Mix Golf Into Your Super Bowl Sunday
The Broncos couldn’t make it to the Super Bowl, darn it, but that doesn’t mean that our favorite pastime and yours won’t! Here are five fun ideas where putting can coexist with passing and halftime easily substitutes for the 19th hole. You can even tee off before kickoff without missing a single hole on the course or commercial during the big game.
1. Depending on the week’s weather in Arizona, you might be able to get your golf jones entirely satisfied by catching the final round of the PGA Tour’s Phoenix Open on TV. It’s scheduled for the 1-to-4 p.m. time slot on CBS – because Fox is televising the Super Bowl this year – and that leaves a half-hour window before the kickoff. Give yourself some leeway here and record both events, because a playoff or weather delay could bump the golf into gridiron time.
2. I’ll never host a Super Bowl party because I love to second-guess the coaches, critique the officials and maybe even root for my favorite team. But if you don’t mind missing the tush pushes and aren’t breathlessly awaiting the annual heartwarming spot with the Budweiser Clydesdales, why not plan a golf-themed party for your regular foursome and significant others? Wear your collared shirts (with thermals?), skorts (with leg warmers?) and golf hats, stage a putting contest, serve John Dalys and use halftime to plan a special round in Colorado in 2025.
3. Book a simulator for the day at Topgolf or in one of Colorado’s many indoor golf facilities, or sign up for a few hours for a couple hours at one of the many sports bars that have one or two in house. Here, for example, is what Denver’s Hangar Club offers: $1500 for a bay from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m., with bays comfortable for 12-15 people but no limit on party size, and that covers $1,000 in food and beverage credit. The simulator can tune into the game, but there are also 32 TVs in the place, with open seating at the bar and dining area.
4. What about some indoor minigolf with the kids? Families and those who aren’t “all-in” for either the Super Bowl or 18 holes of golf might enjoy a few hours at high-tech spots like Puttshack and Monster Golf on the Front Range, or at Old Town Putt in downtown Fort Collins. Make a rezzie for Super Bowl gametime and you can just check in on that score now and then while spending quality time socializing over your short game.
5. If you’re lucky, and, in Colorado, you would have to be very, very lucky, you could play 18 holes in the morning, enjoy your 19th hole at the golf course and still have time to shower and make it to a Super Bowl party. While I’m writing this I have no idea what the weather will be like on Feb. 9 or where courses might be open. Best bets are Denver, Pueblo and Grand Junction, or these early-season options. Be on the lookout for shotguns; after all, like you, course employees hope to get home in time to see the big game.
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Veteran journalist Susan Fornoff has written about golf for publications including the San Francisco Chronicle, ColoradoBiz magazine and her own GottaGoGolf.com. She provides the voice of “Molly McMulligan,” the CGA’s on-course consultant on golf for fun. Email her at mollymcmulligan@gmail.com.
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