The Raven Golf Club at Three Peaks

My group of mostly out-of-state Colorado Golf Binge players thoroughly enjoyed playing here again last week. Our weather was great and the course was in fine shape.

The fairways were lush and the greens were fast and true. Hole #7 continues to be a challenge for drainage but almost all other problem areas seem to be largely corrected with updates on their irrigation systems. The Raven's biggest challenge seems to be keeping the cart paths from sliding down the mountainsides....a problem common to Summit County including I-70.

The unique features of The Raven are generally wide and lush fairways, large and fine greens that are very challenging to read and great elevation changes.

Bring your camera for great Rocky Mountain scenery combined with a fair amount of local wildlife including fox, deer, an occasional moose and ospreys that for years have had their huge nest on a post overlooking the 3rd fairway. You may see an osprey snatch a large trout from ponds of The Raven or the neighboring ponds and fly it back to its tall nest on the pole.

The Raven staff will welcome you to a great day of golf and send you off on what begins as a rather tame front nine. But as you climb from the Blue River valley uphill to the par 3 8th hole (appropriately named Buena Vista) you'll be ready for 2 very exciting downhillers. The 8th hole measures 184 yds from the Raven (tips) tees and 134 yds from the forward tees. A flatlander with a good game should probably hit about 2 clubs less than he'd hit this distance at low altitude due to the approximate 150 ft. drop from tee to green and the thin, light air at almost 9,000' above sea level. Of course this depends on the wind that day. Just don't miss left or long!

Then #9 is a breathtaking par 4 with a launch pad tee box that must sit 300 feet or more above the green on this par 4 monster. Drive your tee shot straight out into the Rocky Mountain air and watch it drop hopefully to the center of the lush, downsloping fairway. Then hit your long iron to the left front of the right sloping green, earn your birdie or par and head happily past the beautiful Raven clubhouse and patio to the even more challenging back nine.

The Raven's back nine has two very tough par 3s (#12 and 14) and five fun but challenging par 4s. But it's the two par 5s that really define the back nine here. #11 (properly named Waterloo) is a super risk/reward hole. Your tee shot hopefully will land just short of the large trout filled pond straight off the tee. A well-struck 200+ yard, high risk second shot over the pond puts you in great position for a birdie or eagle. But the more prudent shot tends to be playing the hole as a double dogleg and hit a mid to long iron left of the pond in preparation for lofting a high, soft iron to a green that can be tough to hold.

My favorite hole is The Raven's signature #16. It's a long downhill, dogleg right par 5. Measuring 601 yards from the tips and 489 yards from the forward tees this hole welcomes a long, left center tee shot followed by an equally long and well aimed second shot near or on a well- bunkered, roller coaster green. From #16 you begin a long, uphill climb through two tough par 4s and finish at a high point on the course.

After your final putt on #18 you'll drive a long, steep, downhill cart path with lots of switchbacks before returning to the clubhouse for a great lunch, dinner and/or drinks on the normally sunny patio. You've earned a beverage of choice following your Rocky Mountain high golf experience at The Raven at Three Peaks.

Greens aeration holes inch of sand another inch of geese turds. Not worth $100 / round

It was the end of the season, so the course wasn't doing all that great for the price. Blowing out sprinklers, oversanded greens... But it was still a great course. The staff was also very helpful this time which isn't always the case. We brought our young kids out and paid to take another cart out for their first time on a course. Went way better than I expected, and I'm glad we did it and had the help of the Raven Staff.

ALL 18 GREENS ARE COVERED IN A 2 INCH LAYER IF SAND. YOU ARE PUTTING THROUGH SAND!!

PLEASE DONT GET SUCKERED LIKE I DID. THIS PLACE IS A DOG TRACK

Check in guy was the scummiest, rudest, pro shop worker I’ve ever seen. I should have known I was in for a treat based on this guy.

The entire course is fine and the views are pretty but you can’t actually play golf here. All 18 greens are covered from top to bottom in a huge layer of sand. No not your typical top dressing after aeration. This is two inches of beach sand. From the tee box the greens lol like bunkers. It’s actually astonishing. And for $180 they are out of their mind.

PLEASE DO NOT PLAY HERE PLEASE. I WISH SOMEONE HAD WARNED ME

I booked through GOLF NOW, The pro at the golf course could look up all of my information, name, address, credit card #, etc. but there was no tee time reservation on the books. Call direct to the facility if you want a confirmed reservation. GOLF NOW "SUCKS":

front 9 very different from back 9 ......... back 9 woodsier and probably will lose a lot more balls.....spectacular.views all around.........................overall a lot of fun though pricey...........would recommend if u can afford the price

This course was SO MUCH FUN!!! It was challenging yet forgiving. Plenty of room for tee shots but greens were a real challenge. Traps have good sand despite Golf Now warning. I have already recommended to friends. Wish play would have been faster. Seemed a 4 some 2 groups ahead had no sense of urgency and held us up. Otherwise a great experience.

First time playing here from out of town. Great course. Just a bit pricey.

Thoroughly enjoyed playing this course. Scenery is amazing. Course is hilly and challenging.

Very fun course to play. You have everything here…flat, uphill and downhill holes. Fun and challenging greens. Thanks to the guys in the pro shop for getting me on a couple hours early. Nice staff in the restaurant. Starter was super and very informative. I’ll be back next summer.

Course in vastly improved this year. Bunkers are refreshed with a dense white sand. Fairways are lush. Greens are largely recovered from winter kill but a few problem areas remain. Layout is challenging for all but the longest players.

There are a lot of ups and downs on this course - literally. One par 3 has a 20 - 30 yard elevation differential because of the height of the tee vs the green. (I parred it. 😁). I think there is one, maybe two, holes that are straight. The rest have one or two doglegs. It’s not an easy course, especially if you’ve never played it before. You have to know where to Hoyt the ball to stay out of trouble. But the views are incredible. Plan to take some pictures. The course was in excellent condition. Fairway entrance and exit points are clearly marked. Give it a try.

Excellent course, and great staff. The only knock is the eye popping 190 dollars for 18. Great course but not a 190 bucks great!

Great course, played it after the member guest and the greens were fast and firm. Will play again.