Shining Mountain Golf Club

This was my 1st visit. A great deal enticed me to drive from Denver. Interesting path via 285, 126, & 67 with the burn scars. This was their 9th day of the season, 4th without snow. The staff was super friendly. The range as noted is short, irons and hybrids only.

The grass is a mix of Kentucky blue, bent grass, and poa. Stiff Kentucky blue in the first teed some balls up nicely. The course played much less narrow than the website drone views suggested to me, still there's lots of ESAs, so you have to know where to miss. I'm not a straight hitter, but i only 2 lost balls, one a rushed shot, so not too narrow. #2 isn't too bad. #15 plays tighter. #5's white disc golf flag from 220 out fooled me. Yellow was the golf course flag Fri.

The course played fast, 2:45 walking, but maybe the cart golfer behind pushed my pace. The greens were a bit slow, but they're just coming out of winter.

Free drops from elk scat. The course reminded me of Estes' 18 but more interesting. I recommend the course.

They have 2 (with plans for a 3rd) disc courses, so you could do a 2 sport day.

This was the first day of the season for Shining Mountain. The tee boxes are in decent shape for this early on. Unlike Patty Jewett Golf Course in Colorado Springs, Shining Mountain has not been beatin to death over the winter. The fairway grass is in good shape. What I noticed the most was the greens. For the middle of April they are really coming back great! The ground crew or mother nature has done a wonderful job. I scanned each green I was on and noticed from top to bottom from right to left the grass is uniform condition and when we get a little further into the season these greens are going to be excellent. Shining Mountain is a fun and challenging course to play. If you manage your tee shots well, straight is much more important than distance, you'll have good size greens to hit and the greens are true.

Had a great time,meet a lot of very nice people. The course was very challenging for me and great scenery . I loved it.

For this time of year, the course was in very good condition. Once again, the course was very busy and had only 1 person watching pro shop and bar/grill. I watched 2 foursomes walk away from bar.

for this time of year

Always a wonderful experience to play this Course. Back nine are a challenge, but a lot of fun. Course in great shape despite the elk, deer and occasional bear coming after hours to loll about. Friendly staff.

Beautiful scenery and course. Difficult like many mountain courses. But, fair. Great deal!

Our first visit here; we were graciously welcomed in the pro shop and the facilities were explained to us. We hit some range balls on range limited to irons and hybrids, which was fine. Putting practice green included flat and sloped portions which helped
determine green speed. Unfortunately, weather did not cooperate as it rained twice and hailed once-typical mountain weather in Colorado. The road base (small gravel) cart paths became saturated and somewhat sloppy. Carts are predominately restricted to paths with an occasional ability to go onto fairways. The area has some natural wetland and grassy areas where looking for your bad shots is not permitted. The tee choices are many, running the gamut from very challenging, to shorter for us less frequent, short hitting golfers. The longer tee areas require launching over rough areas on par 4 & 5 holes. The greens were in excellent condition, rolling true. I would certainly play this course again. The deer emerging near sundown added a great feel to the day! I would suggest some additional work on cart paths which were extremely side-sloped in some areas which was somewhat uncomfortable to navigate.

Grand Elk lets you have fun without being to tricky.
Every time I get to the mountains. I try to play "The Elk"
Atmosphere is great.
Don't miss out Playing Grand Elk you will have a Grand Time.
R

Course is tough and tight. The greens need some work and not very organized in terms of letting people know who is on deck to tee off. There was also a group of 8 guys with two tee times that started by playing an eightsome. Once the ranger made them split back up, the pace picked up a tad. They were complaining but when it took 40 minutes to finish the first
Hole, something had to be done to fix that.

Yesterday was my first trip to shining Mountain what a great surprise terrific Golf Course great views test your skill you don't need to be a long hitter but you better be a straight hitter. Take your time enjoy the rim great restaurant will come back

Shining mountain is a fun course with great scenery. There are some very challenging holes but still playable for the average golfer.

Fairways and greens were in great shape. Greens were tough. Would have to play a few times to get used to the greens. Sand traps were bad. Lots of rocks, hard and packed from rain, and unraked.

Had a great time playing. Didn't get to finish before the sun set. We will be back.

Really enjoy this course. Great layout and great shape. My only recommendation is to have some good bar food. Trying to be a fancy Italian restaurant is not a good fit for a golf course. Give me a good priced burger or sandwiches every time!

I was a member at this course when it opened 25 years ago and always loved the course because there is always a hole to really bite you. Keep the total score and you will see what I mean. Get by #2 and number #15 and you have won the game. Please don't be like the other idiots and go into the protective land areas for your ball. They ask you not to as a course rule. That is why the course is beautiful, when we can do simple tasks like this. Good luck breaking 80. Scott Preiss, USA Table Tennis Hall of Fame

The course is definitely worth the drive from Colorado Springs; particularly, if you find the public course too crowded, as I did. For the senior golfer, the course is plenty long with some nice features. The staff is excellent and accommodating. The course offered a better value than other options in the near area and the quality of play was a pleasant surprise.

I was lucky to play with a local to give me hints of the layout and trouble areas. It is a shot makers track with a few blind spots (which I do not care for). It was still early in the year because of altitude, but you can tell they like to take care of their course. Greens need about a month longer to be ready for decent reads (aeration was not long before I played, still sandy and bumpy 5/21/17). Keep it in the fairway and you should be fine. A little short for my taste, but the par 5's were wide open to let loose on. I'll play it again in a month or two.

A wonderful golf experience. Course was well maintained, especially for so early in the Rockey Mountain springtime. Fairways were in great shape. Greens were playing well and will improve as the weather warms and the grass grows more. Staff very friendly and most accommodating. Will definitely be playing this course a lot over the summer & fall. Beautiful Rockey Mountain scenery and some challenging Holes. Thoroughly enjoyed playing here with friends.

What a fun course. Greens were challenging, with most pin locations crested upon the highest point of the green. Hard to read the break. Expect you and your gear to be covered in dust after your round - no paved cart path, but maintained well. Course layout forces the player to use strategy to stay out of the Marsh and wooded areas. Driver was not always the best choice. Par 3's were long. Can't wait to golf here again once it gets warmer! Just don't order a hot dog at the turn. Took 35 minutes to get a Dog and Brat at the turn. Staff was super nice though and offered us drinks for our wait.