Ballyneal Golf Club: Private: Member Reviews

One Ballyneal Lane
Holyoke, CO 80734 • (970) 854-5900

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Holyoke, CO (80734)

30°F
Fair

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Humidity: %
Wind: WSW at 9mph

Sunset: 7:02 pm
green Sunrise: 6:42 am

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Ballyneal GC Website

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1. cotoman

Posted: 06/14/21 4:00p
Member Since: Feb 12, 2020
From: Coto de Caza

Fortunate to be invited to Ballyneal for three days of golf. Due to it's isolated location in the the Chop Hills of CO, it's best if you are lucky enough to know someone who has a private jet to fly into Holyoke Airport, just fifteen minutes away rather than the 3 1/2 hour drive from Denver with the last 30 minutes being dirt roads and a tiny wood entrance sign that you could easily drive past. This place can get very windy and it comes from all directions. There are no tee markers so you just play holes according to the wind directions, front of tees when it's in your face or towards the back when it's downwind. Most of time it's a two club wind. Also have to account for altitude, at 3700 feet, almost a full club. Bent grass greens are firm and could be quick if putting downhill, downwind. Ginormous greens and runoff areas. And tons of sand and sand dune blowout areas. Did I mention it's in a sand belt area? You'll encounter some critters if you get off the fairway and stay away from the yucca bushes as they will slice you like a ninja. Your legs will be burning after three days of walking as there are no carts here, only walking with a caddie. POP will be around 4.5 hours due to wind and hilliness of course, especially if caddy is doublebagging. Great golf course with superb lodging onsite. I think 66 beds. My room overlooked the putting green which about 2 acres in size. The driving range has to be seen to be believed. Food is fabulous and members are the best. Very low key atmosphere, none of this stuffy, turn up your nose nonsense you might find at other ultraprivate clubs. Sit out at the firepit in the evening and enjoy the evening thunderstorms in the distance. 12 hole par 3 course is also a gem although it doesn't start directly at the clubhouse. Compares to Pacific Dunes without the ocean. 75 is a great score here if you are low single digit handicap. Otherwise bring a couple sleeves of golf balls (your caddie should be able to get you thru the round). This club totally deserves to be inside the Top 50 courses in the USA.

All Reviews by cotoman

16 Likes.

Rated
10.0 Conditions

2. 24hourgolf

Posted: 09/11/20 12:06p
Member Since: Jun 6, 2011
From: San Marino

Played on 9/6. Wow. What an unbelievable course. A Tom Doak design. Rated # 46 by Golf Digest. Very fortunate to have a member invite us. If you drive directly to the course from DIA it will be a 3/4 hour drive. As we were in Loveland the trip was shorter. It is located in Holyoke and amongst rolling hills the locals call the Chop Hills. And the course is virtually hidden inside these hills (and from the road). And that allows the hills to either be helpful (bringing the ball back into play) or penalizing. Many of the hills are so high (like Ireland) you have no business climbing them and looking for your ball. Yardage is 5210 to 7147. But there are no tee markers. The caddies are skilled enough (walking course only) to recognize players games and will walk the players to the appropriate area on each tee. Also, as wind is a factor (not always) this does help/hinder in playing the course. The teeing areas as you can imagine are very large. There also hidden back tees known only to the caddies that members use but keep secret. The fairways are green and they provide great lies and tremendous roll (made me feel young again). But that also means you can roll into the many many natural bunkers that line the fairways. Not to mention the large ones around the greens. But the traps are so very playable and kept clean by the caddies because they have rakes in them. The greens are large and beautifully contoured (and yes many 3 putts) but if you make a birdie it feels oh so good. But because it is a true links course you can play many varied shots around all the greens. The customer service is spectacular. The caddies are fun, professional and true ambassadors for the course. The food in the restaurant is fabulous. They even have several lodges on property one can stay in and many members/guests do so, coming from so far away. The newly added Mulligan course of 12 holes is a beautiful Par 3 with unbelievable greens. And do not miss the unbelievable putting green (wow). There is a driving range but it is located about 1/4 mile from the clubhouse. This course goes into my top five of all time. If you are ever invited or can manage to get an invite, by all means do not turn it down. And my thanks to the previous reviewer from 2013 who took so many great pics to help me envision what awaited me.

All Reviews by 24hourgolf

8 Likes.

Rated
10.0 Conditions

3. sabram

Posted: 04/13/13 6:09a
Member Since: Dec 3, 2006
From: New York, NY

I spent a weekend at Ballyneal two summer ago that was one of the best golf experiences I've ever had... Up there with Bandon, Garden City and Merion among my favorite US courses. Ballyneal was designed by Tom Doak and is currently listed as the 46th best course in the US by Golf Magazine and #95 in the US by Golf Digest. From Denver International Airport it is a 3 hour drive through 150 miles of ultra flat corn fields until you notice that the terrain has changed to some amazing hills and dunes. Ballyneal is best described as an inland links. It has super wide fairways with lots of humps, bumps and moguls, sandy soil, fescue fairways, no trees, large humpy greens, lots of wind and plays firm and fast. All that is missing to make this a true lins is an ocean. There are 4 buildings on site. One contains the pro shop, one has lodging and a restaurant, the other has lodging a small spa and pub. The fourth is the owners house. The weekend I was there there were a total of five golfers on site. The Club is billed as a national "destination club. This model apparently has not worked in the recent economy and the owner, Rupert O'neil was forced to sell the place. What a shame. I hope it survives.

The course is walking only. You can carry your bag, use a pull cart or take a caddie. There are no paved paths. There are no formal tee boxes or tee markers: there are several teeing areas on each hole and the person who won the previous hole can choose where to tee off from. I know that GK is a site that focuses on course conditions, but on a course like Ballyneal that's not the top issue at least with regard to bunkers (which are wild blow-out style natural hazards edged with , and sometimes including various plants) and the rough which is pretty much left to nature. The fairways and greens are the main focus and they were in great shape and lots of fun. There are many elevation changes throughout the course so you'll face an assortment of uphill downhill and sidehill shots. There are some wild greens and you will have some long and crazy breaking putts similar to Doak's Old Mac, although not quite as big or wild as those at Old Mac. I was treated like a member. There was a gourmet chef in the kitchen who prepared dinner for the five guests and Rupert. I played 36 holes a day, and could have played more. It was two days of fun that words can't do justice to.

All Reviews by sabram

11 Likes.

Rated
6.3 Conditions

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