Golf in the State of Colorado
Colorado is noted for its vivid diversity of landscapes, including alpine mountains, dense forests, high plains, mesas and plateaus, deep canyons, fast flowing rivers, and desert lands with large sand dunes. It is one of the Mountain States in the western US. The state is bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas to the east, Oklahoma to the southeast, New Mexico to the south, Utah to the west, and touches Arizona to the southwest at the Four Corners Monument.
Of the state's 264 golf courses, over 70 are found in Denver and the surrounding area. Colorado Springs boasts over 15, Pueblo, Grand Junction, and Boulder have a few excellent courses. Some of the nation's best values are found in Denver's public courses, including the 9-hole Harvard Gulch Golf Course, an ideal course for working on ones’ short game. The newly redesigned City Park Golf Course sits in the heart of Denver and provides not only a challenging round of golf but also a great view of both the city and surrounding mountains. Fox Hollow Golf Course, Lakewood was one of the first courses in the nation to be completely accessible to golfers with disabilities. The Fossil Trace Golf Club, Golden, advises dinosaurs used to roam around holes 11-15 approximately 64 million years ago and indeed, footprints and prehistoric fossils can be viewed near the 12th green!
Golfers of note with connections to Colorado include pro golfer Hale Irwin, born in Joplin, Missouri, and raised in Baxter Springs, Kansas and Boulder, Colorado - Irwin has 20 victories on the PGA Tour to his credit. Shane Bertsch, born in Denver, gave up pro-tennis for golf after losing a match to Andre Agassi. David Duval from Jacksonville, Florida, now residing in Cherry Hills Village is a former World #1 golfer and has stopped touring to become a golf analyst and commentator. Kimberly Kim was born in Hilo, Hawaii but attended the University of Denver and went on to become the youngest player to win the US Women’s Amateur.