The Ridge at Castle Pines North — Attraction in Castle Pines

If I wanted to sit in traffic I could have stayed on the interstate! I haven't been this disappointed by a round of golf in a long time. One of my best friends came to town visiting his parents so we planned to play a round. Me being from the area we talked about tons of courses and I mentioned that I had heard awesome things about the Ridge but had never played it, so that's where we picked. Unfortunately it did not live up to it's reputation. I live in Castle Rock and play over 50 rounds a year ranging from The Broadmoor to a $9 executive course. I am all about the idea of you get what you pay for and for the $110 a player green fee I can think of half a dozen courses that are cheaper and more enjoyable. First of the location, course design and scenery are top notch and we had PLENTY of time to examine all 3. When I arrived the young ladies at the bag drop were nice but managed to strap my Ogio Bag to the cart tight enough it bent one of the stand legs (I discovered this once I got home). The 2 guys in the pro shop were dry and busy talking about a coworker that wasn't there as I checked out and when I asked where the practice facility was they answered me as if my question was an inconvenience. I went to get loose and putt and the practice facility was top notch. However the website nor the prime fees told you or even hinted at the fact that a dozen or more bunkers here torn out or contained 4ft tall mounds of sand from them actively being repaired. 5 minutes before our tee time we went to the 1st tee and met the other 2 in our group, the starter/kid from the pro shop pulled up and said "you guys are good to go". What followed was the worst pace I've ever experienced on a golf course. The 1st 2 holes were normal, the 3rd we would arrive at the tee just as the last players from the group in front of us were leaving the tee. By the 5th tee we were backed up enough to watch 2 or 3 of the group ahead hit their tee shots (from the tips) and pull beer out of their Mickey mouse cooler bag in the cart. No biggie the ranger will ask them to speed up and not repeatedly take mulligans every hole right? WRONG! By 7 we watched all four of them tee off as we waited and when we thought we'd pass them at the turn and that would fix the issue.... NOPE At the 10th tee there was a group in the fairway hitting approaches, a group waiting to hit tee shots, a group waiting on them and us waiting on them. 4 groups on 1 hole is absurd. No ranger still to be found one of the 2 that joined us went and asked the pro shop to monitor the issue, nothing was resolved. Almost 5 and a half hours later we were done and wishing we'd...

Bottom line up front: Beautiful course in mostly great shape but grossly overpriced at $180 due to issues you'll experience every round: horrendous bunkers, rude staff, and egregiously slow pace of play.

The Ridge has one of the best designs in the area with some stunning views. Fairways and greens are always outstanding. The practice area is wonderful. Yet in every one of my five rounds I've played over the past few years, the same issues have transpired, and it always starts with the staff. The first couple times I played here, it felt like I somehow inconvenienced the pro shop simply by being there. Last time, the starter was a jerk to our entire group because we were on the range 15 minutes before our tee time. One time, they had an entire hole closed, didn't give any forewarning, and still charged full price. Today, one of the cart guys accusingly asked if we had taken the cart to the car to fill up on beer (we didn't... it was to avoid having to walk all the way from the far parking lot).

The bunkers are AWFUL--rock hard, unmaintained, and sometimes flooded. And on this course, bunkers are strategically placed on virtually every hole, so you will almost inevitably end up in at least a few of them. With what they're charging, it's hard to believe the neglect, and it's really inexcusable since the bunkers play such a large role here. If you're playing on a weekend, expect a minimum of a 5-hour round. There's no way around it. Pace of play is not a priority. One additional minor but annoying thing: no water to be found on the course anywhere (except for the bottle of water they provide with your cart).

If you can get a deal--I'd say $120 at most--The Ridge is worth it. But $180 is just an absurd price for what you get. You're much better off at Bear Dance: a better course, in my opinion, with much better staff and always pristine conditions. On top of that, Bear Dance is cheaper by a few bucks and doesn't require silly pre-pay with silly 48-hour...

They're out of their mind charging $199 right now... There are other really good courses for less, also have pro shop employees that are more understanding, and don't force your to cart up with strangers! I could see this being a good value under $150 but not more than that.

My friend had called on the day we decided to reserve to ask if he was able to use his Avid Golfer for two golfers on one reservation. He explained that they made a reservation for one of them pre-paid already and the person on the phone said they will refund them and allow them to pay with one of the passes (i.e., both can use ONE Avid Golfer passport, and consume two discount passes out of the three available, to play for $99 each). The day we showed up, we tried to use the passport and the Pro Shop person said "sorry we don't do that" and was very firm on not allowing us to use the pass for two people, even after explaining that we called, and made sure there were no catches before we did this. All he would say is that "it's per Avid Golfer" and I asked him to explain what that meant, and he said "it's on their website" and I asked if he could show me and pulled up the passport Terms and Conditions and nowhere did it say that we weren't able to use it like that (e.g., "only one user per guest per day" or something along those lines)... so, after more unnecessary back-and-forth, and explaining to him that we obviously had a misunderstanding and it would be good if he could at least make an exception, he huffed and reluctantly allowed us to do that. Like, sure, cool that you acknowledged the agreement that we can see on paper and also talked to someone on the phone about, so it shouldn't cause him to react with such emotion when complying to our request, especially at a course that typically asks for $199, and doesn't provide rain checks,...