Backyard putting greens in Windsor.

This green near Windsor wraps around a planted island of boulders, spruce and tall ornamental grasses, with cups flagged in red and blue on both sides of the island so every putt breaks a little differently. A concrete border holds the edge where the green meets the natural-grass lawn, and the patio and pergola sit right beside it.

Ptarmigan West Metro District No. 2, on the Larimer County side of town, posts design guidelines that allow artificial turf “in rear yards only up to 25% of the rear yard.” The same guidelines hold non-living materials to 30% of front-yard landscaping and apply that limit to back yards as well, unless the whole back yard is screened by fencing at least 5 feet high. How the district counts a green against either figure is its call.

New Windsor Metropolitan District, which covers the Brunner Farm subdivision, lets its design review committee consider artificial turf in back yards only. Its guidelines dated May 16, 2024 want that turf professionally installed and “warranted for a period of 10 years against discoloration and wear,” with “a sample of the product and a copy of the warranty” sent in before installation.

Whether a percentage cap squares with the Colorado backyard rule printed below hasn’t been tested. Not legal advice: ask your district, in writing, before the green is drawn.

RainDance National’s G.O.A.T. Ranch measures 61,500 square feet, which the club calls the largest putting green in Colorado, with separate areas for putting, chipping, pitching and bunker play. The course around it, by Fred Funk and Harrison Minchew, plays to 8,463 yards over 250 feet of elevation change and sells public tee times.

Highland Meadows Golf Course keeps a putting green and a dedicated chipping area beside its full-length range, open every day until sunset except Wednesdays, when it closes for maintenance. At Pelican Lakes, the nine-hole Pelican Falls course, designed by Mike Hines and opened July 12, 2006, finishes on an island 9th green.

The Town’s definition of functional artificial turf names “the playing area of a golf course, such as a driving range, chipping and putting green”. That matters for a green on HOA common ground, beside a clubhouse, or in any project that needs a building permit or site plan approval, and for a redevelopment that disturbs more than 50% of the existing landscaped area.

Colorado lets functional turf go in; Windsor adds a step. On those sites its code keeps artificial turf off landscape plans unless the Director grants an exception because alternatives are not reasonable, and the exception has to be noted on the plan. A green behind a detached house or duplex sits outside that article altogether. For anything in between, it depends on the plan: ask Windsor Planning.