The combination of a perfect plot of land and some big names in golf will bring an exciting project to the eastern plains of Colorado.
On Tuesday, developers Michael and Chris Keiser announced a new Dream Golf project on over 2,000 acres located off Interstate 76. The site is about 50 miles from Denver and 42 miles from Denver International Airport.
“The moment I set foot on this land, I knew this was the place,” Michael Keiser said in a press release. “The dunes are perfect — tall and rolling, with unlimited possibilities for great golf holes.”
Dream Golf has developed some of the best golf courses in North America. Pacific Dunes in Oregon was ranked No. 2 on Golf Digest’s Top 100 public course ranking while Bandon Dunes, also in Oregon, was ranked No. 7. Sand Valley Golf Resort in Wisconsin has two courses ranked in the top 30. Cabot Cape Breton in Nova Scotia has two courses ranked in Golf Digest’s Top 100 in the world rankings.
“We are committed to making world-class golf courses available to all golfers,” Tom Ferrell, who is vice president of marketing and communications for Dream Golf, told The Denver Gazette. “The original idea at Bandon Dunes was to build a true links course in the U.S. and see if it connected with a segment of golfers. It turns out that it really connected. Our courses are walking only. They are set in wonderful, unique locations.”
Rodeo Dunes, which will be in the town of Roggen in unincorporated Weld County, will consist of two 18-hole tracks — for now. One will be designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, the other by Jim Craig. This will be Craig’s first solo project.
“Jim has spent 25 years in the field with Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, learning, creating, bringing to life the designs of one of the greatest teams ever to build golf courses,” Ferrell said. “But his involvement with golf goes all the way back to his childhood. He has a unique vision of the game and the people who play it. Jim believes that, above all else, golfers want to have fun and have stories to tell at the end of the day.”
Craig was impressed with the site as soon as he saw it.
“I got out of my truck and was like ‘oh, damn, that looks like No. 1,'” Craig said. “I am pointing my finger and saying that’s No. 1 and I turn around and say that’s No. 18.”
Many Colorado golfers are familiar with Coore and Crenshaw’s work. They designed Parker’s Colorado Golf Club, which has hosted the 2010 Senior PGA Championship, the 2013 Solheim Cup and the 2019 U.S. Mid-Amateur. Coore and Crenshaw also designed Sand Hill Golf Club in Mullen, Neb., which was ranked No. 10 in Golf Digest’s rankings of public and private courses.
The duo has designed courses for over 30 years.
“The Keisers have done it again. This is an exceptionally gifted site,” Coore said.
Construction is set to begin this summer with the plan to open in summer of 2025. Down the road, a par-3 course and putting course could be added as well as lodging, similar to other Dream Golf resorts. The sandy site will make construction easy, Ferrell said.
“This is a light construction project, relatively speaking,” he said. “The ground is so good, and our architects believe in laying courses on the ground rather than building them. Work will get started over the next couple of months, and we look forward to golf at Rodeo Dunes in 2025.”
Could two new golf courses developed by some of the more famous designers in the game draw more professional events to the state?
“That’s not part of our thinking right now,” Ferrell said. “We certainly believe in supporting championship golf — more on the amateur side than on the professional side. But our focus is on courses that are fun, engaging and interesting to play.”
For more infomation on Rodeo Dunes and Dream Golf, go to dreamgolf.com
***
Local Links
Eisenhower Golf Course set to host U.S. Girls Junior
The U.S. Girls Junior Championship will be played for the first time on a U.S. military base when the event tees off July 17-22 at Eisenhower Golf Course at the Air Force Academy.
The U.S. Girls’ Junior originally was scheduled to be played at Eisenhower in 2020. But due to the state’s Covid-19 restrictions the championship was canceled for the only time in its history.
The 2023 tournament will be the fourth time the U.S. Girls’ Junior has been played in Colorado.
The winner will qualify for the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open and Augusta National Women’s Amateur and the 2023 and 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur.
***
This week in golf
LPGA
The Chevron Championship
When: Thursday-Sunday
Site: The Club at Carlton Woods – The Woodlands, Texas
Defending champ: Jennifer Kupcho
Purse: $5.1 million
TV: Thursday-Friday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., 4-6 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, Noon-1 p.m. (Peacock), 1-2 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2-4 p.m. (NBC)
PGA
Zurich Classic of New Orleans
When: Thursday-Sunday
Site: TPC Louisiana – Avondale, La.
Defending champ: Patrick Cantlay / Xander Schauffele
Purse: $8.6 million
TV: Thursday-Friday, 1-4 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. (Golf Channel), 1-4 p.m. (CBS)
CHAMPIONS
Invited Celebrity Classic
When: Friday-Sunday
Site: Las Colinas Country Club – Irving, Texas
Defending champ: Scott Parel
Purse: $2 million
TV: 7-9 p.m. (Golf Channel-tape delay); Saturday-Sunday, 2-5 p.m. (Golf Channel)
LIV
LIV Golf Invitational Adelaide
When: Friday-Sunday
Site: The Grange Golf Club – Adelaide, Australia
Defending champ: New event
Purse: $25 million
TV: Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m.-1 a.m. (The CW app); Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. (The CW Network-tape delay)
DP World
ISPS Handa Championship
When: Thursday-Sunday
Site: PGM Ishioka GC – Omitama, Japan
Defending champ: Pablo Larrzabal
Purse: $2 million
TV: Wednesday-Thursday, 9 p.m.-2 a.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 9 p.m.-1:30 a.m. (Golf Channel)
Korn Ferry
LECOM Suncoast Classic
When: Thursday-Sunday
Site: Lakewood National GC (Commander Course) – Lakewood Ranch, Fla.
Defending champ: Byeong Hun An
TV: None
***
Skins game
Odds to win The Chevron Championship
Nelly Korda +900
Jin Young Ko +1000
Lydia Ko +1000
Atthaya Thitikul +1200
Georiga Hall +1800
Lilia Vu +2000
Jennifer Kupcho +6000
Odds to win Zurich Classic of New Orleans
Schauffele/Cantlay +325
Morikawa/Homa +900
Im/Mitchell +1200
SW Kim/T Kim +1400
Burns/Horschel +1600
— Odds from SuperBook Colorado
***
World Golf Rankings
Player, points
1. Jon Rahm, 499.69
2. Scottie Scheffler, 538.32
3. Rory McIlroy, 389.07
4. Patrick Cantlay, 306.55
5. Xander Schauffele, 276.59
6. Cameron Smith, 227.57
7. Max Homa, 266.96
8. Matt Fitzpatrick, 293.01
9. Jordan Spieth, 241.78
10. Will Zalatoris, 217.37
Ryder Cup standings
United States
Captain: Zach Johnson
Player, points
1. Scottie Scheffler, 17,574.423
2. Max Homa, 6,736.710
3. Cameron Young, 6,584.886
4. Jordan Spieth, 6,392.092
5. Sam Burns, 5,902.294
6. Patrick Cantlay, 5,677.425
7. Collin Morikawa, 5,582.495
8. Will Zalatoris, 5,529.134
9. Justin Thomas, 5,422.250
10. Xander Schauffele, 4,529.727
11. Kurt Kitayama, 4,525.605
12. Chris Kirk, 3,814.127
Note: The U.S. team will be made up from the top six eligible players in the points rankings with six captain’s picks.
Europe
Captain: Luke Donald
European points
1. Jon Rahm, 2,883.53
2. Rory McIlroy, 2,189.2
3. Victor Perez, 1,286.02
4. Yannik Paul, 1,269.97
5. Shane Lowery, 1,052.36
6. Alex Noren, 1047.4
World points
1. Jon Rahm, 312.63
2. Rory McIlroy, 176.86
3. Matt Firzpatrick, 126.05
4. Viktor Hovland, 121.94
5. Tyrell Hatton, 71.0
6. Tommy Fleetwood, 71.36
Note: The European team will be made up from the top three eligible players from the European points List, the top three eligible players from the World Points List and six captain’s picks.
A multi-lingual talent head, Allen is fluent in languages such as Spanish, Russian, Italian, and many more. He has a special curiosity for the events and stories revolving in and around US and caters an uncompromising form of journalistic standard for the audiences.