Sand Hollow Resort: Championship Course (Hurricane, UT on 01/25/18)

My friend and I picked up a couple others at the airport on Wednesday and we all headed up to Mesquite, where we were staying. We were booked for a Thursday round at Sand Hollow, a Friday round at Falcon Ridge, and a Saturday round at Wolf Creek. Because of the short days and cool temperatures, we were prevented from getting in two full rounds on Thursday and Friday before flights started leaving on Saturday.

We got started at Sand Hollow and were up early for the approximately 45 minute drive to the course. If you stay in Mesquite make sure to factor in the lost hour once you cross into Utah, which lies in the Mountain Time Zone!

There are a ton of articles out there about Sand Hollow, and just about every one of them has good things to say about the facility. There is the Championship Course, a nine hole Links Course and a Par 3 course. This review is for the Championship Course, which is ranked as the top public course in Utah. My next post will review the Links Course.

I played the Championship Course back in 2009 before I started my blog and enjoyed it immensely! I don’t really bother ranking courses that I play, but prior to this trip Sand Hollow held the distinction of being my favorite course!

The things to love about Sand Hollow are the out of this world scenery and the fact that it is a playable, modern course. I’m not exactly clear on who did what when it comes to the design work. I thought the course was a John Fought design, while I’ve read that Andy Staples did most of the work. As best I can tell Staples started the project and Fought was then brought in by the owner. For the average golfer though, it doesn’t really matter. Staples and Fought created a masterpiece in Southern Utah!

The landscape in Southern Utah is incredible and Sand Hollow showcases the area’s beautiful rock formations and the Pine Valley Mountains! The front nine loops out and around a group of red rocks, with multiple greens set right up against them. However, the back nine is even better, as it has holes that play along a cliffside on rocky terrain!

The front nine is links style, with large, open holes in the middle of the desert. Everything is pretty flat on this part of the property which makes it harder to design distinctive golf holes. The front nine tests you with troublesome sight lines and longer holes. The sagebrush really has you questioning where to hit it, and there is a 468 yard par 4 and a 563 yard par 5! But, none of the holes really stand out all that much when you think back on your round.

The back nine is where Sand Hollow shines! In fact, it might just be the most memorable, inland set of nine holes that I’ve played. I wouldn’t mind that changing if a member of Augusta National wants to invite me out, ha!

The back nine at Sand Hollow opens with a beautiful par 5 that allows you to take in the surroundings from an elevated tee. Once you finish with that potential birdie hole, you get to the brilliance of the design! The best holes at Sand Hollow are the 11th through the 15th, and you will want to have your camera ready! I wouldn’t expect to hustle around as we were the first group off, taking 4.5 hours to enjoy the scenery. And, we had a bunch of space between us and the next group.

The 11th is a 164 yard par 3 with a reverse redan green, guarded by bunkers on the right. Basically you can play your tee shot to the left side and get a nice bounce onto the green, without having to challenge those bunkers! The 12th is a long par 4, and the first of the cliffside holes. The 12th looks like it was blasted apart by dynamite as a jagged hill is to the right of the fairway while a dropoff of at least 100 feet is to the left. It sure is a scary tee shot!

The 13th is a potentially drivable par 4, but no matter what you hit off the tee you’ll need some excellent short game shots to get a birdie! The 14th is another long par 4 that isn’t quite as dramatic as the previous holes before the 15th is a stunner. The 15th is a 191 yard par 3 which plays through a rock formation to the green. There isn’t much room to miss, so hopefully it is one of your better shots of the day.

While the back nine is still awesome, the front nine has changed some since I originally played here. Prior to this visit, I read someone’s comments about how Sand Hollow is a course that is just waiting for homes to be built around it (or something along those lines). If I’m honest, I agree with that assessment, at least when talking about the front nine. There is a bunch of construction going on so the noise and new buildings made the front nine less interesting than it was years ago.

My last comment about the design is going to be about the playability. All the yardages I’ve mentioned so far are from the blue tees which are 71.8/126/6893. I think part of the reason I enjoy Sand Hollow so much is that it is friendly to play! The fairways and greens are large, the greens aren’t crazy to putt, and you might get lucky being able to advance your ball from the desert. Plus, there is a desert rule in effect. The difficulty comes from the wind, many deep bunkers bunkers, and three putting.

The conditions at Sand Hollow were good, but not great. Keep in mind that it is the off-season! I remember this place being pristine in 2009, but I played there in June. Still, it seems that word about the course got out. There were a ton of divots and ball marks, and the fairways had some winterkill looking areas in them. Lies were a bit thin so you needed to be precise. The course played firmer but the greens were receptive. The greens were smooth, but only super quick on downhill putts. The sand was sort of clumpy and rocky.

The grass, a combination of bluegrass and bent grass I believe, was dormant and a pale green this time of year. So, it didn’t contrast against the surroundings very well. I didn’t think about that prior to our trip, as I just guessed the grass up here was bermuda (overseeded with rye). Visually it wasn’t what I was expecting, let’s put it that way. I’m nitpicking, I know! If you have any flexibility, I’d check out Sand Hollow during the growing season when everything should be fuller and looking a bit better. April through June is when I’d plan my next trip back to Sand Hollow, but a local might be able to give you more information.

Even after playing Wolf Creek later on in this trip, Sand Hollow remains my favorite course. There is something about the stunning scenery combined with the ease with which a player can navigate around the course that I love so much! Plus, I have some nostalgia from my round here in 2009. I’m a bit surprised that the course doesn’t get mentioned more on a national level, when it comes to top public courses. You won’t regret adding Sand Hollow to your Mesquite golf trip!

#1 (432 yard par 4):