Opened in June, Highland Meadows is a Thinking Person's Course

Constructed on rolling high plains topography much of which was once farmland, the new $3.5 million Highland Meadows Golf Course at Windsor, Colo., is meeting all expectations.

"We wanted a course that would compete with the other top courses in this area and we have it," Dan Miller, course superintendent, says. The course opened in mid-June.

Golf course architect Art Schaupeter, who grew up in Colorado and is now based in St. Louis, Mo., designed the course to be "a thinking person's golf course" where players are challenged to pick and choose their line of play. The course plays to a par of 71 with five sets of tees ranging in length from about 4,624 yards to 7,011 yards. The golf holes have a lot of width and many have bunkers positioned more in the middle of the hole to create variety and options for the players. Wind direction, wind intensity and the cup location on the large undulating greens are factors in a player's decision-making.

"It is a course where the game is in the player's hands. They have to play to their strengths," Schaupeter says. The 11th hole, a par 3, has the 14,000-foot high Long's Peak as a part of its backdrop scenery.

"We had a spectacular grow in," Schaupeter says. "The greens are uniform. They have good color and density. We had very few problems. The greens mix was wonderful. It was one of the best grow-ins that I've ever seen."

Constructed by Hillside Commercial Group on a 622-acre site about 50 miles north of Denver, the daily fee public course and its adjoining residential development that will eventually have more than 700 lots are at the center of the region's fast-growing larger communities of Loveland, Greeley and Fort Collins.

Eight holes play alongside the two deep canyons that add a distinct feature to the layout. Prime lots look down at the course. Infrastructure for the first 158 lots, which will be off the course, is being geared to be ready for construction this summer.

"When I got there early in February 2003, everything had been shaped and work had just started on the irrigation system," Miller says. "We started seeding in early June. We had a few storms early that washed us out a little bit, but then it dried out and we had very favorable conditions. We had excellent germination everywhere, especially the greens. Once they got going, they really took off. We had a really thick canopy, a really good, dense stand quickly.

"We experienced very favorable conditions for growing grass last summer with warm days, not a lot of big storms to wash us out, a good irrigation system, good soil and definitely good greens mix," Miller says. "The Dakota Peat was excellent. I'm very happy with the project."

"This was one of the best working environments that I've ever had," Miller says. "Working for Jon (Turner of Hillside Commercial Group) has been wonderful. He gives you a chance to succeed, gives you total freedom. And the peat and all the contractors were great."

Jeff Gamble of Niebur Golf Construction, Colorado Springs, Colo., which moved over 1.5 million cubic yards of dirt in constructing the course and doing the grading for the residential development, agrees "that the grow-in was excellent. It's been described as one of the best grow-ins in Colorado. We had good weather, good soils, good water and good sand and good peat. It went really well, which isn't always the case."

Hall Irwin's Aggregate Division in Greeley provided the blending and the sand, which came from its pit just five miles from the project. Hall Irwin's project leader Scott Gault also reports no problems. "Everybody did a good job," he says. "Niebur stayed on time and on budget, the sand from our pit tested out well, and the peat and the support from Dakota was really good. Dakota was out here four or five times and was very helpful. Even the weather was good. Everything went well."

Among the happiest, though, is Turner. "I'm thrilled about the way everything has gone. With the dry years that we've had in Colorado, I was pretty nervous going into the grow-in. This is a terrific match-play course, a good tournament course. There will have to be a lot of thought put into how you play it," he says.

Plans for the residential development, Turner says, include mostly single-family homes with a few patio homes with a senior component. There will also be some commercial development and an indoor tennis center. "We've done several housing and commercial projects in this area in the past 10 years, but this is the first one with a golf course. We're excited about that. We have a lighted driving range and hope to get a teaching school. The clubhouse is located near the 9th green. You'll be able to watch the golfers from the clubhouse. We took a lot of ideas from other course and used the best ones. Art (Schaupeter Golf Course Architects) did a wonderful job. He's really making a name for himself.