The 7 Best Golf Courses in Colorado You Can Play

When you visit Colorado your checked luggage is more likely to include a snowboard or skis than golf clubs. The Centennial State might not be the first place you think of as a golf destination, but there are some incredible tracks within Colorado’s borders. These are the best golf courses you can play in Colorado, where soft spikes beat snow shoes any day.

No golf resort is more celebrated in Colorado than The Broadmoor. The luxury resort is amongst wilderness, pressed against Cheyenne Mountain State Park. The courses on property have the fingerprints of legends and players of all levels will find tee boxes that play both fair and challenging.

The East course has an incredible history. Back when the U.S. Amateur was considered a major championship, Jack Nicklaus won it here in 1959. It was the Golden Bear’s first major win. Speaking of firsts, Annika Sorenstam also won her first major on the East course at the 1995 U.S. Women’s Open. The East gives you the luxury of open space off the tee, but pays you back around the greens with some wicked collection areas and bunkers.

The West course doesn’t have the history that the East boasts, but it’s still a thumper of a golf course. Its tree-lined fairways force you to hit the ball straight, with not much room to miss. The greens roll true, so you might not find them to be as troubling as the East greens. 

We mentioned legendary architects, and we weren’t kidding. For both the East and West courses, Donald Ross and Robert Trent Jones Sr. split the number of holes under their design watch. It’s truly remarkable.

If you like to check TPC courses off of your list, chances are TPC Colorado is near the top of your most wanted. TPC Colorado is a private facility, but the TPC Network allows for a very limited number of public tee times. You just need to call one week ahead of time. If you’re planning a golf trip, your best bet is to have a backup plan with the hope that you can snag a tee time at this amazing track instead.

Arthur Schaupeter designed TPC Colorado, and it’s an incredibly demanding golf course. The course brings in natural terrain and landscapes seamlessly. Views of the Rocky Mountains are uninterrupted and the holes, in general, are wide but put a premium on shot placement.

The nearly 8,000-yard tee box is reserved for the best in the world, but amateurs have plenty of shorter tee boxes to choose from. The course is less than an hour directly north of Denver. So if you’re in town for a quick stay, it’s easily accessible.

Dalton Ranch Golf Club is in the southwestern corner of Colorado amongst the San Juan National Forest. It carries a very modest vibe for having such an outstanding golf course. The staff and clubhouse are very unassuming and easy-going. The course is always in tremendous shape and there might not be a better place to enjoy a steak after your round than on the terrace of the clubhouse.

Ken Dye designed Dalton Ranch and brings in a lot of fun obstacles such as split fairways and obstructed views of hazards. Pay attention to the scorecard or find yourself a map view so you always know what lies in front of you. The rolling terrain certainly guides your golf ball to trouble if you’re not careful. If you place this course in a less-remote area, closer to Denver perhaps, it’s a $250 course, making the $150 peak season rate well worth it to experience this visually stunning layout.

Just west of Beaver Creek and Vail is the city of Wolcott, home to the two best public courses in all of Colorado. When you're staying on property, you can play either course at Red Sky Golf club, the Norman course and the Fazio course. It certainly helps that Red Sky is located smack in the middle of the White River National Forest, so the topography is anything but simple. If you can play either of these courses at dawn or dusk, you will be treated to some of the most colorful skies you’ll ever see, just as the name suggests.

The Norman course is certainly the more difficult of the duo. It incorporates rock outcroppings, wildflowers, and holes that are routed basically into the mountains. The par 3s are long, with the exception of the 10th which only plays 160 yards from the tips. You’ll likely find more scoring opportunities on the par 4s.

The Fazio course is the shorter of the two, and technically owns the easier rating/slope. This layout, however, is far from a pushover. You’ll deal with more dense forest on the Fazio course plus with the same Rocky Mountain terrain you get on the Norman. The biggest difference, in our opinion, is that the green complexes on Fazio are a lot easier to navigate. Fazio puts a premium on distance control, but if you’re rolling it well, you can definitely see some birdies drop.

Steamboat Springs is a ski resort mecca in Colorado. People from all over travel to the area to experience its world-class accommodations and slopes. We value Steamboat Springs for something a bit greener and warmer, however. Haymaker Golf Course is a championship layout that is consistently ranked among the best courses in the state, and you can play it for just $139. That cost of admission is worth it for the views alone.

Throughout the course, you’ll get unobstructed views of the Yampa Valley and Mount Werner, which go along with a truly enjoyable golf course. The greens at Haymaker Golf Course are nothing short of massive, but they’re gently contoured, so even if you’re a mile away you can still lag it toward the hole with confidence. Keith Foster designed this course, which opened in 1997. You’ll likely see plenty of wildlife during your round, including elk, heron, and eagles.

Jim Engh designed Redlands Mesa Golf Course and we love the marriage of his signature style around the course and how it blends with the natural mountain and forest beauty.

Engh has a knack for creating deep, wispy bunkers which he has plenty of on this course. The natural rolling terrain can funnel into them easily, so be sure to dial in your accuracy before you head to Redlands Mesa. The course is set near the Colorado National Monument and you’ll have numerous tee boxes which hang over vistas. It's definitely a thinker's golf course and you’ll benefit from playing it a second time to know which runoffs to shoot for, and which ones to avoid.

We don’t know if we’ve ever encountered a golf course that is so well routed through a popular housing area than the Ridge at Castle Pines North. For being in such a busy area, there are holes where you feel secluded, which is not easy to accomplish. Tom Weiskopf didn’t rely on any magic to route this golf course, the land simply presented itself.

The gentle, rolling terrain actually pushes your ball back into the fairway on some holes, which we love. The front and back nines are two different tales. The front is very wide open and allows some freedom off the tee, but Weiskopf tightens it up on the back nine with narrow fairways and smaller landing areas. It’s a very different golf course if the wind is blowing, but when it’s calm out, take advantage of the front nine scoring opportunities and do your best to coast along the back and enjoy the views.