Earlier this week I played Prickly Pines with 
Elizabeth, Colorado is located out on the desert plains, east of Castle Rock, but this small town surrounds a pocket of rolling hills and pine forests that make you think you're up in the mountains. This course is right in the middle of that pocket, combining the desert's prickly pear cacti with the aromatic conifers.
One of the nice features of this course is that most of the baskets have an arrow pointing in the direction of the next tee. On this course, that's helpful since the tees aren't always visible from the previous hole's basket.
Hole 1: 422 feet, par 3
The sign at each hole shows which line you'll follow based on its color (in this case, a red washer is showing below the sign) and it also gives the elevation profile of each line.
The drive off the first tee needs to go through two trees: one is just behind my shoulder and the other, farther left. A path leads down between them and it's a fairly straight line toward the basket.
Hole 2: 309 feet, par 3
Off the second tee, you're shooting uphill, straight over a ridge and right into a pretty dense forest full of trees and bush clusters. The terrain is uneven but the good news, on a hot day, is that you'll be completely in the shade.
In the second photo, my drive has landed right in front of a cluster of small trees so I got out of there flicking a lob straight up in the air.
Hole 3: 242 feet, par 3
Off the third tee, we're now taking the yellow map line which, like the first two holes' red lines, is a fairly straight shot but penetrates a line of fairly dense trees.
The best drive would cut just to the left of the clump of trees you can see in the photo that are left of the tee sign. A line of saplings, in the photo below that, stand guard around the green.
Hole 4: 333 feet, par 3
Another straight hole on No. 4 and the basket position follows the longer red line. Like Hole 2, there's an uphill ridge to clear.
You want to stay to the left of that big tree that lies straight off the tee, either through the hole under the branches or anhyzer to the left of those branches.
Hole 5: 333 feet, par 3
The fifth basket is, again, 333 feet out, using the red map line. There's a gravel path to the right of the tee and you want your drive to cross over that path and head slightly right, avoiding the various trees in your way.
This hole is definitely a "throw and pray." Get ready to hit a tree trunk or two and if you can get through this hole clean, it's something to celebrate.
Hole 6: 330 feet, par 3
The sixth basket takes the hard left of the red map line. Off the tee, it's wide open so a good hyzer drive that comes back left is the perfect shot for this hole. My yellow disc is headed down on the line I wanted.
The second photo below shows the basket, located to the left of the open meadow and down in a fairly deep ravine. Not an easy birdie!
Hole 7: 577 feet, par 4
This is one of my favorite holes, regardless of which map line the basket uses. Off the tee, you've only got a narrow window over a ravine. I shot straight through and pretty deep; the second photo shows my lie as I take my second shot.
In the third photo you can see that the terrain has changed; we're out in a prairie grassland for the putt.
Hole 8: 282 feet, par 3
The eighth tee is tucked back in a hole in the trees. You shoot out over a ridge that slopes down to your right but the basket sits straight down a gentle arc to the left.
The basket is also tucked in among a group of trees. Was happy to park my upshot for par, but this hole can definitely be birdied.
Hole 9: 297 feet, par 3
The ninth tee is out in another meadow and you shoot up toward a basket tucked in the trees. The photo of the tee was taken by
My drive landed on the side of the ridge with an easy upshot.
In the next week or two we plan to play the back nine of Prickly Pines as the weather starts to cool off and we'll review those holes in a future post. We hope you enjoyed the tour of the course and that we inspired you to play Prickly Pines!
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