Gorgeous Miles

Mile High Golf Courses? Vail & Colorado Golf Courses

When you start searching Colorado maps and resources the first thing you notice are the great number of golf courses in the state of Colorado.

In the mountains, the Aspen area is sparse in the number of golf courses compared to the Vail area, This might have something to do with former President Gerald Ford giving attention to Vail over Aspen. As you might remember, former President Ford was a big golf fan and player. Although not a tournament-class player, he had fun playing as long as you weren't in his line of fire with a stray golf ball. For the younger people... Gerald Ford had a bad habit of hitting bystanders.

What about the Denver area? Wow, a whopping number of golf courses are listed, over 40 featured ones alone. It makes you wonder if there's any room for a city.
Colorado Springs is no slouch. there are about 40 golf courses around that area too and the weather tends to be nicer due to a little thing called the Palmer Divide near Monument. The divide is about 3,000 feet above Denver and 2,000 feet or so above Colorado Springs. Storms coming from the north tend to stall on Palmer Divide and so your golf outing is less likely to be interrupted. Storms from the west are different. Better get off the golf course before lightning decides you're its next target.

The Fort Collins area shows about 30 golf courses and the Pueblo area about 10. Pueblo isn't as big into golf as its northern neighbors. Possibly because of its working class roots as a steel town and the surrounding agricultural areas. For some reason, steel workers and farmers usually find better things to be doing than golfing.

The Grand Junction area has about twice as many golf courses than the Pueblo area. Do you suppose tending orchards in Grand Junction (peaches, cherries, apples) gives them the desire to play golf more?

The Grand Lake area is also thin with golf courses. But what golf courses there are there have to be good. Just being in the area is fantastic...what with the huge (by Colorado standards - this isn't Minnesota) Grand Lake and gorgeous Rocky Mountain National Park nearby.If you want to get away from the maddening crowds and experience the Rocky Mountains at its best, check out the Telluride area. Gasps of awe are guaranteed in this part of the Rocky Mountains.

A word of warning though. If you're from a lower elevation state I'd suggest using an electric cart. Playing golf five to nine thousand feet higher than you're used to, can make 18 holes feel like a 30 mile marathon. There is a good thing though. Your golf ball will travel farther than you've ever hit before thanks to that thin air.

That being said, whenever you golf in Colorado, you're bound to have a good time. The weather is great (over 300 sunny days per year) with a gorgeous scenery that can't be beat anywhere else in the world.

About the Author

RC Rougeux live in Colorado and writes articles about Vail and Colorado for his Vail informational websites at:
Vail Colorado
and a href="http://www.aspencoloradomountainvacation.com">Aspen Colorado