Pros:
Beaver Ranch in Conifer brings a cool mountain layout that will be fun for all levels of players, so long as hiking the persistent hills isn't a problem. Wear good shoes, because it is not tame terrain. The baskets are sweet, with a conical wire point on top, and a rim that is beveled in allowing high putts to deflect downward into the chains. The signs has bag holders on the posts. The tees were concrete, and there are 23 holes to be played, though my father and I arrived late in the afternoon and chose to bypass holes 11-14. A group of 4 was in front of us on hole 11, and the park closes at dusk. A sign pointed the shorter 19 hole loop and we took it. It looked as though the holes we missed were just as fun as the rest, with steep hillsides and trees. There is not super dense forrest, but few fairways are wide open. I like the fact most of the baskets are visible from the tee boxes. Visiting my first time, this saved me from extra walking to look where I'm throwing. The distance is pretty manageable overall, and a few holes have short tees as well. They are all fair at par 3, but not easy. Bad releases off the tee and bonking trees gave me a hard time, but I did bust out a few birdies and enjoyed the challenge. No exceptionally long holes and no water. A couple of short holes to start off with gentle upslope. I thought holes 3 and 4 is where it starts getting fun, the woods becoming more of an obstacle. Hole 9 is the always entertaining long, open, downhill bomb. Elevation drop enough to offset the increased distance, but one of the least wooded holes allows for more noticeable breezes. Wind was not strong, and the weather was beautiful for late October. Back half of the course was great. Really nicely mixed looks from hole to hole, changing the trajectory and shape often using trees and elevation change. So many fun holes. The course is in outstanding condition. There are a few nice benches around the course and they are very handy to catch your breath. Hardly a piece of litter, there was a couple of trash cans along the way.
Cons:
Pay to play, worth the $5 if you ask me. A couple of average, still fun but just ok holes, 1 and 10 for example. DGCR media photo labels do not reflect the current layout, many of the same holes in different order. The championship caliber players could be underwhelmed with the difficulty, but I thought Beaver Ranch was still great. No envelopes at the pay station, and I wasn't sure exactly how the tags worked. Wrapped the wire around my cash, and crammed it in the slot after writing my name and car description on it.
Other Thoughts:
This was the first course of a three day Colorado road trip with my Dad. We played one course each day, and the was the perfect start. He is over 60, smokes, and isn't in the best shape, but was capable of the physical demands. We had a blast once we were able to find the start of the course and deposit our $5 in the pay station. The park also had zip lines that were not in use at the time, a dog park, a nice event hall, making it a really nice community park. There were several practice baskets, and I think maybe even more holes in addition to the 23, it looked like.