It’s Go Time

Vision for expansive Bluebird Club in southern Aurora taking shape; dirt-moving on invitation-only facility founded by Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Pat Hamill set to begin next month, with opening planned for fall of 2028; links-inspired course will have some Sand Hills elements to it

By Gary Baines – 7/13/2026

AURORA — It wasn’t quite a bluebird day, but close enough that it wasn’t hard to imagine the promise for plenty of them in the future.

The folks spearheading the creation of an invitation-only private club in southern Aurora — named Bluebird Club — hosted a “first look” event at the property on Monday in anticipation of starting to move dirt — and shaping the course’s front nine — next month and then hoping to open in the fall of 2028. 

The club is located on a large swath of land that Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Pat Hamill — who helped resurrect the Colorado Open championships in the early 2000s — said he acquired about seven years ago after first stepping on the property about six years earlier. 

Hamill is the “founding chairman” of a group of 30 Bluebird founders who are equity members of the club and have been tasked to fill the membership ranks — identifying and adding 50 charter members and ultimately getting to a golf membership number around 400. (There will also be social memberships.) To draw a very high-profile comparison, Hamill is being looked upon as founder of Bluebird Club similarly to how Jack Vickers was at Castle Pines Golf Club when it opened in 1981.

Asked before Monday’s formal remarks at the first-look event why it was important to him to create a new club from scratch, Hamill told Colorado Golf Journal, “I thought, ‘You really have one chance in a lifetime to do something like this.’ I thought this is really a great time to fulfill that dream and vision. And we’ve got such a great opportunity and great location to do this.”

Monday presented the opportunity for golfers to hit a ball or two at the Bluebird Club property.

The plan is for Bluebird Club to include an 18-hole links-inspired course on sloping property that features expansive views of the mountains — and of taller buildings in the southern portion of the urban corridor — in the distance. It’s located north of E-470 and east of Parker Road. Not far to the west is the Denver Broncos’ training facility.

The course is being designed by Highlands Ranch-based golf architect Dan Blankenship, who has designed 22 courses in Brazil — and others elsewhere — but cut his teeth as part of the Pete and Perry Dye design team’s construction crew at Glenmoor Country Club. Bluebird Club is Blankenship’s first U.S.-based project as the named designer. He’s receiving some assistance from a few other Bluebird design team members — one of whom is Charlie Soule, a former University of Denver golfer who won the 2024 CGA Mid-Amateur and has finished in the top 5 at the Colorado Open a couple of times.

Blankenship “is a design builder, so he will do all the shaping, he’ll do all the architectural work as well as building the course,” said Kevin Laura, the general manager of Bluebird Club. “The second thing is, he’s a member at Sand Hills (the highly-regarded course in Mullen, Neb). And he came in and said, ‘I want to emulate Sand Hills, and the ruggedness and the beauty of Sand Hills. So much so that we’re going to ship in 800 truckloads of sand from (north of the Sand Hills golf area) to build all our greens and surrounds so the course plays firm and fast — like Sand Hills does.”

Bluebird Club is expected to have a tee-yardage range from about 5,000 to 7,800 yards, playing to a par-72. Chris Hyten, the PGA head professional, said the design is completed — barring some final tweaking. 

“There’s going to be multiple ways to play each golf hole, and ideally they’re going to have generous fairways, and a routing that’s gonna be enjoyable for a scratch player as well as those just getting into the game,” he said.

But Bluebird Club will be more than golf. Also planned are tennis and pickleball courts, swimming, a wellness center, cottages in which national and other members can stay, etc., etc. The clubhouse will be built to maximize views of Mount Blue Sky (long previously known as Mount Evans). About 1,700 homes will be built nearby — with Oakwood Homes being the master developer. Hamill founded Oakwood Homes, though he retired as CEO in 2024.

Pat Hamill, the “founding chairman” of Bluebird Club, acquired the property about seven years ago.

Laura, long the CEO of the Colorado Open Golf Foundation, is the general manager at Bluebird Club, while Hyten is the PGA head professional. Barry Kendall, who led the effort to put Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in condition for the Colorado Open championships for 17 years, is the director of agronomy at BC.

The club property sits just northwest of E-470 and northeast of Parker Road, roughly in the “V” where the two roads intersect. Not far away from the club, golf-wise, are Eagle Bend Golf Club, Saddle Rock Golf Course and Valley Country Club.

So, back to the name — Bluebird Club.

“Why Bluebird Club?” Hamill asked during his formal remarks on Monday. “Obviously, a bluebird day is (used) to describe a perfect, cloudless day in the mountains — one that I know, as a skier, I’ve had some of my best experiences in my life on bluebird days. We want to incorporate that into the club. Bluebird has a deeper meaning about possibility. Coloradans have always shared a passion for growth and possibility. Bluebird Club will capture the best things about Colorado. It’ll be optimistic, welcoming, humble, (and have) a passion for growth and possibility. I can’t say enough, but it’s going to be about fun. Our mission is to create a great gathering place with a walkable link-inspired course. It will be enjoyable for golfers of every skill level. Above all, this will be a place for fun every day.”

A rendering of plans for the course and accompanying land.

Hamill and others doing the planning for Bluebird Club have gone so far as to visit and tour clubs in Scotland on scouting trips, getting worthwhile ideas — and plan to soon do the same for well-known clubs such as Cypress Point, Bandon Dunes, Sand Hills, Ballyneal, Rodeo Dunes and Monterey Peninsula Country Club. Then in the fall is planned a similar trip to the East Coast. The idea behind these scouting trips is to get “elements” that can be incorporated into Bluebird Club, according to Hamill.

“We’ve gotten some great ideas — little details that make it special,” Hamill said, noting for example that Bluebird Club will incorporate a Redan green similar to one at North Berwick in Scotland. “Just some fun elements.

“The goal isn’t to copy any of these courses,” Hamill said during the first-look festivities, “but to find certain elements we can incorporate in terms of what we’re doing.”

A view from the club property, looking northwest.

Laura, who has worked closely with Hamill for decades, is among those in leadership responsible for making Hamill’s vision become reality.

“Our most important thing is finding the (members) that fit our culture and are really open-minded and respectful of the game and everybody else; we want this to be the great gathering place for everybody,” Laura said. “We’re going to have the best food and beverage, the best pool and wellness facility. So we’re really going for excellence which, as you know, Pat always demands. It’s fun to fulfill his vision.”

And the thinking goes beyond just golf.

“One of the neat things is in a lot of the culture in Scotland and even Northern Ireland, the clubs there aren’t just necessarily about golf,” Hamill said. “What’s really fun is (developing) a whole club where — yes, golf is going to be a huge part of it — but doing a program where there are so many more elements to it that appeal to everybody.”

Golf-wise, the land on which Bluebird Club will sit currently features plenty of prairie grass, ground cactus, shrubs, native flowers, etc. But, as Laure noted, the plan calls for sand for the course to be brought in from the area north of Sand Hills Golf Club — a facility that has gained plenty of acclaim in the golf world.

Earth movers, preparing for the addition of houses, work on the property on Monday.

While Blankenship is the named designer, he’s incorporated worthwhile suggestions from the Bluebird design team as a whole into the course, which will play firm and fast by all accounts.

“Dan has been very unique in that he’s been very open to each of us, as far as experience and opinions go,” Soule noted. He’s allowed “us to go through and discuss each hole, and carry distances. … We’re trying to make this course open to (players of considerably varying abilities). We can do that with some different tee designs.”

One question is, with Aurora having some tight water-use restrictions given the drought, will that affect the plans for Bluebird Club moving forward?

“I’m really happy we’re not growing grass right now (during this time of drought) … but Pat has secured water rights for the entire property,” Laura said. “We’re going to have two wells — non-potable water, so we’re not irrigating with potable water. We’ve definitely got great water rights, which is one of the key parts of the deal.”

For the near future, this will be a common view at the Bluebird Club property as there’s much to do between now and the planned opening in the fall of 2028.

As for other plans for Bluebird Club, Hyten said there will be a youth caddie program at the course, which ideally will produce candidates for the Evans Scholars program. One of the E.S. chapter houses is located at the University of Colorado, and Laura is an alum of the CU E.S. program, having caddied in Colorado Springs.

Hyten also noted that an instructional academy will be incorporated into the practice range facility — on the back side — with both outdoor and indoor aspects built into it, as well as a short-game area. And the clubhouse will feature simulators for another indoor practice element.

Monday’s first-look festivities — near the site of the future 17th tee at Bluebird Club — were attended by more than 60 people, including the CEOs for the CGA and the Colorado PGA (Ed Mate and Steven Bartkowski, respectively), some area PGA professionals, club founders, media and others.