Golfweek Magazine Awards Cougar Canyon #5 Best New Course in the U.S.

National Award is Cougar Canyon’s Second in as Many Weeks

When the name “Nicklaus” is involved, you know it’s something special. The accolades continue for Cougar Canyon, Nicklaus Design’s most recent Colorado addition.

In late October, Cougar Canyon, located in Trinidad, Colorado, received its second national award when LINKS Magazine honored it as the winner in the category of “Best for Resort Lifestyle” in the magazine’s well-read “America’s Premier Properties” guide for 2008-2009. Cougar Canyon’s first national recognition came from GOLF Magazine earlier this year with a spot in its “Top Ten Courses You Can Play in the U.S.” awards for 2007.

Just a week after the LINKS award, Golfweek Magazine named Cougar Canyon its #5 “Best New Course” in the U.S. for 2007-2008. Unlike other golf awards, Golfweek’s best new course award makes no distinction between public and private courses, and the courses in consideration did not have to adhere to any particular pricing structure in order to be eligible. In the 2007-2008 cycle, there were a total of 220 new courses, of which Golfweek ranked the top fifty. A #5 ranking is “a testament to the quality of the course you have at Cougar Canyon,” said Noel Chandler, a Golfweek representative.

The Nicklaus family of design companies has a total of four courses in Golfweek’s top fifty, with Cougar Canyon at the top of the list. Chris Cochran, Cougar Canyon’s lead architect, is delighted with the praise. “I am flattered that Cougar Canyon has been so well received because we worked very hard to not mess up a great piece of land and to create a FUN golf course that demands both precision and imagination from the golfer,” said Cochran. Cougar Canyon Golf Links, as the name implies, is a links-style course that has fewer bunkers than typical for Nicklaus courses; however, the course runs along Gray Creek, a natural hazard that creates heart-racing carries and dramatic cliffhangers.

Golfweek’s high ranking of Cougar Canyon is due, in part, to the drama of the course and surrounding environment. What differentiates the Golfweek Magazine award from both the LINKS Magazine and GOLF Magazine awards is Golfweek’s strict rating criteria. When visiting a course, raters are asked to assign up to ten points in ten different categories including routing, integrity of design; conditioning, and a category they affectionately call the “Walk in the Park” test. To score well as a great “walk in the park”, the course must be a place “worthy of spending four hours”. A course must receive a minimum of fifteen ratings in order to be considered for the annual award. If the twenty or so raters who visited Cougar Canyon enjoyed their respective walks in the park enough to rank the course fifth in the nation, the staff at Cougar Canyon believes that anyone who visits will have an incredible golf experience.