Red Hawk Ridge Golf Course

Red Hawk Ridge is Jim Engh's 1999 municipal design in Castle Rock, Colorado, owned by the town, priced around $50 to ride, and built on a stretch of Palmer Divide land with ridges, gulches, and scrub oak that Engh treats as the course's version of Scottish gorse. The course reads as a value round on the scorecard and plays well above its price tag; it was named Best New Affordable Public Course by Golf Digest at opening. Engh's risk-reward philosophy drives the design. Fairways are wide enough to invite aggressive tee shots, but the green complexes are where the course defends itself, placement into the correct sector matters more than distance. The 14th is the signature hole, a dramatic par-3 played from an elevated tee with panoramic views of the Front Range; it's the image on the scorecard cover. The 18th is the risk-reward closer, a reachable par-5 that tempts long hitters to go for it in two. The course has won Colorado AvidGolfer CAGGY Awards for Best Par 5 and Best Value Course. For a Denver itinerary, pair with Arrowhead (RTJ Jr. sandstone setting) and The Ridge at Castle Pines North (Weiskopf) for a three-course south-of-Denver trip, Red Hawk is the value pick of the three.