Ballyneal Golf Club

Tom Doak's walking-only course in the Chop Hills sand dunes of northeastern Colorado, known for wild greens, fine fescue and no tee markers.

Brothers Jim and Rupert O'Neal, from the farm town of Holyoke, brought Tom Doak to 700 acres of sand dunes on the eastern Colorado plains known as the Chop Hills. Doak's Renaissance Golf Design team spent two years refining the routing before construction began, and the course opened in 2006 as a destination club with lodges, a restaurant and a putting complex called the Commons as its social hub.

Ballyneal plays like a links. Fine fescue keeps it firm and fast, many hazards are dug into natural sandy bowls and the greens are among the most contoured Doak has built. There are no tee markers: the winner of the previous hole picks where to play from, which suits the match-play culture. It is walking only, and most members belong to other clubs, treating Ballyneal as a getaway. A short 12-hole course, the Mulligan, adds more casual golf.

Holes to know

7

Par 4 · 352 yd

A short par 4 in the dunes that tempts aggressive lines toward a heavily contoured green.

13

Par 4 · 510 yd

Plays anywhere from 330 to 510 yards depending on the tee chosen, a good example of the course's flexibility.