Pine Creek

Colorado Springs, CO

website: pinecreekgc.com

• Playability: ⛳️⛳️⛳️
• Difficulty: ⛳️⛳️⛳️⛳️
• Views: ⛳️⛳️⛳️⛳️⛳️
• Course Conditions: ⛳️⛳️⛳️
• Value: ⛳️⛳️⛳️
• Facility: ⛳️⛳️

If you like to get a close up of Pikes Peak without enduring the 14,115 foot trek, Pine Creek has just as good of view as any place in Colorado. Designed and built in 1988 by world renowned golf course architect Dick Phelps, Pine Creek is a great place to spend an day spanking whitey.

The playability of Pine Creek earned a 3 flag rating, but not for the reason you may think. It can be quite the challenging course if you are struggling to keep the ball in play. Ranging from just about 4900 yards from the forward tees and stretching out to over 7200, there are a lot of areas that can get you in trouble. It’s not exactly “player friendly” to your average amateur golfer, and there could be a good amount of time searching for balls in the native areas and fescue.

The difficulty of this track earns a well deserved 4 flag review. Tough tee shots await you on well over half of the holes- many of them very tight with no room to miss right or short (where a lot of right handed players tend to miss.) Even if you’re keeping it in play off the tee, many of the approach shots are very demanding as well. They recently flipped the nine holes (thank goodness) because now what is #10 used to be the 1st hole and requires a pinpoint accurate tee shot and approach shot- with hazard surround and zig zagging through the entire hole. Definitely not the most fun way to start your round. The only reason this didn’t earn a 5 flag review on difficulty is the greens are usually pretty slow and shaggy, making it much easier to avoid the dreaded three putt. Along with their general lack of speed, the greens are also pretty big in surface area, so where you may find yourself chipping at other courses you’ll be hitting a lag putt at Pine Creek.

Course conditions earned a fair but not great score of 3 flags for course conditions. The grass was always pretty green and lush- something that always gets me to up this rating a bit. Where it doesn’t earn an above average review from me is the greens. The greens can make or break a golf course and the surfaces at Pine Creek always seem to be quite shaggy and slow. The driving range is also a large eye sore. Overall, Pine Creek’s course conditions are average at best for me.

The value at Pine Creek earned the “average” 3 flag review. Ranging from $69 on the weekday mornings to $79 on a weekend morning (carts included) it’s a fair price for an above average golf course with great views. Weekday rate approaching $70 is a bit steep overall for this track, but a weekend morning round under $80 isn’t the worst value for what you’re getting at this facility.

The facilities at Pine Creek earned their lowest 2 flag review. Having done a ton of practice here back in the day, the overall practice facility leaves something to be desired. The driving range is extremely downhill and faces Pikes Peak, which gives that added confidence boost before your round. The chipping green is really small and compact and the putting green is your typical public course putting green. The building is a little older feeling- they have a small bar for drinks and snacks at the turn and a below average proshop, overall earning a below average flag rating.

Overall, I would recommend a tee time at Pine Creek. There are a good amount of challenging yet fun holes, gettable par 5s, and great views!