The Club at Rolling Hills (Golden, Colo.) has bunkers that are over 40 years old, and although minor upgrades have been made to the infrastructure, Jeff Covington, PGA, General Manager, and Aaron Fankhauser, CGCS, Assistant General Manager and Director of Agronomy, knew that a major renovation was necessary.
Although Fankhauser and Covington say member support has been overwhelmingly positive, they knew a $3 million renovation wouldn’t gain full buy-in without context. A key part of that effort was installing test bunkers that allowed members to see—and play—the difference between the existing conditions and the proposed design.
“We’ve had several different iterations of a master plan to get to where we are now, but ultimately we presented this plan to membership as part of a change in 2023,” says Fankhauser, who has been with the club since 2005.
Fankhauser says it’s been a long time since members saw drastic changes to the golf course, and there was a shared understanding that they were necessary.
Course and renovation insights
With membership transitioning to a younger demographic—averaging around age 51—Covington says he wanted to keep the golf course updated and relevant.
Within the club’s 650 total membership, 425 are golf-only, while 225 hold social memberships with limited golf access, reinforcing that golf remains the club’s primary amenity.
The renovation focused on the bunkers and some greens, while the rest of the course was largely untouched when renovations began in September 2025.
Fankhauser says the club renovated about six holes, focusing on teeing areas to correct and level surfaces and expanded four different greens.
But the club didn’t stop there. Fankhauser says every bunker on the property was rebuilt, either in a new location or in its existing location. Plus, each bunker received a new drainage system underneath and a capillary concrete liner system with a warranty.
Bunkers were also strategically relocated as part of the upgrade. Fankhauser says The Club at Rolling Hills focuses on keeping the greens speedy for members to play.
“We had a lot of bunkers that were hitting straight downhill onto greens and you could hardly stop the ball,” he says. “We took our time to go through and reposition bunkers and remove bunkers from the golf course that were no longer serving that purpose and were creating more challenging shots than we wanted.”
The original course had around 47 bunkers. The renovation reduced the total to 40, maintaining similar square footage but improving playability and positioning.
The tentative opening date will be May 1, 2026.
Using test bunkers to gain member approval
As most clubs know, visible aging infrastructure sometimes isn’t enough to get members on board for big renovation projects.
This $3 million renovation was no different. Fankhauser says he and his team spent several years building a case as to why it was time to upgrade.
Fankhauser says that, to gain member support and approval, the club conducted a series of focus groups, presenting the master plan to 10 to 15 groups of members throughout the club. The team also hosted town halls that incorporated benchmarking data on course age and infrastructure.
“All of that, along with my background in agronomy, allowed us to have a great discussion around the age and infrastructure issues we were having,” says Fankhauser.
A major turning point came with the installation of three test bunkers in 2022. These bunkers showcased the new drainage system and liner technology compared to the existing conditions.
The club built a chipping area featuring these bunkers, giving members a hands-on way to evaluate performance and feel.
“We brought in three different types of sand to allow members to try out variations and choose which one felt best,” he says. “So based on price and feedback, we went ahead and selected the sand that we have in all our bunkers.”
However, Fankhauser says the process was really designed to give members something they could touch and see instead of just hear about.
These test bunkers were the biggest selling point, in Fankhauser’s opinion, to get membership completely on board.
“Nothing happens overnight at a club,” he says. “It was showing what we were dealing with and what we’re committing labor hours to and how that time could be reallocated to different things if we had bunkers that drained properly and we weren’t bailing water out of them.”
Architecture in golf has also changed a lot since 1986, when the last renovations were completed, so a fresh look was part of the deal that got members over the finish line.
Covington adds that 2023 was one of the wettest years in the area, which also helped get the point across to members.
“Membership watched as [Fankhauser] and his team spent tireless hours trying to bail out bunkers that were turning into ponds and then saw these three bunkers on the chipping area that were perfectly playable,” he says. “It really helped our argument.”
Communication and execution
Throughout construction, Fankhauser and the Green Committee Chairman shared regular video updates with voiceover explanations of progress.
The club also sent out several different communications throughout the project to touch on the different stages the course is going through.
“From the very beginning, we’ve had a Google Sheet that is on the website and app that we update daily, talking about where the construction process was, what they’re working on, data completion, and so on,” says Covington. “This way, members could see day-to-day progress.”
Weeks away from reopening the course, Fankhauser and Covington are planning a three-day opening weekend to thank the membership for their patience and trust during this process.
“We’re doing double shotguns, ribbon cutting, music, and just a club-wide party for the weekend to thank our membership,” says Fankhasuer. “It’s also a time to congratulate those who were a part of the process and thank members for all the effort and resources to bring this plan to life.”
Fankhauser adds that projects like these don’t get pulled off without the support of membership and a great team.
“We want to make sure that we have done right by our membership and show them we are moving the club forward for the next 15 to 20 years,” he says.
