Golf in Firestone

LPGA teaching professional Lana Ortega is making her mark on the world of golf: she’s been named one of the 50 Best Women Teachers by Golf Digest on numerous occasions, works as an editor for Golf Tips Magazine, and contributes to a slew of other golf publications. Lana approaches lessons with the mentality that everyone has a unique swing, and she adapts her private and group lessons to help students develop a form best suited to their individual characteristics. An expert club fitter, Lana also ensures that her students are swinging with the right equipment, rather than subbing in a modified soup ladle for a sand wedge. Lana also embraces new golf technology such as video analysis and offers clinics for women.

With the help of Shakespeare Golf, bunker-dwelling wedge-wielders and rough-slashing excursionists can finally bring balance to their game without the use of a 15-foot tightrope-walking pole. As a former Nationwide Tour professional, Greg Shakespeare draws on more than 30 years of steady-handed golf expertise to iron out swing kinks with the devastating energy efficiency of a solar-powered steamroller. By working with scores of current pro and amateur players alike, Greg has developed an efficient instruction regimen that molds loose-swinging players into taut, ball-launching bazookas. Students will benefit from effective practice drills that help them uncover their own game-changing swing, plus a video analysis that lets them see for themselves exactly what point in their follow-through elicits a sad trombone sound. Finally, instruction on proper practice methods and the psychology of golf will help ensure continued success, as well as nurture the ability to psych out opponents with casual quips about their outfits.

City of Denver Golf consists of seven distinct facilities that offer nine- and 18-hole courses and PGA pro–guided clinics set amid rustic, wooded landscapes with breathtaking views of the Denver skyline. Golfers can flaunt newly honed skills on the small, sloping greens and tight fairways of City Park, gaze upon Evergreen’s namesake trees, or tackle the Wellshire course, designed by Donald Ross in 1926 and speckled with winding, tree-lined fairways. Both the Harvard Gulch and Kennedy facilities contain nine-hole, par 3 courses, which accommodate novice golfers or advanced golfers whose drivers refuse to take off their velvet club head covers. Snow-capped mountains form the backdrop behind the tree-lines at Willis Case, and narrow, tree-lined, well-bunkered fairways await clubbers at Overland Golf Course.

With the aim of helping women learn golf fundamentals and find a network of like-minded players, golf visionary Nancy Collins founded the all-female league known as Sassy Golf. Throughout the week, members convene on different Denver-area golf courses to participate in stress-free nine-hole outings. Each round includes a 45-minute group lesson and concludes with a post-game gathering in the clubhouse to bond over divot-settling digestifs. The flexible scheduling allows busy members to register for the outings, clinics, and demonstrations that do not conflict with their personal schedules. In addition to ladies-only adventures, Sassy Golf coordinates monthly 18-hole coed outings during which the sun is converted into a giant disco ball. See the complete list of member benefits.

As garage doors slowly open, the spartan practice room is revealed; an indoor golf studio with a green carpet floor specked with square golf hitting mats that transforms into a covered driving range. Located inside a stately, sandstone-brick clubhouse, the practice area serves as ground zero for the Golf Academy at Harmony Club, where golfers consult PGA-certified instructors about their golf swing rather than waiting in vain for Jack Nicklaus’s spirit animal to appear in their dreams.

Outside of the hilltop clubhouse, instructors conduct playing lessons at the Harmony Club’s 18-hole course. The 7,331-yard layout is a useful training ground, as golf pros can help players deal with uneven lies on mounded fairways, splash shots out of cavernous sand traps, and bribe towering trees to move out of the way when an errant shot is approaching.

It’s possible to tinker with your swing all year long at Driving Force Golf—its 3,500 square foot indoor facility features practice equipment designed to help you hone all facets of your game. Feel free to practice on five hitting bays, an indoor putting green, and a short game practice area. In addition, Driving Force Golf's new golf simulator lets golfers play on 68 world famous courses.

The staff features instructors with PGA- and Titleist Performance Institute certification. Lessons cover a wide-ranging curriculum that includes golf-centric fitness evaluations, swing technique feedback, equipment fitting, course strategy advice, and demonstrations on how to turn a curtain rod into a sandwedge.