Where to Tee it Up: Grand Junction, Montrose, Delta

Golf Colorado’s Western Slope

Colorado AvidGolfer

Golfweek ranks the The Golf Club at Redlands Mesa (pictured above) No. 1 in Colorado in its 2014 State-by-State listing of Courses You Can Play. Taking in views of the Grand Mesa, Bookcliffs and the Colorado National Monument, the surreal Jim Engh masterpiece gallops 7,007 yards over and around outcroppings and escarpments to create 18 unforgettable holes.

A Grand Time

In addition to fecund vineyards and orchards, Grand Junction’s high-desert landscape has spawned five distinctive public courses. Opened in 2001, Redlands Mesa represents the newest addition to a cache that includes the challenging nine at Lincoln Park, Chipeta Golf Course’s perky executive course and the 27-hole Adobe National Golf Club just northwest in Fruita. And thanks to a recent Phelps-Atkinson renovation, the beautifully historic and hazard-filled Tiara Rado Golf Course (pictured below) has regained the luster it had when it opened 40 years ago.

On the Tee

Roughly translating to “red crown” because of the ruddy rocks defining it, Tiara Rado Golf Club also is green (it’s an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary) and blue (the 6,442-yard course has fledged all three species of American bluebird).

Chipeta Golf Course features no par 5s and the longest hole measures 386 yards. But what this par- 59 executive layout lacks in difficulty, it makes up for in fun, spectacular scenery and superlative service.

With Colorado National Monument (pictured below) and McInnis Canyons as backdrop, Fruita’s Adobe National Golf Club boasts three nines—Desert, Monument and the par-37 Mesa, which stretches 3,783 yards, 400 longer than the other two.

Cobble Up a Game in Montrose

Tipping out just shy of 7,000 yards, The Links at Cobble Creek winds around ten lakes and a creek, with water figuring into half the holes. Two 600-yard par 5s and a back nine featuring three par 3s, three par 4s and three par 5s make this layout as distinctive as its view of the San Juan Mountains.

FEATURED COURSES

Adobe Creek National Golf Course
Fruita
970-858-0521; adobecreekgolf.com

The Bridges Golf & Country Club
Montrose
970-252-1119; montrosebridges.com

Chipeta Golf Course
Grand Junction
970-245-7177; chipetagolf.com

The Links at Cobble Creek
Montrose
970-240-9542; cobblecreek.com

Devil’s Thumb Golf Club
Delta
970-874-6262; devilsthumbgolfclub.com

Lincoln Park Golf Course
Grand Junction
970-242-6394; golfgrandjunction.net

The Golf Club at Redlands Mesa
Grand Junction
970-263-9270; redlandsmesa.com

Tiara Rado Golf Course
Grand Junction
970-254-3830; golfgrandjunction.net

RELATED LINKS

Savor Grand Junction's Reds, Whites and Greens!

5 Reasons to Visit Colorado's Western Slope this Summer

Get Hooked on the Fly Fishing Scene in Colorado

Colorado AvidGolfer is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it. It publishes eight issues annually and proudly delivers daily content via www.coloradoavidgolfer.com.