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In the mid 1980’s Jim Tull, a Boulder-based land developer got behind the project. He hired Scott Robbins as Head Golf Course Superintendent and “dug up” the funds to build a small clubhouse and finish construction on the front nine. During this time Jack Nicklaus visited the site six times, eventually turning over on-site consultations to his assistant, Scott Miller. The Nicklaus design team generally insisted on regular visits to the club in order to check on each green’s shell, drainage, fill, initial grading and final grading along with specific recommendations for contouring of each hole and associated bunkering. Along the way several major changes were made to the original design including abandoning a water reservoir (between five and seven fairway) and moving the tenth green from a location just over the ravine and west of the eleventh tee box to where it is today (making the tenth one of the toughest holes in Colorado). In 1986 Jim Tull hired Jim Eyberg from Bermuda Dunes Country Club (Palm Desert, California) to be Ptarmigan’s first Head Golf Professional. The front nine of the course saw its first complete round of golf on June 10, 1987. Most of the club’s fifty original members came out to play and were treated to fantastic greens but fairways that were sparse and, in some cases, longer than U.S. Open roughs. By the end of the first season the front nine filled in nicely, but the prospects for completion of the back nine looked bleak. In a conversation between Tull and Eyberg, serious consideration was given to selling the incomplete project to a major player in golf course development at the time, American Golf. Eyberg convinced Tull to wait a few months and returned to Bermuda Dunes, eventually pitching the Ptarmigan idea to several members/friends. Jim Dobbins, a successful real estate developer and founder of Crestwood Hospitals, saw an opportunity in Colorado and talked his associates into investing in the club. Almost a year later (August 30, 1988) the back nine became playable. Like the front nine, conditions were not exactly perfect. The sixteenth fairway, for example, was completely void of grass and players had to park carts on the north side of rough (no, there weren’t any cart paths back then) and walk out on the dirt to hit second and third shots to the par-5. The early 90’s saw a serious real estate crisis exacerbated by failed savings and loan institutions (sound familiar?). Ptarmigan was not immune and many lots at the club had up to four or five liens on each. Through involvement of the [national] Resolution Trust Company and subsequent lawsuits involving Ptarmigan’s investors, the California investment group, headed by Tom Muth, Jim Dobbin’s Stockton-based business partner, took over the daily operations of Ptarmigan. Under Tom’s watchful eye, most of the lots were sold, the membership grew to around 400 and the current clubhouse was designed and constructed (1996). In 2004 Mr. Ron Flack bought Ptarmigan from the California investment group. The club has seen many improvements under Ron’s direction including a remodel of the upstairs Lounge and Dining Room, a renovation of the Pro Shop and Grill, the addition of a practice green adjacent to the range and the diligent attention to detail required to maintain a golf course in magnificent condition all year round. Through thick and thin, the club’s members have supported and enjoyed a fabulous golf experience. The men’s/women’s golf associations have developed and conducted extensive tournaments and social events and the club has augmented these events with brunches, wine tasting dinners, theme nights. The USGA hosted the 1991 and 1993 Local US Open Qualifier at Ptarmigan and the CSU Women’s Ram Fall Classic is a much-anticipated annual golf event for almost 20 colleges and universities in the Western United States. Additionally, Ptarmigan hosts its annual Men’s Member-
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