A golfer plays at Aspen Golf Club in June. The Aspen Golf Club will eliminate the college, twilight and punch passes in 2026.
Jason Charme/Aspen Daily News
Aspen Golf Club will eliminate the college, twilight and punch passes in 2026 to make room for more tee time availability.
The golf club decided to eliminate the three passes — the three least expensive pass options for adults — after hearing concerns from passholders that there weren’t enough tee times available, Aspen Golf Club General Manager Jim Pratt said. He said the golf club is encouraging golfers to consider whether to purchase a full season pass or instead reserve general tee times, which may be more affordable for some than purchasing a full pass.
“If somebody does the math, they need to play a minimum of 14 rounds [with a pass] to then equate to what our primary resident rate would be,” Pratt said. “So if somebody is going to buy a golf pass, they just need to realize that they need to play at least 14 rounds of golf to get their value out of it.”
The punch pass cost $900, the twilight pass cost $735 — and allowed passholders to reserve tee times only after 3 p.m. — and the college pass cost $525.
The golf club has gradually offered less twilight passes over several years, Pratt said. In 2025, only 50 were offered. But college passes weren’t capped, which were available for anyone up to 26 years old, he said. The golf club sold 111 of them in 2025.
“The structure of [the college pass] was frustrating just because, at one point, we had a lot of music students who would come here seasonally … and pay for a college pass, and that wasn’t the intent of the pass,” Pratt said. “That was probably one of the bigger ones that we felt that if we took away that one, college students are adults, and we thought that if we were able to lower that number, that would then allow the other passes more tee time availability.”
Beckett Brennan, an Aspen native and a junior at San Diego State University, has purchased the college golf pass every summer he’s been home from college. He was frustrated to learn in an email from the golf club that the college pass would be eliminated in 2026.
“It makes sense, but the Aspen golf course has historically made the game more affordable and accessible for younger players, so I don’t know why they are going to change that now just for the platinum and gold members to have more access to tee times,” he said. “I feel like there’s kind of an assumption that college students can afford a full membership, but for many of us … that simply isn’t the case. Most of me and my friends and other college students have little to no income during the school year and rely on limited summer employment to cover just our basic expenses.
“A full pass is financially out of reach for many of us, which ultimately limits our access to the game,” he added.
Carson Miller, also a local resident and a junior at San Diego State University, played golf at Aspen High School. He has purchased the golf club’s college pass each summer he has been home from college.
He said he would likely look to play golf elsewhere in the valley without access to the $525 college pass.
“I think that there is little to no chance I would be paying to play Aspen when I could go to [River Valley Ranch in Carbondale] or even … Lakota [in New Castle], which is an hour away,” Miller said.
Eliminating the three passes required increases on the platinum, gold and silver passes. But they will now all include two buckets of range balls and a golf cart with every reserved tee time, Pratt said.
The platinum pass will increase $100 in 2026 to $3,500, the gold pass will increase $800 to $2,500 and the silver pass will increase $600 to $1,700. The golf club limits how many passes are available per season — it will sell up to 75 platinum passes, up to 300 gold passes and up to 375 silver passes.
A round without a pass costs $250, but locals with a Roaring Fork Valley zip code get 50% off.
During River Valley Ranch’s peak season, a tee time costs between $49 and $184. Season passes at RVR range from $680 for a five punch pass to $4,500 for an unlimited adult pass, including a cart.
Pratt said since the city only has one municipal golf course, the club is trying to prioritize access for primary residents.
“We’re always looking out for our primary residents, again that’s part of our push is if they don’t feel that a pass is the best option for them, then we encourage them to pay that daily fee, which is 50% off the regular rate,” Pratt said.
In a letter to Aspen City Council, the Aspen Golf Advisory Board defended the decision to eliminate the college, twilight and punch passes because it “strikes the right balance between fiscal responsibility and community accessibility.”
The golf club will host an open house on pass changes on Jan. 15 from 4-6 p.m. in the Aspen City Council’s chambers.
“It’s just hopefully to get people prepared for the pass sale to help them, because, again, our mission is we want people to make the best financial choice for them,” Pratt said.