Collindale Course Detail
This writeup was done from the white tees (6403 yards). This is plenty of course for the Bogey Golfer. This is a course that has been used as a qualifying venue for the US Open -- that's the caliber of golfer you need to be to play the blues here. As a Bogey Golfer, the blues will easily cost you 10 additional strokes over the whites. And even from the whites, you need to bring your A-game to keep it under bogey. The greens run fast, so watch your chipping and putting...
The first hole is a par 5, and it runs alongside LeMay Avenue, one of the busiest streets in Ft. Collins. During some of the course renovations over the past several years, the net separating the course from the street was upgraded, so you don't have to worry about taking out someone's windshield any more. From the white tees, it's only 517 yards, so you don't have to hit shots of heroic length. I hit a driver and two nine irons, and reached the green. A three wood and two eight irons would have worked just as well. Three six irons might have been an even better approach. The important thing on this (and most) holes is to stay in the fairway. I know from experience that getting lost in the trees on the right will run up big numbers quickly. Keep the ball in the fairway for three shots, and you've got a fighting chance for a par. On your approach shot, the fairway constricts down between a pond on the right (that runs deceptively close to the green), and a bunker on the left.
#2 is a 382 yard par 4. The pond juts out into the fairway from the right off the tee, but it's really not in play -- it's just there to get inside your head. What is in play is the bunker on the left at about 140 yards from the pin. Also, the forest on the right is in play too (as always, it seems). The fairway looks kind of narrow from the teebox -- I think that's because it is! If you can hit a 200 yard shot - straight - off the tee, that will leave you 180 to the green. If you don't quite reach, you still have a chance to get up-and-down to save par. Take it!
Bogey is a good score on #3. It's 409 yards, and doglegs left. The forest on the left is impenetrable (one or two extra strokes). The forest on the right opens up a bit after you cross the tree line, but then you're trying to come in from a bad angle over a pond. Plan for this hole to take three shots to reach. Hit mid-irons. The hole is too narrow to risk hitting driver on. I tried a 3 iron, but pulled it left into the trees and ran up a 7 just like that.
#4 is a tantalizing 370 yard par 4. I say "tantalizing" because the fairway looks a little wider from the tee than #2 or #3. However, it funnels down the closer you get to the green. There's also a pond right in front of the green that wraps around to the left. Because of the pond, it's risky to be hitting your second shot from further away than about 150 yards (longer shots want to land short and bounce on, which won't work with a pond in the way). So, go ahead and hit your driver off the tee to try and make it inside the 150 marker. If you get off the fairway to either side, chip back into the fairway, preferably inside of 150. (Ditto if you're a bit short.) If you hit a solid drive, there's a chance to score here. Otherwise, take your bogey and feel good about it.
#5 is the first of the fiendish par 3s at Collindale. This one's fiendish because it's 181 yards over a cavernous sand trap. There are several ways to play this hole:
- Hit a high soft 180 yard shot to the center of the green, and two-putt for par. If you have a high soft 180 yard straight shot, then you can consider yourself graduated from "The Bogey Golfer" and you can proceed to reading "The Par Golfer", just as soon as I convince Vijay or Ernie to take some time out of their busy schedules to write it, that is.
- Hit a 180 yard shot that strays a bit to either side, leaving you a nasty chip shot underneath the branches of a pine tree. Prognosis: Double-bogey.
- Hit a 165 yard shot straight at the pin which splashes harmlessly into the sand. Prognosis: Double bogey
- Hit a 155 yard shot to the right side of the fairway so that your chip doesn't have to fly over the bunker. Prognosis: Bogey, maybe even par -- who knows?
I usually try the first one, which turns into either the second or third. My advice is to do the last one.
#6 is a 541 yard par 5. The fairway is really, really narrow. There's an irrigation ditch crossing the fairway about 40 yards short of the green. There's a pond on the right before the ditch. There's a dense layer of high rough and bushy trees on the left trying to keep you from reaching the row of backyards outside the course boundary. There are a large number of cottonwoods and pines on the right which have been carefully placed to block all useful lines back to the fairway. Vijay, Tiger and Phil will be talking about a Driver-Two Iron strategy. I'm thinking about three eight irons and a sand wedge. Work the math: Let's be happy with a bogey. Give ourselves two putts -- that means we have to reach it in four. Pick your favorite distance for an approach shot (mine is about 100 yards). Subtract that from 541 -- that makes 441. Divide by three -- that's about 140 or 145. Hit three straight 140 yard shots in a row, then your favorite wedge, and you're on in four.
The course makes it up to you on #7. It's only 330 yards. That's two 165 yard shots. Heck -- hit your driver! The fairway on #7 is not very wide, but it's certainly no worse than that monstrosity at #6. However, there is tree trouble to be had, better keep it in play. Anyway, here's a chance to make par.
#8 is the second of the fiendish par 3s. This one is not that long -- only 135 yards (find a sprinkler to make sure -- they can move the tees around 20 or 30 yards). However, the green is guarded in front by two huge bunkers, it's elongated a lot from front to back, and there's a huge ridge in the middle of the green. It's handicapped as the easiest hole on the front 9, but don't underestimate it. You can make a par here, but you can also make two pars if you're not careful.
#9 is another 410 yard par 4. As fairways go, it's not as constricted as some (#6 keeps making me shudder). However, the tee shot feels a little tighter because you have to hit between these cottonwoods. This is not a good place to develop a hook because the driving range is out-of-bounds to the left. Take a good healthy swing with your driver, and see how far you get. If you need three shots to reach the green, that's not unexpected. Bogey is a good score here.
And we're off to the back nine, where the course starts to toughen up a bit. The 10th hole is another 400 yard back-breaker (you'd swear it was 500 as you're standing on the teebox). You have to hit driver here -- there's enough room. But the fairway is beatifically framed by two giant cottonwoods that it's hard to keep out of your head. If you land off the fairway, you need to get back to it before attacking the green -- there are no angles in from the trees on either side. Also, if you wind up off the fairway to the right, be aware there's a "sneak attack" pond about 150 yards from the green on the right. Your really can't see it until the little splash if you send your ball rolling down the right side of the rough.
The eleventh is the third fiendish par 3. It's also framed by a couple of giant cottonswoods. Not to be outdone by #5, it's guarded in the front by two giant bunkers. It's 177 yards (plus-or-minus -- better find a sprinkler head to make sure). The green is elevated, which means it's really difficult to chip on from anywhere except in front. And from in front you have to clear those two bunkers. Sigh. Bogey's an okay score on this hole.
#12 is all about The Tree. The Tree is this huge cottonwood whose trunk sits just on the right hand side of the fairway. Unfortunately its canopy extends at least halfway across the fairway. So the ideal shot is one that starts left and cuts back into the middle of the fairway after it gets by the tree. You see them do this on TV all the time. Well, it's 390 yards, and it's uphill. So my advice is to take your driver, take dead aim up the middle of the fairway, and take your best shot. If the tree knocks you down, it will take you two more iron shots to reach the green, and make bogey. If by some unforseen miracle you slip by the tree, you've got a chance to make par. And if you get lost in the woods on either side, well God help you...
#13 is the only par 5 on the back. And at 538 yards, it's a nearly identical mirror image twin to #5, and should be played the same way. Hitting into the woods on either side is a recipe for disaster. Better to just keep laying up if you can hit it straight!
Just like #6 offered a respite from the brutal length of #5, #14 is a short par 4 -- only 344 yards. It has a nearly 90 degree dogleg though, so hitting a driver usually isn't an option because you'll run through the fairway into the trees. So hit a 200 yard straight shot -- a seven wood or a four iron. This will set you up for a straightforward approach shot. This hole is par opportunity.
#15 is the last of the fiendish par 3s. This one's a good 200 yards from the white tees. If you're going to miss, miss short. Missing wide can be tricky because of all the trees you have to dodge. Bogey's a decent score on this hole, even though it's handicapped as the easiest hole on the course (which I disagree with).
#16 is a 363 yard par 4. It looks like it's twice that long because it doglegs right and you can't see the pin from the teebox. Mostly I play this hole by hitting a fade into the woods on the right. From there I hack and chop through the trees until I can finally chip onto the green and one-putt for a seven. I'd like to go on record as recommending against this strategy. Hit a six iron onto the fairway. Then hit another six iron, staying in the fairway. Then hit a wedge for whatever's left and two-putt for a bogey. I have friends who like to hook the ball into the trees on the left, but they also get sevens.
#17 is another scoring opportunity. It's only 335 yards, but it has a bit of a right hand dogleg at the very end -- the green is tucked away out of sight behind some big trees. There's also a fairway bunker right where the dogleg is. That bunker is 115 yards from the pin. It's taunting you to try and fly over it. Since it's got a fairly steep front face, beware! You won't get a lot of roll.Any two hundred yard shot played out to the left of that fairway bunker is going to leave you in great shape.
The home hole is 381 yards straight away. There are trees on both sides plus the pond on the left, so don't get too wild off the tee. Having said that, there's still room to hit your driver here. The green, once you reach it, is pretty challenging. There's a nasty bunker on the right. There's also a ridge dividing the front and back of the green. If you land on the wrong tier, be very careful judging your speed.
Collindale is a great course. But it's also a very difficult and challenging one. Bogey golfers are well-advised to a) stay off the back tees, b) warm up before the round so you can tell which clubs you can hit straight, c) practice your chipping and putting too -- you aren't going to hit many greens in regulation. Above all, be patient, and keep your ball in the fairway.
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