Cherry Hills near Denver wraps up decade-long restoration

It’s happy 100^th to Cherry Hills Country Club near Denver.

The club in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado – where Arnold Palmer won his only U.S. Open in 1960 – has completed a decade-long restoration of its William Flynn-designed course that opened in 1923. Among many large events, Cherry Hills has been the host site of three U.S. Opens, two PGA Championships, one U.S. Women’s Open and two U.S. Amateurs, and it will again host the Amateur in 2023.

Architect Tom Doak and his Renaissance Golf Design team, largely under the direction of Renaissance associate Eric Iverson on the ground, have restored several greens to their original size matching Flynn’s intent, and bunkers were reworked to reintroduce their original intent. The cross bunkering on the 17^th hole, for example, was restored on what was the first par 5 to feature an island green in the U.S.

Perhaps most striking: Little Dry Creek, which in no way is actually dry, was brought more into play on several holes.

The club commissioned Doak in 2007 to develop a restoration plan to focus on strategy while adding length where necessary for future championships. Before completion of the restoration, Cherry Hills tied for No. 70 on Golfweek’s Best 2022 list of classic courses built before 1960 in the U.S. and was the third-ranked private course in Colorado.

“The transformation that Tom Doak and Eric Iverson of Renaissance Golf Design have brought to William Flynn’s classic design brings extraordinary pride to our membership,” Cherry Hills president David Keyte said in a media release announcing the completion of the project. “In 2022 we celebrated 100 years as a club, and in 2023 we will be celebrating the centennial of our first round of golf at Cherry Hills, which coincides with us hosting the U.S. Amateur, which is very exciting. The restored shot values on display next summer will certainly remind the golfing world of Cherry Hills’ timelessness and stature as a world-class championship venue.”

More from the media release:

“The Renaissance team also reintroduced the famous cross bunkering on the 17^th hole (which features the first island green on a par 5 built in the U.S.) and other strategic bunker work on the first, second, fourth, fifth, seventh, ninth, 14th and 16^th holes. The green complexes on holes three and 13 were completely restored while other greens have…