Bella Ridge Golf Club, Colorado’s newest golf course, opened for limited preview play on Oct. 6. The 18-hole, par-72 championship layout was designed by golf course architect Art Schaupeter on the rolling hills of the Podtburg family’s former dairy farm.
Located between Denver and Fort Collins in the Front Range town of Johnstown, Bella Ridge will play as long as 7,268 yards from the back tees to as short as 3,200 yards with six sets of tees to choose from. Schaupeter, a Colorado native and designer of TPC Colorado in nearby Berthoud, took full advantage of the land’s natural movement as golfers will experience 200 feet of elevation change during their round. Wide undulating fairways and green settings that reward creativity and precision are surrounded by scenic mountain views with Longs Peak towering in the distance.
In 2026, Bella Ridge will unveil an expansive practice facility, including a 400-yard-long practice range, a short game area and a 15,000 square-foot practice putting green. When the clubhouse opens next year, it will have a golf simulator for year-round play.
“This has been an exciting project to be a part of,” Schaupeter said. “The Podtburgs have been committed from day one to building a wonderful public-access golf course and from my first tour around the property I knew that this land could yield something special. I think the golf experience will be very fun and interesting for all golfers. Each hole has its own individual character and challenge. Golfers will find that the course continues to ratchet up in interest, challenge and fun throughout the round.”
The northern Colorado daily-fee course is equipped with the latest technology, with GPS-equipped golf carts, a fully integrated mobile app to help streamline the player experience and state-of-the-art agronomy equipment to promote water conservation and sustainability. The course features a mix of bluegrass/rye grass fairways and 007XL Bentgrass greens.
The idea to build a golf course in the Johnstown area was first proposed nearly a decade ago and the Podtburgs are a family that have always enjoyed playing golf together. The family has owned and operated the dairy farm in Johnstown for more than 45 years.
“As a family who has spent our entire lives in Johnstown, Colorado, it’s an incredible honor to bring this course to our community,” Rick Podtburg said. “We’ve poured over eight years into designing and building something truly special, and we always felt this land, with its elevation changes, lakes and spectacular mountain views, was meant for golf. Those mountain views became the inspiration behind the name Bella Ridge, a name that captures both the natural beauty of the property and the elevated experience we will provide. As our town continues to grow, we believe this course will be a timeless amenity that reflects the pride we have for Johnstown and creates a place for connection, recreation, and lasting memories.”
THE SOCIAL ASPECT
The transformation from an eighties golf course back to a 1916 Donald Ross original continues at Oconomowoc Golf Club outside Milwaukee. Wrapping up back nine work with Hollembeak Golf, who continues to impress. pic.twitter.com/pW3a2QDf9n
— Richard Mandell Golf Architecture (@RichardMandell) October 23, 2025
NEW CARIBBEAN RESORT ON TRACK
Palace Resorts is on track to open its newest Caribbean property, Moon Palace The Grand Punta Cana in spring 2026, with a key amenity to be an 18-hole championship golf course from Greg Norman Golf Course Design (GNGCD). Located amid a jungle setting in eastern Dominican Republic, the Norman creation will be an “Eco-Signature” layout, so labeled by GNGCD as one that embraces water preservation, wildlife sanctuaries, renewable energy, indigenous plant preservation and proliferation and pollution prevention.
The resort will occupy a 297-acre beachfront site in the Bavaro area of Punta Cana. The project will feature two 18-story towers and a central clubhouse structure. It is designed as a high-rise to preserve green space and minimize impact on surrounding natural areas, including a protected mangrove zone. Elevated pathways will usher guests to and from hotel rooms and beachfront areas. When it opens, the property is expected to offer the largest number of guest rooms of any resort hotel in the Dominican Republic.
Work on the golf course began in June 2019, but was halted nine months later, when COVID shuttered projects worldwide. Nearly four years later, in February 2024, construction resumed. Early on, Norman depicted the site as a “tropical gem, attractive for its diverse jungle landscape, deep cavernous terrain and interesting elevation changes that make for long views and dramatic backdrops throughout the course.”
Jason McCoy, Senior Vice President of GNGCD, shared design duties on Moon Palace until he lost his battle with cancer in early April 2025. Lead designer Rogelio Abarca is working with Norman on finishing the course, which is anticipated to open later this year.
“During the clearing process, carried out with the project biologists and landscapers, an intensive rescue and regeneration program was carried out in the golf course corridors,” Abarca told golfcoursearchitecture.net. “This process is part of our design philosophy and drove the decisions relating to tee angles, landing areas and location of green complexes. We managed to achieve a great balance between landscape preservation and regeneration, and a unique golf experience.”
A critical component to the uniqueness of the course was the discovery of vast caverns in the fairways of what eventually became holes 2, 3 and 4. “We made the decision to create a large-scale body of water and, due to the depth of the caverns, incorporate this element into the design as the main feature of that complex of holes,” said Abarca. “The excavation created high, vertical walls that provide a striking playing experience.”
Pure Dynasty seeded paspalum is the grass of choice for tees, fairways, rough and greens. Several large lakes—affecting play at holes 2, 3, 4, 14, 15 and 18—and a stream between the ninth and 10th holes will offer beauty and provide for strategic, versus penal shot values.
“As part of Greg and Jason’s direction, there are no forced carries for high-handicap players, but for advanced players, positioning the ball with the driver can be a high risk to consider on these holes,” said Abarca. “The short par-4 17th, which plays downhill, provides long views of lakes on 15 and 18, as well as the hotel towers. It also shares a double green with the par-4 14th. The 17th can be presented as a friendly hole before the challenging 18th, a short par 5 that plays as a risk-reward hole with the lake on the right and a bunkerless green complex that encourages the skilled player to try to reach the green in two shots.”
THE LANDINGS PRACTICE FACILITY RECEIVES APPROVAL
Brandon Johnson Golf Course Design, led by Brandon Johnson, won approval from The Landings Golf and Athletic Club in Savannah, Georgia, for a practice facility makeover masterplan he submitted. The redesigned practice facility is proximate to The Landings’ Marshwood and Magnolia courses—an area Johnson knows well. In 2022, he won Honorable Mention from Golf Inc. for Private Renovation of the Year with the work he completed on the Magnolia course.
One of four practice facilities that service six championship courses—designed by Arnold Palmer, Tom Fazio, Willard Byrd and Arthur Hills—the new spread conceived by Johnson will satisfy the growing trend of world-class short game areas that top private clubs and communities are asking for. Johnson had worked on both Marshwood and Magnolia while a Senior Design Associate at Arnold Palmer Design Company.
“The existing Marshwood/Magnolia practice facility, while on a small, narrow footprint, still has unused space and untapped potential for improvement,” Johnson told golfcoursearchitecture.net. “Tall pines on the left and a grove of mature oaks on the right create a very narrow and basic practice space. Visibility down the driving corridor is limited due to tree growth and limb overhangs, as well as contours which obscure views down range. The drainage and overall maintainability also require improvement. Our goal is to unlock the potential hidden in the unused spaces of a very small footprint.”
Johnson solicited input from key club and golf personnel before embarking on the redesign. Critical to the plan is to revamp the far end of the driving range into a short game area with three greens, putting surfaces that will mirror the greens on the Marshwood and Magnolia courses. A variety of bunkers will also grace the new short game area, with differing shapes and depths.
“The new facility will be a huge upgrade on the 25-year-old existing facility,” said Johnson. “Converting the back of the driving range into a secluded short game area oasis will be fantastic for the club. Having a small synthetic tee will still allow them to set up the back end of the range for tournaments and overflow tee space when needed.”
An expanded and reconfigured driving range tee will add another dimension to the project. The range will now resemble an actual fairway, complete with synthetic turf targets and bunkers situated at carry distances.
Duininck Golf is contractor for the range reimagination, which is expected to commence in spring 2026. “The aim is to create a facility that excites the player to practice,” said Johnson. “We want to create features and shot options that promote ‘playful practice’ while simulating real on-course scenarios. We want to entice the ‘inner child’ in us to come out and play, and experiment with a variety of golf shots. The goal is to produce a space where members can turn a 30-minute session into a two-hour experience and still feel as if there are shot options to be explored.”
