jamesdeluxe
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2020
I'm back in Denver for a short visit so my brother and I managed to get a late-afternoon tee time at City Park, a municipal course with an interesting background. Designed by golf-architect pioneer Thomas Bendelow and opened in 1913, one could argue that its most noteworthy attribute had been the view of the skyline and the Front Range, which the city has used over the years in tourism photos like this:
The one and only time I played there previously was in the early 90s. Back then, the surrounding district was a bit rough and I don't recall much about the course other than that it was easy to hop on for a round at the last minute. Fast forward a quarter century and in 2017 the City of Denver embarked on a major project to rebuild the entire course as a par-70 layout at a cost of about $40 million.
With a price tag like that, the objective wasn't only to make a better golf course but also to manage up to 75 million gallons of water that flows through this area after big rainstorms. The 35-acre course is supposed to be one of the last large open spaces in the city capable of capturing and gradually releasing all that precipitation to avoid flooding the surrounding area. Here's a drone pic of how it now looks from above:
You can see that it's a wide open layout, partly because 260 mature trees had to be removed during the course rebuild (understandably not a popular move with nearby residents). The city reportedly plans to replant about 600 to 700 trees on the course, with the expectation that the canopy will be restored in about a decade.
The first tee, looking west toward the city with rain threatening:
While most of the holes are on the original corridors, they improved the layout significantly from the previous version, or what I remember of it. The new design included expanding and reshaping all 18 greens -- many of which are quite big, some with tiered sections -- and building 36 new sand traps. Take a look at the size of this one:
Par-5 #9 has a interesting opportunity for your second shot -- you can gun for the green across 250 yards of water. The long hitter in our group went for it. Given my diminished distance these days, I decided to be prudent and laid up short on the right.
On the 11th tee, you can see the 20 acres of the course that hold the aforementioned rainwater -- via a treatment channel that was designed to avoid looking like an "engineered" feature.
Looking toward the 11th green from across the water, nice view:
A few holes later, the flood basin serves as a water hazard on both sides of the fairway:
The two locals in our foursome used irons for their tee shots; my brother and I unwisely used drivers. Mine went left into the stream; his went right into the holding pond:
An early-evening sunset on this 605-yard par 5 dogleg right/you can see some of the newly planted trees:
We finished at dusk, around 7:45. Looking toward the skyline and mountains from the back of the 18th green:
$40 million also gets you a spacious new clubhouse with architecture that complements the buildings in the adjacent park:
In short, a fun, worthwhile layout that should get even better as the newly planted trees mature. Interesting how City Park used to be a quasi ugly duckling amongst Denver's municipal courses. Now it's the belle of the ball and you have to plan well in advance to get a tee time. Check it out if you're ever in the area.
The one and only time I played there previously was in the early 90s. Back then, the surrounding district was a bit rough and I don't recall much about the course other than that it was easy to hop on for a round at the last minute. Fast forward a quarter century and in 2017 the City of Denver embarked on a major project to rebuild the entire course as a par-70 layout at a cost of about $40 million.
With a price tag like that, the objective wasn't only to make a better golf course but also to manage up to 75 million gallons of water that flows through this area after big rainstorms. The 35-acre course is supposed to be one of the last large open spaces in the city capable of capturing and gradually releasing all that precipitation to avoid flooding the surrounding area. Here's a drone pic of how it now looks from above:
You can see that it's a wide open layout, partly because 260 mature trees had to be removed during the course rebuild (understandably not a popular move with nearby residents). The city reportedly plans to replant about 600 to 700 trees on the course, with the expectation that the canopy will be restored in about a decade.
The first tee, looking west toward the city with rain threatening:
While most of the holes are on the original corridors, they improved the layout significantly from the previous version, or what I remember of it. The new design included expanding and reshaping all 18 greens -- many of which are quite big, some with tiered sections -- and building 36 new sand traps. Take a look at the size of this one:
Par-5 #9 has a interesting opportunity for your second shot -- you can gun for the green across 250 yards of water. The long hitter in our group went for it. Given my diminished distance these days, I decided to be prudent and laid up short on the right.
On the 11th tee, you can see the 20 acres of the course that hold the aforementioned rainwater -- via a treatment channel that was designed to avoid looking like an "engineered" feature.
Looking toward the 11th green from across the water, nice view:
A few holes later, the flood basin serves as a water hazard on both sides of the fairway:
The two locals in our foursome used irons for their tee shots; my brother and I unwisely used drivers. Mine went left into the stream; his went right into the holding pond:
An early-evening sunset on this 605-yard par 5 dogleg right/you can see some of the newly planted trees:
We finished at dusk, around 7:45. Looking toward the skyline and mountains from the back of the 18th green:
$40 million also gets you a spacious new clubhouse with architecture that complements the buildings in the adjacent park:
In short, a fun, worthwhile layout that should get even better as the newly planted trees mature. Interesting how City Park used to be a quasi ugly duckling amongst Denver's municipal courses. Now it's the belle of the ball and you have to plan well in advance to get a tee time. Check it out if you're ever in the area.
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