The Club at Cordillera Mountain Course

The verdict

The Club at Cordillera is a private mountain community spread across the ridges above Edwards, between Vail and Beaver Creek, and it carries a remarkable collection of golf for a single club: a Jack Nicklaus Summit Course, a Tom Fazio Valley Course, a Dave Pelz short course and, highest of them all, the Mountain Course. The Mountain layout is a Hale Irwin signature design, the work of a Colorado native and three time US Open champion who understood exactly what golf at altitude should feel like.

For the traveling golfer this is one of the most spectacular settings in American mountain golf. The course climbs and tumbles across the high slopes at roughly 8,250 feet, with fairways framed by aspen groves, native sage and long views down the valley to the peaks beyond. The card reads over 7,400 yards, but the thin air adds noticeable carry, so the real examination is the elevation change, the firm mountain turf and Irwin's demand that you flight the ball and pick the right angle into greens that fall away toward trouble.

The holes worth the trip

What sets the Mountain Course apart is the sheer drama of the land. Holes are routed along ridges and down into pockets of the high terrain, so you play from elevated tees to fairways far below and back up toward greens set against the skyline. The elevation change is constant, and judging how far a downhill shot will fly in the thin air is half the challenge and most of the fun.

Irwin used the natural movement of the ground rather than fighting it. Doglegs follow the contours of the slope, bunkering frames the bolder lines, and the aspen and pine close in just enough to demand a committed swing. The par 3s are a highlight, several of them played across mountain air to greens that reward a confident, well flighted iron and punish anything tentative.

Played from a sensible set of tees it is a joy, a high country round of rare scale and beauty with the Gore Range and the valley laid out below. Played from the back it is a genuine test of mountain golf, where altitude, slope and firm greens combine into a course that asks far more questions than its postcard setting first suggests.

Where to stay nearby

Cordillera sits above Edwards in the heart of the Vail Valley, so a visiting golfer can base themselves in Vail, Beaver Creek, Avon or Edwards itself, all within an easy drive of the club and the wider mountain golf of central Colorado.

Because the club is private, the practical move is to build a trip around the valley's excellent resort and public golf, pair it with the dining and the high country scenery, and treat a round at Cordillera as a bonus if a connection allows. Eagle County Regional Airport keeps the whole area well connected in summer, with Denver a scenic drive east over the passes.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts around Vail and Beaver Creek.