The Home Stretch.....

For those of you who follow my blog on a regular basis, I apologize for the length of time it has been since my last post. As we head down the home stretch, plenty of things have been going on here at CommonGround as we prepare for Opening Day on Saturday, May 23rd.

With the great weather we have been having, construction on the starter clubhouse has been flying! The final touches are being put on the clubhouse, and with any luck, we should be ready for inspection in the next two weeks. But what is even more exciting, is that the old clubhouse and one of the out buildings have been torn down!!

The course is looking great! Tracy and Bobby fired up the irrigation system over a month ago and have had the opportunity to put a number of mows on all the greens and tees.....the "green" is already starting to show through the brown, dormant grass of winter. A few more degrees warmth in the soil temperatures, and the grass should really start popping. Additionally, all the sprinkler heads have been marked, fairway yardage plates have been installed, and the tee signs and water coolers have been placed on the golf course.

Our website is finally up and running. The website will be our main means of communication as we move forward, and can be viewed at www.commongroundgc.com. I will maintain a monthly "Message from The Director of Golf" on the blog for those who are interested.

Finally, I would like to update everyone with the additions to the key staff. First of all, we have hired David DiMartino as the Head Golf Professional. David brings with him a wealth of knowledge having run courses such as Fossil Trace and Amelia Island. Next, for our instructional team, we have hired Gary Davis and Elena King. Both instructors come to us most recently from the McGetrick Golf Academy and are looking forward to helping us with our mission of growing the game of golf in Colorado. Finally, we have added Randy Romano as our Food & Beverage Director. Randy is well known in Aurora and has been running his own restaurant, Romano's Cheesecakes, for the past several years. I know the team as just as excited as I am to begin meeting everyone and making CommonGround a special place for all to enjoy the game of golf.

I will get some pictures of the new clubhouse posted this week, but until then I hope everyone has a great week!

Women's Club......

For 2009, we are currently in the process of organizing two different Women’s Clubs. The first will be a Weekday 18 Hole League on Wednesday mornings. If you would like more information, or would like to join, please contact:

• Marti Alter-Cudlip email

The other league that is currently being organized is Weekend League. For more information, please contact:

• Robin Elbardawil email

In other news, construction on the starter clubhouse is moving right along. I will post a couple of pictures in the next few days so you can see the progress. As always, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Stay warm this week.....I know I will at the PGA Show in Orlando!

Annual Pass

Yes, I know today feels like sunset at the North Pole, but that does not mean it is too early to begin thinking about purchasing your 2009 Annual Pass from CommonGround Golf Course! At CommonGround, an Annual Pass is valid for 365 days from the date of purchase, is only available to CGA & CWGA members, and includes the following:

Unlimited rounds of golf on both the Championship Course, and the Par 3 Course
Access to our unlimited range ball program
Option to purchase an extra day of advanced tee time reservations
10% discount on select golf shop merchandise

Pricing for the Annual Pass is as follows:

Individual (Golf Only) $2,000
Spouse (Golf Only) $1,800

Individual (w/ Unlimited Range) $2,400
Spouse (w/ Unlimited Range) $2,100

Extra Day Advanced Tee Times (8 days) $350

EARLY PURCHASE INCENTIVES!!!!

Although CommonGround is not scheduled to open until May 23rd, we want you to make CommonGround your home course in 2009! In order to do so, we have created a couple of unbelievable preopening purchase incentives!

Purchase before March 31st and receive:

Access to play the golf course beginning May 1st
Unlimited range usage at no extra cost
10 Free cart rentals
CommonGround Hat
One Dozen Pro V1 Golf Balls
(Over $600 in value!!)

Purchase before April 30th and receive:

Access to play the golf course beginning May 1st
Unlimited range usage at no extra cost
CommonGround Hat
(Over $400 in value!!)

For more information, please call me at 303-340-1520 or email me at dtroyer@commongroundgc.com

We would love for you to make CommonGround your home course in what promises to be an outstanding inaugural year!!!

Happy Holidays!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS
&
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!


Dave, Tracy, Kimmy, Bobby, John, and Felix

(Hole #18 on Dec. 22nd)

A Message From The CommonGround Men's Club...

The CommonGround Men's Club cordially invites you to join us for what promises to be a fantastic inaugural year at the new CommonGround Golf Course! We have created a website (http://commongroundgc.ghinclub.com) that will provide you with all of the information necessary regarding the club and how to join. Joining the club is easy, and can be done online. We are expecting a large turnout for the Club in 2009, so we encourage you to sign up sooner than later.

Our first event of the year will be a kickoff meeting on April 4th, 2009. The location for this meeting is yet to be determined, so watch our website for more information. Additionally, please make note that we will be playing the first few events of the year at Fitzsimmons Golf Course in Aurora, since CommonGround is currently scheduled to open for public play on May 23rd, 2009.

We thank you for your interest, and look forward to seeing everyone in the Spring! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact one of the Board members listed below:

Mike Mounts, President -- mikemounts@msn.com
Joe Kuntner, Vice President & Membership -- jkuntner@comcast.net
Dave Cooper, Treasurer -- coop_23@comcast.net
Andy Harwood, Tournament Director -- andyharwood@earthlink.net

How Long Is The Golf Course?

Well I finally have an answer for everyone. Earlier this month, Gerry Brown from the CGA and his crew were out to measure the course, and although we have a number of alternative tee locations to make the course longer or shorter when necessary, the official yardages will be as follows:

IN OUT TOTAL (My apologies for not knowing how to align this properly)
Black: 3596 3602 7198 yards
Blue: 3340 3379 6719 yards
White: 3153 3214 6367 yards
Red: 2748 2795 5543 yards

Now don't hold me to the color of the tees at this point, as they may change prior to opening. And although our plan is to set the course with 4 sets of tees on a daily basis, the versatility of the layout will allow us the ability to set the course appropriately for any given situation.....state championships, league play, etc.

In addition to the championship course, we also had the Kid's Course measured. The shortest hole came out at 62 yards, and the longest hole is 145 yards. The total yardage of the course is 840 yards.

Unfortunately, I do not have any new pictures I can post this week (although the site for the clubhouse is prepped, in my opinion pictures of dirt pads only are worthy of being posted one time -- see November 10th photos).

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, and please feel free to contact me if you ever have any questions.

I was informed recently.....

that I had yet to post a picture of the new routing of the golf course. With as many times as I have been asked how the new layout compares to the old Mira Vista, you would think that I would have put something up by now. Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of Mira Vista's routing, so those of you who had played before will just have to rely on your memory.

The photo to the right is a hand drawn rendering by Tom Doak of the new layout. The yardages shown were from the time of design and have most likely changed slightly due to the addition of a couple of tee boxes during construction. Gerry from the CGA will be out this Friday to do an accurate measurement of the golf course. Once he provides me with the results, I will post them.

Additionally this week, construction of the new starter clubhouse has commenced at full steam. Our contractor began the over excavation of the site today and should be in a position to pull the utilities later in the week. For the pictures of the sitework, click here: Big Pile of Dirt

Finally, as a reminder, the dates for next season are beginning to fill up quickly. If you are interested in hosting an event at CommonGround, be sure to contact me -- 303-340-1520 or dtroyer@commongroundgc.com

Have a great week, and try not to freeze!

A Date Has Been Set!!!!

Ok.....I'm finally going to answer the question that everyone has been asking......When is the golf course going to open for play?

Well, we have decided that the grow in has been coming along so well, and that the course is in such great shape that we will be able to open for public play a few weeks earlier than the original anticipated date of June 1st, 2009.

"The stand of grass that has been produced at CommonGround is absolutely amazing!" said Eric Iverson of Renaissance Golf Design. "Tracy and his crew have done a spectacular job and should be congratulated. There is really no reason the course couldn't be open for play now."

Thanks Eric! Are you trying to give Tracy and I a heart attack?

Well other than the fact that we still need to get the starter clubhouse built, mark & measure the course, acquire carts, hire staff, define operational policies, etc. the course actually is in good enough shape to accomodate play. With that being said, in order to put our best foot forward, we still feel that there are a couple of areas that will need some extra growing time prior to opening -- primarily being the areas that were washed out 3 times at the tail end of construction in August.

When taking everything into consideration, we have decided to open for public play on:

Saturday, May 23rd, 2009 (Memorial Day Weekend)

So book your tee times now by calling .......kidding!!! Tee times will be taken 7 days in advance for CGA/CWGA members and 6 days in advance for non members. Of course, if you have a tournament, group, or league you would like to book at CommonGround in 2009, I would encourage you to contact me as soon as possible. I can be reached at dtroyer@commongroundgc.com or by calling 303-340-1520.

Finally, for the most recent course photos click here: Zandee Photography

Have a great week!! It's supposed to be in the 70's all week, so everyone better be playing some golf!!

The Post Construction Walk Through....

On Wednesday, October 8th, the management team did the final walk through with Renaissance Golf Design's lead architect, Eric Iverson. Eric was surprised at how well the grow in was going and how thick the grass was throughout the course. He continued to reiterate how much fun he thought the course would be for all levels of golfers.

Since there were no major post construction items to address, the discussion primarily focused around the mow lines and heights that Tracy will be starting to establish in the spring. Although not set in stone, for normal day to day play Tracy anticipates mowing the greens at 1/8", the tees and green surrounds at 1/2", the fairways at 5/8", and the rough at 2"-2.5". Regardless of where the mow lines fall, all agreed that each hole should have a unique mow out yet provide plenty of shot options for players to choose from.

In other news, Calcon Contractors has been given the "ok" to begin the construction of the Starter Clubhouse, so we should begin to see some things happen on the site preparation within a week. Trust me, with as freezing as it has been in my office this week, I can assure you that no one wants this new building built quickly more than I do!

I did not have an opportunity to take any pictures this week, but I posted a few new shots last week. To view them, click here: October 6th Photos Finally, we had a professional photographer out this week, so I will post his images as soon as we get them.

Have a great week!

For those of you who have not had an opportunity to view our rate structure, click here: Rates

Meet Echo.......

CommonGround's Director of Goose Chasing! Through hard work and an unmatched enthusiasm, Echo (Bobby M's Border Collie) has become a valued member of the CommonGround team. Her main duty is oversee goose control and keep them from eating the grass seed and leaving "moveable" (or in some cases immoveable) obstructions on the greens!

As everyone in the state knows, the weather has been unbeatable which means that the grass is still growing. And obviously the longer we can grow grass this fall, the better. The city of Aurora has approved our construction plans for the Starter Clubhouse, and Calcon is in the process of securing the necessary permits to begin construction. The Men's Club has set tenatitve event dates for 2009. I will post the dates once we have finalized them (for information regarding how to join the Men's Club, please email me at dtroyer@commongroundgc.com). Finally, we have hired a professional photographer to finally take some really good photos of the course, and everything else is right on schedule.

As we move into the offseason for golf, I am going to begin only updating the blog a couple of times per month rather than on a weekly basis. Currently I am working on developing an email database to begin sending out a monthly newsletter once we are in a position to do so (probably after the first of the year). If you would like to be included as part of the database, please let me know.

For this weeks photos, Echo and I concentrated primarily on the Kid's Course so we could provide a perspective of the layout. For this weeks photos, click here: September 29th Photos

Have a great week, and as always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Tom Doak's Other Course in Colorado.....

was phenomenal!! Last week the CommonGround team had the opportunity to play Ballyneal in Holyoke, CO. Ballyneal is Tom Doak's only other design in Colorado, and according to Golf Magazine it is one of the top 100 golf courses in the world! Although I have spent the majority of my life in Colorado, I had no idea that the landscape in which Ballyneal is cut even existed in the state. I truly felt as if I was playing a dunes golf course in Ireland!

Although CommonGround is set in the middle of the city and Ballyneal is located in the middle of nowhere, they both share a number of exciting similarities. First of all, both courses provide generous fairways that allows golfers to play each hole in a variety of ways. Second, there are no two holes that are the same on either course. Each hole is different. Every hole matches the natural landscape in which it is designed which maintains the golfer's interest throughout the round. Third, all the green complexes on both courses match exactly what their specific hole calls for. Some greens are small, and some greens are huge, but all the greens have plenty of shape and movement while still providing plenty of fair hole locations. Finally, both courses have strategically placed features that matter. From bunkers to mounds, each feature rewards the golfer who successfully navigates the risk and penalizes those who fail to do so. Tom Doak definately is a genius when it comes to designing great golf regardless of the canvass he has to work with.

In other news....literally....the Rocky Mountain News ran a story today about CommonGround. To read the story, click here: RMN Article

For this weeks photos click here: Sept 22 Photos. Have a great week and enjoy this fantastic fall weather.

Just for fun this week....

Recently it was suggested to me that even though I have posted a weekly photo gallery of the course's progress, I have not posted a hole by hole tour for everyone to see all 18 holes in order in one photo gallery. So for this weeks update, I spent time organizing a link to a photo gallery called "Hole by Hole Tour". The gallery contains the best current pictures I have of each hole. The gallery will be a work in progress, as it is my intention to consistently update the photos with better ones as the course matures over time. For the the photo gallery, click here: Hole by Hole Tour

In other news, we are working on setting the dates to get the course rated by both the CGA and the CWGA sometime in mid October. Thank you to those of you who have contacted me to set up tournament dates and leagues for 2009. As a reminder to every one else who is possible thinking of hosting an event at CommonGround, I would ask that you contact me sooner than later in order to ensure the date that you are looking for.

Finally, if you have not had an opportunity to see the rates we will be offering, please be sure to check out my post from September 2nd.

Have a great week....I know I will as I have the opportunity to play the only other Tom Doak designed golf course in Colorado.....Ballyneal.

Up Next.....The "Starter Clubhouse"....

Now that construction on the golf course is done, the next major agenda item that we will be tackling is the construction of what we are calling "The Starter Clubhouse." We are calling it "Starter", since the ultimate plan will be to turn the building into the Junior Golf & Learning Center once we acquire the funding to build the Main Clubhouse. The 2500 sq ft structure will feature a golf shop and a bar & grill. In addition to the "Starter Clubhouse" we will be constructing a tent pavilion to accommodate larger groups and tournament play. For a floor plan of the facility, be sure to check out this week's photos: September 9th Photos.

In other news, work has begun on formation of both a Men's and Women's Club for 2009. I will publish information on how to join in the next couple of months. Also, I have been asked numerous times when we will open for play. Currently, we have a targeted opening day of June 1st, 2009. The winter will play a big part in deterimining when we will open, but inevitably we will open as soon as we feel that we can put our best foot forward.

I hope everyone gets a chance to get out and play this week.....you can't beat September golf in Colorado!

The rates are in......

After spending the entire summer researching the Colorado golf market, we feel that we have come up with an incredible value for CommonGround Golf Course in order to benefit the CGA & CWGA members and to help grow the game of golf. With the mission of creating a fantastic golf experience on a Tom Doak designed golf course, at an affordable price, we are proud to announce the following green fees:

Championship Course:

CGA/CWGA Members.............$40.00 ($20 for 9 holes)
General Public...........................$50.00 ($25.00 for 9 holes)
Seniors (65+).............................$30.00 (Monday - Thursday only)
Juniors (18 & Under)................$15.00
Twilight.......................................$30.00 (Twilight times TBD)
Replay.........................................$25.00

Par 3 Course:

Juniors.......................$5.00
Adults........................$10.00
Family.......................$5.00 (Adult fee when accompanied by a junior)

Multiple Use Plans:

Annual Pass...................$2000.00 (Unlimited play, only available to CGA/CWGA Members)
Junior Annual Pass.......$200.00 (Unlimited par 3, space available on championship course)
Punch Card....................$360.00 (10 Rounds, only available to CGA/CWGA Members)

CGA & CWGA members will be able to make tee times up to 7 days in advance, while the general public can make tee times up to 6 days in advance. Additionally, as an added benefit for course accessibility to our Members, we will be offering an additional day of tee time making ability (8 days in advance) for $350.00/year.

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me -- 303-340-1520 or dtroyer@cogolf.org.

Unfortunately it was freezing this morning (it felt like I was back in MN) and the light was poor, but I did manage to take a few photos for this weeks post: September 2nd, Photos.

Enjoy your week!

CONSTRUCTION IS COMPLETE!!!

As of Saturday, August 23rd, 2008 we can officially say that the construction of CommonGround Golf Course is complete! On Saturday, the team finished seeding the Kid's Course to bring the construction phase of the golf course to a close. Now with some time and some TLC from Tracy and his crew, the golf course should be in spectacular shape for opening day late next spring.

I'd like to extend a special thank you to all of the people from Renaissance Golf Design, ACC, Modern Golf, and the CommonGround maintenance crew for all of their long hours and hard work that it took to build what will soon become one of the premier facilities in Colorado. Specifically, I'd like to thank Tracy Richard, Bobby Martin, Eric Iverson, Dwight McCormack, and Darren Flanagan for their efforts. Their work ethic and dedication to the project has been like none I have ever seen, and all of them deserve a round of applause......oh yeah, and a little time off to relax!

In other news, I will be releasing the rates for CommonGround Golf Course next week, so be sure to check back then. Also, I am reminding everyone again, that if you are planning on hosting a tournament or group outing at CommonGround next year, please get in touch with me sooner than later so that we have the best opportunity to accomodate your needs.

Finally, with such a spectacular morning, I was able to take some really good photos today. Click here if you would like to view them: August 25th Photos -- Have a Great Week!

Rain, Rain, Go Away & Stay Away.......

...at least until we can get some grass established on the last couple of holes! Since this weekend felt more like we lived in Seattle rather than Colorado, we have once again had some wash out issues on holes #18, #10, & #9. Although we have received over 2.5" of rain since last Friday, the washouts were not as severe as the previous week and the established areas of the course drained extremely well. As you can imagine, all the rain has left it pretty muddy in the unfinished areas which means that the seeding of the Kid's Course is behind schedule, but should be completed by the 22nd.

On a positive note, planning is wrapping up on the Starter Clubhouse, and we should see some site work begin in the next 3-4 weeks. Also, we hosted our second VIP Tour this week and received nothing but glowing reviews from those who attended. For this weeks photos, and photos of the Tour, click here: August 18th Photos

Finally, if you are planning on hosting a tournament, a league or an outing at CommonGround in 2009, please be sure to get in touch with me sooner than later. I have already begun receiving tournament requests and am starting to put dates on the calendar. I can be reached by email (dtroyer@cogolf.org) or by phone -- 303-340-1520.

Just When We Thought We Were Done......

it finally decided to rain! Tuesday, after the team had finished seeding #18 (the last hole by the way), mother nature decided to bless us with 1" of rain in less than 30 minutes. The large amount of rain in such a short time washed away about 25% of the seed on #18 and about 10% of the seed on #9 & #10. Although disappointing, the weather has been extremely favorable up to this point. With a little rework once the ground dries, we should be able to reseed the affected areas and complete the course by early next week.

In other news, the construction of the Kid's Course is fully underway. With all of the green cavities prepped, irrigation being installed, and work on the drainage nearing an end, the greens mix should be added early in the week. This should allow Renaissance to finish shaping the greens and fairways by the end of next week with grassing to be completed the following week!

Finally, I urge everyone to check out this weeks photos. The more established holes look amazing! Click here for this weeks photos: August 8th Photos

Have a great weekend watching the final Major Championship of the year!

Only Two More Holes to Go!

Time sure is flying! In just 8 short weeks, the team has been able to complete 16 holes. This week, we finished seeding holes #11 and #9. This just leaves holes #10 & #18 to complete. If this weather holds, there is a good chance that every hole on the Championship Course will be complete by the end of next week!

Work continues to progress on the Kid's Course as well. This week, Tracy worked with Eric Iverson of Renaissance Golf Design to lay out the irrigation for the course, and make a few minor enhancements to the routing. Timing wise, once #18 is grassed the team will move over to the Kid's Course to finish the construction and grassing.

Finally, as you know from last week's post, the first official shot was struck at CommonGround. Well this week (not to make you all jealous or anything), the first holes were played. With some arm twisting (not too much though), I was able to convince Mr. Mate to join me in playing holes #12, #13, #4, #5, and #6! Granted the greens were only running about 6 on the stimpmeter, but all I can say is this course is going to be AWESOME!

I'll be moving next week and unfortunately will not be able to post another update until August 8th. By then, the course should be done! Have a great weekend!

For this weeks photos, click here: July 25th Photos

The First Shot Has Been Played!!

On Wednesday, July 16th, 2008 the first documented shot was played at CommonGround Golf Course on the green of hole #12. The honor went to Joanne Braucht, a CommonGround Board Member, during the first of four VIP tours of the golf course. After all the attendees had a chance to putt, a bunker shot contest was held for a round of golf. Tim Taylor barely edged out Berith Jacobsen (who unfortunately had to use a left handed 6 iron for the shot) for the prize.

For more photos of the VIP Tour and this week's course photos, click here: July 18th, Photos

On the construction end of things, the team had another very productive week. Highlights include:
1) Hole #1 was seeded (4 holes left to go!)
2) Drainage and irrigation was installed in the chipping/pitching green
3) Sand mix was added to the Putting Green, Hole #9 & Hole #10
4) Prep work will be completed on Hole #11 by Tuesday for seeding
5) Bridge construction to the tees on #12 began

They remain very optimistic that by the end of next week they will have both #11 and #9 seeded, leaving only #10 and #18 to complete. On the grow in side, Tracy added #3 and #8 greens to his mowing rotation this week bringing the total to 10 greens and 5 fairways that are being mowed.

J3 Engineering submitted our second round of civil drawings for the Starter Clubhouse to the City of Aurora this week, and Eidos is putting the final touches on the constructions drawings scheduled to be submitted next week.

Other than that, all I can say is that each day I can see more and more green out my window! Have a Great Weekend!

Tracy tells me he doesn't control the weather, but...

he sure is doing a great job of it. The condititions this year have been ideal for seeding. Just this week the team was able to get #2 and #17 seeded, bringing the total number of holes complete to 13. Tracy and his crew are currently mowing 7 greens (#'s 4,5,6,12,13,14,&15) and 5 fairways (#'s 4,5,12,13,&14). Holes #1 and #11 are in the final stages of prep work and we will look to get #1 finished next week. Additionally this week, construction on the bridges to the tee boxes on #12 has begun.

On the operation end of things, we are working hard on the pricing structure for the facility and should be able to release the rates by the end of the summer. Also, we have made our second submittal to the city of Aurora for our plans for the Starter Clubhouse and are still on schedule for construction to begin sometime in September.

Enjoy the cool down this weekend! For this weeks photos, click here: July 12th Photos