It’s pitch black and I’ve no clue the place I’m going. Properly, my GPS does, however even that has been barely spotty given my environment. I’m in St. George, a metropolis in Southwest Utah simply north of the border with Arizona and fewer than 50 miles east from the Nevada state line.
Located within the desert amongst geographical marvels together with Zion Nationwide Park, Snow Canyon State Park and Sand Hole State Park, I start my early-morning trek towards the latter and close by Sand Hole Resort.
Boasting the day’s first tee time means I start my journey at nighttime of evening and, boy, is it quite a bit darker out right here than in New York Metropolis the place I name residence. After efficiently navigating detours from new development because the Larger Zion space continues to broaden and evolve—thanks partly to changing into a rising golf vacation spot—I arrive.
Ready for the solar to peek out, I am going to the driving vary with different drained golfers searching for to shake off the morning chill that’s a mix of Hurricane, Utah, being greater than 3,200 ft in elevation and it being a mid-fall day.
Sufficiently warmed up and with simply sufficient daylight to see our tee photographs, we start our spherical on the Sand Hole Resort Championship Course.
Taking part in Sand Hole Resort
I don’t know in case you’ve performed golf on one other planet however in case you haven’t, Sand Hole may be the closest factor to it, particularly if we’re speaking about Mars.
Opened in 2008, this John Fought-designed course boasts crimson rock outcroppings, pure vegetation, indigenous crimson sand bunkers and rolling fairways, getting progressively more durable—and extra breathtaking—as you trudge on. There’s a purpose it’s celebrated as one of many high programs within the state and area.
Just like the solar’s regular climb into the sky, a spherical at Sand Hole is a sluggish construct. The primary fairway is fairly open to present golfers much-needed early confidence which, very like errant tee photographs on the again 9, can simply go downhill.
The 573-yard par-5 second includes a bunker in the course of the golf green and a few tumultuous terrain to the left of the inexperienced so it’s finest to purpose proper or brief simply to be protected. Make the most of the massive rock on the left aspect off the tee on No. 6 as a line to purpose proper of if you wish to conquer the course’s No. 1 handicap gap.
Definitely no slouch heading out, the again 9 is the place Sand Hole shines the brightest.
No. 10 is an extended downhill par-5 adopted by the par-3 eleventh with an enormous hill and large bunkers to the appropriate of the inexperienced so assault the pin at your personal threat. A style of what’s to return, notably as you wind by way of a steep cart path to get to No. 12, the following few holes will depart you desirous to seize your digicam greater than your golf equipment.
Performed on the aspect of a cliff, the picturesque gap is all about precision. In the event you miss to the left, you may say “goodbye” to that ball as it’s in all probability nonetheless rolling down right into a desert canyon. Giant boulders and outcroppings of crimson rock present a barrier off the appropriate of the golf green so you may both be afforded a fortuitous bounce or lose your ball pinballing among the many rocks.
With two par-3s and two par-5s on the again 9, you find yourself soaking within the surroundings as a lot as you do good golf photographs in one of many extra distinctive settings within the nation. Don’t be frightened by any scurrying jackrabbits, street runners or chipmunks you might encounter however be cautious of snakes, particularly in case you’re trying to find errant photographs among the many desert terrain.
As in case you couldn’t get sufficient of the views and topography, a winding path by way of crimson rocks as you come back to the clubhouse leaves a long-lasting impression.
MyGolfSpy Experiences: Remaining Ideas
Coming from the Northeast the place the vast majority of golf programs are surrounded by pine bushes and expansive inexperienced grass, visiting Larger Zion and enjoying Sand Hole was a welcome escape from the norm. I’ve performed a bunch of desert golf in Arizona however Southwest Utah is actually certainly one of a sort.
St. George and the encircling space is an adventurer’s paradise with any out of doors exercise you may consider, golf being no exception. After Dixie Pink Hills opened because the area’s first golf course in 1963, right this moment Larger Zion boasts 14 programs in a 20-square-mile radius.
Whereas Black Desert Resort has earned a lot of the current fanfare as the most recent high-end golf resort within the area and host of the 2024 Black Desert Championship—the primary PGA Tour occasion in Utah since 1963—the Championship Course at Sand Hole Resort is a must-play in case you’re in Southern Utah.
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