Breckenridge GC, Breckenridge. Bear and Beaver Nines by Jack Nicklaus, 1985.

These were the only two nines the times I played this course but they’ve since added another (the Elk nine) to make a 27-hole facility.

This is technically a muni, but feels more like a resort offering given the designer and the location. You get some of that mid-80’s Nicklaus feel—you’ll do well if you hit a high cut, for example—but it’s not as over-the-top difficult in the way a lot of the Nicklaus offerings from that period are. I appreciate a course in the mountains (here you’re about 9,000 feet above sea level) where you aren’t playing up and down ski slopes, which makes the trick of selecting a club even more difficult. The holes dancing over and around the beaver ponds are the most memorable, but there are some nice holes back in the pines as well.

The eighth is the most memorable hole, a par 5 that dances along the edge of beaver ponds with a green set across the far side of these unique natural hazards. At this high altitude, the hole can actually be reachable, but it takes two very brave shots.

Colorado 2nd Decile [1996]