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Summer 2024’s Top Colorado Golf Getaway Destinations
The best summer (and fall) golf vacation locales in the Centennial State
Colorado Springs: Luxury Near the Summit
Colorado Springs is a hustle-and-bustle city, but on its western flank is home to spas and hotels that bring their guests immediately into the peace, quiet and relaxation of a mountain retreat.
Chief among these is Garden of the Gods Resort and Club. The resort a year ago underwent a $40 million renovation that upgraded and updated rooms, dining, spa services and the entire grounds.
Garden of the Gods offers world-class golf and tennis, the Strata med spa, pools and hot tubs and proximity to the hiking, biking and trails of the Rocky Mountain foothills and the resort’s namesake, Garden of the Gods Park.
The resort’s 117 rooms range from 57 well-appointed rooms and suites in the main lodge, with one, two and three-bedroom cottages and casitas available across the grounds. Each casita has a private patio and outdoor fireplace and is nestled beside a stream that winds through the complex.
The resort’s Strata Spa is a 10,000-square-foot salon that is part of the com- plex’s Strata Med facility. The spa offers massage and body treatments, skin- care and salon services, while the adjoining facilities house fitness and performance facilities and the Strata Med offerings.
Resort visitors have access to the 27-hole championship Kissing Camels Golf Club and practice facility. The course features sensational conditions and a classic layout designed by architects J. Press Maxwell and Mark Rathert.
Things to Do
PIKES PEAK
No summer visit for the active traveler to Colorado Springs is complete without a visit to the iconic peak. The famous mountain on the city’s western edge inspired ‘America the Beautiful’ and its summit can be accessed by car, tram or hike. The 13-mile Barr Trailhead is just outside of the western boundary of Garden of the Gods Resort and summiting on foot means the spa services are ready and waiting. ColoradoSprings.gov/drivepikespeak.
ART & MUSIC
Downtown Colorado Springs and nearby concert halls burst to life in the summer for residents and visitors. The Classic Tuesday Summer Concerts in Old Colorado City, just down the hill from the resort, run 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday nights at Bancroft Park. Friday nights see the Summer Concert Series at First and Main Town Center all June and July. The first Friday of each month downtown comes alive from 5 to 9 p.m. with galleries and the arts on display. VisitCos.Com
GOLF HALL OF FAME
The Broadmoor Resort hosts the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in its spa and golf building, and it is an information-packed experience. The Hall celebrates world-famous players and the people who worked behind the scenes who make Colorado golf great. The world-renowned resort course hosts the 2025 U.S. Men’s Senior Open from June 26 to 29.
Grand County: Life is Grand at the Lake this Summer
When the Rocky Mountain snows melt off in April and May, the beauty of Grand County and its summer golf opportunities emerge.
Central to those is Grand Elk Golf Club, a heathland-style course designed in homage to the inland courses of the UK. Grand Elk has matured since opening in 2002 into a unique, rolling mountain experience. The course, designed by PGA champion Craig Stadler and Tripp Davis, offers an array of options – from 5,400 front-tees to a full-throated screamer of 7,100 from the back.
The complex’s clubhouse is the centerpiece and community center of the adjacent Grand Elk community, a project of Koelbel Mountain Communities. The clubhouse includes a pool, family hot tub and the Grand Elk Grille.
The development took off during 2020 and became a remote-work enclave. Situated between Winter Park and Grand Lake, the development is popular as a location to beat the heat in the summer while being near the winter ski scene. East of the Eisenhower Tunnel along Interstate 70 it is also an easy ride to and from Denver.
Things to Do
MORE GOLF
Looking to drive your ball further? Nestled 8,000 feet above sea level, the thin air makes for a longer drive. Grand County is the perfect place to unwind with a round of golf. With four world-class courses, this region is quickly becoming a mountain golf paradise. Grand Elk is one of four courses in Grand County and all are open to public play. The others are Pole Creek Golf Club, Granby Ranch Golf Club and Grand Lake Golf Course. VisitGrandCounty.com.
WINTER PARK JAZZ FESTIVAL
Calling all Jazz music lovers! The 41st Annual Winter Park Jazz Festival is ready to welcome you back to Winter Park on July 20-21 at the Rendezvous Event Center. General admission is $80 for the two-day festival with five acts each day. PlayWinterPark.com.
GRAND LAKE
Summer is when Grand County is truly grand, and it is the lakes that make it that way. Grand Lake, Lake Granby and Shadow Mountain Lake offer sailing, swimming, kayaking, canoeing and fishing. Just being close to the shore can make the lakes feel like the anchor to the summer experience in the mountains.
Red Feather Lakes: Lake Life and the Great Summer Retreat
The Red Feather Lakes region of Colorado sits at 8,000 feet and is an easy, welcoming way to beat the summer heat, enjoy extensive water access, and play one of northern Colorado’s most unique golf courses.
The Golf Club at Fox Acres is a 6,500-yard experience with holes woven through the lake region. From the gate, you will see the lodge, then the course with holes wrapping around the many lakes that dot the region. Forest cover is heavy in this part of the Rockies, and pines and aspen trees are both beautiful to look at and avoid when playing golf. The course climbs the foothills briefly with striking rock formations adjacent to several holes.
But it’s the lakes that are the signature experience. Ponds and lakes are placed throughout the course with some fairways touched by homes and cabins and others nestled within the native pines.
Fox Acres has 13 lakes for fishing and 16 stay-and-play club rooms. Camping options are plentiful in the area, and the golf provides the perfect activity for a vacation otherwise filled with fly-fishing, camping and meadow hikes.
The club’s Fox Grille is available all summer. Summer stay-and-play packages begin at $199 a night and include two rounds of golf.
Things to Do
The Red Feather Lakes region offers outstanding hiking, fishing, rafting and golf all summer. There is no reason to leave. But a one-hour drive down the hill either north or south brings a quick day trip possible in either Cheyenne, Wyo., or Fort Collins.
FORT COLLINS – CITY OF DISTILLERS
FoCo is a burgeoning locale for whiskey and lager tourism. Downtown Fort Collins has the mecca of Colorado brewpubs, the New Belgium Brewing Company; tours run daily and on weekends the front lawn becomes a community festival all day. There are also eight whiskey distilleries in Fort Collins, and some of the best offer tasting rooms here and market their award-winning drams nationwide. Old Elk Whiskey and Copper Muse Distillery tasting rooms are about a block apart and offer the perfect way to explore whiskey culture.
CHEYENNE – MORE THAN FRONTIER DAYS
The annual Frontier Days festival in Cheyenne is a world-class blowout of rodeos, concerts, carnivals and chuckwagons. This year’s celebration of western culture runs July 19 to 28 and concerts include shows from Turnpike Troubadours, Jason Aldean and Jelly Roll to Machine Gun Kelly and T-Pain. But throughout the year downtown has enticing restaurants and shops.
Colorado’s Southern Edge: A Great Getaway
The southern portion of the Colorado Rocky Mountain range is home to some of the oldest towns in the state, national parks unlike any other, and beautiful waterways.
A trip based near South Fork puts visitors within arm’s reach of them all and provides access to Rio Grande Club and Resort. The club can be a base camp for exploring all that the region provides. Or it can be a standalone destination, with golf, fly-fishing and dining on the grounds.
Nearby mountain peaks top 12,000 feet and the golf course uses all the terrain of the Rio Grande valley. The front nine hugs the river and holes go along and over the water. The back nine takes players several hundred feet up into the foothills and then back down to the clubhouse.
The club members get first dibs on tee times, but visitors are welcome. The grand members’ clubhouse, home to the Big River Grille and Timers Restaurant, is perfect for larger events, while the intimate riverside Fishing Lodge is ideal for small-group gatherings.
The surrounding hills provide access to ATV and 4×4 excursions, fishing, rafting, climbing, hiking and mountain biking.
Things to Do
GREAT SAND DUNES NATIONAL PARK
One of Colorado’s most unique parks, Great Sand Dunes allows visitors to roam the largest sand dunes in North America and peer into a night sky of stunning clarity. Hiking – and sliding down the dunes – is the order of the day, although in summer the sands can reach temperatures of around 150 degrees and early morning or evening sand excursions are the best way to beat the heat.
The doorway to the Sands is the visitor center near Pinon Flats, a one-hour drive east from South Fork. There is no timed entry, just a $25 fee for a carload of visitors for ten days. Rent sand sleds at nearby businesses. The park is a certified International Dark Sky Park, and the distance from most cities makes a moonless night sky breathtaking.
MUSIC AND ARTS ALONG THE RIO GRANDE
All summer long the Creede Repertory Theatre in South Fork anchors a season of theater and music for residents and visitors. Performances ramp up Memorial Day weekend with performances of a comedy from the Sherlock Holmes universe – ‘Baskerville.’ Performances continue most weekends through the summer.
John Lehndorff is the former Dining Critic for the Rocky Mountain News. He is the Food Editor of the Boulder Weekly and hosts Radio Nibbles weekly on KGNU.
Colorado AvidGolfer Magazine is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it, publishing eight issues annually and proudly delivering daily content via coloradoavidgolfer.com.
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