Engh's triple-play
buoys new 2003
Colorado courses
By David R. Holland,
Senior Writer
CASTLE ROCK, Colo. -- Colorado's own Jim Engh has accomplished a feat no other golf course architect in the world can claim.
When Golf Digest recently named his Tullymore Golf Club in Stanwood, Mich., America's Best New Public Upscale Golf Course for 2002, it meant Engh had completed a career triple-play for these awards given by the national magazine.
Previously, Engh's The Golf Club at Redlands Mesa won in the category for Best New Affordable Course in 2001 and Sanctuary was proclaimed the Best New Private Course in America in 1997.
That's a triple play -- wins in three categories: Best New Affordable, Best New Upscale and Best New Private. Since Golf Digest changed the awards to these three categories in 1996, Engh is the only architect to win all three.
Now transition from triple-play to batting average -- Engh's is nearly perfect. Every other golf course he has opened in the USA has won national awards except the 1997 Columbia Point Golf Course in Richland, Washington. The others winning national awards include Red Hawk Ridge in Castle Rock and Hawktree Golf Club in Bismarck, N.D.
RockiesGolf.com called Engh the hottest new golf course architect in America back in 1999, but when Engh opened his office in Castle Rock in 1991 awards seemed world's away. He opened with lofty goals, but he placed dreams of awards in the background.
"It was a goal of mine to win all three Golf Digest categories," said Engh. "They started giving these awards in 1983 and I thought early in my career that if I could win one it would be an achievement of a lifetime. To get one in all three categories early in my career is just phenomenal. But you can't get caught up in designing a course with an award in mind. I try just to design the best course I can on every project."
Colorado
golfers may have more Engh prize-winners coming in the future as
2003 dawns with two more Engh courses opening and two more in the
development stage. Colorado golfers will also see an explosion of
new courses in the Glenwood Springs area.
First to open this spring, however, is Vista Ridge Golf Club in Erie, designed by Jay Morrish. The Club at Ironbridge, a private course in Glenwood Springs, follows with a May debut.
Red Sky Ranch's Greg Norman Course will follow on June 30 and two Engh courses -- Fossil Trace Golf Club in Golden and the remodeled Snowmass Golf Club are also set to open in late summer.
Take note of two other Engh projects for the future in Colorado. Lakota Canyon Golf Club near Glenwood Springs in New Castle might just be another national award-winner and a private layout called Pradera Golf Club in Parker are both designed and moving forward.
And this summer Engh also introduces The Club at Black Rock in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Look for it to garner national awards, too.
Here's a capsule look at the new courses in Colorado for 2003 and some in the planning stages for the future.
The
Club at Ironbridge
Formerly named The Sienna Club at Rose Ranch, The Club at Ironbridge will open on May 2. It's a private course designed by Arthur Hills and is located in Glenwood Springs. Part of the course is a reconstruction of the old nine-hole Westbank Golf Course
The par-72 course comes alive with sienna-colored cliffs encircling the 18 holes and the Roaring Fork River, "blending naturally into the riparian and mountain environment," says Hills.
Snowmass Club in Snowmass
Engh's redesigned Snowmass Club is destined to be "one of the premier 
courses
on the western slope and in all of Colorado," according to Snowmass
executives. Opening is set for Aug. 15 and officials will likely
change the name in a meeting this spring.
Alan Ogren, Snowmass superintendent, says the new layout is going to amaze the club's membership and resort guests with its tough bunkering and panoramic pedestal tee boxes. (See separate story on the Snowmass makeover and log on to www.snowmassclub.com).
Fossil Trace Golf Club
After 10 years of talk and red tape the city of Golden opens Fossil Trace Golf Club on Aug. 15. This Engh design will be 6,800 yards with the variation of swamp wetlands, flood-protection retention ponds, a former dump ground for fly ash and an old clay mine site.
The site includes the 65 million-year-old tracks of a duckbilled Hadrosaurs, crocodile-like reptiles known as Champosaurs and carnivorous dinosaurs called Theropods and the track of a Triceratops.
Vista
Ridge Golf Club in Erie
Long's Peak will frame many of your shots at Vista Ridge, a Morrish design opening in March. Covering an impressive 232 acres, the course is a 30-percent larger than the typical 18-hole course, with broad fairways and generous landing areas.
Morrish says Vista Ridge is "wide-open prairie and features lots of native areas, creative bunkering and prairie grasses." (www.vistaridgegc.com)
Red Sky Golf Club Norman Course
Red Sky's Norman Course is a stern test of golf with
beauty and strategy -- a great complement to the Fazio
Course which opened last summer in ceremonies attended
by former President Gerald Ford and PGA Tour
Commissioner Tim Finchem.
Norman's test measures 7,437 yards at par 72. Resident guests of various Vail Resorts' lodges in Vail and Beaver Creek will enjoy access to golf at Red Sky Ranch. Guest play will be accommodated on the "designated guest course" which will alternate between the two courses. See separate story on Red Sky Ranch's Fazio Course. (www.redskyranch.com)
SolVista Golf & Ski Ranch in Granby
SolVista Golf & Ski Ranch, formerly known as Silver Creek, opens its second nine this summer. Designed by Mike Asmundson, the opening of the back nine has been delayed for two years. (www.solvista.com)
Future openings
Antler Creek Golf Club in Falcon
Rick Phelps, another award-winner for his Devil's Thumb layout in Delta, could open Colorado's first 8,000-yard golf course in the spring or summer of 2004.
"The property is wide open with sandy soil and no wetlands but it has two sand arroyos that will come into play," said Rick, who is starting his 14th year in the business. "I think this course will have a wind-blown look with bunkers like Murphy Creek that have ragged edges and tall grass surrounding them.
Lakota Canyon Golf Club in New Castle
This new daily-fee Engh course traverses wild ridges, dives into huge canyons and includes wetlands along the valley floor. Typical of Engh's vision, the golfer will find himself bombing drives from high atop a ridge line into the canyons or striking par-3 shots from one ridge line across a canyon. Projected opening is 2004 or 2005.
Pradera
Golf Club in Parker
This private layout will break ground this spring and features rugged open prairie with canyons and valleys to negotiate. Engh's love of Irish golf, like Ballybunion, will be seen in some of the holes using the natural topography. He says there might be a couple of quirky blind shots with a linksy feel that features Irish and American characteristics.
Windsor Highlands in Windsor
St. Louis-based architect Art Schaupeter says this "big, strategic golf course" could open in May 2004. It measures 7,050-yard championship at par 71.
It will be a high-plains layout, somewhat like Buffalo Run (which he worked on), with deep arroyos running along the eastern property line.
"The width of the course will cause golfers to think," said Schaupeter who also worked with Keith Foster on Haymaker in Steamboat Springs. "You will need to be on the correct sides of the fairways to fire at the pins and that will change daily with new pin placements."
Stone Ridge Golf Club in Trinidad
Baxter Spann of Houston's Finger, Dye and Spann has designed Stone Ridge Golf Club, a Trinidad subdivision that could draw more than 4,000 new residents to this historic mining town of more than 9,000. The course will be located on 235 acres in the shadows of Fisher's Peak, with distant views to the Spanish Peaks and Sangre de Cristos.
Pete Schrepfer, the developer, has been secretive about the project, but construction starts this spring and will include a 100-room lodge-styled hotel built by the Bison Hotel Group.
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Bair Chase Golf Club in Glenwood Springs
Bair Chase Golf and Rod Club has survived an ownership change and construction could start this May. It's another in the growing list of Roaring Fork River golf opportunities and the first Rees Jones-design in Colorado.
Bair Chase will constructed on a 280-acre historic ranching property located between Glenwood Springs and Carbondale and approximately 30 miles down-valley from Aspen.
Jones' design will be a par 72 measuring 7,330 yards. Many of the holes will provide water challenges that include lakes, waterfalls and stream features designed to enhance the views of the Roaring Fork River, Cattle Creek and Mount Sopris.
Valagua in Gypsum
Arthur Hills has designed a 7,800-yard layout that maximizes the beauty of the Gypsum Creek area surrounded by overhanging cliffs. Valagua, which means "valley of water", could include 27 holes when completed with facilities for tennis, swimming and fitness, as well as hiking trails and fishing areas. (www.valaguaco.com)
Headwaters in Castle Rock
One project receiving lots of opposition is just southwest of Castle Rock in Douglas County. It's called Headwaters and it plans to develop two 18-hole private golf courses near Jackson Creek Road. Opponents are screaming about excessive water use in times of drought, but the project is still alive and moving forward.
Rendezvous in Grand County
Rendezvous, a 1,150-acre master-planned community located adjacent to Winter Park at the entrance to Fraser, is on the drawing board. Long-term plans include a championship golf course, resort, hotels, residential opportunities and an extensive trails network. (www.rendezvouscolorado.com)
Stillwater Golf Club in Silt
Scottsdale-based Scott Miller has designed Stillwater Golf Club in Garfield County, a daily-fee multi-use development with homes and 36 holes planned. Construction on the first 18 will begin June 1.
Located between Glenwood Springs and Rifle just off I-70, Stillwater Golf Club's West Course (par 72, 7,400 yards) is located just south of the Colorado River, which separates the project from Silt "proper". Dramatic landforms, incised drainage corridors, delineated wetlands and pockets of native vegetation and trees define the project.
Miller, who designed the highly acclaimed We-Ko-Pa Golf Club in Fountain Hills, Ariz., is a protégé of Jack Nicklaus. He designed Deer Creek Golf Club at Meadow Ranch in Littleton as well as the 27 holes of Kierland Golf Club in Scottsdale and The Coeur d'Alene Resort Golf Course in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
Flying Horse Ranch in Colorado Springs
Good news for Tom Weiskopf design fans. Flying Horse Ranch, a 1,600-acre mixed-use development by Classic Communities, is in the planning stages for just north of Colorado Springs.
Weiskopf, who authored The Ridge at Castle Pines North, ranked No. 1 daily-fee course in the state by RockiesGolf.com, will design the golf course and Troon Golf has been engaged to assist with development of the layout. Opening is set for July 2005.
Ravenna near Roxborough Park
Morrish says Ravenna, a private golf course in Waterton Canyon could break ground this summer. The site is spectacular with its location in Waterton Canyon at the doorstep of spectacular Roxborough Park. It includes a 27,000-square foot clubhouse, swimming pools, tennis courts and fishing facilities. Developers hope to start selling high-end homes there by 2004.
The Greens Golf Club in Fraser
Matt Eccles has designed a nine-hole private golf club next door to Pole Creek Golf Club in Fraser. The design tucks away the course in and around the individual home sites creating added privacy for the home owners and views for golfers and residents. (www.thegreensatwinterpark.com)
Stagecoach in Steamboat Springs
Brian Stahl is eyeing the Stagecoach area 20 minutes south of Steamboat Springs for a development which would include an 18-hole golf course with lake views. This same area was a ski area in the early 1970s, but it went bankrupt and has stood silent since.
The Bridges at Black Canyon in Montrose
Announcement of this Nicklaus designed course should happen this spring.
Dye Designs projects
Perry Dye of Dye Designs in Denver has several projects that were put on hold last summer. These include The British 18 at DIA; King's Point Golf Club, a Perry Dye 18-hole, daily-fee course at Parker Road and E-470; and Crystal Valley Ranch, an 18-hole, Cynthia Dye design, daily-fee golf course developed in Castle Rock, just south of the Plum Creek golf community.
