Due to the lack of heavy snow earlier in the year, Pole Creek Golf Club opened in early May – one of its earliest! The course has all 27 holes open. The conditions are good and within a month’s time the course will be in tip top shape for those to experience great Winter Park CO golf.
The extension of a longer golf season at 9,000 feet is a dream come true for many golfers – especially since last year’s heavy snowfall delayed the opening of any golf courses in Grand County until the beginning of June. It is relatively quiet at the golf course during the mid week timeframe and this will allow you to enjoy the course in a new way – taking a little extra time to view the snow capped mountains, listening to the water in the meadow streams and hear the chirping birds of spring. The weekends have been increasing busier as the nicer weather is becoming the normal and this is when most of us don’t have to work!
There are still the signs of “spring conditions” on the course, but the grounds crew have taken care to place the pins on the “greenest” part of the greens and manicured the fairways to allow the course to play like the middle of summer.
The restaurant is open daily and offers their Thursday night Burger Night – a great deal from last summer. Order any burger after 5pm and receive a draft beer, house wine or well drink for FREE! Other specials include Friday fish fry and great seafood specials. Saturday night is Angus Prime Rib special.
Come up and enjoy the spring golf!

A few years ago I took up cross-country skiing – skate skiing to be precise – bought the gear and a season pass to Devils Thumb, and quickly found out this was the toughest form of exercise I had ever participated in. And that was fine, because that’s what I wanted, having felt seriously out of shape ever since I switched jobs back in 2003. Back then, I was big into Colorado back-county snowshoeing, often out at 6 in the morning in significantly below freezing temperatures, pretty much breaking trail wherever I went. In addition, I played golf in the summer, choosing to walk and carry my clubs instead of driving a cart, so this kept up my level of fitness.

Despite possessing a pass to a top-10-North American ranked cross country center, my visits were infrequent and over all too quickly. That, combined with less golf in the summer (and the rounds I did play primarily cart-driven), plus my inability to cut down on my consumption of beer and wine, I’ve had to have a serious re-think about how and where to get my workouts.

I have a pass to the new Recreation Center, which is a wonderful facility, but loathe working out indoors – lifting weights, running the track, etc. However, outside I think I have my answer, to at least part of my dilemma. Directly outside the Rec Center, and extending across the whole of the meadow pretty much down to the Bank of the West, is a cross-country and snowshoe trail which is groomed, open 24/7 (although with no lights you’ll have to restrict your nighttime activity to moonlight), and is free to the public and their dogs if applicable.

The Winter Park cross country skiing trail is primarily one big loop, but is a massive 32 feet wide and includes classic tracks as well. It’s about 4 miles long and affords wonderful views of the Continental Divide, and the ski area. While it is to all intents and purposes flat, depending on your origination point, you will climb up the valley from North to South (i.e. from the Fraser end to the Winter Park end) at some part of your loop. And depending on your level of fitness and commitment, a lap can take 20-30 minutes, so perfect for a mad dash at lunchtime, or a more sustained workout over 2 laps.

Free is definitely good – as is close, well groomed, and yet another alternative for fun for locals and those enjoying a Colorado ski vacation.

Pole Creek Golf Course officially opened at the weekend for “technically” its 26th summer amidst great excitement, woolly sweaters and ski hats. Why “technically”? Well, the first 9 holes were playable in 1983, but it was not until 1985 that all 18 were open and the course achieved the much touted accolade of “Best New Public Course in North America” awarded by Golf Digest. I probably don’t need to explain “woolly sweaters and ski hats”. At 8,600 feet, play during the last weekend of any May can offer up conditions more akin to a windswept links course in the Scottish Highlands in October.

The “great excitement” was provided by me, as I look forward to this event all winter long. In fact, the prospect of a summer of golf keeps me somewhat sane during the winter when there is insanity all around! Apparently, it was a real scramble to get the course opened on time. Due to the above-average snowfall this year and in particular the continued low temperatures during May, the lack of warmth has meant a delay in melt-off of snow, so there are still many brown patches waiting to “turn”.

However, this scenario won’t last long. In fact I, and many others who love playing this course, have more reason to look forward to this summer than in the past because of the concerted efforts of the “team” at Pole Creek to make the playing experience even better. This year, for the first time – due to the erratic and irregular melting patterns of past springs causing ice damage on the greens – the grounds crew manually cleared 22 of the 27 greens (the other 5 cleared naturally), and then covered all 27 greens with 35,000 square feet of tarp. This has ensured the greens have come through the winter unscathed, so summer will be spent nurturing existing turf to provide top-notch putting surfaces, instead of patching, repairing, re-sodding, re-seeding and playing “catch-up” in getting the greens into decent shape. Due to the shortness of our playing season up here, this has always been a frustrating exercise, and never truly accomplished even by the time winterization efforts roll around.

In addition, a further 2,000 pine trees killed by the infamous pine beetles, have been felled which – in addition to the 2,000 cut down last year – have helped change the playing landscape (and views) somewhat of many holes . Spraying efforts continue to have a good degree of success – I’m told that the course has about an 80% survival rate of trees sprayed, and some 7,000 trees were sprayed last year. Despite the loss of these trees, I don’t envisage my scores will come down as a result. You still gotta keep it on the fairway, hit the greens and make the putts. The loss of a bit of lumber doesn’t make Pole Creek a whole lot easier.

Furthermore, the 26 year-old irrigation system for the original 18 holes is in the course of being replaced this summer on a staggered basis. Long overdue – and I’m sure a relief to the grounds staff – this will bring operating standards for course maintenance into the 21st century, and bound to make a big difference in on-course quality.

With a new clubhouse due to break ground toward the end of this summer, and more cart-path paving budgeted for the Fall these are exciting times for those involved in Pole Creek Golf Course at administrative, operational and especially playing levels. Colorado Mountain Golf is a competitive climate, and locals, Front Range guests and destination golfers alike have a choice in this County. It’s a shame we (residents) won’t have more than the 4-5 months of golf to truly appreciate and benefit from the progress that has been made at the course for this season, but that’s one of the sacrifices we make for living here, isn’t it?