Golf courses with brand new homes
With your golf swing, timing can make the difference between hitting the air, the sweet spot or the earth. It’s that vital, too, in residential real estate.
For buyers and sellers, it’s simple: Buy low, sell high. But what about for builders? They can’t exactly whip up quality construction this month just because interest rates are low and there are buyers galore.
But many projects got their start during the recent boom, which is why some of the five courses listed below aren’t new ones but well-established courses with enough surrounding land for builders to take the plunge.
In some cases, there may be distant golf course views, and think of the pluses of that: no noise from mowers, no speakers blaring bad music, no unhappy golfers screaming curse words.
Here’s just a sampling of five of Colorado’s many golf courses with new residential construction.
Murphy Creek (Aurora, public) – When course architect Ken Kavanaugh laid out prairie-links-style Murphy Creek Golf Course in 1999, it was to be the setting for a residential community, with meandering, nonparallel fairways perfectly suited for homes. Twenty-five years later, new developments are still sprouting in the neighborhood, ranging from low-maintenance townhouses in the $400,000s to single-family construction mostly in the $550,000-$700,000 range. Excellent course conditions and a popular restaurant give Murphy Creek a private club feel at public prices ($60 to walk a weekend round).
The Club at Pradera (Parker, private) – Home buyers can join the Club at Pradera, with its award-winning Jim Engh-designed golf course, tennis courts and a stately clubhouse full of all the amenities – fitness center, casual and fine dining, locker rooms, pro shop and year-round activities. Celebrity Homes has seven floor plans in its Heritage Series starting at about $1.3 million and custom home sites starting at $900,000 where you can build. Full golf memberships start at about $30,000.
Flying Horse (Colorado Springs, resort, private) – This community not far uphill from the Air Force Academy was designed in two phases around two golf courses. The first, Tom Weiskopf’s course, aka Flying Horse Main, got your attention with an attached resort and upscale clubhouse. The second, Phil Smith’s course, aka Flying Horse North, provided the setting for 283 luxury home and got the rest of the Flying Horse real estate moving in earnest. You can find a 5,000-square-foot beauty here for around $1 million, or build from one of 22 plans starting at about $700,000 and 3,200 square feet. Golf memberships start at about $25,000.
RainDance National (Windsor, resort, eventually private) – This newest Colorado course and longest course in North America provides a colorful canvas for what developers hope will be a vacation-style golf community. So far, there’s no resort and no clubhouse – which makes it speculation time for residential real estate, with homes starting in the upper $600,000s and walkout lots starting in the $400,000s. It’s also a good time to play the golf course while public rounds are still available, and to snag a membership at $20,000.
The Links at Cobble Creek (Montrose, semi-private) – The golf course, set at about 5,800 feet, boasts of year-round golf opportunities with stunning views of the San Juan Mountains. The popular Cobble Creek Golf Community that lines the fairways isn’t completely built out yet, and the architectural style warrants a place on this list, especially for retirees: one-story homes of two and three bedrooms, starting at $569,999 for an 1,843-square-foot patio home with two bedrooms and a den. The public can play the course, and there’s a variety of annual memberships that top out at $3,400 for a couple to play anytime.
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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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