Bear Dance Golf - Course Review

September 17th, 2007 by mulligan

Overview

Bear Dance Golf Course is located in Larkspur just south of Castle Rock. For some people this doesn’t make for an easy place to get to since both distance and driving time from north of Denver can deter people from paying a visit to this course. Also, it’s primary competition (when it comes to price range) is Castle Pines North, which is very well known (and rightfully so) throughout the Colorado Golfing Community as a wonderful place to play if you’re willing to drop that kind of money on a round. In my experience with talking to golfers from around the state, many have heard of Bear Dance, but not as many have played it compared to Castle Pines North. While those who have played both, tend to voice a distinct opionon about one course or the other. Seldom do I hear that both courses are liked equally by any individual. It’s not that one course is favored more so in those conversations, it seems to be about a 50/50 split!

Typically Bear Dance has been about 12-15% cheaper to play than CPN. Located west of I-25, just east of Bear Valley and at times overlooking Perry Park, the course will offer you some of the most amazing views that you might otherwise not know existed. The course itself is situated in some densely populated woodlands and sits on some pretty rugged terrain. You can EXPECT to find yourself distracted by beauty and a silence that you often won’t experience on many public golf courses in this state.

Playability

This course is one of the longer tracks in the state. At 7344 from the back tees, it offers an even greater challenge of 7726 from the professional box. Although it may sound a bit intimidating, there are 4 shorter boxes for players of all (and I do mean all) abilities to enjoy this course, and a few tee boxes offer a risk/reward which can cut quite a bit of distance off of this course. There are a good number of elevated tee boxes as well. This is a VERY good thing, because a course like this will not disappoint you, with perhaps the exception of one thing. The greens. In a word, these greens are difficult. So difficult in fact that they have actually recently modified 4 of them because the slopes were so severe. Prior to the modification I would have called the greens almost impossible to play, while after the changes, I would just consider them difficult. It’s not that the greens are unfair, it’s just that most amatuer players don’t develop the touch that one might need in order to roll in a fair number of putts here. One thing you must do on your approach shots is stay below the hole in order to score well. Most of the greens will not hold a longer shot, so you will generally want to club down about half an iron. Yes, I said half an iron, good luck! Generally the greens will let a shot roll off the back, especially with your mid to long irons, and in most of those cases, it’s better to be short of the hole than off the back chipping on.

The sand here is consistent, bunkers are placed very well, and the fairways are in great shape all season long. Part of the challenge of this course is accuracy from the tee box. The trees and scrub oak will devour misplaced shots, which often lead to unplayable penalties or lost balls forcing a re-tee. The front 9 is not incredibly long from the blue tees in terms of carry type shots and driver more often than not is NOT the play! #1 is a prime example of this where if you run out of fairway, you’re left with a downhill lie in the rough of around 180 yards. All in all, this course will offer you challenges from just about every aspect of your game.

Conclusion

While the cost may present some with sticker shock, this is a course that deserves to be played at least once a year - and remember that the range balls and cart are included. It’s a course that gets a lot of traffic from both the public and the corporate tournament schedule, so be sure and check in early for your tee times. While the greens are tricky (comparisons have been made to South Suburban) they are not inconsistent in the way they roll. Some time spent at the practice green will pay big dividends on the course. Bear Dance offers Colorado beauty that is unparalleled to any other course in the South Denver metro area. It’s still considered somewhat of a secret, but really should be played by every golfer in the state.

How others rate this course:

(4 votes, average: 4.75 out of 6)

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Photos

Location

Phone: 303.681.4653
Website: http://www.beardancegolf.com

Posted in Course Reviews | One User Review