Colorado has more than 250 golf courses and 4,500 tee boxes, but the view from the No. 8 hole at City Park is unmatched.
The City Park Golf Course, built nearly 100 years ago, has become a staple on the Denver golf community’s bucket list. Its incomparable views of the Denver skyline are complemented by the course’s old growth and a history golfers can feel as they walk the course amid the hustle of the city.
It was this history and a chance to become a head pro that drew Keith Soriano to the course in January 2010. At the state’s third-oldest course, Soriano already is starting to think about throwing a big bash for the course’s 100th birthday next summer.
“To know I could have the job as head pro when a course turns 100, that’s pretty cool,” Soriano said last week.
But the 33-year-old teaching pro, who is allergic to grass and has a “passion” for fly-fishing, has played the grounds just twice. Before landing at City Park, Soriano worked for seven years at Coal Creek GC in Louisville.
With the peacocks at the nearby Denver Zoo audible from nearly every tee box, City Park, whose designer is unknown, trails only Overland Park (1895) in Denver and Patty Jewett (1898) in Colorado Springs for state longevity.
“It’s weird, but we could never discover who built the original course,” said former head pro Tom Woodard, who started playing the course in 1965.
While not overly long (6,740 yards from the back tee boxes), the par-72 course has evolved from its nine-hole beginnings two years before the start of World War I and now hosts a comfortable clubhouse at the intersection of York Street and 26th Avenue, as well as quality practice areas.
But don’t be fooled by the well-groomed and flat practice greens near the clubhouse. The putting surfaces on the course are one big adventure. With push-up greens on nearly every hole, golfers can be fooled on their approach shots, especially with the holes that play away from the mountains and downtown. With the first four holes running parallel to 26th Avenue, the fairways aren’t all downhill on the trip east. That run ends with an imposing shot from the long par-3 No. 4, with its green on the bustling corner of 26th and Colorado Boulevard.
Even with the sights and sounds of the city in the background, the course takes a peaceful turn on No. 6 as golfers get away from the road and play into the heart of the plot.
But if there is any question about why you decided to get a tee time in the middle of a big city, it disappears when you are walking up to the eighth tee.
“That’s the money view,” Soriano said, standing on No. 8. The view of Denver from that tee box has been used in a number of advertising spots, and says “Welcome to our big little city” like no other.
And to enhance the scenery, the short par-4 (315 yards from the white tees) gives golfers a chance to pick up a stroke on the scorecard. But that hunger for the booming drive can feed into one of the course’s downfalls: With the No. 9 tee box just to the south and barely short of the eighth green, it certainly is in the landing zone for the errant drives of those who get overly inspired by the view.
For a couple of years starting in 2007, the course experimented by switching the nines, but it didn’t pan out. With the current No. 10 tee box the first hole for a couple of summers, there was trouble getting golfers to the tee box on time, because the par-5 starts a good distance from the clubhouse. The nines were switched back, and No. 1 regained its starting spot.
The switch also puts the course’s two toughest holes back-to-back. No. 10 plays back to the east, and comes after the tree-lined No. 9 fairway requires a precise drive on the top handicapped hole. The walk through the back nine gets closer to Denver’s Museum of Nature & Science and the zoo.
The No. 13 tee box, again a short par-4, gives another glimpse of downtown.
And just about when you think you can get comfortable on the final hole, the 448-yard No. 18 can make the end of the walk feel a bit longer with the finishing par-4.
“I think it’s one of the best finishing holes in the city,” Soriano said.
David Krause: 303-954-1893 or dkrause@denverpost.com
City Park/At a glance
A look at Denver’s City Park Golf Course:
Course: 6,740 yards from back tees; par 72
Opened: 1912
Designer: Unknown
Fees: $26 to $35
Tee times: If playing the city courses regularly, it is best to get a Denver Reservation Card. If not, tee times are available online (), or call the pro shop (303-295-2096).
