Spent day two of the Colorado golf swing at Riverdale's Dunes course up in Brighton. It was a stark contrast to the tree-lined mountain terrain of the day before at Perry Park, but no less enjoyable o... Continue »

Spent day two of the Colorado golf swing at Riverdale's Dunes course up in Brighton. It was a stark contrast to the tree-lined mountain terrain of the day before at Perry Park, but no less enjoyable or fun. It's just an entirely different type of course.

As far as Colorado goes, Riverdale Dunes is about as flat as you will find anywhere in the state I reckon. The fairways are ample and there are practically no trees whatsoever to provide shade or trouble. There are a lot of knolls and swales near the greens though to create their defense, and also a lot of prominent water features on many holes. If I'm not mistaken, this is a course with a lot of Pete Dye influence to it, along with Tom Doak, and it shows just about everywhere.

Conditions were mostly good with a few trouble spots mostly due to a lot of heavy construction going on across the front nine. It appears they're adding some drainage pipes so a lot of heavy equipment and workers everywhere. Once past that though, the course opens up and plays quite nicely. Fairways are in good shape with good lies to be found just about everywhere, while the tee boxes (we played the 'square') were all level and in good shape. I was only in one bunker and it had plenty of sand but still felt 'heavy' for some reason.

Greens were in very nice shape and held shots well despite rolling pretty darn quick. Not too many tricked out greens but very subtle grades that made putting a pretty big adventure until later in the round when I finally got a hold of the speed. They were consistent for sure.

Cart service came around numerous times which was very nice because it was still very hot for Colorado standards in late September, and as previously mentioned, there's really no shade anywhere to cool you down. Feels a lot like Cimarron out in Palm Springs in that regard. Driving range was also a good one.

Price was a steal at $65 per round, although we did have a fourth drop out and I called in advance to let them know. When I checked in I was told that it would be no problem but then I got an email later saying they were charging me. I called this morning to protest and am awaiting reply - hopefully they hold true to what they said at the start.

But regardless, still a very good deal for this fun and engaging track. Would surely play it again.