Fossil Trace Golf Club

Just west of Denver in the foothills of Golden you’ll find an incredibly unique golf course. Fossil Trace Golf Club lies right behind that big golden domed government building in Golden. 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 that have been studied for years buy 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.
I’ve been able to play this course three 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.
Head Golf Pro, Jim Hajek, will warn you not to bite off more of the course than you can handle. But we didn’t listen. We played from the tips (Black tees) for 18 holes. The 6,831 yds at altitude with a 72.5/139 rating/slope didn’t seem too tough to handle but the narrow 480 yd 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 at Fossil Trace’s Three Tomatoes Restaurant on the deck over looking the beautiful 10th and 18th holes. This time we played the Blue tees at 6,241 yds with a 69.3/131 rating/slope and found it much better for our game and egos.
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. The first time I played this hole my second shot stayed on the small bit of grass on top of a rock formation to the right of the green. I was actually able to scramble up there and pitch the shot down to the green. It was a great thrill and a memorable photo for my album.
For more information see www.fossiltrace.com
Jim Engh designed other Colorado courses that I hope to review later including Lakota Canyons near Glenwood Springs and Redlands Mesa in Grand Junction.
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!

One of the best courses I have played, really enjoyed playing this course as it offered a lot of challenges and was maintained very well. The greens were in okay shape... they were very difficult given all of the slopes challenging every put.