Gypsum Creek Golf Course

Gypsum Creek Golf Course sits in the small town of Gypsum in the Eagle River Valley of western Colorado, roughly fifteen miles west of Vail. Pete Dye designed the course, which opened in the mid-1990s as part of the architect's prolific period of work throughout the American West. The layout occupies terrain typical of the Colorado River basin region, with the routing working through relatively open high-desert landscape at an elevation above 6,000 feet. The design reflects Dye's characteristic approach to mountain and valley settings, incorporating natural landforms and creek corridors into the strategic framework. Gypsum Creek itself runs through portions of the property, providing both scenic definition and hazard elements on several holes. The course features the architect's familiar vocabulary of railroad ties, pot bunkers, and angular shaping, though the scale and severity are generally more restrained than at Dye's championship-level designs. The high-altitude setting affects play significantly, with reduced air density producing longer carry distances than golfers accustomed to lower elevations typically experience. The facility serves primarily as a daily-fee public course for the Eagle County area, offering golf access to both local residents and visitors to the Vail Valley region. The setting provides views of the surrounding mountain ranges that define this portion of the Colorado Rockies, and the course operates within the seasonal constraints typical of high-elevation Colorado golf, generally from late spring through mid-autumn.