Colorado National Golf Club - Detail
This review was written from the gold tees, which play 6,897 yards. There are actually two sets of tees that are longer, stretching all the way out to 7,676 yards. If you want to play the back tees, you need to a find a different resource to consult (maybe PGATour.com?).
The Golds are manageable for the bogey golfer if you've brought a pretty good swing with you. If not, well, there are some forced carries, some long holes, and lots of trouble to be found...
The leadoff hole is 393 yards, and it plays kind of narrow. It's a bit downhill, so you can afford to leave the driver in the bag in favor of accuracy. The fairway slopes right to left, so you want to favor the right hand side.
Unfortunately, this hole is "cart-path-only", so if it stays on the right, you've got a bit of a walk to and from your cart, which will be on the left side. Oh well. On your
approach, you also want to favor the right side of the green. The left is protected by bunkers, and there's also a bit of a slope on the right that will help kick
you toward the pin.
The second hole is a three-shot par 5. It plays 555 yards from the golds, and there's a sharp dogleg left, with a creek (and associated swamp) exactly at the dogleg. Don't even think about cutting the corner. Accuracy pays more than distance here. Hit a fairway wood as close to the left hand side as you feel comfortable with in order to setup your second shot, where you'll also need a fairway wood or a long iron.
The approach to #2 is a lot of fun because if the pin is near the left side, you'll get a lot of help by bouncing your approach shot off the hill on the left side of the green, and watching the kick
feed your ball into the green. If the pin is right, take plenty of club, and make sure you clear all those bunkers in front.
#3 is a brute. It's 415 yards, straightaway, uphill. Haul out your driver and give it your best shot. The best target is the trap up the hill on the left side of the fairway past the 150 yard marker. It's safely out of your reach, as a quick glance at your GPS system will convince you. Even so, you'll likely be hitting a long iron or fairway wood into the green. My advice: Don't go for it. An almost-good-enough-shot will wind up in the bunker in front. A bad shot will go who knows where. Lay up, and try to get up-and-down for your par. Bogey is a really good score here.
#4 is a creampuff. It's only 355 yards, and it's about 80 yards wide. All you need off the tee is a carry of 190 yards (which gets you over the bunker in front of the fairway), and then it's just wide open. You can hit anything from a driver to a five iron. (I shanked my three wood into the weeds on the right, but that's just me). Hit something (anything!) into the fairway (doesn't even have to be particularly straight) to set up an easy approach shot.
#5 is gnarly again. It's a par 3 which plays 205 yards. The tee shot is over a swamp, but there is room in front of the green to land it short. (That's preferable to going for it, and topping it or slicing it into the swamp.) Bogey is a good score here.
#6 is another brute - it's long (439 yards) and it's uphill. Don't overswing (an annoying tendency I have when faced with daunting tee shots). Just resign yourself to the fact that the second shot is going to be a long one, and make sure you get your drive in the fairway. The fairway, by the way, is huge, so there's no excuse for missing it. After your tee shot, lay up if you have to, or hit your three wood or two iron. The green is large, and is designed for low screaming shots coming in from a long ways out. There's a backstop, and collection areas around the green, but no water hazards. There is a little bunker about twenty yards short that you have to worry about...
#7 is a challenging par 5. It's a well-designed hole. Off the tee, it encourages you to hit your driver (lots of room in the fairway), but it also whacks you if you hit it badly (bunkers on both sides). On your second shot, you've still got plenty of room left and right, but you have to choose your desired yardage carefully because now there are bunkers in the middle of the fairway. Use the GPS system to figure out how far you want to hit it. Finally, on your approach shot, you need to tighten up on both your distance and direction because there is lots of trouble around the green -- swamp on the right, and bunkers short, left and right. Great hole!
#8 is 390 yards, but it's mostly about control. The fairway is narrow, and slopes right to left, feeding down to a pond that runs alongside the left side of the fairway. I strongly advise against a driver here, largely because I'm not very accurate with it. Whatever you hit, make sure you land in the fairway. Then your strategy on the approach shot will depend on where the pin is at. The green is elongated diagonally, stretching from the front right to the back left. So if the pin is on the right, take one less club and aim out to the right, to play for the kick off the hill. If the pin is back, take an extra club (to make sure you clear that pond!!), and aim at the middle of the green. It goes without saying that any loose shots are likely to meet with a watery demise.
#9 is an interesting par 3. Depending where they put the tees, it can play anywhere from 150 to 190 yards. It's downhill over a pond. The bailout is short and left. Short and right is just wet. Actually anything right is wet. Long and left will at least stop on the hill, leaving you a nasty downhill chip. Oh, it's also a two-tiered green.
#10 kind of lets you gather your wits about you. It's a straightforward hole with a lot of visual appeal (cute little waterfalls, ponds and streams). The hole is kind of narrow, but it's also short, so all you have to do is get it in the fairway with a long iron or a fairway wood to set up an easy uphill approach shot. Pay close attention to the pin placement because thre's a lot of distance (three or four clubs) between the front and back of the green. Beware the bunkers. (Another place where the GPS serves you well).
#11 is just plain hard, mostly because it's 424 yards uphill. It's plenty wide, so go ahead and hit your driver. Then hit the longest club you can hit well for your second shot. Then chip on and hope you get close enough for a miracle par, or at least a bogey (bogey is a really good score here, by the way).
#12 is the shortest, hardest par 5 I can recall off the top of my head. It's uphill off the tee, but that's not what makes it hard. It does have a forced carry over a gully, which I think is most of the source of difficulty. Plus there's a fairway bunker all the way across the fairway which will punish a drive that's "too good" on that line. This is nothing short of fiendishness, because if you're playing conservatively, that bunker makes a great target. If you aim left of that bunker, that just brings more of the gully into play. Oh, there's also a bunker at the end of the gully to swallow up any stragglers. All this nonsense can be avoided by playing the copper tees instead of the gold tees. Once you get up to the green, there is more trouble. There's a bunker about 20 yards short of the green. Then the green itself is two-tiered, with the upper tier on the left, and the lower one on the right. It's only 485 yards, but what a piece of work!!!
#13 is a more sedate hole by comparison. It's narrow, and has worlds of trouble left and right, but it's short enough you can just play a 200 yard straight shot into the fairway to setup a reasonable approach with a short or mid-iron. There are lots of bunkers around the green, so your approach shot needs to be sharp. It's also a two-tiered green with the lower tier front left and the upper tier back right. Make sure you get your yardage right, based on the pin placement!
#14 is a fierce hole. It's a downhill par 3 with almost no bailout. There are bunkers short and right, and native areas shorter and righter. Then there's a swamp on the left. There's a hill behind the green, but that's no picnic either. The scorecard rates it one of the easier holes on the course. Bulls**t!!
#15 is another fierce hole. It's a gently downhill par 5, stretching out to well over six hundred yards. You need three really, really good shots to get to the green in regulation. It pretty much takes everything in your bag. If you get a really good drive, you're set up to make a decision about which fairway you want to go for on your second shot, since it splits. The upper half runs down the left side, and the lower half runs down the right. Either side is fine, but do not not get hung up in the rough between them -- it just adds another approach shot to the hole. The green is very long from front to back, and kind of narrow. I hit my very best drive of the day on this hole, followed by a really excellent two iron (a real rarity, believe me). This left me with a full nine iron to get to the very front edge of the green. Bogey is a good score, and double isn't all that bad. Hard hole!
#16 is a real puzzler for me. The scorecard gives it a handicap of 16 - second easiest hole on the back. And yet... It's 180 yards, which isn't too bad, but you do tee off over a swamp. But that's not the problem. The problem is the green. The green is a really three greens. The back left part is on an upper tier. The front left is on a lower tier, and the whole right side is on a lower tier. So if you land on the wrong tier, it's almost an automatic three-putt. I almost think you're better off planning to lay up short and left, and then chip to whatever tier the pin is on. It's still a bogey though... I guess you could just hit your tee shot to the correct tier. But then you wouldn't be a Bogey Golfer anyway...
#17 is an easy par if you don't get greedy! (If you do, it's an easy double.) By the score card, it's 344 yards, which must be the distance around the lake, because the hole certainly doesn't play that long. Your GPS system will paint a picture saying that it's 300 yards to the pin as the crow flies, 288 of which is carry over the pond. Just for the record: That's the sucker play that leads to a double-bogey. Hey, go ahead and go for it, as long as you're capable of laughing at the splash.
The "easy par" way to play this hole is to hit a five or six iron at the 150 stake, and a short iron across the lake to the pin. One or two putts for a birdie or par, and you're on your way!
#18 is a memorable finishing hole, and not just because of the aesthetics (reflecting pond, rock-lined stream, trilling waterfall...). It's 424 yards, which is kind of long, but you've got a downhill tee shot. You need a driver to get home in two, but make sure you hit it straight -- lots of trouble down the right side.
There's a big pond in front of the green. So if you don't get a good tee shot, you may need to think about laying up. If you are well-positioned to go for the green on your second shot (I'm always comfortable near the 150 yard marker), pay very close attention to the pin placement. There's at least 40 yards difference between the front of the green and the back. Also notice the two-tiered green. You want to wind up on the correct level.
There are some pars to be made on this course (4, 10, 13, and 17), if you're able to avoid trouble off the tee. Be patient and accurate on 2, 6, 11, and 18, and feel good about a bogey. The rest of them are all about your ability to execute your shots. This is a fun, challenging course. Good shots are rewarded with good lies. Bad shots will divide evenly between getting lucky and losing your ball completely. The greens run fast and true.
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