By: Susan Fornoff
I n the heat of midsummer or the blazing color of early autumn, there’s no roadtrip Mr. McMulligan and I would rather take than the ride over Berthoud Pass into Winter Park and onto the golf courses of Grand County.
From the Denver area, it’s typically no more than 90 minutes to the first tee of Pole Creek, Grand Elk or Granby Ranch golf courses. But in the heat of summer, that’s a welcome 10-degree drop. And in September or early October, it’s the scene in the Wizard of Oz where black and white cinematography blooms into technicolor.
Short ride, long way from home. The beauty of it is that Colorado golfers don’t have to fly or book far ahead for this special destination. You could be there this afternoon.
If you’re thinking about it, here’s what to consider.
From anywhere, the road may not be long, but it’s winding. Most will take I-70 to I-40 and go over the Berthoud Pass. We always make a late tee time on arrival day and make sure we have a leisurely drive. Always check on construction, because there are lots of potholes and only a few months to fix them before the snow crowd blows in!
The season is short. This crazy weather year, courses didn’t open until mid-May, then closed, then opened and boasted excellent conditions through summer. They’ll stay open as long as they can, but not past mid-October.
If you want to play either of the crown jewels, Pole Creek or Grand Elk, make reservations. Pole Creek is the recreation district’s course and has special deals and rates for locals; it has active clubs and, maybe because author and funnyman Rick Reilly said it was his favorite course, draws groups. So it’s always busy, though $124 and up for visitors, depending on the day and time. You can reserve now for whenever you want to play.
Grand Elk homeowners get memberships and have priority times, and homes continue to be built there. Again, rates tend to be upwards of $100, but you’ll have to wait until a week out to get any tee times the owners have not taken.
Also at $100 for a weekday high-season round, Granby Ranch almost always has last-minute tee-times available. Without the infrastructure of the other two courses, it cannot compete at those rates. But, weekends need to be booked two weeks out.
Pole Creek and Granby Ranch, by the way, have very good food, staff and service in their restaurants. Even a nongolfer might enjoy a meal at either one.
As for lodging, you’ll find lots. So, be picky. We’ve stayed at the bed-and-breakfast-style Winter Park Chateau, which has new owners and has been renovated to high praise from reviewers; it’s in the heart of town.
We’ve opted for vacation rentals at a Winter Park Village condo, in a home walk-out in Tabernash and in a new condo in downtown Winter Park.
More recently, we’ve had great experiences with condos in Cozens Pointe, a small new development on the hill above Fraser.
Granby Ranch, Fraser and Winter Park have many properties on your favorite vacation rental site. There’s a new Gravity Haus in Winter Park that’s getting very good buzz and would be ideal for an overnight or weekend.
Just take care and read reviews if going the hotel route. Consider whether you want to eat out or in, walk or drive, have action or peace.
Lodging rates will drop for autumn weekdays, when some restaurants close or curtail hours. Unfortunately, even then, the courses are so busy, golf stay-and-play packages are elusive. Know anyone who lives at Grand Elk?
There was no golf in the Winter Park-Granby ski country until 1985, when Pole Creek Golf Club’s Ranch and Meadow nines, designed by Denis Griffiths, gave visitors something to do in the summer. The Ridge nine came along in 2000. The course continues to win accolades every year, inside Colorado and beyond.
In 2001, Granby Ranch opened, known then as Headwaters. Like the surrounding ski property, it has struggled through the years, and at times seemed likely to revert to cattle ranch. But, somehow, the course itself today is a gem, though without a clubhouse, on-course restrooms or drinking water.
In 2002, Grand Elk first opened. And I say “first opened” without redundancy, because since that opening the homeowners rescued the course and took over. Nowadays, the best “stay and play” in Grand County is to buy a home in Grand Elk, which includes golf club membership.
I’d say I’m an average female golfer, a short hitter aspiring for bogeys and hoping to make up my doubles on the par 3s. The thing I love most about Pole Creek, Grand Elk and Granby Ranch is the natural beauty around all three courses.
The elevated view from Ridge 9 tee at Pole Creek is one of the best in the state, especially when the leaves turn and clouds diffuse the light. The big sky views at Grand Elk go for miles. And I really love how the serene front nine at Granby Ranch wanders down to the river, with not a house in sight and the Amtrak Zephyr rolling through everyday en route to San Francisco.
Granby Ranch is the most playable of the courses for women, while Grand Elk’s back nine opens with three of the most penal holes for any level player, especially those made nervous by small targets and carries of any length. Pole Creek’s Ridge 9 is great fun, the Ranch 9 extremely difficult and the Meadow 9 absolutely engaging except for one hole, No. 7, that ruins my scorecard on every visit. We call it “Jaws,” maybe because of the way it swallows up golf balls.
But, that’s my story. Mr. M, on the other hand, has a single-digit handicap and a beautiful game. He sees a golf course differently, and I’m giving him a whole 500 words to spend on these three gems:
Mr. M: “Pole Creek has always been the best in Grand County and one of the best mountain courses in Colorado. It forces you to hit a variety of shots. Some holes are easy, and some holes are really hard. You have to be on your game. And then they added the Ridge nine, which is just spectacular.
“I think the agronomy today is better, in that they’re recovering from winter faster, and the conditions are staying good longer. And the greens are a little faster than they used to be.
“On the Ranch nine, the hole that catches your attention the most is the fourth hole (435 yards from the back, 409 from the whites). You hit from between the trees to a pretty wide fairway, but if you don’t hit a good enough drive you have a long carry over water to a double-decker green surrounded by sandtraps. And if you go too far, you’re in the creek. It’s almost like an island green.
“On the Meadow nine, everyone talks about Jaws (par-5 No. 7 winding around pines and pond), because it’s such a hard hole. You have to hit three fantastic shots, and you still might not par it. Then the next hole is long (433 from the blues, 399 whites) and always plays into the wind, to an uphill, tiered green.
“There are so many good holes on the Ridge 9. It starts so dramatically with an uphill par-4. Even a single-digit handicapper might par that thing once out of 20 times. And of course it ends with the death-drop par-5 ninth that everybody loves and probably doesn’t par or birdie as much as they think they do.
“At Grand Elk, I think the scenery is beautiful – big sky, different kind of look to it, classic Colorado ranchland. It has a lot of good holes. I really like No. 6, a long par-3 that gives you plenty of bailout room on the left side, and that’s the way you should play the hole. And 17 and 18 are good finishing holes, a short par-5 and a long par-4. The greens are always really good here.
“The good and the bad about Granby Ranch… well, it’s the poor stepchild of the county courses, with no bathrooms or water or cart paths. … The front nine is bucolic, river bottom, reeds and marshland – really quite fun, you can get rolling and score well. There’s the train, and the headwaters of the Colorado River, and it feels Western. The back nine is a totally different experience. Canyonland golf, with some blind hills to go over. So it’s an enjoyable, dramatic golf course to play.”
I have to stop Mr. M there, or he’d go on and on.
If you like fishing, there are streams and rivers. If you like water sports, there are Shadow Mountain Lake and Lake Granby, with Grand Lake a little farther along. We even have a special little beach where we like to put up our feet.
Cyclists love to take the Winter Park gondola to the top and ride down. We just took the gondola up – feeling safe enough even a super-windy afternoon – and walked around the top, wishing we’d brought a picnic.
Hikers will find plenty of trails. We went into the Fraser Experimental Forest on our last visit and hiked around St. Louis Creek. Stunning. Stopped at an overlook and were warned about mosquitoland ahead of us. Appreciated the kindness of fellow travelers.
One night we decided to try a new restaurant we’d poked our heads into only the night before. It was closed! We saw someone in the kitchen and banged on the window. Turned out, the staff wanted to go to a concert that night in Denver. “Come back tomorrow.”
That pretty much sums up the mountain vibe. The housing crisis has replaced COVID as a deterrent for seasonal staff, so you can’t count on a restaurant being open during scheduled hours, and a shop might close for lunch or not open at all.
Just roll with it. At least there’s no need to pack a sportcoat or heels! Even golf clothes feel kind of dressy when out and about on the towns of Grand County.
You walkers, enjoy the rides. Carts and range balls come with all the green fees. Pole Creek’s Ranch and Meadow nines are considered walkable, but the Ridge nine, not so much. Grand Elk has some long walks between holes, and Granby Ranch would be walkable except that it has the longest cart ride from front nine to back nine we’ve ever seen! … Bug repellant! Sunscreen! … Remember the altitude – 8,810 feet at Pole Creek’s highest point. Hydrate. … Any women who figure out how to play Pole Creek’s Meadow No. 7, please shoot me an email!
___
Molly McMulligan, created by golf journalist and CGA member Susan Fornoff, is the CGA’s on-the-course advisor on how to have more fun on the golf course. She answers questions in Dear Molly and will be sharing more of her travels. Mr. McMulligan, Keith DuBay, is also a journalist and a much better golfer than Molly. (And, BTW, they got engaged in 2015 on the ninth tee of Pole Creek’s Ridge nine.)