Four Mile Ranch, Canon City, Colorado

I played it twice now this year, with the most recent trip on 11-17-12. This is a true hidden gem in Colorado! A Jim Engh design, that really utilzes the existing landscape. Lots of elevated tee boxes, doglegs, and hidden greens. Did I mention there is NO sand bunkers on the course???

When we showed up, we were about 10 minutes from our reserved tee time. I wanted to hit the driving range for a short bit, and the manager said no problem, go hit and when you are ready to tee off, head to the first tee. We encountered only two other groups the entire day!! No pressure, great course conditions, beautiful landscape, its a must play if you come to Colorado.

Played 4 Mile Ranch probably 5 times. Great newer course (maybe open 5-6 years?) Beautiful scenery. Engh uses "hogbacks" instead of bunkers, so lots of visual obstructions into greens. Not a fan of the greens though. Most greens are "bowled" (meaning there are 2 or three bowls on them that the ball will drain to, depending on which bowl you hit). Same can be said of the green complexes--a lot of them are in "bowls" meaning you miss the green by 20-30 yards right or left, the ball will trickle down to the hole for a 2 footer sometimes. 4 out of the 5 times I played the course the holes were cut in the bottom of a bowl, leaving mostly 2-3 footers. Kind of a miniature golf feel. That being said---don't hit the wrong bowl on the green or you're looking at a real tough 2 putt on the very contoured greens. Another advantage--this course is in the Colorado Banana belt--very little snow, even when there's snow all around.

I would agree about the greens, They are "hero or zero". I've played Fossil Trace in Golden, and it has similar Jim Engh styling and contouring.
With that said, I can see how some golfers may not enjoy the "Engh" experience, but as a 28 handicapper, I love it!

Anybody played here lately? Planning on driving up in the next month or so when work slows down. I am hoping it is still in good shape. Was there years ago and it was not very busy. Doesn't look like very many houses have been built on Google Earth.