What do Nebraskans do in July?
Drive to Colorado for vacation.
What do Nebraskans do when they get there?
Hike, bike, raft, fish, gaze at the snow-capped Rockies -- and get the itch to try some mountain golf. The tee-it-high, let-it-fly, look-out-for-the-afternoon- storms type of golf.
But where do you go, especially if you don't want to drive two hours or more west of Denver? Or if your budget doesn't match up to the car-payment type greens fees that places such as Cordillera ($225) and Beaver Creek ($160) charge?
One option is The Golf Club at Bear Dance, a quick hop south of Denver.
Avid Golfer magazine picked Bear Dance as Colorado's best new course in 2002; best course under $ 100 in 2003; No. 3 mostscenic course in 2003; and one of the two best places to take out-ofstate golfers.
And the kicker if you play there? You'll spend your money with a former Nebraskan.
Stuart Bruening, born and raised in Superior, helped design and build the course. He is general manager of the nearly 7,700-yard challenge near Larkspur, Colo.
"This is a real mountain golf course," he said, "even though we're only 30 minutes from downtown Denver."
At Bear Dance, you can sightsee and golf at the same time.
The course winds through ponderosa pine country at 7,000 feet. And it's not slapped into a massive housing development. Just 35 houses will be tucked into the nooks and crannies of the 1,000-acre development. Currently, there are two.
Bear Dance is home to the Colorado section of the PGA and its historical center.
"The fact that our pros believe enough in this facility to make it our home is testament to how good it is," said Scott Wellington, executive director of the Colorado PGA.
While skiing is the predominant recreational tourism draw in Colorado, Wellington said golf holds its own among summer activities in terms of economic impact. "Just look at all the ski resorts that are building golf courses."
In 2003, Wellington said, golf produced $ 853 million in spending in Colorado -- from 650,000 golf "travelers" and 520,000 resident golfers.
Bear Dance is less expensive than some other courses largely because of how it was built.
The partners, Bruening said, do a lot of the work themselves instead of hiring it out. That includes eating dust while driving a road grader.
Said Bruening: "That allows us to create what we want, which is a quality course at a fairly affordable price."
Don't forget to admire the clubhouse woodwork, either. The carpenter was Stuart's father, Gene, who was a longtime industrial arts teacher and coach at Superior High School.
"I've got him building another trophy case right now," Stuart said.
Stuart Bruening learned the golf-course building craft after moving to Arizona to go to college in the late 1980s. While working at a course in Phoenix, he helped raise money and worked on the design of a nine-hole addition to an executive course.
"We just kept learning from there," Bruening said. "At first, we hired an architect. Then we watched him drink coffee and eat doughnuts while we did all the work. The next time, we did it ourselves. Now we do it all ourselves. We rent the equipment, move the dirt, design the holes and put in the irrigation."
Bruening has held the titles of course designer, project manager, director of golf, head golf pro and director of maintenance for golf facilities at nine courses in three states.
Bear Dance has five sets of tees, making the course play from 7,661 yards to 5,175. From the back, No. 18 plays 655 yards. Three par 4s range from 502 to 508 yards. But at altitude, the ball flies about 15 percent farther.
"It is a great Colorado golfing experience," said the PGA's Wellington. "People who come here from out of state have a vision of Colorado golf, and this fits it perfectly."
Source: Omaha World Herald (Nebraska)