Was not the first rodeo to Michael Emperor. But it was a first look at his latest project, on the Bucking-Bronco land in Colorado.
If you own clubs and like to travel, you probably know about Keizer, the son of Gang dunes founder, Mike Keizer and co-developer, with his brother, Chris, of Sandal in Wisconsin. You have also heard that he has been busy adding family golf portfolio in Colorado Sand Hills, approximately 50 minutes north -birth of Denver.
At the beginning of this week, Keizer and Co. offered a humiliating overview of their destination in creating a day of the preliminary game in Rodeo dunes.
All 18 holes are grassy in the course of property names, a Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw Design. But with the very new terrain in places to absorb ear and tears, the game was limited to 11 holes: no. 1-4 and 12-18. However, that sampling was a loyal taste of what will come: a slight appearance on the ground, only on foot, sewn through the folds of a shaken sand canvas. Fairways bend and hide in the field lilt, with many widths, but an accent at angles.
PAR-4 1, for example, is an abundant right-handed friend, but the best line is up to the left, over considerable bunkers that tighten the landing area. Fan or block your car and you will see it touch down in the short grass. What you won’t see is green in your approach. You often do not see other players, neither, as frozen dunes hide parts of the course, which appear from high points on property along with spaces that lie on rockies.
Chop Hills around Rodeo’s dunes are remembering those that ring Ballyneal, Eastern Colorado, as well as some famous clubs in the high fields of Nebraska, including Graybull and Sand Hills. The brightest difference is that they are private. They are also farthest. That Rodeo’s dunes will be open to the public, less than an hour by car by a large metropolitan area, already makes him feel like a place away.
3 other things to know
For those times tee
The preliminary game aims to help the public’s interest, but the public will have to wait a little. After this week’s preliminary game, the course closed for the season, and in 2026, it will be openly open to its founding members. Official public opening is planned for 2027. Rodeo Dunes will start accepting 2027 Times Times next spring.
More golf to come
Like Bandon Dunes and Sand Valley in front of him, Rodeo Dunes is starting with a single course. But there is room for more golf, potentially six courses. One second has already run through the dunes from former times Coore & Crenshaw Shaper Jim Craig, who will seal his name in his first solo design loan. If everything goes smoothly, a golf rap told me, the second course may see to play in advance at the end of next year.
