With The Ranch and River courses, golf is twice as nice in Keystone

The River Course at Keystone

Just about 90 miles from Denver in the White River National Forest and at an elevation of more than 9,000 feet are two great — and very different — golf courses in the village of Keystone.

These venues, under the watchful eye of the Continental Divide, are joined together at the uber-posh Keystone Resort under the auspices of the Vail Resorts Management Company. 

Golf here feels like a Rocky Mountain high and, after teeing it up at Keystone Ranch Golf Course and the River Course at Keystone, one feels like they can reach out and touch the sky.  

The two courses, which are so close to each other they’re almost across-the-street neighbors, could not be more different. Opened in 1980 and designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr., Keystone Ranch Golf Course occupies a wide valley and at times plays like a links-style course bracketed by water and strands of pines.  

Conversely, The River Course at Keystone was opened in 2000 after seven years of planning and three more of construction. Fashioned by the former team of Dr. Michael Hurzdan and Dana Fry, the course almost seems to skip from hill to hill with wide, verdant fairways lined by wetlands, trees, rocky hazards, and water.  It would be hard to find two courses in the same small area that are better and more varied. 

Keystone Ranch Golf Course

Keystone Ranch Golf Course is picturesque and a blast

Keystone Ranch Golf Course is accessed after a drive into the piney woods and up and down hills toward the Soda Creek Valley. Here you will find a beautiful valley and a course that is one of the highest elevation courses in the U.S., with some holes at 9,300 feet above sea level.  

The site for Keystone Ranch was once a working cattle ranch and lettuce farm. The course was built in one of Colorado’s most picturesque settings with some holes lined by pine trees while others are routed through sage meadows. Water hazards, most notably a nine-acre lake, come into play on seven holes.  

The round begins with a downhill 527-yard par 5 that is reachable in two shots to set the table for a fine time. The 431-yard par 4 second also plays through the trees but back up the hill.  

That’s the last you will see of trees at Keystone Ranch as, beginning at the dogleg-right third, the course moves into the valley. Ranked as the No. 2 handicap hole on the course, the 187-yard par-3 fifth requires a precise mid- to long-iron and the sixth (a 560-yard par 5) plays to a rolling landing area pinched by native grasses and crossed by a creek near the green. The eighth descends left off the tee and then uphill to a peaked putting surface, making the 410-yard par-4 longer than its yardage. 

The front side ends with a reachable 337-yard, par 4 where you must carry a drive about 270 yards from the tips to cross the lake that defines the hole. Play it safe with a long iron off the tee and the receptive green will allow for an easy chance at birdie.  

The back nine begins with Keystone Ranch‘s longest par 4 and its hardest hole by handicap (at 460 yards) and is followed by the 358-yard par 4 11th, which may be reached in a single blow under the right conditions and execution. The 551-yard par 5 13th has deep, native grass just left of the fairway along its entire length and the downhill 169-yard par 3 14th may be the easiest of the four one-shotters at Keystone Ranch.  

No. 17 is a 409-yard par 4 that, due to its sloping fairway and bunkers guarding the front of the green on each side, plays very difficult. The closing hole (at 583 yards the longest par 5 on the course) is a “Reverse C” dogleg-left that sports a tee shot over the lake, a landing area lined by bunkers and an off-camber green that slants to the water.   

Keystone Ranch follows the legendary links-style of a Scottish course on the front nine, while the back presents a challenging mountain-valley layout. Playing as a par 72 and 7,017 yards from its back set of four tees, Keystone Ranch carries a rating of 72.2 and a slope of 142. This naturally endowed layout has been ranked as the sixth best in Colorado by Golf Digest.  

Keystone Ranch is a lot of fun and allows a variety of shots without beating you over the head with elevation changes, a rarity among mountain courses.  

The River Course at Keystone is littered with unforgettable memories 

“Wow” shots are all the rage at the amazing River Course at Keystone, which was the plan when it was designed. When Fry was first looking at the land for this course, he had the charge by the resort’s owners for players to know immediately that they were playing on a mountain course. 

Those owners also wanted the mountains to be the final impression of the course. Hurzdan and Fry accomplished that and a lot more.  

The par-35 front nine is oriented around a bend of the Snake River and the par-36 back nine winds through a lodgepole pine forest. Hurzdan and Fry fashioned an element of drama to the River Course right off the bat, thanks to a 551-yard par 5 that drops some 150 feet from tee to fairway and features a gorgeous view of the valley and the upcoming holes below.  

From that auspicious start, the track moves up and down and through the valley as the shadows from the snow-capped peaks of the Continental Divide and Keystone Resort ski area spread across its lush fairways.  

The river runs alongside the tough, 222-yard par 3 third (ranked as the No. 1 hole on the course by handicap, a rarity for a one-shotter) and the relatively flat 563-yard par 5 fifth turns hard to the right to a multi-level green. You turn back toward the clubhouse on the 363-yard sixth, but the tee shot here is blind and over a vast area of native grass that obscures a pesky pond that runs to the left of the fairway and the green. 

No. 7 at the River Course – a 195-yard par 3 with the river running along the entire right side – is the signature hole. The front nine ends at a severely downhill, 221-yard par 3, a great place to snap a photo or two and to take a deep breath before teeing off.  

The back side descends and then winds up and then down again and its best holes are likely its final three. No. 16 (a 509-yard par 4) drops 200 feet from tee to fairway and then doglegs left (look past the green to see the entrance to the Keystone Ranch course). The 17th is a short (330 yards) but rarely drivable par 4 that works downhill and then heads steeply back upwards to a challenging elevated green.  

The finisher at the River Course at Keystone (another downhill tee shot to a fairway that slopes to the left) provides wonderful views of Lake Dillon, Buffalo Mountain, and the Gore Range. Believe it or not, the 520-yard par-5 is now listed as the easiest hole by handicap despite that its green is back uphill and the hole houses 12 bunkers.  

Impressive elevation changes, variable bunkers, water hazards and five sets of tees create quite a challenge at the River Course at Keystone. Add to that the magnificent views of snow-capped peaks and wildlife and it’s easy to see why this place is such an unforgettable golf experience.  

The River Course at Keystone plays to 6,886 yards and carries a rating of 71.1 and a slope of 137 from its back tees. The venue is all about excitement, beauty, and challenging shot-making – the holy trinity for many golfers.  

The two Keystone courses have garnered numerous awards, including three consecutive Silver Medals as one of America’s Best Golf Resorts by Golf Magazine. Golf Digest also ranked the Keystone Resort as one of America’s Top 75 Golf Resorts.  

With 36 incredible holes spread over two amazing golf courses, a trip to Keystone is a definite addition to every golfer’s mountain bucket list.  

Fun off the course  

Lodging is easy to find in the Keystone area, with a plethora of condos, homes and hotels scattered at the foot of the mountains.  

For a spectacular four-course meal, spend an evening – and I mean a whole evening – at the incomparable Ski Tip Lodge’s restaurant. The lodge was built as a stagecoach stop in the 1880s and was refurbished in 1940 into Colorado’s first ski lodge. Keystone Resort purchased the lodge in the 1970s and maintained its unique atmosphere while adding a gourmet restaurant that provides meals you’ll never forget.  

After golf, schedule a massage at the Keystone Lodge and Spa; it’s a great way to relax and work out the kinks created by a round or two of up and down mountain golf. 

No matter what you decide to do with your time off the course, you’ll enjoy all the charm that this mountainous destination has to offer on a great golf stay and play for you and your crew.Â