Gritty Haystack Mountain Golf Course

By Nate Nalbandian
Rockiesgolf.com Course Reviewer

June 18, 1999

LONGMONT, Colo. - Haystack Mountain Golf Course is about as down home a course as you can get without actually building one on your own property. A dirt road leads into the gravel parking lot surrounded by old wooden farm buildings.

An old log on the fifth hole has hundreds of tees pounded into it and a wooden sign at the tee box of the seventh hole announces the sale of recovered golf balls from the neighbor's house.

The tee boxes are sometimes little more than just the beginning of the hole and are marked by divots and broken tees. The greens can be either good or bad but the fairways are actually pretty nice and kind of wide and forgiving.

Haystack might not be the best or nicest course you've ever played, but that is not necessarily what defines a golf experience. And that is really what you're paying for each and every time you go out. The experience.

This nine-hole course, located in Longmont, lies in the shadow of Haystack Mountain, a cone-shaped geological feature just to the north of the course and easily visible from miles around. Owned by the course, the "mountain" rises up out of the ground at an unusual location, seemingly out of place.

While the course can be great for kids, first-timers and those who don't play very much, I'd imagine most readers who come here for information and reviews are decent to excellent golfers. They have played some nice courses and have certain expectations.

It is difficult to go back to playing municipal courses after playing a really nice country club. And with kids and inexperienced golfers, play can be very slow at times.

So there are basically two ways you can look upon playing here. One is to play the course, bitch about the conditions and other things that are unlike the nicer courses you are used to playing and never return. The other way, however, I found to be more fun.

When placed in any situation, it lies in the person in that situation to make it good or bad. I have found that there are always little ways you can ruin an ideal situation or make a bad one more enjoyable.

Especially in golf. Although he probably didn't play, William Shakespeare may have had the temperament for the game judging by his quote, "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."

A good example of this for me was the following situation. The other day on the 11th hole of a fun round with some friends we were interrupted by a typical Colorado afternoon 15-minute rain-delay. During that time in the shelter of a building we invented a golf version of hacky sack using our sand wedges as our feet and the ball instead of a footbag. By the time the rain had stopped we had people from two other foursomes standing out in the rain doing it.

The course is short even for nine at 1,913 yards with the average length of a par-four at 264.6 yards. It's almost like a very long par-3 course. I found it really fun to have the possibility of driving the green on a few of the holes.

How cool is it to drive a par-four and be putting for eagle? Or, if you're really good, why not play the course with just your seven iron like Kevin Costner in "Tin Cup"?

The clubhouse is nice and comfortable inside and there is a pleasant porch area where you can sip beers and watch players tee off on the first hole. The driving range is lighted for swinging at night and there is a decent practice green where the ninth green used to live.

The greens fees are $11 for nine holes. The staff is as friendly as you would expect at a mom and pop-type operation. Haystack also offers a no-embarrassment learning school for those looking for lessons in a relaxed setting. The number for lessons and tee times is (303) 530-1400.

If you are overly particular about the kind of golf course you like, get irritated by less than impeccable conditions or if you insist on the perfect golf experience in order to enjoy yourself, you may not like Haystack Mountain Golf Course.

But if you have the ability to just relax, take things with a grain of salt and be able to have fun, there's no reason not to play this fun little course.