Fossil Trace Golf Club

Ounce again our Colorado Golf Binge two foursomes played Fossil Trace to start our 5 day binge.  Teed off at 2pm Sunday after a great lunch at the club.

 We all love this course. It was is great shape as usual.  One of our players got a hole in one on the 5th hole.  Of course he bought the pitchers of beer for our group after the round.

Previously replayed Fossil Trace with my college student nephew.   On the first day of Spring, March 20, 2014 we skied Arapaho Basin in the AM then drove down to Fossil Trace for a great lunch at the club.  We teed off at 2 pm about 3 hours after skiing our last run.

The course is in surprisingly good shape for March.  Fairways were nice and green.  The greens weren't as smooth and fast as their summer greens but mighty nice for early season.  Their bunkers were still under winter wraps on most holes but uncovered and good on a few holes.   Fossil Trace is better than ever with new carts and advanced GPS, enlargements to greens 1 and 18 and a cart path extension to the 18th green.

 Fossil Trace Golf Club lies right behind that big golden domed government building in Golden north of I-70. Their slogan is “Escape the Ordinary, Experience the Extraordinary” and they claim their course was 64 Million Years in the Making! They’re right on their first claim. The experience is Extraordinary…especially for a Texas Flatlander. I’ll just have to trust them on their 64 million year claim. But this is also probably true because the walls of the cliffs on the back nine contain fossils of prehistoric creatures and plants that have been studied for years by students of the Colorado School of Mines. In fact two walls by the famous 12th hole are set with lights for students and tour groups doing evening studies of the fossils.

Before you head to Fossil Trace check out their great website.  It's a terrific way to get a feel for what you'll experience.  I wish they still had their Flyover video on their website, though.

I’ve been able to play this course 12+ times and have improved progressively as I’ve learned how to play Colorado golf course designer, Jim Engh’s bowl greens and sloping fairways. Some golf purists criticize Engh’s designs as being too golfer friendly but I find them to be great fun.  In fact on my 2010 round I got a hole-in-one on the uphill par 3 third hole by using the backstop.  I was hosting a group of my TX and IL buddies and we had fun celebrating the special day at Fossil Trace's bar/restaurant overlooking the course.

Head Golf Pro, Jim Hajek, will warn you not to bite off more of the course than you can handle. But in 2009 we didn’t listen. We played from the tips (Black tees) for 18 holes. The 6,831 yards at a high altitude with a 72.5/139 rating/slope didn’t seem too tough to handle but the narrow 480 yard par 4 4th and the 659 uphill into the wind 9th hole proved too much for us. So we squeezed in another nine holes after a great lunch.  Good decision.

This time we played the Blue tees at 6,241 yards with a 69.3/131 rating/slope and found it much better for our game and egos. Another option would be to play the "T-Rex" tees (a combination of the Black and Blue tees measuring 6,577 yds and 71.2/135 rating/slope). Before you go check out Fossil Trace's great website including very well done videos of holes 1, 10, 12 and 15. These will give you a good taste of what you'll experience on a golden day in Golden. Have your cameras rolling when you play the unique 12th and 15th holes. Both are par 5s. The 12th makes you feel like you’re the ball in a pinball or bumper pool game as you pick your route through tall rock formations in the fairway.  

Golden is a fun town to visit après-golf. You’ll see some of the Coors Brewery near the Fossil Trace Golf Club – a tempting tour after 18 holes on a 64 million year old golf course!

Sam Sherstad Writer, Recreation Travel Reviews