Golf Course Architecture - Issue 62: October 2020

66 The green has been recontoured, and a back bunker replaced with a chipping area. “It still has some pretty good slope to it, but not nearly what it was before,” says Muirhead. But perhaps the biggest change was saved for the last, with the club wanting a grandstand finish in front of the new clubhouse. The par-four eighteenth at Columbine was previously known for a large cottonwood tree directly in the line of play. “When the course was built, someone had an idea of planting this tree right in the middle of the fairway,” says Trainer. “Fast forward 60 years and the tree got to be about 70 feet tall. Cottonwoods don’t live much past 60 years and the tree had to be taken down because it was rotten. Then the hole was defenceless.” Jones and Muirhead provided options for the club to consider. They first toyed with the idea of a split fairway, making full use of the wide hole corridor, but it felt out of character with the rest of the course. They settled on a design that would bring Dutch Creek, which runs through the course and along the left side of the eighteenth, into play. The fairway was previously some distance away, with rough grass covering a steep slope down to the creek. “We pushed the fairway towards the creek, and reshaped the slope so it’s maintainable at a tight cut,” says Muirhead. Players can now challenge the creek for the shortest route to the green, or bail out to the right, where a series of three new bunkers await. The renovated course has been in play for a few months now, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. “Golfers come up to me and say we love everything that Rees and Greg did,” says Trainer. “They come back and say, boy, this course is more fun to play now.” “The visual experience that people get when they play here is so much better,” says Heim. “It’s because the corridors are a little more open from the tree removal and you can see the bunkers from the tees. Everything just flows better.” Since completion, the club has attracted more members and is now “within a hair’s breadth of being sold out,” according to Trainer. “I think we’ve easily taken our place, alongside Denver Country Club and Cherry Hills, as one of the top three golf courses in the area. For anyone who’s got game and wants to be challenged, we’re probably the best golf course to join. And for anyone who has a family and wants to get their kids in at a young age, we’re probably the best golf course to join.” “Columbine has a phenomenal history,” says Jones. “This was really a wonderful golf facility for both the members and testing the best in the game. We really wanted to bring it back to the future. I think we have put Columbine back in the upper echelon of championship golf, and I hope that some day in the future they’ll have the opportunity to host a major event again.” GCA “The visual experience that people get when they play here is so much better… everything just flows better” COLUMB INE COUNTRY CLUB Offset bunkering on the eighth hole gives players more choices to consider. The left portion of the image shows the new eighteenth tee shot Photo: Scott Dressel-Martin