For many golfers, even those out west, Utah is one of those states where good golf is thought to exist, but few can really say for sure. Everyone’s seen pictures of, or heard about, the Beehive State’s incredible National Parks—Bryce Canyon, Zion, Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef—and assumed worthy golf must surely be found in so spectacular a place. But those unfamiliar with its golfing assets probably couldn’t name you more than a couple of Utah courses. And often not that many.
There are two major concentrations of golf here—Salt Lake City/Provo/Park City (where Tiger Woods’s Marcella Club course is currently being built) in the north where the mountains are usually covered in trees, and St. George/Hurricane in the south where the mountains are rocky and usually red. In no particular order, here are 10 of my favorite places to play in Utah.
Sand Hollow Resort—Hurricane
We say “in no particular order” but you probably won’t find many golfers for whom the Championship Course at Sand Hollow, 15 miles east of St. George, isn’t their undeniable No. 1. Co-designed by Andy Staples and John Fought, it opened in 2008 and has a mix of views, features, and conditions that leave first-timers in a state of semi-shock, quite unable to adequately describe what they’ve just seen. The 12th, 13th, and 15th take up the most space on people’s phones while the 14th gets comparatively little attention but only because it comes before and after those other holes. The front nine and final three holes aren’t nearly so dramatic, but you don’t really need them to be. You play the front anticipating what’s ahead and the final trio still agog about the stretch of holes you just played. It’s well-timed and any more of it would be excessive. Visitors should take the time to play the extremely enjoyable Links Course, too.
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Entrada at Snow Canyon—St. George
Johnny Miller built a perfectly good golf course at Entrada, seven miles northwest of St. George, but at a time (1996) when difficulty and resistance to scoring tended to be prized characteristics and signs of a “proper” golf course. In December 2020, however, David McLay Kidd began a $7 million redesign and, 17 months later, an infinitely better course emerged. Kidd’s holes gave golfers something Miller’s hadn’t—options. It isn’t a great deal easier now necessarily, just a lot more interesting and fun. Golf here is semi-private, with guests of The Inn at Entrada gaining access to play.
Black Desert Resort—Ivins
Tom Weiskopf’s final design before he succumbed to cancer in 2022, Black Desert is a visually arresting mix of surrounding red rocks and black lava fields beyond the emerald green fairways and white-sand bunkers. Overhead images are sufficient to entice many golfers to make the trip, but Weiskopf (and design partner Phil Smith) was a golfer’s golfer who would never allow a design of his to rely on looks alone. Hosting Utah’s first PGA Tour event since 1963 in October (the Black Desert Championship) and an LPGA tournament in May of 2025, the course features plenty of stern, though playable, pars, numerous lighter moments, and Weiskopf’s customary drivable, though potentially dangerous, par four—the 326-yard 14th.
Coral Canyon—Washington
It certainly wasn’t the first golf course in southern Utah to make the most of its surreal red rock setting, but when the Keith Foster-designed Coral Canyon opened in 2000 it alerted a lot of golfers to a type or look of golf they’d probably never seen before. Operated by SunCor Golf Inc., it quickly became the state’s most popular public course, but 20 years of traffic and some minor flooding saw it take a step back. A new majority owner and management company (Z Golf Properties) took over and invested $3 million in the fall of 2020, since then the course has made significant improvements and is back to something like its best.
Copper Rock—Hurricane
Building a new course next door to Sand Hollow’s Championship Course has its pros and cons. On the plus side, you’ll probably benefit from the same amazing panoramas, undulating high-desert topography, and porous soil that’s easy to move and quick to drain. Working against you, though, will be the inevitable comparisons made between your course and one that’s been showered with accolades and gets a significant amount of national attention. Call on a virtually unknown architect (outside of southern Utah, anyway) whose company deals more in construction, consulting, acquisitions, and management to design the course, and you might have a steep hill to climb before getting any recognition yourself. Dale Beddo did a remarkable job in laying out Copper Rock, however, using the incredible backdrops to his advantage and creating a few man-made features most notably at the 9th and 18th holes where a lake separates the two fairways and the double green that serves both holes has a large bunker in the middle.
Hideout—Monticello
Forrest Richardson says working at Hideout was a labor of love and one of the most enjoyable projects of his long career. The designer’s mentor, Jack Snyder, had built the course’s first nine holes in 1961, but 37 years later the city of Monticello recalled the 81-year-old who, together with Richardson, built nine more and reconfigured the whole 18, creating an entirely new course. “Jack made four or five site visits,” recalls Richardson. “The job included restoring a creek that ran past an old uranium mill. After a year looking at routings, we decided to restore the wetlands as a separate project. A local rancher donated some land above the original course which allowed us to create a new 18 that cost just $2 million.” Not much of the original nine remains and what replaced it has often been described as Utah golf’s best-kept secret.
Wasatch Mountain—Midway
The Lake Course, opened in 1967, came first at Wasatch Mountain State Park, 45 minutes southeast of Salt Lake City. It’s a popular tee-time to be sure, and there are certainly those who favor it over the neighboring Mountain Course which wasn’t completed until 1998. For me, though, the Mountain just edges it. Both were designed by William H. Neff—the Lake by William Henricksen Neff, the Mountain by William Henricksen Neff and Willian Howard Neff. Father and son, right? Nope, two entirely unrelated golf course architects/landscape designers named William H. Neff. Set at 6,000 feet, the ball flies far and the summer temperatures are pleasant though fall is an excellent time to visit, too, as the trees are a spectacular sight.
Soldier Hollow—Midway
Gene Bates has done some fine work in Utah with Soldier Hollow’s two courses—Gold and Silver (named to commemorate the Winter Olympics events that took place at Wasatch Mountain in 2002)—earning special merit. Also part of the Wasatch Mountain State Park—yes, two quality, 36-hole, state-run facilities within six or seven miles of each other—Soldier Hollow (Gold) was the first course in Utah to host a USGA event when it staged the 2012 U.S. Public Links Championship won by current Korn Ferry Tour player T.J. Vogel. Both courses opened in 2004, were completed in an incredible 454 days, and sit on what Bates describes as “a beautiful, sandy, loamy soil that made my job an awful lot easier.”
Hobble Creek—Springville
Owned by the City of Springville and located 25 minutes southeast of Provo, Hobble Creek is among the state’s most beautiful courses and was designed in 1967 by William F. Bell who built six courses in the Salt Lake City/Provo/Park City area. Relatively short at 6,406 yards, Hobble Creek is tight in places, so it plays significantly longer than the card suggests. There are several delightful holes, especially those crossed by the creek—2nd, 12th, 13th, 17th. The best time to visit is fall when the trees of the Wasatch Mountain range are in full color.
Bountiful Ridge—Bountiful
The excellent city-owned Bountiful Ridge is another William H. Neff beauty, which is to say William Henricksen Neff and William Howard Neff were both involved. Located 15 miles northeast of Salt Lake City International Airport, the course opened in 1975 and is an extremely popular layout with the ubiquitous surrounding mountains and gorgeous valley views. Trees border most holes but never in straight lines and never close enough to the fairways to be a hindrance. Bountiful Ridge is one of those inexpensive, unpretentious courses you hear so little about, but which deserve your attention.
