What started years ago as a round of trespassing culminated Thursday in a fully legal golf event: the opening day at Dunes Rodeo.
Located in the high plains of Colorado, the project is the last of the Valley of sand co-developer Michael Keizer Jr., whose name is closely associated with distance golf. But Rodeo Dunes is not far away. Not by a long shot. You just feel it, stitched through jagged hills roughly 30 minutes from the Denver airport, in an environment with a sweet sense of removal.
The solitude of the surroundings is central to Dune Rodeo’s origin story, which dates back to the winter of 2019, when Keizer took a flight from his home in Wisconsin, then jumped a fence to explore a patch of sandy land he found on Google Maps. He had barely left the dunes when Keizer was confronted by a horse rancher, who led him off the property and suggested that next time he try knocking. That was Keiser’s introduction to the Cervi family, rodeo pioneers who have controlled the land for as long as Colorado has been a state.
The negotiations were cordial and glacial, eventually producing a partnership that gave Keizer the land and the Cervi family a stake in what would follow. He used Bill Coore of Coore & Crenshaw Design for the route—a natural fit for a place so naturally suited to golf. Eleven holes were opened for preliminary play last year. On Thursday, the full layout was revealed.
The course is in the Coore aesthetic: light on the ground, wide from the tip, beautifully contoured and decorated with dramatic bulging bunkers. Winding brows and runoffs edge the green, complicating approaches and inviting creative recoveries. Standout holes include the par-4 fairway split fourth, where a deep fairway bunker punishes the more aggressive line off the tee; the short par-3 14th, its green tucked into a natural bowl; and the short par-4 17th, possible for big hitters undaunted by a cavernous bunker that cuts short and left.
The scene on opening day matched the setting. The cliffs in the distance were freshly covered with snow, though the storm that brought it had cleared. The sun was out, a prairie wind was blowing, and in the near distance, earthworkers were doing soft grading on what will become the second course at Rodeo Dunes, designed by longtime Coore associate Jim Craig.
For now, other infrastructure is minimal — a pro shop operating out of a trailer, with a clubhouse, restaurant and lodging still to come. Keizer is not apologizing for this. Right now, he said, the energy is going to golf. Most of the meetings in 2026 go to the founding members, whose investments are financing the construction. The warehouses open fully to the public next year. For more from Keizer on Rodeo Dunes, watch the video above.
