Black Desert Looks to Put St George Utah on the Golfing Map
The tour entered its fall swing last week, a time of year when ratings, prize purses, field strength, and ticket sales typically decline. A newcomer to the tournament rotation aims to slow this trend.
The Black Desert Championship will bring the PGA Tour to Utah for the first time since 1963, hosted at the brand-new Black Desert Resort in St. George. The course opened in 2023, with construction on a clubhouse and resort/hotel still in progress.
As the third tournament of the FedEx Fall series, it features a few notable players, including winners Nick Taylor, Zach Blair, Patrick Fishburn, and Patton Kizzire. During the fall season, many top players tend to opt out of tournaments; notably, Utah native Tony Finau is absent from the field, choosing instead to coach his child’s sports team.
Black Desert will be a unique stop for the tour. The course has no trees and little vegetation, but it poses a driving challenge off the tee. This par 71, 7,300-yard course was built among lava rock formations that surround most of the fairways. The sharp, uneven, and nearly solid rock makes playing the ball from hazards nearly impossible. Additionally, the texture of the rock is likely to damage any golf balls that encounter it.
Professional golfer and golf architect Tom Weiskopf designed the course. It was his last project before his passing in 2022, with colleague Phil Smith overseeing its completion. Aside from the black lava rock surrounds, the course features a magnificent backdrop of the red long-range mountains.
This course is a rarity; its first full year of operation will host a PGA Tour event, with itself as the head sponsor, as St. George aims to establish itself as a premier golf destination in the United States.
Once a sleepy adventure-sport town near national parks, St. George has exploded in popularity over the last five years. The area is known for its stunning natural beauty, particularly nearby Zion National Park, Snow Canyon State Park, and Red Cliffs National Conservation Area. While direct flights exist, most visitors opt to fly into Las Vegas and make the two-hour drive north to St. George.
Although this drive may make the area less desirable than Las Vegas, the growing costs of golf in Sin City have made St. George’s prices more reasonable. Black Desert is on the high side for the area at over $300, but the highly ranked Sand Hollow is nearby for just over $100. Rooms at both resorts are reasonable, priced at less than $300 per night. Other courses in the area include Coral Canyon, Sun River Golf Club, and the private Entrada at Snow Canyon.
St. George is more than just its local courses. The two-hour drive from Vegas passes close to Wolf Creek, Paiute, Coyote Springs, and Falcon Ridge. A group looking to make the most of their trip should fly into Vegas, rent a car, make a one- or two-day stop in Mesquite, NV, before staying at either Black Desert Resort or Sand Hollow Resort in St. George, UT for three days. A quick two-hour drive back to Las Vegas on the final day will allow the group’s money winner to wager their earnings, while the loser has a chance to recoup their losses.