 Haymaker:
Foster’s Design Links Scotland and Tradition
By David R.
Holland, TravelGolf.com Senior Writer
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, CO -- On the outskirts of this world-famous
ski town there’s a unique golf course that’s a shrine
in progress to haybalers everywhere.
It’s called Haymaker and to this day as you play the 636-yard,
par-5 sixth hole, known as “Cattle Drive”, you are in
eyeball range of a working hayfield. If you play in late summer,
the rolled stacks of hay are right there, just yards away from the
fairway.
Haymaker’s head golf professional, Hank Franks, says one
look at this sprawling, rolling acreage and you can see that traditionalist
Keith Foster brought a touch of Scotland to this Yampa Valley floor,
just minutes from the ski slopes of Steamboat Springs. It’s
a Scottish-links style par-72 golf course that measures 7,308 yards
from the championship tees.
Foster designed this fair test, integrating the agrarian background
of this ranching community. Foster, designer of the award-winning
Quarry Golf Course in San Antonio and Buffalo Run in Commerce City,
completed a design that includes deep bunkers, rock walls, wetlands
and native-grass rough. The 360-degree views of the surrounding
Flat Tops Wilderness and Rabbit Ears Pass are unobstructed. There’s
nary a shade-tree on the property.
“It’s not hard to see Foster’s love of the old
traditional golf courses of Scotland and Ireland,” said Franks.
“People really like our layout. We receive very few negative
comments. Every once in a while someone might say the greens are
too firm, but overall everyone is positive. We’ve been around
four years now and the course has matured.”
“Actually, this land was not only a hayfield, but an old rock
quarry and a site for oil exploration,” said Tim Fuhrer, an assistant
pro.
Maybe the best thing about playing Haymaker is the fact there
are zero houses surround it. “No doubt that’s one reason
people love the golf course,” said Fuhrer. “With no houses
you can really lose yourself out there.”
| Conditions:
B+
Layout: A
Service: B+
Practice Fac.: A-
Clubhouse/Pro Shop: B
Pace of Play: A-
Value: A-
Overall Rating: A- |
|
The 233-acre, city-owned public golf course features four sets of
tees playing from 5,059 to 6,728 yards one set of tees up from the
championship length. Play from the tips and it can be brutal. But
if you are a 12-handicap golfer wanting an ego boost, play from the
back or middle tees, rap it down the middle and exit the course with
a mid-70s smile. So it’s user-friendly
No. 8, named “Ring The Bell” could be your favorite hole.
It’s only 347 yards, but it is all risk/reward. The hole makes
a big curve right over a marshy area and it’s just deciding how
much you want to cut off. Big hitters will go for the green. Aiming
poles are located in the fairway and markers on the tees will tell
you the distances to the poles.
|
