Cherry Hills Country Club

‍Favorite Hole

No. 3, par 4, 325 yards

Today’s third is actually the third iteration of the hole and can be accredited as a Doak/Iverson creation inspired by Flynn’s style. No. 3 was completely changed in the 1950s by surrounding the green with bunkers, making it challenging for daily member play. Doak’s hole is not too dissimilar from what Flynn created as a short drive and pitch hole with a cross bunker bisecting the fairway.

The green played today can be compared to many of the domed, turtle-back greens found at Pinehurst No. 2, which makes it stand out at Cherry Hills. Players will be tempted to push drives up as close to the green as possible, but this leaves a tricky and delicate pitch to the repealing green. This is a typical Doak short par-4 that baits longer hitters into going for the green only to be met with trouble while still maintaining the Golden Age aesthetic found on the rest of the course. Most players would never guess this hole is a modern creation.

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Overall Thoughts

When I think of Cherry Hills, the first thing that comes to mind is Arnold Palmer driving the green on the 346-yard first hole en route to a final-round 65 and seven-shot comeback to claim the 1960 U.S. Open. As historic as this was, Arnie isn’t the only storied golfer to win at Cherry Hills. Names like Zaharias, Oehmig, Mickelson, and Nicklaus have come out victorious at the mile-high CHCC. The club has firmly cemented itself in history as one of the greatest championship hosts in the western United States, but does the course itself match the caliber of tournaments and historic winners? Let’s dive in.

At the time of Flynn’s commission to design Cherry Hills, he was at sort of an inflection point in his career where he had a handful of notable designs under his belt like Lancaster Country Club and co-design work at Merion and Pine Valley, but some of his most famous solo work like Shinnecock Hills, The Country Club (Brookline), and Indian Creek had yet to be unveiled to the world. He was certainly a very prominent architect in 1923 but had yet to rise to the height of his powers. Some could argue that Cherry Hills, his westernmost design, began the most prolific stretch in his design career.

While Cherry Hills may not present the most dramatic-looking golf course on the surface, there’s a lot under the hood that stands out as masterful design work. Flynn has become well known for his routing abilities and precise grid-paper construction drawings, both of which are on full display at CHCC (head upstairs in the clubhouse to check out all 18 of Flynn’s hole drawings). The course begins atop the highest section of the property presenting wonderful views of the Front Range and the first nine holes weave through the middle portion of the site in a figure-eight fashion. The final nine holes then encompass the front nine by traveling in a large counter-clockwise loop. It’s unclear if Flynn took direct inspiration from Muirfield’s famous concentric routing concept but it goes without saying that this style creates tremendous hole variety and wind interaction. Specifically at Cherry Hills, the most interesting land movements and interactions with Little Dry Creek take place in the central part of the property, thus these highlights are revisited several times at various points throughout the round. In addition, Cherry Hill’s routing isn’t the only aspect of the course that mimics those found in other great designs in the world.

Interestingly enough, Cherry Hills was directly inspired by much of Flynn’s work at Pine Valley in 1921 despite the two properties being starkly different. Flynn primarily worked on holes 12-15 at Pine Valley and a couple of these hole designs were implemented nearly 2,000 miles away in Denver. The dogleg par-4 seventh is a near-carbon copy of the 12th at Pine Valley minus a few thousand square feet in bunkers. The famous par-4 14th hole mimics the 13th at Pine Valley. Instead of a large bunker guarding the front left, creating a cape-styled green, Cherry Hills utilized Little Dry Creek as the hazard. Cherry Hills was not the only course where Flynn re-created versions of holes from Pine Valley, which shows us how influential the course was to him.

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Even with a well-executed implementation of these established design concepts, Cherry Hills’ lackluster site holds it back from true greatness. Holes like Nos. 2, 3, 4, 8, 12, 13, and 17 occupy very flat land where the primary defense is the expansive rough or a water hazard. Creating a more natural buffer between the holes, including wildgrasses or other native flora, would help create a unique sense of place versus the sterile maintained rough. It doesn’t quite feel like Colorado on the property.

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Nonetheless, Cherry Hills is a historic and notable golf club that deserves recognition as a terrific championship golf host and a fairly well-preserved example of William Flynn’s work. Cherry Hills Country Club is one of the unique courses in the United States where the championship history has elevated the stature of the golf course, similar to Baltustrol, Oak Hill, and Bellerive. This is no discredit to the wonderful Flynn design, but the championships it has held are likely more interesting than the course itself. The routing makes great use of the subtle natural undulations in the landscape, but many holes fail to utilize the meandering creek in a way that has a meaningful impact. Holes like Nos. 14 and 16 use Little Dry Creek as defining aspects of the hole design while several others (5, 6, 7, 8, 13) that interact with the creek fail to appropriately challenge players or create strategic interest. It’s simply too far out of play in most instances. Flynn’s original design with little development surrounding it must have made for a much more captivating and raw experience.

0 Eggs

(How We Rate Courses)

Cherry Hills is certainly a one-egg caliber course with a handful of awesome golf holes, but its presentation leaves a lot to be desired. Acres upon acres of lush, irrigated rough create a monotonous and boring visual appeal while the speed of the putting surfaces diminishes interesting hole locations on each green. The abundance of perimeter housing and large trees throughout distract from the beautiful Rocky Mountain views further watering down the experience.

Course Tour

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