The City of Boulder Parks and Recreation Department’s Flatirons Golf Course was recently recertified by Audubon International as a "Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary” through the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for golf courses. The golf course was initially designated as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary in 2010 and has been recertified approximately every three years since then.
To achieve this certification, a golf course must demonstrate that they are maintaining a high degree of environmental quality in a number of areas including environmental planning, wildlife and habitat management, outreach and education, chemical use reduction and safety, water conservation, and water quality management.
Flatirons Golf Course History
Golf in Boulder began in 1914 at Chautauqua Park with a nine-hole track including sand greens. In 1933, the Boulder Country Club commissioned a design at 57th and Arapahoe by Willie Tucker, an English golf professional who became a renowned designer of more than 100 courses across the U.S. during a career that spanned over 50 years. The course built in 1938 was one of hundreds built with the help of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) which supported golf courses as a quick way to get people to work.
Known originally as the Boulder Municipal Sports Center, the golf course has had several name changes over the years:
- 1938 Boulder Municipal Sports Center
- 1939 Boulder Golf Club
- 1945 Country Club Golf Course
- 1956 Boulder Country Club
- 1965 University Club
- 1970 Flatirons Country Club & The Boulder Municipal Golf Course
- 1986 Flatirons Golf Course
In 1986, the City of Boulder Parks and Recreation Department began operating Flatirons Golf Course as a municipally-owned public golf course.
Many players have teed off on the fairways at Flatirons, including Boulder resident and golf guru George Hoos, who worked as a caddy at the club during World War II. Hoos recalled what is now the front nine being fenced off and closed for play in order to provide cattle a grazing area to aid in the war effort.
Today, more than 50,000 rounds are played per year at Flatirons Golf Course. More than 1,000,000 rounds have been played since 1986.
