Dye Designs Group has completed a four-hole redesign on the Copper Creek course at Colorado’s Copper Mountain Resort.
The Copper Creek course, designed by Pete and Perry Dye and opened in 1986, is at an elevation of 9,700 feet, offering views of the Ten Mile mountain range.
In summer 2023, Cynthia Dye McGarey, DDG’s principal, and her son Matt McGarey, the firm’s senior design associate, reimagined holes twelve to fifteen, repositioned tees on the sixteenth and built a new back tee on eighteen.
McGarey supported the contractor during construction, helping to shape greens and other golf features. “Condo construction and a new access road for ski operations required the team to rethink the back nine’s routing,” he said. “It was a fun assignment as it not only gave us an opportunity to update a course that Pete and Perry designed, but to add our own spin to the typical Dye aesthetic. Working up here in the mountains means you’re inevitably dealing with some very rocky and challenging terrain, but we’re really happy with how it all turned out.”
The par-three twelfth now measures 174 yards from the back tee, with shots to be hit over an access road to an angled green guarded by flat-bottomed bunkers framed with wispy grass. The par-five thirteenth plays slightly uphill towards Ten Mile’s Pacific, Atlantic and Crystal peaks. The Dye team drew inspiration from the nearby Breckenridge Peak No. 8 for a volcano bunker behind the green.
The fourteenth is a par three with long views of Ten Mile Canyon and plays downhill to a push up green featuring significant internal contours and is punctuated by a Biarritz-like channel. The hole’s back tee, at 9,863 feet, is the highest tee box in North America. And at the short par-four fifteenth, the green is defended by a small pot bunker around 30 yards from the front portion.
“Partnering with Dye Designs Group to reimagine our back nine holes was an easy choice,” said Zach Dobrota, head golf professional at Copper Creek. “Their expertise in crafting challenging yet playable layouts is evident in these reimagined holes. This targeted redesign elevates Copper Creek to a whole new level, offering our guests an enhanced golfing experience that showcases the natural beauty of our mountain setting while maintaining the character of our beloved course.”