25 Highlights in 25 Weeks: Highlight #3 – The Sand Bar…Northern Colorado’s Most Unique Sports Bar

Pelican Lakes Resort & Golf turns 25 on July 12, 2024! To celebrate, we are listing the top 25 moments in Pelican Lakes’ history. These events are not ranked and highlight the biggest events, features, and happenings at the distinguished 27-hole facility in Northern Colorado.

Pelican Lakes Highlight #3 out of 25: 

The Sand Bar – Northern Colorado’s Most Unique Sports Bar

The Sand Bar has a reputation.

The sports bar in Windsor, CO on the Pelican Lakes Resort & Golf property, is known for building relationships, elaborate golf stories, spontaneous sing-a-longs, and just plain fun.

Besides the immaculate 27-hole golf paradise being the primary focal point at 1600 Pelican Lakes Point, The Sand Bar is arguably the next talked about property.  

Since its opening during Memorial Day weekend of 2014, The Sand Bar has been a natural attraction to members and guests alike. However, the journey to become The Sand Bar featued many twists and turns before ultimately emerging as the venue everyone knows and loves today.

Tomorrow, on Feb. 10, 2024, The Sand Bar will write another chapter in its history when it reopens after a six-week remodel. More on that later…

Initially the space below the main restaurant building was a men’s and women’s golf locker room with a large meeting area. Numerous events were held in the banquet space including chamber of commerce gatherings, birthday and holiday parties and other congregations for a town whose population in 2000 was under 11,000 people.

In 2004 the space was reimagined into the Health Club at Pelican Lakes. The locker rooms remained and for the next five years members could exercise, receive personal fitness training and use a tanning bed.

The gym equipment was removed in December of 2009 and the space slowly morphed into a “Member’s Only” game room with pool tables, foosball, and a lounge area. The space was used sparingly, and members have a vague recollection of its exact features.

In the spring months of 2014, construction began to transform the area into what is now famously known as The Sand Bar, where there are “No Bad Days.”

A bar was built using bricks from a century-old silo that stood near the corner of Crossroads Blvd. and 7^th Street, and a small kitchen was added. Also included were three indoor golf simulators, a custom-created “golf cart booth” that featured three carts built into one allowing 12 people to dine, and the infamous “Peanut” granite high top table was craned from the upper restaurant to the area near the windows in the southwest corner.

The introduction of The Sand Bar finally breathed new life into some of the most valuable real estate on the golf course property. Since its opening in May of 2014, The Sand Bar has hosted hundreds of musicians, post-tournament awards ceremonies, picturesque sunset viewings, and more moments that are both forgettable and legendary.

Visitors will see as early as tomorrow that the space is bigger with the elimination of the private Funk Room golf simulator room, and the back bar is modernized with classy features and touches. More TVs were installed, the food and drink menu was overhauled, and the same values and principles remain.

Remaining are the Nicklaus and Palmer golf simulators, The Peanut, the inviting vibe, and the wonderful service our guests have become accustomed to.

We cannot wait for you to see the new and improved Sand Bar, and to create both memorable and forgettable memories!