Courtesy of the club
Courtesy of the club
Courtesy of the club
Courtesy of the Ridge Course at Castle Pines North
Courtesy of the club/Channing Benjamin
Courtesy of the club/Channing Benjamin
Courtesy of the club/Channing Benjamin
Courtesy of the club/Channing Benjamin
Courtesy of the club/Channing Benjamin
Courtesy of the club/Channing Benjamin
Courtesy of the club/Channing Benjamin
Courtesy of the club/Channing Benjamin
Courtesy of the club/Channing Benjamin
Castle Pines Golf Club
Castle Rock, CO•Private
Awards
Panelists Score
Castle Pines Golf Club
1000 Hummingbird Dr
Castle Rock, CO 80108-9003
United States
Overview
When Golf Digest began its annual Best New Course awards in 1983, the review panel selected Castle Pines as the Private Course winner. But Bill Davis, co-founder of Golf Digest and founding father of all its course rankings, didn’t care for the course and vetoed its inclusion. So, no private course was honored that year. Davis soon recognized his error, and in 1987—its first year of eligibility—Castle Pines joined America’s 100 Greatest and has remained there ever since. Club founder Jack Vickers, a Midwest oilman, had urged architect Jack Nicklaus to produce a mountain-venue design worthy of a major championship. Jack did, but when a championship never resulted, Vickers established his own, The International, which for many years was the only PGA Tour event played under a unique Stableford format. The tour returned to Castle Pines in 2024 for the FedEx Cup's BMW Championship. Like Muirfield Village, the only other solo Nicklaus design in the top 50, Castle Pines has undergone a steady procession of hole alterations to keep pace with changing technology and changing tastes. It's been lengthened to over 8,000 yards, but in Castle Rock's thin air, that still only equates to about 7,300 yards.
About
Golf Digest Panelists
Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists
100 Greatest / Best In State Scores
Shot Options
Character
Challenge
Layout Variety
Fun
Aesthetics
Conditioning
Reviews
Review
“Designed by Jack Nicklaus(1981), this exclusive private course is located in Castle Rock, Colorado, 30 min south of downtown Denver in the Rocky Mountain foothills. It’s beautifully manicured and the service is top notch. The course is challenging, but fair and has enough water hazards to make good shot selection imperative. All the holes are nicely framed be tall pines and bunkers are strategically placed. Green complexes are challenging, fast and not drastically undulated."
Read More2026
Review
“Very demanding and enjoyable mountain golf course. There is a great flow to Castle Pines that really entrenches you into the environment. The routing does a nice job at incorporating the elevation change, the rivers, the topography, and the large pines into the golf course. Some green complexes like the par 3 7th and the par 5 17th really stood out to me as strategically interesting with pin locations that force thought and consideration on your approach shot. Many others felt like they could've been improved in this regard. Overall a very strong, demanding, and well-rounded test of golf based on our standards."
Read More2025
Review
“Phenomenal course if you can get access to play..."
Read More2024
Review
“Castle Pines is an impressive golf course and club. It has many visually dramatic man-made features as was common for high budget courses of its era. Huge amounts of attractive rock were moved onto the site to create water features and tee boxes. Nine holes have ponds and streams, which seems like a lot in the semiarid Colorado climate. Fortunately the exceptional quality of the design overcomes the 1980’s excesses characteristic of many Nicklaus courses. Large elevation changes combined with difficult green complexes and high rough make Castle Pines a very challenging course. The layout is varied, making effective use of the excellent site. The 5 consecutive uphill holes on the front nine are a bit of a slog, but the outstanding back nine more than compensates. The greens are excellent, demanding precise iron play, a deft short game, and superior lag putting. Course conditioning was among the best I have played. The greens were fast and very true. The fairways were green, yet quite firm and fast, something difficult to achieve in the mountains. Houses line many of the holes, but are set back and well screened, so don’t distract from the course. The club regularly undertakes moderate design changes in a successful effort to keep the course outstanding. Castle Pines exceeded my expectations. It fully deserves its position as one of the premier golf courses in the United States."
Read More2024
Review
“Absolutely stunning golf course in a beautiful setting in nature."
Read More2023
Review
“Ascetically pleasing, conditions near perfect, fun to play. The kind of course you felt like you could shoot a low score on the 1st tee, and on 18 green, thought it would be easier."
Read More2023
Review
“Solid variety of holes - direction and elevation changes. Scenic views, pure and simply par 3s. Bunker renovation is obvious as bunkers are in terrific shape. Greens roll pure and are correct speed for the green shapes and sizes. Course feels very natural - doesn’t feel like much dirt was moved."
Read More2023
Review
“With many major improvements to the course over the past few years, Castle Pines made an already world class golf course significantly better. For example, a new green complex at #8 lengthens the hole by 30+ yards, creates more shot options into the green with more room around the hole, and opens up interesting sight-lines to the contours on the side and behind the green. The new green at #16 features an diagonal ridge running front-right to back left that enhances the short game shot options on that hole. Where Castle Pines has always been great, however, has been in its size/scale, sense of place with beautiful Rocky Mountain views, pristine conditioning, and fair/challenging/interesting golf design."
Read More2022
Review
“An exceptionally maintained golf course with a variety of risk reward challenges and landscape that provides a mix of uphill and downhill holes and challenge for all level of play. The playing surfaces were firm on the day played and greens firm but receptive to shots played from the fairway. The greens are contoured, smooth and true to putt. Landscaping features, including waterways and floral beds add noticeably to aesthetic appeal. High handicap players might find it less fun due to the demand for quality shots to score well."
Read More2022
Review
“Castle Pines offers the golfer a feast for the eyes with virtually unmatched aesthetics and character while presenting the player with a stern challenge and great balance and variety in hole layout as well as shot options. This design is truly a memorable golf experience."
Read More2022
