Whenever Mr. McMulligan and I would drive south on I-25, somewhere around Walsenburg he’d start reminiscing about a wonderful Weiskopf-Morrish course in the area that he once loved to play. The course won accolades, made best-of lists and then closed.
So when the news broke that Grandote Peaks had reopened under the ownership of a Las Vegas couple who specialize in turning around failed businesses, we calendared a trip to La Veta.
Of course, first I had to map La Veta. “It’s a four-hour drive,” Mr. M told me. Uh, no, just 2½, at most, from South Denver.
“There’s nothing there,” Mr. M added. Well…to our surprise, there’s definitely a there there! And the town of 800, which is pronounced La Veeda like the Ricky Martin song Livin’ La Vida Loca, is rooting for the old-new golf course to bring back visitors.
We recommend you join them. When you do, here’s what to consider.
The 7,000-foot elevation of Grandote Peaks means a late start to the ideal golf season, and many restaurants and cafes in the area do not even ramp up until May. So summer is a great time to visit. Fall would be spectacular, or any time up until the snow level drops to course levels.
As for spring, well, the glorious Spanish Peaks could hardly be more picturesque, but it’s a challenging season for golfers. We had to monitor the wind forecasts to plan out our tee times, and we changed our May schedule around when gale warnings of gusts up to 50 mph intervened. I wouldn’t not go in the spring, but I would remember: “When it’s breezy, swing easy – or do something other than play golf.”
Good news: This is one Colorado destination you can access for a last-minute getaway. Even in high season, it’s not crowded and expensive, like our favorite Rocky Mountain towns. Golf courses and lodgings are unlikely to be full. Of course, if you’re driving I-25 on a weekday, always factor in construction delays somewhere along the way.
For this itinerary, we suggest playing Hollydot, Colorado City’s municipal jewel and perhaps the state’s best bargain, coming or going, and Walsenburg Municipal in Lathrop State Park in the other direction.
At $45 with cart on weekends for wonderful course conditions and friendly service, Hollydot will be jam-packed with families, even sixsomes and sevensomes. So stop there on a quiet weekday for a more serene, speedy and even less expensive round.
The Walsenburg nine ($18 and $12 cart fee until 4 p.m., then $10 and $10 cart fee) attracts travelers and state park visitors but is generally easy to walk on. The popular bar and grill closes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Grandote’s owners, Corinne and John Condon, say they’ve bargain-priced green fees there at $65 ($55 for walkers), but only until the front nine matures.
As for lodging, we didn’t find a luxury resort with a spa in these parts. But we can recommend the 17-room La Veta Inn for couples or foursomes who don’t intend to spend their days lounging around in a hotel room. The structure, constructed around a charming walled and windproof courtyard, dates back 140 years, but the beds are all modern comfort and the friendly staff keeps the rooms spotless. Best of all, just downstairs is one of the town’s restaurant gems, Stiano, and a cozy attached bar. We enjoyed our happy hour drinks over Scrabble in the courtyard. Rooms and suites here range from $130-$170. We recommend the second floor for quieter footsteps and better views.
Also ideal for a foursome, or even two, the 4,000-square-foot Grandote Lodge, just across the street from the golf course and its pizzeria, has three bedrooms and additional sleep sofas in its living spaces. The whole building can be had for $450 a night. The Condons also opened a neighboring 22-space RV park.
There is must-make one more reservation, incredible as it may seem in these parts, and that is for dinner at Alys’ Restaurant. Chef-owner Alys Romer converted a La Veta cottage into a charming dining room and patio where the menu of six to eight entrees changes nightly and is recited by the staff. They don’t come with prices, so don’t ask. Dinner includes soup or salad and exquisite homemade bread. The wine list, though, that’s laminated and unique. When I said 2018 seemed a bit old for a Ramey Russian River Pinot Noir, Alys piped up, “If you don’t like it, I’ll drink it!” She didn’t get a drop. The gourmet meal turned out to be a great value. Summer hours at Alys’ are 5 p.m. to 7:30, Thursday through Monday, and guests must pick up the phone and call for a table.
Geology buffs will marvel at the dikes, walls and rock formations emanating downslope from the Spanish Peaks. The rest of us can visualize people and animals in their shapes.
History buffs will immerse themselves in battles, coal miner strikes, massacres and rituals that formed Colorado’s wild west legacy. The rest of us will just be glad that’s all over.
Artists can find haven in one of the country’s longest lasting communes, Libre. The rest of us can marvel at the creativity emerging here, perhaps inspired by the breathtaking views of the Spanish Peaks and Sangre de Cristos beyond.
At my best, I’m an average female golfer, a short hitter aspiring for bogeys and hoping to make up for my doubles on the par 3s. I enjoyed all three of the courses we played. Walsenburg had long fairways and tiny greens but no rivers, lakes or bunkers in my way. From the spectacular view at the first tee to the large brick memorial benches, it felt well loved. Grandote’s forward tees, we learned, had been adjusted for playability by the women’s club, which enhanced my experience there. And Hollydot, with forward tee options at 5,012 and 5,401 yards, has now made my must-stop list when traveling on I-25.
But, that’s my story. Mr. M sees a golf course differently, and here’s his take on these 45 holes:
“My first introduction to Grandote Peaks Golf Course was in the early 1990s when I was reporting for the Rocky Mountain News and the course hosted a publicity event for media members. Weiskopf and Morris were on a golf architecture hot streak around then, and Grandote was big news in Colorado golf. It was a must-play course, a top 10 championship layout in the state with views that will not get out-sceneried by anything in the country, or world for that matter.
My golf buddies and I made many more annual trips to Grandote, usually stopping first at Lathrop State Park to play the fun, whimsical Walsenburg Golf Course. For 18 beans you can whiz down the hill and back up over the 3,110 yards and suffer – get this – no bunkers on its slightly raised greens. Walsenburg was built to survive: Cheap, fun, good fairways and slow greens mean low maintenance costs. The looming Spanish Peaks make for the same views as Grandote. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.
Grandote is a good enough course to make it a destination, but it’s not surrounded by rooftops and it’s a long drive for a day trip, and that makes it difficult to turn a profit on the golf course. The tragedy of its closing in 2013 removed a unique experience in Colorado golf. Its return to 18 holes of operation this year is major news.
We have to be charitable about the conditions of the front nine, which just reopened. There were a lot more weeds than grass, and hardpan everywhere so you had to play winter rules and try to find grass to hit from. The layout is virtually the same, however, high quality with a variety of holes and inventive use of the land. Grandote sits in the shadows of the Spanish Peaks, but it is really three styles of course. Mostly river bottom lowlands along the Cuchares River, with a few prairie holes and a couple mountainish holes on the back nine. As Molly says, this is a very walker-friendly course.
The unfortunate course design fad of the 1980s were those piles of dirt along the fairways that were supposed to add character and mounding. By gosh, if there are mounds in Scotland then there must be mounds in the mountain valleys of Southern Colorado. The designers had little concern for the poor superintendent who tries to keep grass alive on top of clay mounds that just shed water.
I went from thinking this will never work on the front nine to, “Hey, it has a chance” on the back nine. Course owner-operator John Condon told us the back nine – opened for 9-hole play then – a year ago looked exactly like the front nine does now. The miracle of modern agronomy beat back the weeds and rejuvenated the foundation of real grass fairways and smooth greens on the back nine. Grandote may not be ready yet, but it’s improving every day. Interestingly, the bunkers survived the fallow period. They had not turned to hard clay, and still had enough firm sand to play out of.
Not that Condon is an expert on growing grass. He doesn’t play golf. The last time he set foot on a course was in his teens as a course employee in Michigan. Condon credits his vendors for advising him and his staff on best maintenance practices. “They want us to be successful so that we’ll keep buying their stuff,” he says.
On the first hole, there is a trail that heads up the side of a hill through a copse. Take it, it’s worth the hike to the back tee box. You’re rewarded with a large drop to the par-5 first fairway, and best view of the peaks. As for the rest of the course, the most memorable holes are along the river.
Overall, it’s encouraging to see Grandote return to the ranks of great Colorado courses. The robust housing market should help them sell lots, and golf should pick up. Whether the course can bear hundred dollar or more green fees at its location is another question, but so far, the news is good. Condon expects to begin to break even on his family’s investment later this year.
As for Hollydot, perhaps you’re a golfer like me who has driven past the golf course in Colorado City roughly 60 times during the past three decades, and never once stopped, but always wondered what it was about.
Hollydot, founded in 1972 by cattle ranchers Holland Duell Jr. (Holly) and his wife, Dorothy (Dot), is something of a throwback to the times when golf was affordable and accessible to all. Part parkland, part hill country, Hollydot, we were told, is a course players from Pueblo and Colorado Springs seek out to avoid big city prices and attitude. Hollydot is a well-kept, humble gem without the frills. The front nine meanders through the cottonwoods and some ponds before vaulting up the hills on the hard-to-find 11th hole that lies across Crow Cutoff Road.
The five sets of tees offer a variety of players fairness, with the red tees at a Molly-approved 5,012 yards and the back tees at a respectable 6,875. Both bent-grass fairways and greens were in good condition. The rough is penal but the holes are not over-bunkered. It's a nice place to be, laid back and friendly.”
On the way down, we took a break at the Cuerno Verde rest area, lingering at historical plaques and picking up brochures. One publication that caught our eyes was the Scenic Highway of Legends, produced by the Trinidad and Huerfano County tourism boards. It described 26 points of interest, mostly historical or geological, along an 82-mile route that we sampled as soon as we ducked off I-25 onto US 160. When we turned onto Highway 12 for La Veta, the magnificence of the Spanish Peaks, which the Comanches christened “breasts of the earth,” wowed us, and we thought we might want to take the whole loop.
Alas, that was the windiest day, when it was no fun to drive open roads. We did take the short ride up to Cuchara, a historic summertime destination with a cute town, 100-year-old cabins, luxury homes and bucolic campgrounds. There are lakes and rivers all around, with plenty of hiking trails. Visit SpanishPeaksCountry.com for lots of ideas.
We also visited the Francisco Fort Museum to soak up some history and view many artifacts, and with Mr. M settled into the La Veta Inn courtyard with a book, I popped in and out of little shops and galleries. I recommend stepping into the Shalawalla Gallery to see the batik crafted (separately) by co-owners Jonathan and Beth Evans. Framed, these are works of art. Scarves and tabletop items make for unique gifts.
La Veta, which means “the vein” in Spanish, has charm but seems to be in transition, and it could go this way or that way. A shop or bakery or cafe might be on the map today getting top reviews from visitors, then it might be closed the day you visit or closed forever and up for sale. Staffing is challenging everywhere, yet the service is over the top friendly. Every place you go will be happy you came.
The Condons clearly are trying to build community at Grandote Peaks. There’s a steakhouse in the clubhouse, and the pizzeria at the property entrance is so good that golfers stop in after the 14th hole. Homes with two bedrooms, two bathrooms and two-car garages are being marketed here for $500,000. It’s a venture worth watching.
Walkers, Grandote was laid out for you. If you want to hit balls before you play, though, ask the staff to lend you a cart to go to the range. … After golf or lunch, check out the vintage soda counter at Charlie’s Market and order an ice cream cone. Yum! … On Main Street, La Veta Mercantile blends shop, wine bar and concert hall. A country singer was on the bill the Saturday night we visited. … Include a summertime first Friday on your La Veta itinerary and you’ll be able to join in the fun of Art Walks on historic Main and Ryus.
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.