’s next phase.

“We’re just starting on Rendezvous Winter Park, which is adjacent to the original Rendezvous,” says Keller, “and we’ll be offering all new product – attached homes, single-family homes and custom sites. We’ll have a lot of unique offerings in that section.”

Also planned is the new Idlewild Park, which was developed in concert with the National Sports Center for the Disabled to be fully accessible and inclusionary. New Rendezvous homeowners will also have access to private fishing on Mary’s Pond and the members-only Club Rendezvous at the base of Winter Park Resort.

WHILE YOU ARE THERE

CONCERTS: The Rendezvous Event Center Winter Park has Blues from the Top June 23-25 and a Fourth of July special. On July 16, the 40th Annual Winter Park Jazz Festival will be held at the center, with music running from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. For the jazz festival general admission seats are $75 for seating on the grass.

FESTIVALS FOR WINE AND ALE: July 29 is the Winter Park Brew Festival at the Rendezvous Event Denver, running 1 to 5 p.m. On Aug. 5, its wine’s turn: the Winter Park Uncorked event is at the event center for the day.

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Grand County is Horse Country

HIGH COUNTRY STAMPEDE RODEOS are held on Saturdays beginning July 1 through the middle of August. The rodeo series features competitions as well as special attractions, food, dances and exhibits and are held in Fraser, on U.S. 40 in the heart of Grand County.

Then from Aug. 7 to Aug. 13, the Middle Park Fair and Rodeo series is held. Running since 1912, the rodeos and events are daily at the Middle Park Fairgrounds in Kremmling. VisitGrandCounty.com. And then the summer ends with the 76th Annual Buffalo Days, Aug. 18 to 20, in Grand Lake.

THEN THERE IS THE SMALL MATTER of one of the most popular National Parks in the U.S. Rocky Mountain National Park. Nearly 5 million people a year visit the park to hike, climb, backpack, fish, camp, ride and explore. It can be accessed from the west at the Kawuneeche Visitor Center on the outskirts of Grand Lake. Trails begin immediately outside of Grand Lake.

One caveat – if you’re visiting this year from May 26 to Oct. 22, you need to get a timed-entry permit to drive into the park during the day. There are two types of passes available – one that gives access to the west side of the park and Trail Ridge Road, and one for the east. To reserve an entry pass go to www.Rec.gov

GRAND ELK GOLF COURSE FURNISHED HOME

1650 Mountain Sky Lane | Granby CO

Offered for $1,675,000

Zach Lloyd | 970.376.0634 | zlloyd@livsothebysrealty.com

Tina Shearon| 970.531.2728 | tshearon@livsothebysrealty.com

Situated on one of the best lots in all of Grand Elk, this beautiful home is perched above the first hole and offers an open floor plan for entertaining groups of all sizes! Featuring a main floor primary suite with 5-piece bath, 3 gas-log fireplaces, gourmet kitchen, second family room on lower level, oversized garage with storage and quality finishes throughout. The functional flow of a chef’s kitchen features a large center island, walk-in pantry, commercial range, breakfast bar and dining area with a stacked stone, gas-log fireplace. Views abound from the entire home with a western orientation, you’ll enjoy endless green spaces and vistas over the 1st and 9th holes as well as the spacious, real turf driving range. The 3 bedrooms plus flex room are complimented with a huge, lower level family room, additional gas-log fireplace and alcoves for exercise or work spaces.

This luxurious, furnished home offers unparallelled convenience with just a 5-minute walk to the Clubhouse for golfing, dining, swimming, hot tubbing and nordic skiing! Monthly HOA dues cover all greens fees and driving range access. Come and experience this unique, links-style course and become a part of a beautiful mountain community while still available!

IF YOU’RE A GOLFER in a family of non-golfers, or vice versa, planning a family golf getaway can be tough if there’s nothing for the non-golfers to do. That’s not a problem with Granby Ranch Golf Course, the summertime centerpiece of a burgeoning community that also includes the nearby Granby Ranch ski area.

The course itself is reason enough to visit, with two totally distinct nines and a beautiful setting along the Fraser River. The front nine plays through meadows and wetlands, with two holes along the river, while the back nine works its way up and down a narrow valley at the foot of the ski area.

“Design-wise, it’s just fun golf, with good views and interesting hole designs,” says David Crosby, Granby Ranch ‘s golf operations supervisor. Away from the course, the ski area operates its bike-hauling Quick Draw Express lift during the summer, giving access to an extensive network of downhill and cross-country mountain biking trails. Granby Ranch residents can reserve private stretches of river for fishing, and there are miles of hiking trails through the nearby Arapaho and Roosevelt national forests.

The ski area base hosts concerts and events throughout the summer. Just down the hill, the town of Granby serves up an authentic Western vibe along with great shopping and dining, and it’s a short drive to boating and camping on Lake Granby and Grand Lake or sightseeing in Rocky Mountain National Park.

With so much to offer besides great golfing, it’s no surprise that Granby Ranch, which has a wedding venue at the base of the ski area, has emerged as a popular place to tie the knot.

“We get a fair amount of those, where the day before the wedding everyone will come out and play some golf,” says Crosby.

Also popular is the Granby Ranch community, which occupies some 5,000 acres just south of Granby and has plans for hundreds more homes to go along with the hundreds already built. It doesn’t take a genius to account for Granby Ranch’s popularity. A great golf course, in a great setting, with tons of non-golf activities for every member of the family. You couldn’t ask for much more than that. golfgranbyranch.com

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Foxy Lakey

ROLLING ACROSS rumpled hills near Red Feather Lakes, the Golf Club at Fox Acres features nine lakes and occupies terrain unlike that found in most of Colorado, offering golfers a little something out of the ordinary.

“The course was designed through all these rock outcroppings. I’ve never seen anything like it,” says Fox Acres general manager Russ Davies. “There’s 360-degree views at the top of the mountain, and we’ve got lots of critters – deer, elk, moose, bobcats, mountain lions, marmots, the occasional bear.”

As for the course itself, a college-age Phil Mickelson set the course record, and according to Davies, “he said it was his favorite course.”

Fox Acres is open to the public, but the best way to experience the course is to book one of the 14 club rooms available on site.

“It’s a neat place,” says Davies. “We have a fantastic chef and incredible food service at the Fox Grille. It’s really something special.”

Lodging guests and club members – who hail from all over the country – also get discounted play and access to the property’s seven private trout ponds for after-golf or early-morning fishing forays. golfclubatfoxacres.com

WHILE YOU ARE THERE

The Red Feather Lakes area, northwest of Fort Collins, is dotted with with ponds and lakes that prevail throughout the 612,000-acre Roosevelt National Forest. Whitewater rafting, kayaking and fishing options abound.

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Making Hay

FOR A FEW YEARS NOW, there has been a growing sentiment in Colorado golf circles that Haymaker Golf Course in Steamboat Springs could be the best truly public links in the state. It’s got everything you could want in a golf course: great links-style layout, spectacular setting, affordable price, abundant wildlife and no encroaching real estate development. All Haymaker has lacked since opening in 1997 is recognition as a great course, and that’s finally starting to change.

In Colorado AvidGolfer’s prestigious 2023 CAGGY Awards, Haymaker scored the No. 1 spot among staff picks for the best mountain course in the state. That means CAG’s writers and editors, who know a thing or two about Colorado courses, preferred Haymaker over all the courses around Vail and Aspen and not-really-public heavyweights like Red Sky Golf Club, whose two courses are routinely ranked among the top 100 public layouts in the U.S.

“I would put us up against anybody,” says PGA Professional Cody Hasten. “I truly believe we’re one of the best golf courses in the state.”

Built, owned and operated by the City of Steamboat Springs – a true muni – Haymaker flows across former ranchland and encompasses acres of preserved and reclaimed wetlands. The course is home to numerous species of birds and larger game, like the occasional moose, and was the first course in Colorado to land an Audubon International Signature certification for its eco-thoughtful practices and design.

“That’s always been a big goal of the city, to leave a small footprint,” says Hasten. “That was a huge factor in building the course. We’re proud of that distinction.”

New for summer 2023 are an updated and expanded driving range, a renovated clubhouse with a golf simulator, and a remodeled restaurant that will make Haymaker a more fun place to hang out for drinks and eats after a round. It’s already just about the most fun place you can hang out during a round. haymakergolf.com

WHILE YOU ARE THERE

BIKING: Steamboat bills itself as Bike Town USA for a reason. There is everything from placid, calm trails along the Yampa River to cross country singletrack throughout the region. M ountain biking trails criss cross nearby hills. Many of the trails are being built with funding from a local lodging tax, and the trail system includes 1 to 2 mile easy trails up to expert trails of 3 miles and beyond.

HOT SPRINGS: Historic hot springs are what sets Steamboat apart. Old Town Hot Springs in downtown gives visitors to the village easy access to the signature soak. Steamboatchamber.com

Living Grande

LIKE MUCH OF COLORADO, the town of South Fork has been feeling the post-pandemic real estate boom, with home and land sales in this little corner of paradise way up the last couple of years. The trend has been fueled, in large part, by visitors from nearby states, who flock to the area each summer to escape the heat, fish the gold-medal waters of the Rio Grande and play golf on one of the best courses in the state.

Colorado AvidGolfer’s 2023 CAGGY Award winner for Best Southern Course and Most Underrated Course, the Rio Grande Club and Resort is an incredible layout that really is “a tale of two nines,” as head golf professional Adam Perko notes.

The front nine plays through lush meadows alongside (and, on the signature 6th hole, across) the Rio Grande, while the back nine climbs a narrow valley and culminates with one of the great golf holes in Colorado.

“The 200-foot drop from tee to landing area on the 18th makes it a spectacular hole,” says Perko. “I think it won a CAGGY Award for the second-best hole in the state.” (It did.)

The course is open to the public, but club membership, as they say, has its privileges. In addition to golf, members enjoy private access to the club’s pool, tennis and pickleball courts, fitness center with yoga classes and massage therapy, and, for anglers, over a mile of private access to the Rio Grande, one of Colorado’s best trout fisheries.

The grand members’ clubhouse, home to the Big River Grille and Timbers Restaurant, is perfect for larger events, while the intimate, riverside Fishing Lodge is an ideal spot for informal small-group gatherings.

It’s enough to make you never want to leave the premises, but that would be overlooking what really makes a club in this little corner of paradise special.

“This is a place for adventure,” says Perko. “It really is more than just golf. When you get here there’s adventure everywhere you look.”

WHILE YOU ARE THERE

Surrounded by the Rio Grande National Forest, South Fork provides a glimpse of southern Colorado’s calm and off-the-beaten-path vibe. Arts, music, rodeos and outdoor activities fill the local calendar on the banks of the Rio Grande River. One of the nighttime options is the 58th season of the Creede Repertory Theater company. The theater season reaches 20,000 customers each summer. Repertory theaters rotate performances throughout the summer, allowing visitors to see multiple different shows in a week by the same acting troupe. Shows on tap for this summing include Cinderalla, Clue, Boomtown and Dear Jack, Dear Louise. Creederep.org and SouthForkChamber.com

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By Jim Bebbington

Golf boom making it tough to get on the course

On a recent Saturday night the window for tee times at Denver’s City Park Golf Course for the Saturday two-weeks later opened up at 7 p.m.

People who had paid $40 to the city’s golf program get a seven-day head start on the rest of humanity all year to book tee times on Denver’s courses. On the city’s booking website that night, at 7 p.m. and 1 second, the entire day was available at City Park - dozens of plump, beautiful tee times ready for plucking.

By 7:04 p.m.? Poof... all gone.

Golf in Colorado is booming - driven by demographics, the region’s growing population, and a covid-era phenomenon in which the game was one of the few athletic pursuits deemed safe to try during quarantine. Thousands gave the game a spin - many of them from the big millennial generation who for the first time had careers and a little money to spend. Many got hooked.

That is on top of the regular popularity many courses in

From private clubs to munis, tee boxes are already packed as the summer season kicks off.

PHOTO BY JIM BEBBINGTON

the region already have. Vail Golf Course has its iconic name and as soon as the snow melts the tee sheet fills up. Denver’s City Park is just a few years removed from a full makeover that has made is must-play at least once. Private clubs are booked up regularly.

“I’ve been in this business for four and a half decades and nothing we’ve ever tried worked (to grow the game) and then a virus comes along,” said Tom Buzbee, head PGA professional at Boulder’s city-owned Flatirons Golf Course. “It’s the greatest scenario any golf course owner could have dreamed of except for one thing: new players are boxed out of the course.”

Buzbee said the local golf course operators have all seen the same phenomenon. As people have tried the game for the first time, they caught the fever. But their games are all rickety.

Time was, many afternoons were sleepy and tee boxes were often wide open. New golfers - whether children playing with their parents, or adults modest because they had brand-new swings like new-born flamingos (all knees and elbows) - could slip quietly out and swing and swing and swing again without anyone breathing down their necks.

No more.

Buzbee said it’s like learning to drive. Most parents who care about having grandchildren some day don’t take their 16-year-olds straight from the DMV to the left lane of Interstate 25 at rush hour. They let them drive around empty parking lots for a few weeks first.

But with crowded tee sheets on nearly every course, every day - there are few slow lanes to be had. Even driving ranges are packed.

“Its nuts here,” Buzbee said. “We really can’t comfortably accommodate more people on this range and five or six years ago I never would have dreamed that could happen.”

The situation is most acute, naturally, at the least expensive courses. But the phenomenon is everywhere.

Tyler Ververs, head golf professional at Antler Creek northeast of Colorado Springs, said mid-week afternoons are when their tee sheet shows some daylight. But during rush hour -  early on a Saturday or Sunday morning when foursomes want to play- those book up immediately each week through the course website AntlerCreekGolf.com. They take reservations seven days in advance.

Pros know what their clients are dealing with and some have gotten creative to accommodate the new reality. Many have moved their online booking system ‘go time’ from midnight to an hour when normal people are more typically awake; they know that hoards of golfers wielding

iPhones and Androids have fingers poised over the button when that time hits.

Denver’s City Park may be an extreme example, but if its an outlier it doesn’t lie too far out there.

“For City Park we renovated it three years ago and since the pandemic all golf courses get filled up really quickly,” said Leslie Wright, director of marketing for the City of Denver Golf. “We haven’t seen it go down much, but for City Park it hasn’t gone down at all.”

Private clubs like TPC Colorado in Berthoud even have it tight. At TPC club members get first crack - 30 days in advance - then other TPC course members from around the country get a window. Mortals, however, can go online four days in advance to try to book Monday through Wednesday rounds. Even on the weekends, they’ll take calls 24-hours in advance and fill in cancellations if they have any, said Head Golf Professional Stephen Arendt.

The mountain courses - which typically have shorter seasons because of the weather, and often are coupled with resorts - have begun taking tee times months in advance. Many charge a booking fee of $10 or more per player, but that allows golfers to at least get on a tee sheet rather than just stare at the Aspen-shaded tee boxes and sigh.

“With such a short season it’s always been busy here,” said Trey Johnson, the head golf professional at Vail Golf Club. “Our tee sheet occupancy rate now is typically about 95 percent and in the past, maybe, it was 85 percent.”

Buzbee said he and his team sought a solution to both the ‘problems’ created by golf’s current popularity - how to help the average player get out, and how to help the new player learn and practice in peace. They offer a rare window - late each afternoon after the last booked round is out. Anyone can play Flatirons’ first two holes - No. 1 goes out and No. 2 comes straight back to the clubhouse - for free, as many times as they want.

From CU Boulder students to little kids with their parents, they can play two real holes, iron out some bugs, and let the game come to them.

“We have 30,000 students just down the street at CU,” Buzbee said. “Those kids aren’t supposed to like golf. It has exploded with them. We are very accommodating. We weren’t always that way. We have so many student pass holders. They don’t wake up very early- they roll in at 2 p.m. But it’s great to see that age group come back to golf; all we had to do was be nice to them.”

PHOTO BY JOHN BEBBINGTON

THE DRIVING RANGE FOR BOULDER’S FLATIRONS GOLF COURSE

TIPS ONLY THE PROS KNOW; HOW TO GET A TEE TIME GET TO KNOW YOUR FAVORITE COURSE’S RULES

The city of Denver Loyalty Program gives their players 14-day advance booking. The city of Aurora - which operates Aurora Hills, Meadow Hills, Murphy Creek, Saddle Rock and Springhill - is 10 days in advance. The city of Westminster is 14 days. Lakewood is 7 p.m. It all varies, but...

KNOW THE MINUTE, NOT THE DAY NOR THE HOUR

The city of Aurora opens up tee time reservations at 8 p.m. 10 days in advance. For city of Lakewood courses, its 5 p.m. seven days in advance. City of Westminster? 6 a.m., 14 days in advance. Know the exact time tee sheets open, and be prepared to hit them to the minute for the region’s most popular courses.

PAY IN ADVANCE

Some courses, like the two operated by the Foothills Parks and Recreation Department, take reservations 11 to 30 days in advance if the rounds are pre-paid.

GET CREATIVEYOUR COURSES ARE!

Ask if there are any other options. At CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora and Denver, operated by the Colorado Golf Association, the tee sheet hovers typically at 99-percent occupancy on the weekends.  That is unless you are willing to take a caddy. If you call and ask to book a tee time using the caddy reservation system, that is a separate process. The CGA wants its caddies to get rounds in, so players willing to take them - there is no additional charge, but a post-round tip is expected - those golfers get priority.

HEAD TO THE MOUNTAINS

Beginning in June, the mountain courses start filling up. Plan ahead and reserve tee times well in advance. Many take reservations months out, for a fee. If you have to made a six-month reservation to hike Rocky Mountain National Park, it’s not all that different if you want to play courses with towering tee shots down into alpine valleys.

JOIN A LEAGUE

Ask your favorite course if there’s a men’s or women’s league, and try to make it fit your schedule.

FIND A DEAL

There are packages, scrambles and tournaments throughout the state all summer long. Join a scramble for charity. Ask your courses if they have any packages. The Colorado AvidGolfer tournament series features four tournaments at courses in the Denver area throughout the summer. It also has two memberfor-a-day opportunities in which non-members get tee times at Hiwan Golf Club on July 24 or Cherry Creek Country Club on Oct. 9. coloradoavidgolfer.com/ member-play-days-registration

Jim Bebbington is the Content Director at Colorado AvidGolfer

PHOTO BY JIM BEBBINGTON

GREENBLATT HONORED

For keeping a good thing going.

By Jim Bebbington

In 2019, Molly Greenblatt, a Denver attorney and very busy person, was willing to step up and lead the board of a golf organization she thought was doing good and could do even better.

Greenblatt agreed to serve one two-year term as the chair of the board of the Colorado Open Golf Foundation. The Foundation puts on the three Inspirato Colorado Opens (men’s, women’s and senior), and it raises funds to support the First Tee youth golf program at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club.

“I have this idea that philanthropy should be part of your life - time, blood, sweat, tears, money,” Greenblatt said recently from her downtown office. “Frankly it makes me feel whole - I feel I have an obligation to give back. I have a wonderful father and I had a wonderful mother

who emphasized leaving the world better than you find it.”

It was 2019 and she had big goals for her term - among them looking into whether they could bring pay-equity to at least the winning share of both the men’s and women’s opens.

Then Covid hit and in the spring of 2020, it would take all the blood, sweat and time that Greenblatt could muster. The group’s board and staff decided to try to follow evolving medical guidelines and still hold the 2020 tournaments.

As a volunteer chair, she was not obligated to dive in so deep. But she was on calls and video conferences throughout the spring with doctors and partners in the tournaments, looking for ways to safely hold these events.

“We pulled it off with a bang,” she said. “We were able to lure back LPGA players because

we were one of the only ones putting on a tournament that spring. Not only could we do it but we communicated that there was joy to be had during this time. It took a lot of minds and motivated people.”

It was May 2020. The game of golf - outdoors in fresh air with participants capable of being apart from one another while still competing - was only just emerging as one of the few ‘normal’ activities that people could safely do during the hard Covid-quarantine. Golf’s fate was still far from clear.

“We were in a lot of Zoom meetings and I was calling doctors left and right,” Greenblatt said. “That was an extraordinary example of a board coming together with a team coming together and figuring out how to make it work.”

Greenblatt is the 2023 recipient of the Robert

MOLLY GREENBLATT AT GREEN VALLEY RANCH

PHOTO BY JOHN LEYBA

M. Kirchner Award, given by the Colorado Open Golf Foundation to “an individual for outstanding contributions to the game of golf in the state of Colorado.” Her terms - she ended up serving two - as the head of the Colorado Open Golf Foundation board saw the organization continue to raise funds, hold its three annual tournaments, then use the funds to operate the robust First Tee program at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club.

Kelly Reidy, a volunteer board member for the First Tee who also runs her family’s company, Reidy Metal Services, said Greenblatt was the right person to help the organization survive turbulent times.

“She is just amazing,” she said. “She can take on just any challenge and make it her own and take care of it.”

Greenblatt grew up locally, and as a teenager was introduced to the game by her father Phill. “I thought it was an old man’s sport,” she said.

Later, at Cherry Creek High School, she gravitated away from softball and found herself on the golf team. Success followed. She went on to play at San Jose State University in college, then served as assistant coach at the University of Illinois women’s team for one year as she began law school there.

She switched to the University of Denver to finish her law degree, began her practice, and struggled as many young professionals do to find much time to keep the game part of her life. Now, with a busy practice in medical malpractice law with the firm Leventhal, Puga Braley

FATHER AND DAUGHTER: Molly Greenblatt and her father Phill Greenblatt during her time as a student at San Jose State University.

MOLLY GREENBLATT

MOLLY GREENBLATT AND PHILL GREENBLATT

“I would ask ‘why aren’t (the open purses) the same?’ and nobody would have a good answer.”

PHOTO BY JOHN LEYBA

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Bandon on the plains

Tthe first hint that a course was in the chute came in an early 2021 interview Mike Keiser gave in Links magazine.

Asked if he was still actively looking for land to develop, the septuagenarian visionary behind the Dream Golf meccas of Bandon Dunes, Cabot Links and Sand Valley responded: “My sons have been very good at finding additional sites that I never would have dreamed of — one in Texas, one in Georgia, one in Colorado. I won’t reveal more than that, but all three are sand sites and are quite exciting.”

By Jon Rizzi

That exciting Colorado sand site, as the golf world now knows, will soon spawn Rodeo Dunes, potentially the next chart-topping, multicourse masterwork in Keiser’s Dream Golf canon. Acquired from rancher and rodeo magnate Mike Cervi and his sons, the 2,000-acre property — a fraction of the vast Cervi land holdings — lies less than 50 miles northeast of Denver, due north of exit 48 (Roggen) on I-76.

“This one couldn’t have been easier to find,” says Michael

With Rodeo Dunes, the Keiser family plants a giant, game- changing golf flag in Eastern Colorado.

Keiser, the older of Mike Keiser’s two sons (the younger is Chris). They have been entrusted with extending the family’s legacy of creating extraordinary golf experiences.

NOT HIS FIRST RODEO

Michael Keiser had heard such an experience existed in Colorado at the private Ballyneal Golf and Hunt Club south of Holyoke on the Eastern Plains. In November of 2018, as he cooled his heels at Denver International Airport after a cancelled flight, the developer did some prospecting on Google Earth for sandy terrain between Holyoke and Denver. “It took about five minutes to see there were dunes and big blowouts west of Fort Morgan — near a town called Roggen.”

He returned the following week and drove to the site. He may have jumped a fence or two

as he hiked well more than a mile between the frontage road and a sea of sandy mounds. “I was blown away when I walked up over that first dune,” he says. “I saw golf holes everywhere.”

This wasn’t Keiser’s first rodeo. He’d scouted sites for years, including six months exploring the sand dunes of Central Wisconsin to confirm Sand Valley’s golf potential. But this Rodeo was the first time he’d had “months of discovery come into focus in a single moment — it hit me like a ton of bricks. That’s not typical.”

When a ranch hand for the Cervis questioned why he was trespassing, Keiser took him aback. “I asked, “Are you a golfer? Because you’ve got a great golf course here.”

The Keisers developed a relationship with the Cervis, inviting the nongolfer patriarch to see their low-environmental-impact achievements

at Bandon and Sand Valley. Cervi eventually concurred that the sandy soil, steep dunes and heaving land would better serve groups of ambulating golfers than herds of grazing cattle. He sold the Keisers the property’s existing agricultural water rights. Keiser contends the sprawling site, which could eventually feature six golf courses, would not use any more than the 1,156 acre-feet of water currently allocated.

COORE GOLF

Michael Keiser says the model for Rodeo Dunes is Sand Hills Golf Club, the bellwether for minimalist golf-course design, in Mullen, Nebraska. “This is one where the less we can do, the better,” he says. “Our priorities are always golf first, second and third. There will be no homes, so there won’t be any sacrifices for real estate. It’s golf in its

rawest form, stripped of everything that’s unessential.”

And who else would the Keisers hire to accomplish this than Sand Hills architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw — the team that also delivered three golf layouts at Bandon, and one each at Cabot and Sand Valley?

“In all candor, there’s no comparison between this site and Sand Valley,” Coore says as he stands where the clubhouse will eventually perch. “This site is many, many times better. It has natural movement.”

And compared to Sand Hills? “Sand Hills was a huge property (8,000 acres). This will be easier because this is more contained. It’s an extraordinary site.”

Even in its preconstructed state, you can tell the routing will live up to its name — bucking and bouncing between colossal dunes along wide, rippled fairways bor-

dered by bunkers hollowed by wind and animals, not Cats and backhoes. Each hole inspires different levels of horripilation, whether it’s the plunging left-dogleg first, the par-3 second with its huge punchbowl green and “sugar cookie bunker” — a deep, steep chasm from which sunscreened golfers will emerge sprinkled with silicate — or the double-dogleg par-5 12th with a tumbling fairway.

The granary on the quirky par-5 sixth will serve as both an aiming point and reminder you’re in ag country, not Enniscrone, and the dunes on the holes following it mirror the shapes of the distant Rockies. Framed by massive dunes and a giant blowout bunker, the green site on the par-3 ninth looks as if it’s been waiting to be played for centuries.

Like other Dream Golf properties, Rodeo Dunes will eschew carts, but the routing still provides a wild ride.

You’ll want to hold on until the end, as the 260-yard par-3 17th plays into a punchbowl green (“And Streamsong thinks they’ve got a punchbowl!”

the normally reserved Coore quips, referring to a

signature green he and Crenshaw crafted at the Florida resort — and a par 4 closer that will lead you over a ledge to an infinity-edge green stretching toward a skyline of snowcapped peaks.

CRAIG’S GIST

When Rodeo Dunes opens for play in late 2024 or early 2025, the Coore-Crenshaw layout won’t be the only one on property. Rodeo Dunes will mark the solo architectural debut of Jimmy Craig, a savant who’s worked alongside Bill and Ben for 25 years and has “one of the best eyes in the business,” according to Michael Keiser, who credits Craig for finding the three courses at Sand Valley.

“Finding holes comes pretty natural to me,” Craig says in a deep Texas drawl. “A lot of people have formulas for putting courses together; I don’t pay any attention to those. I just want to get in the dunes and find something different for Michael.”

And that he’s done, coming up with at least four routings. “There’s a lot of great ground there,” Craig says. “I didn’t want to leave any behind.”

The land, he observes, lends itself more to something you’d see in the UK. So, inspired by the iconoclastic originality of North Berwick in Scotland — “the most fun course on the planet,” he says — Craig has focused on creating a course of 18 different, playful and memorable holes. “Your eyes will be on the ground, not the air,” he says. “Every little contour is going to affect your golf ball.”

So how will his first architectural byline affect him? “Making a Jimmy Craig state-

SCOPING OUT THE FUTURE SITE OF RODEO DUNES

THE FUTURE OF RODEO DUNES PHOTO COURTESY OF BRANDON CARTER

ment to the world isn’t who I am,” he demurs. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m thrilled to do it, and the course is going to be very good. But ever since I showed any talent in finding golf holes, I would rather look for something for Bill and Ben or Michael than for myself. When asked why I haven’t gone out on my own, I just say, ‘Why would I ever want to compete against the best in the world? I want to be on their team.’”

WHAT’S NEXT?

That team begins building the horizontal infrastructure this summer. With virtually no earth to move, Coore and Craig both expect a quick build. Seeding should take place next spring and play begin in ’25.

There’s already pent-up demand, thanks to realistic AI-generated photos and massive media coverage. “We’ve had an overwhelming response from people all over the country,” Keiser told Golf Channel in May. Those looking to add a Rodeo Dunes bag tag won’t be staying on-property, however. “Going vertical” with onsite accommodations — which enhances the experience at Dream Golf’s other destinations — won’t happen for “at least two or three years.”

With Rodeo Dunes, he can afford to wait. Unlike Bandon and Sand Valley, both of which are in remote locations, Rodeo Dunes has the luxury of being less than an hour’s drive from a major airport and a city full of places to eat and sleep.

And you can be sure that a lack of lodging options won’t prevent Colorado golfers from cowboying up to experience what has all the makings of a gold-buckle golf destination.

Jon Rizzi is the exective director of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame.

RODEO DUNES

Photos: Tyana Arviso

Father’s Day Memories

Our fathers try to teach us so much. They sometimes settle us down, formally, and say things like “OK, this is important. What you need to know is….”

Sometimes the wise ones – hammered as they often are on the anvil of experience – will quietly drop a short lesson in. ‘Hmmm…Do you think that was the best choice?’

Former editor Jon Rizzi recalled his father, John: “Of all the advice he gave me—“Never miss an opportunity to keep your mouth shut,” “The only sure way to lose is not to try”—the lesson that stuck with me most came during the last years of his life.

“Whenever we asked if he wanted to do something, he’d respond ‘Sure, why not?’

“That what-the-hell attitude took a nonagenarian to Cooperstown to watch his nephew compete in a tournament, to Broadway to see The Book of Mormon (which he loved), to a berth on the Turner Classic Movie Cruise and to dozens of other places where he was by decades the oldest person there. He refused to go gently into that good night.”

Lori Perry, our VP of sales here at the AvidGolfer and AvidLifestyle family, said her father Darrell Spletter “taught me respect and responsibility, the value of hard work, and taking care of what God blessed us with in life. He taught me to stand up for what I believe in and to never give up. He has an amazing sense of humor, a love of neighbors, family and people.”

He is now 90 and dealing with health issues, Lori says, but called her father “ so full of grit and determination that he farmed the family farm until he was 87 before he retired from farming.”

Brenna Farrell, art director for our AvidLifestyle brand, said “My father, Guy, taught me many things growing up from riding a bike to

playing sports. But the biggest lesson he taught me was to be patient and not to take life so seriously. In difficult situations, have patience and ride the waves in the storm.”

Our Associate Publisher, Chris Phillips, said his father Stan “taught me everything about what it looks like to be an amazing husband, an amazing dad, an amazing grandpa some day and most of all – a great man! He is a true legend to anyone who has ever crossed his path.”

Michael Colander, our events and Golf Passport manager, and father to a new puppy, said “My dad has taught me the importance of conversation and making everyone feel welcomed and loved. My dad shaped me into who I am today, given me my love for sports and golf, and most importantly shown me how to be a humble man of God.”

Our art director, D.T. Carel, said his father gave him his love of design, among other gifts. “I inherited most of my passions from my dad, Dewayne. He passed on his love of art and design on to me, which in turn led me to be the Art Director for this very sports and lifestyle magazine. He passed on his zest for life, travel, sense of humor and love of sci-fi movies. Oh, he also taught me how to be a self-reliant, honest and caring person.”

My Dad, John, took me golfing a lot. It’s a big reason why I play. Once we were tooling around a course in a cart late on a clear, cool Ohio Fall Sunday. My dad breathed really deeply through his nose as the cool air rushed past us.

“I like days like this,” he said. “I like to breathe it in by the snootfull.”

I’m guessing he didn’t mean that as a life lesson. But I remember it to this day: take the time to enjoy small gifts as they come your way. Because when they’re gone you will miss them. A lot.

—JIM BEBBINGTON

From golf tips to life lessons, Dad’s cannot help themselvesthey want to give their children all the advice they can.

JOHN AND JON RIZZI

DARRELL SPLETTER GUY FARRELL

STAN PHILLIPS, WITH SONS CHRIS AND SCOTT

TIM COLANDER AND MICHAEL COLANDER

DEWAYNE CAREL AND D.T. CAREL

COURTESY OF JON RIZZI

COURTESY OF BRENNA FARRELL

COURTESY OF CHRIS PHILLIPS

PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHAEL COLANDER

PHOTO COURTESY OF D.T. CAREL