{"id":886734,"date":"2026-09-10T09:24:44","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T09:24:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/886734\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T09:24:44","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T09:24:44","slug":"rodeo-dunes-first-look","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/886734\/","title":{"rendered":"Rodeo Dunes – First Look"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\tDeja Vu<\/p>\n

Over six years ago, I got to preview the half-finished first course at Sand Valley [full story HERE<\/a>].\u00a0 I still remember turning off a little-used road, through a wall of trees, and the landscape opening up into an amazing golf property.<\/p>\n

\"Rodeo<\/p>\n

Driving up to a fledgling Rodeo Dunes, I got much the same feeling.\u00a0 On a hazy day, the landscape looked flat and brown.\u00a0 The Rocky Mountains were far away and mostly obscured.\u00a0 It looked like cattle country \u2013 which it is \u2013 not America\u2019s next great golf destination \u2013 which is what this is likely to become.<\/p>\n

\"Rodeo<\/p>\n

First Impressions<\/p>\n

My first impression of Rodeo Dunes was largely what I expected, based on my experiences watching Sand Valley grow.\u00a0 The infrastructure is light and temporary.\u00a0 A trailer \u2013 albeit a very nice one \u2013 serves as the pro shop, and a limited menu of food and drinks is served from another trailer next door.<\/p>\n

\"Rodeo<\/p>\n

Rodeo Dunes leans heavily into the western vibe, packing their range balls into old cowboy boots.\u00a0 The practice facility, such as it is, consists of three mats aimed at a few barrels placed out in the sand.\u00a0 In the pro shop, you\u2019ll find denim and flannel headcovers bearing the Rodeo Dunes logo. [Learn More \/ Plan Trip<\/a>]<\/p>\n

\"Rodeo<\/p>\n

Rodeo Dunes Golf Course<\/p>\n

I love Coore Crenshaw golf courses.\u00a0 Sheep Ranch might be my favorite course at Bandon.\u00a0 I love Sand Valley, Kapalua, and Ozarks National [review HERE<\/a>].\u00a0 While this could be new course enthusiasm talking, I think Rodeo Dunes is my favorite Coore Crenshaw.<\/p>\n

\"Rodeo<\/p>\n

The feeling I always get on a Coore Crenshaw is that the course is tough but enjoyable.\u00a0 Nine times out of ten, they get the difficulty dialed in perfectly where you feel like you have chances to score, the course doesn\u2019t seem unfair, but you know you have to play your best.\u00a0 That\u2019s the case throughout the round at Rodeo Dunes.<\/p>\n

\"Rodeo<\/p>\n

One of the signature features at Rodeo Dunes is the \u201ccompression and release\u201d off the tee.\u00a0 Looking at the hole, you feel like you\u2019re constricted, that there\u2019s nowhere to hit the ball.\u00a0 As you start to walk after your tee shot, you realize that there\u2019s ample room.\u00a0 This isn\u2019t totally unique to Rodeo Dunes or Coore Crenshaw, but what I like about this course is that local knowledge is not required.\u00a0 If you take a careful look, most holes show you where the space is and what areas to avoid.\u00a0 There are a few blind shots, and those are the ones where the caddies earn their keep.<\/p>\n

\"Rodeo<\/p>\n

The native areas are another defining feature of the course.\u00a0 There is ample fairway, and if you stray from it you\u2019re taking your chances.\u00a0 You might spot your ball easily, you might need to step on it to find it.\u00a0 You can draw a favorable lie, you might need to take an unplayable.<\/p>\n

\"Rodeo<\/p>\n

Among the standout holes were the par 3 second hole where the green is tucked around a corner behind a mound.\u00a0 Hole four has tons of character: a split fairway with a massive centerline bunker and a green that\u2019s largely obscured by a mound.\u00a0 The front nine closes with a par three whose long green sits at angle, creating numerous yardages and demanding precision.\u00a0 My early favorite on the back nine is #16 with its visually difficult, downhill tee shot and uphill approach to a diamond-shaped green.<\/p>\n

\"Rodeo<\/p>\n

Overall, this is a course that doesn\u2019t have a clear signature hole, but it doesn\u2019t have any weak stretches either.\u00a0 There\u2019s a bit of quirkiness with the back-to-back par 3s at #13 and #14, but it\u2019s primarily strong, interesting, challenging golf from the first tee shot to the final putt.<\/p>\n

\"Rodeo<\/p>\n

More Coming Soon<\/p>\n

In addition to playing Rodeo Dunes, we got a tour of \u201cCourse 2\u201d (the \u201cFuture Course\u201d shown above) with its architect, Jim Craig.\u00a0 Though it\u2019s still fairly early in its development, there\u2019s little doubt that it\u2019s going to be outstanding.\u00a0 Course 2 will start and finish alongside the original course.\u00a0 From what we were able to see, it\u2019s going to be a great match play course with a ton of optionality.<\/p>\n

\"Rodeo<\/p>\n

More than anything specific to the routing, I came away really impressed with how enthusiastic the design team is about the course.\u00a0 They were giddy about every detail, every decision that was still left to be made.\u00a0 I think golfers are going to feel the same way when they\u2019re playing, and I can\u2019t wait to be one of them. [Learn More \/ Plan Trip<\/a>]<\/p>\n

\"Rodeo<\/p>\n

Is Rodeo Dunes the Next Bandon Dunes?<\/p>\n

Yes, no, and maybe.<\/p>\n

The things that fill the \u201cYes\u201d column are obvious.\u00a0 This project is being developed by the Keiser family, the same family behind Bandon Dunes and Sand Valley.\u00a0 Additionally, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw designed the first course at Rodeo Dunes, just as they did at Sand Valley [review HERE<\/a>].\u00a0 They also have Bandon Trails [review HERE<\/a>] and Sheep Ranch [review HERE<\/a>] to their credit.\u00a0 Rodeo Dunes, just like Bandon Dunes, will be golf-centric and likely walking-only.<\/p>\n

\"Rodeo<\/p>\n

Filling the \u201cNo\u201d column are two items, one obvious, one less so.\u00a0 The one \u201cNo\u201d is that the landscape is dramatically different.\u00a0 There is no ocean, there are no cliffs.\u00a0 I\u2019m not saying that makes Rodeo Dunes inherently better or worse; but it\u2019s a significant difference.<\/p>\n

The less obvious \u201cNo\u201d is that Rodeo Dunes is being developed with better knowledge about what\u2019s to come.\u00a0 Twenty years on, we take it for granted that Bandon Dunes was always going to be a success.\u00a0 That\u2019s simply not true (read Dream Golf if you have any feelings about Bandon, it\u2019s fantastic).\u00a0 With Rodeo Dunes, they know this is going to work, and they\u2019re planning accordingly.\u00a0 There was open talk of at least five courses throughout our visit.<\/p>\n

\"Rodeo<\/p>\n

The \u201cMaybe\u201d is the part that\u2019s most interesting to me.\u00a0 Anyone who has been to Bandon Dunes knows that it\u2019s a full day of travel from most of the US.\u00a0 Sand Valley is three hours from Chicago.\u00a0 In contrast, Rodeo Dunes is an easy forty minute drive from Denver International Airport.<\/p>\n

Easier accessibility seems like an obvious, universal good, but I\u2019m not sure that\u2019s true.\u00a0 Part of the appeal of Bandon is that it\u2019s summer camp for golf sickos.\u00a0 The vibes are tremendous because anyone who would go through the trouble of getting there is likely to be similarly obsessed with this crazy game.\u00a0 People who live in Denver can treat Rodeo Dunes like their muni (I know that\u2019s not true because of demand, but you understand my point) which does not seem like it would create the same environment.\u00a0 Time will tell.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the better question is, \u201cDoes Rodeo Dunes want to be the next Bandon Dunes?\u201d\u00a0 Given the quality of the first course, it\u2019s on the board that this could be even better. [Learn More \/ Plan Trip<\/a>]<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tRodeo Dunes\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

LINKS GOLF ON THE RUGGED PLAINS OF EASTERN COLORADO. Long before golf arrived, the wind had already done much of the work.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\"Rodeo
\n\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tHelp support our mission. We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/a> <\/p>\n

Editor In Chief at Plugged In Golf<\/p>\n

Matt has worked in nearly every job in the golf industry from club fitting to instruction to writing and speaking.<\/p>\n

He founded Plugged In Golf in 2013 with the goal of helping all golfers play better and enjoy the game more.<\/p>\n

Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/a>Latest posts by Matt Saternus (see all<\/a>) \t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Deja Vu Over six years ago, I got to preview the half-finished first course at Sand Valley [full…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":886735,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":["post-886734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=886734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/886735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=886734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=886734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=886734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}