CommonGround Golf Course

Favorite Hole

No. 8, par 4, 324-355 yards

Some of CommonGround’s strongest holes—including the par-5 seventh, which we dove into in this video—occupy the property’s least compelling land. The short par-4 eighth also falls into this category.

When teeing off, you have two primary choices: aim for the ample fairway on the left or go straight for the green, over the rugged bunkers on the right. The first option leaves you with an obstructed approach, thanks to a massive mound 50 yards ahead of the green. The second option demands a 250-yard carry from the back tee but rewards you with a clear view of the pin position.

Drawing inspiration from St. Andrews’ 12th hole, CommonGround’s eighth green features a false front, a raised-platform center, and a drop-off to a lower back section. The back pins are a treat: getting a short iron or wedge to check just right and roll down the slope is a challenging but satisfying feat.

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Overall Thoughts

Reviews of CommonGround tend to underrate its architecture. Sure, most people agree that the course is well designed, but they usually consider it “well designed for an affordable public golf course” rather than the peer of top Tom Doak creations like Pacific Dunes, Ballyneal, and Tara Iti.

I believe, however, that CommonGround should be considered an important work of modern golf architecture, full stop. When discussing what’s next in golf design—what comes after the “minimalism” and neoclassicism associated with Doak and Coore & Crenshaw—many elements of CommonGround’s architecture can serve as jumping-off points. Here are four:

1. Style of bunker construction. There’s a common misconception that Renaissance Golf Design builds only one type of bunker: ragged-edged and naturalized. Another notion, demonstrated by Forrest Richardson and Ally McIntosh’s comments in a recent Golf Club Atlas thread, is that modern media outlets—including, presumably, The Fried Egg—praise and promote the same style while ignoring or criticizing all others. Both ideas are oversimplifications.

The bunkers at CommonGround don’t follow the supposedly ubiquitous dunes-like style. They resemble more the trench-like bunkers constructed during the Victorian “Dark Ages” that preceded the “Golden Age” of Colt and MacKenzie.

Victorian era cop bunkers at Shinnecock Hills, Herne Bay, Eastbourne & Mullion pic.twitter.com/vUMNwT6Q0U

— Simon Haines (@Hainesy76) November 8, 2019

CommonGround’s bunkers have flat bottoms that aren’t far below the level of the surrounding ground, so they’re easy to walk into for kids and seniors. The lips are often built-up mounds or berms that guard a certain escape angle. Advancing the ball past these barries and toward the target can be challenging, which enhances the strategic stakes of the holes.

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These bunkers are simple in appearance but aesthetically appealing in their unconventional way. They provide visual variety on flatter and less inspiring sections of the property. More importantly, though, they’re sturdy and low-maintenance, aligning with the goal of operating on a budget and maintaining an affordable green fee.

2. Use of vertical features. Another way to understand CommonGround’s bunkers is that they’re unusually vertical. In other words, they are built up from the grade with unabashed artificiality, as opposed to being integrated into the landscape to conceal human intervention.

This vertical approach is prevalent in CommonGround’s architecture. The third green, inspired by Seth Raynor’s punchbowl at Chicago Golf Club, has bold edge contours that rise up from the fairway level. The par-5 11th hole is defined vertical hazards from tee to green: trench-like bunker lips discourage players from taking an aggressive line, and a large, solitary mound protects the front right corner of the green, deflecting or rerouting numerous approaches.

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In recent years, vertical features have gained popularity among boundary-pushing architects. Brian Schneider and Blake Conant’s recent work at Llanerch Country Club and Old Barnwell exemplifies this trend. Constructed in the late 2000s, CommonGround—where Schneider shaped several greens, including the third—was ahead of its time in its use of vertical features. This is one reason I believe it will ultimately be acknowledged as a trailblazing and influential design.

3. Collaborative approach to design. The golf course design industry has never seen such an abundant supply of well-trained architects. Though demand for this expertise has recently increased as golf course construction has picked up, there are still far more qualified architects than opportunities for original design work. Consequently, most construction sites have several gifted architectural minds available at any given moment.

At CommonGround, these talents were given a rare opportunity. Tom Doak waived his design fee for this project, so he took a less active on-site role during construction than he typically does and delegated significant creative responsibility to his associates and shapers. His most experienced associates—Jim Urbina, Eric Iverson, and Don Placek—each designed six greens at CommonGround, while an outstanding team of shapers—including Jonathan Reisetter, Kye Goalby, and Brian Schneider—brought those ideas to life. When Doak visited, he primarily served as an editor.

The result is a set of greens that feel like a cohesive collection yet offer a variety of feels—similar to an album where each band member shared songwriting duties and a skilled producer ensured everything blended together. Considering the wealth of architectural talent in the golf course industry today, I hope this kind of democratic, collaborative approach becomes increasingly common.

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4. Doing a lot with not a lot. Granted, $4 million isn’t exactly pocket change, and the CommonGround property already contained basic golf infrastructure before Doak’s team arrived, but what they accomplished is still impressive:

• Removed hundreds of trees lining the old fairways
• Rerouted the course
• Rebuilt every green and bunker
• Excavated two large gullies through the property’s center to improve the topography and collect materials for new features
• Enhanced the drainage system by constructing a creek and a reservoir
• Revamped the driving range
• Developed a new pitch-and-putt course
• Left enough funds for an $800,000 clubhouse construction

Some golf architects lament never having sufficient budgets or good enough land to build exceptional courses. The problem with those complaints is that CommonGround exists. In an era of escalating costs for materials and labor, it’s worth examining how the CGA, the CWGA, and Renaissance Golf Design achieved so much at CommonGround with such modest means.

On our podcast, Tom Doak called the Colorado Golf Association the “purest client” he has ever had. All the CGA wanted was for him to stay on budget and create fun golf, which gave Doak’s team the freedom to innovate. CommonGround isn’t just a model for affordable public courses—it’s a model for golf course design as a whole. -GM

2 Eggs

The innovative design by the Renaissance crew earns a full Egg, as does the efficient, budget-friendly presentation by superintendent Mitch Savage. While the land itself may not be extraordinary, it does have some elevation change and offers fine views of the Rockies. It’s not an Egg-grade property, however.

Additional Content

Tom Doak on the Fried Egg Podcast:

https://thefriedegg.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/YWD_Episode-261_CommonGround.mp3

https://thefriedegg.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/YWD_Episode-172_CommonGround.mp3

https://thefriedegg.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/YWD_Episode-16_CommonGround.mp3

Course Tour

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