Park City's Newest Strike - Glorious Golf
Photo: Courtesy of Promontory
While champagne powder, the Olympics, and the Sundance Film Festival have attracted people to Park City over the years, a new force has arrived, luring visitors and locals alike to chase a tiny white ball across sweeping green landscapes with craggy mountain peaks as a backdrop. Bucolic Park City has blossomed into a golf Mecca, sprouting a wealth of new courses from prestigious private properties to impressive public facilities with Olympic roots. Green footprints and meandering fairways now imprint the topography of several mountains ringing the town with courses designed by golfing big guns like Tom Fazio (Glenwild), Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus (Promontory: The Ranch Club), and Mark O’Meara (Tuhaye). If a private membership or the purchase of a prime parcel of real estate isn’t in the cards, a wealth of affordable and worthy public courses awaits.
High-End Golf Communities:
Glenwild sports a private Tom Fazio par-71 course whose stellar design follows his belief that “a golf course should belong to nature instead of infringing upon it.” Measuring 7,543 yards from the Championship tee, the course traverses the canyon and includes majestic elevated views of the Wasatch Front. “The layout was specifically created to give you the sensation of playing on a golf course, not through a housing development,” explains Director of Golf Ken Weyand. “I think it says it all that we’ve been rated the number one golf course in Utah by Golf Digest since 2001.” (glenwild.com; 435.615.9988).
Elegant Talisker’s championship golf course, Tuhaye, hit the competitive charts by landing in Golfweek’s “List of Best New Courses for 2007.” Part-time Park City resident Mark O’Meara, a favorite Master’s and British Open champion, designed the top-notch course. “While the front nine plays easier, the ‘wow’ factor makes it truly memorable,” explains Head Golf Professional Eric Hastings. “The sweeping 360-degree views of the Jordanelle Reservoir, majestic Mt. Timpanogos, and the Uintas are spectacular, especially on our signature #3 hole. The back nine offers more challenges with forced carries, split fairways, and significant elevation changes. But what a win-win situation to have someone like O’Meara, who lives here and loves Park City, design a course in his own backyard.” Plans for a par-3 course and 18-hole Fazio course are in the works. (taliskerclub.com; 435.333.3600).
Promontory:
The Ranch Club takes its golf very seriously, and two of its five planned courses have been completed. Its members-only Jack Nicklaus signature, called Painted Valley, stands as one of the “Golden Bear’s” favorites. “Promontory represented one of the best golf course design opportunities of my lifetime. The site is extraordinary, and I was given the freedom I needed to design a masterpiece,” explains Nicklaus. An epic 708-yard, downhill par-5 opening hole sets the stage, and then the course follows a theme of “A River Runs Through It,” as water plays on 15 of the 18 holes. Painted Valley nicely complements Pete Dye’s more family-friendly Canyon Course whose front nine meanders through sagebrush hills and narrow gulches, while the back explores protected canyons and favors elevated tees. Steve Hupe, Director of Golf, declares, “Both Nickalus and Dye did a great job of making the courses fit the landscape; nothing is contrived; rather it’s very natural and wonderfully scenic.” The Dye course offers limited tee times to non-members so anyone can enjoy the high-roller spoils for $188 with cart. (promontory club.com; 435.333.4600).
Future Watch:
Newcomer Victory Ranch will deliver an 18-hole Rees Jones Championship course for lot owners in fall of 2008, with a Rees Jones executive course to follow in 2009, (victoryranchclub.com; 435.647.8068), while Red Ledges in Heber Valley will proffer 27 holes à la Jack Nicklaus by summer 2009. Maintained by Troon Golf, this 18-hole course meanders through red rock canyons with endless vistas of towering Mt. Timpanogos (redledges.com; 435.657.4040).
Private Golf Clubs:
Open since 1983, Park Meadows, a private club with an equity membership, boasts a challenging Jack Nicklaus course, whose fairways have been explored by the likes of Arnie Palmer, Tom Watson and Lee Trevino. A favorite of the Senior PGA tour, the course’s current $7.5 million renovation should draw even more fans when completed in late summer 2008. (parkmeadowscc.com; 435.649.2460).
At the Jeremy Golf and Country Club, all levels enjoy a scenic Arnold Palmer/Ed Seay par 72. Tricky bunkers and a serpentine natural stream provide necessary frustration. (thejeremy.com; 435.649.2700).
Public Courses:
So what’s the best thing about Park City Municipal Golf Club? Location, location, location. Nestled right in town with intoxicating views of all three ski resorts, this municipal gem (circa 1963) loves its community. PCGC hosts the state’s largest women’s league, superlative junior clinics, and an active men’s association with abundant scrambles, tournaments and camps for all. While playing at 6,700 feet will certainly deliver that extra altitude zing to your swing, watch out for those vexing undulating greens throughout the course. Number 18 stands out as a great finish — straightaway par-5 with hazards galore including mallard-filled ponds and the occasional moose. Green Fees: Locals $46 with cart; non-residents $57 with cart; (parkcitygolfclub.org; 435.615.5800).
Venturing over to Heber Valley, you’ll find 90 holes of championship mountain golf within five miles of one another. The Gold and Silver Courses at Soldier Hollow, built in 2004, pay homage to their Olympic legacy, with the 2002 Winter Games cross-country skiing and biathlon venue a stone’s throw away. Part of the Wasatch Mountain State Park, the wildflower-filled courses spread out across the base of the foothills, with nary a housing development in the works. The resort-style Gold plays 7,598 yards from Championship tees and its long par-5s, twisting ravines, menacing brush, and tricky blind shots add to the challenge quotient. The more player-friendly Silver Course with its wide fairways overlooks the verdant pastoral valley, but be warned; the distracting panoramas can easily turn birdies into eagles. Green Fees: $40 with cart; (soldierhollow.com; 435.654.7442).
PGA tour professional Bruce Summerhays designed the Homestead Resort Golf Club, an 18-hole, Par-72 resort course, which slithers through Snake Creek Valley and the quaint town of Midway — a Swiss enclave abounding with chalets and wienerschnitzel. Nicely manicured bluegrass fairways, bent grass greens and the resort’s wholesome vibe make it a favorite choice of local golfers. Green Fees: Maximum $80 with cart; (homesteadresort.com; 888.327.7220).
Also in the Heber Valley, the Wasatch Mountain Golf Course boasts two charmers. The extremely playable Lake Course circumvents eight ponds and lakes with deer and fox skirting along the tree-lined fairways. The Mountain Course, carved into the hillside, wanders up and down the ravine of Snake Creek Canyon, overlooking the farmlands. Don’t miss a round in the fall when the mountain is ablaze with an autumnal patchwork of reds, yellows, and golds. Green Fees: $40 with cart; (stateparks.utah.gov; 435.654.0532).
So whether you’re teeing off on a Tom Fazio course or pitching at Park City Golf Club, a motherlode of gorgeous courses surrounds this former mining town. Park City strikes again. Play on.
For tee times and info on all courses, call Golf Wasatch at 1.888.WASATCH (927.2824) or visit utahfairways.com.
Ann Wycoff is the West Coast Editor of Golf for Women and the Lifestyle Editor for VIV. She lives in Park City and loves to golf with her husband and 5-year-old daughter.
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