Ridge at Pole Creek Golf Club

The Ridge course at Pole Creek Golf Club sits in the high mountain terrain near Tabernash, Colorado, roughly fifteen miles northwest of Winter Park in the Fraser Valley. Designed by Denis Griffiths and opened in the late 1980s, the course occupies rolling, forested land at approximately 8,600 feet elevation, making it one of the higher-altitude regulation courses in Colorado. The layout takes advantage of the natural topography, with holes routed through stands of lodgepole pine and aspen across terrain that features both meadow openings and timbered corridors.

Griffiths shaped the course to work with the existing landforms rather than impose dramatic earthwork, resulting in a design that feels integrated into the mountain landscape. The routing includes elevation changes that require thoughtful club selection in the thin air, where distance control becomes more challenging than at lower altitudes. Several holes offer views toward the Continental Divide and the surrounding peaks of the Arapaho National Forest.

Pole Creek operates as a semi-private facility and includes a second nine, the Meadow course, also designed by Griffiths. The Ridge nine is generally considered the more demanding of the two, with tighter tree-lined fairways and more pronounced slope. The course serves both destination golfers visiting the Winter Park area and regional players drawn to mountain golf. Conditions and playability vary with the short high-country season, typically running from late spring through early fall depending on snowmelt and weather patterns.