The Ridge at Castle Pines North vs. Bear Dance (Review)

[jimboski93]

I'm new to golf in the Denver area and had a chance to play both these courses over the past two weekends.

In summary, if I had 10 rounds to play between the two, I'd play 7 at Bear Dance and 3 at The Ridge

Bear Dance (played 6/21)

Very fun layout, with a lot of risk-reward opportunities to cut doglegsGreat views on many holesFast greens in great conditionThere were a few areas in fairways where it seems they'd be re-seeding and the grass was still growing inI only had one shot out of a bunker, but that shot and other bunkers I looked in, seemed in good conditionPlayed the Blue tees at 6,879. They have two other sets that are longer, White tees at 6,293, and three other "Mixed" sets at 5,780, 6,527 or 7,135 -- so very easy to pick a length that fits your game.The Ridge at Castle Pines North (played 6/13)

Course was in very good condition, except for the bunkers, where many were like concreteGood layout, some holes with a nice view, but nothing in comparison to Bear DanceTee options felt limited -- I played from the Gold tees (6,490 yards), otherwise it was 6,002 from the White or 7,013 from the Black

[Chanceman]

Totally agree.

Too many houses around The Ridge and Bear Dance was better in almost every way.

[newg33b]

Haven't played these courses in a few years since we moved away from Denver, but I'd agree with your assessment. Bear Dance is better and a great experience. I think the seclusion is the number one factor: you rarely see houses around you even though there are some. The Ridge, especially the front nine, has the "playing through a housing development" feel. There are still lots of really cool holes. I like the layout a lot and I think Weiskopf's designs are generally really fun to play. The back nine at the ridge is really good, but 18 vs 18 I like Bear Dance better.

It really reminds me how spoiled I was for great public golf living south of Denver: I had The Ridge, Bear Dance, Red Hawk Ridge, even a course like Plum Creek was a "meh" option and it was an interesting Pete Dye layout, or a course like Fossil Trace further away too.