Eight miles east of downtown Denver, golf has been played on the same ground since 1972. It began as Lowry Air Force Base Golf Course and later became Mira Vista. For years it carried trees that had grown intrusive, crowding the land beneath them. What happened next is why CommonGround matters. In 2004, or perhaps not until 2009, the land passed to the Colorado Golf Association and the Colorado Women's Golf Association. Both share a mission to "represent, promote, and serve the best interests of golf in the state of Colorado." Here was a chance to give that sentence a piece of earth to stand on. The associations spoke with several architects, Colorado's own Jim Engh among them, and in the end they chose Tom Doak and Renaissance Golf Design. Part of the reason was Doak's enthusiasm for building high-quality golf on a budget. There was around $4 million to spend. By 2009 the associations had developed the property as a pay-and-play golf complex, an affordable public place built to serve their shared mission. Doak's team totally redesigned the site, and they began by taking things away. The intrusive trees came out and the native grasses came back. New hole corridors were carved through the old ground. Fresh bunkers were added for strategy, not decoration. The greens are the heart of the place: massive, undulating surfaces that give the course its character. The result is another minimalist offering from Doak, and also something surprisingly experimental, a one-of-a-kind public layout. The beauty of CommonGround lies partly in how carefully everything sits on the land. The clubhouse is practical and understated, built for a mere $800,000. The driving range is bustling and profitable and has been placed on the least captivating terrain, close to Highway 30. In a corner of the property that might have gone unused, Doak's team built a pitch-and-putt course. There is also a nine-hole par-three layout called the Kid's Course, designed mainly to let children learn the game, along with a putting green and a short-game area. And then, on the prime land, with the majority of the architects' energy, there is the golf course itself. Everything is in its right place, and the land plan reflects the values behind it. Doak's people said they had been looking for a project that would let them give something back to the community, one that the average golfer could reach. Their motivations matched those of the two associations: a course that would be accessible and fun for every range of ability, from beginners to competitors in the state championships. They designed it to be easily walkable, to promote health and exercise, and to be affordable to all. They pointed to the great courses of Scotland and Ireland, the foundation of the game and the inspiration for everything they do. That ambition shows in the roughly 40,000 rounds played here each year. It shows, too, in who carries the bags. As part of the revamp, the Colorado Golf Association launched the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy, which trains ninth and tenth graders in the art of caddying. The program now has six chapters in other locations. At CommonGround a Solich trainee will carry your bag for a recommended tip of $10 to $20, and you are welcome to give more. Walking these big greens beside a teenager learning the craft, you can feel the game being handed down here, not sold. Other state golf associations could learn a great deal from this ground. It shows what is possible when a governing body puts its money where its mission statement is.