 Mariana
Butte Golf Course:
Uniquely Charming and Maintained Admirably
By Derek Duncan, Staff
Writer
LOVELAND, CO -"I am in love with Mariana...and I don't even
know her last name." (With apologies to Lee Trevino).
One of the most enjoyable rounds of golf available in northern Colorado is found at Marianna Butte located just west of Loveland. Ask any golfer from the area about this course and the word that appears in virtually every response is "fun." With a devilish array of tricky, unique holes, joyfully variant looks and feels, and superbly manicured greens, the word "fun" simply does not do this golf course justice. The ubiquitous Dick Phelps designed this course that opened for play in 1992. Around this part of Colorado, golfers are hard pressed to play three or four rounds and not find themselves on a Phelps design, and that is both good and bad. Certainly there are critics of his work, but when Phelps is asked to route a course on a chunk of acreage as richly diverse and interesting as this (in other words, when he's given something to work with), he is capable of creating unique, if not brilliant holes. When he is forced to stuff eighteen holes in a small piece of property, he is sometimes guilty of "quirky" holes, but at Mariana Butte he apparently had room to work and most of the holes are strong. The terrain of the course is overflowing with possibility and Phelps has taken advantage of it, succeeding in laying out holes in three differing textbook styles: parkland, prairie and mountain.
Holes 2, 3, 4, 16 and 17 are vintage parkland-style holes. They
play along the lowland areas of the course, see little or no elevation
change (with the exception of the second and sixteenth tees), interact
with towering groves of cottonwoods, and interplay with water hazards
in the forms of lazy meandering streams and ponds. These holes give
an aura of age and quiet seclusion, particularly the 403-yard (back
tees) second and the straight-ahead 376-yard seventeenth, as if
their existence has predated the rest of the course, growing slowly
through time with the surrounding trees.
There are a number of holes designed in the prairie-style that serve the purpose of transitioning the course from parkland to the more dramatic mountain-style holes, opening wide for the golfer, offering both a breather from the tee and a chance to score. Trademarks of these sprawling holes are wide fairways, lack of trees or punishing borders (other than the tall prairie vegetation wide of the primary rough), and significant mounding both in the rough along the fairways and surrounding the greens. To the eye, these holes, which include numbers 1, 5, 6, the par 3 8th, 12, the first 400-yards of 13, and lastly 18, appear open and tame, but yardage's can be deceptive and they can be defenseless against the common, strong front range wind. The first hole and the twelfth, a gentle 517-yard par 5 and a 405-yard dogleg par 4 respectively, are the best examples of this style, holes that move over uninhabited pasture of unblocked views, framed by fairway bunkers and grass hillocks, rewarding power first and finesse less.
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But it is, invariably, the "mountain" holes that give Mariana Butte its raucous reputation. Numbers 10, 11, the third shot on 13, and 14 are rugged, terrain exploring holes positioned on and around the highest point on the course. Indeed, an entire review could be written detailing the excitement of playing 11 and 14, a pair of par threes with dramatic elevation changes, two of the most talked about one-shotters in the state. Eleven is the high point of the round, literally, as well as visually. >From the back tees the distance measures 172-yards and looks down over a green nestled in a grove of ancient trees with the Big Thompson River flowing thickly behind it. From the hilltop tee, the drop in elevation accounts for a two to three club difference. The 14th boasts a similar change in elevation and is not quite as dynamic, only because the green is more open and less punishing of miss-hits. When the wind is up, these holes can be absolutely befuddling. The beauty of holes 11 and 14 is inspiring, as is the gentle yet deceptive 15th, a 410-yard par 4, the one hole on the course that stands aloof from labels. It's a warm, summertime hole that slowly sweeps left around a pair of bunkers and a high bank of unplayable brush, the tee shot partially obscured, and the Big Thompson borders to the right. Trees guard the rolling green on the right, and this cozy, tight hole demands an accuracy that up to this point in the round has been infrequently needed.  Diminutive is another word that applies to Mariana Butte. From the championship tees the course reached only a meager 6,572 yards. The men's tee it up at 5,956 yards. On a course as short as this and with a par of 72, you can usually expect a number of whimsical, short holes with significant doglegs and limitations off the tee.
Untraditional holes tend to add either charm to the course or frustration, and sometimes there is a fine line in between the two. Fortunately at Marianna, they are carried off with flair and are generally accepted as joyous challenges. One more note on Dick Phelps designs: they often require prescriptive methods of golf. He is not known as an architect who gives the golfer a variety of options in which to play a hole or a course, and his designs traditionally demand shots be played to specific areas with no, or rare, alternatives. There is little risk/reward decision making involved when playing his courses, and Mariana Butte is no exception. This is a course that implores the player to follow the method and hit the ball where they are supposed to hit it. Some par fives are reachable in two, but the only difference in the way longer hitters play the hole is that they are hitting their ball from farther up the fairway and not from the same line with the same hazards. This lack of decision-making doesn't seem to matter much to those who frequent this incredibly popular course. The varying flavors of the holes; the inspiring elevation changes; the brevity of its distance; the rousing, creative routing that strives to include every interesting feature of this wonderfully endowed property - all this adds up to what is considered one of the most tempting and enjoyable layouts in this part of the state.
Who can argue? Mariana Butte is nothing if not utterly fun to play.
It is uniquely charming and maintained admirably despite its arid
location. A special thank you goes to the superintendent for his
crew's impressive work on these smooth, slick greens, some of the
best putting surfaces along the Front Range. Green fees for Mariana
Butte are $29 to walk, $40 to ride, seven days a week.
Visit their website at www.marianabutte.com. To get to Mariana Butte: From State Highway 17 turn west on 1st Street and drive three miles. Turn right on Clubhouse Drive and follow to clubhouse. Mariana Butte Golf Course
701 Clubhouse Dr.
Loveland, CO 80537
970 667-8308
Advanced Tee Times: 970 667-5800 |
