Today’s weather looked sketchy. The forecast called for rain ending about noon and then clouds and some sun in the afternoon. I figured the dicey forecast would keep some golfers away so I gambled with a noon tee time at Mariana Butte Golf Course. Things worked out perfectly, with plenty of sunshine the entire round.

Mariana Butte is a course that has been on my Northern Colorado list for a while now. The course is about an hour from downtown Denver, so not too bad of a drive – at least without any traffic. I had read nothing but good things and was excited to play here.

Mariana Butte is a Dick Phelps design that isn’t far from the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Oddly, this is the second course in a row I’ve played that was designed by Phelps. It was unintentional, but there certainly are some similarities between last week’s course and this one. Anyway, Mariana Butte lived up to my high expectations. The course is pretty awesome in a number of ways.

First, Mariana Butte offers a great value. The course is a municipal course and my green fee was $50 to walk on a weekend. The conditions were excellent. With all the rain last night, the course was soggy in spots but seemed to drain well for the most part. The fairways and tees were lush. The greens were smooth and quicker than they looked. The one bunker I played from had quality sand.

Second, the layout is quite interesting – especially the back nine. I’ll call the front nine a quasi-parkland layout. There are a number of parallel holes separated by trees and a creek. The holes felt like something you’d find in the Midwest – and I mean that in a good way. The par-3 4th was my favorite hole on the front. It plays 180 yards from the black tees and crosses over the creek. There is a lake on the right too.

The back nine is the more memorable nine and has the signature holes. The par-3’s on the back – the 11th and the 14th holes – both have elevated tee boxes on top of a rocky hill and play downhill. The 11th is 172 yards but played closer to 150 yards. The 14th is 125 yards but played closer to 100 yards. Both holes have great views of the area. Bring your camera when you tee off on the 14th as the Rockies rise up in the distance.

I played the black tees which are 71.3/132/6718. I thought there were a number of ways to get around Mariana Butte, depending on the strength of your game. If someone drives the ball well they can score. If someone is a good iron player they can score. Likewise, if someone has a good short game they can score. The course is very fair with generous fairways. Really, the only hole that might spell disaster is the quirky par-5 16th that has a couple awkward angles and forced carries. I thought the toughest thing about the course were the tricky greens.

If you live within an hour of Mariana Butte and haven’t made it out here yet, then I’d highly recommend a round. It is an affordable, interesting design that has great views of the mountains. I think it is worthy of “hidden gem” status. I haven’t made it to TPC Colorado yet, but Mariana Butte should pair well with TPC for a 36-hole day on a golf trip.

Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):