Tom Weiskopf-Designed Black Desert Resort Golf Course To Open Fall 2022Tom Weiskopf-Designed Black Desert Resort Golf Course To Open Fall 2022 By Brian Weis

Tom Weiskopf-Designed Black Desert Resort Golf Course To Open Fall 2022Tom Weiskopf-Designed Black Desert Resort Golf Course To Open Fall 2022

By Brian Weis

The new Tom Weiskopf-designed Black Desert Resort Golf Course will open this fall in Ivins, Utah, a suburb of St. George. Set amid ancient black lava fields, the 18-hole resort/daily-fee facility is currently in the final phase of construction, with grassing underway. Troon®, the leader in providing golf and club-related leisure and hospitality services, will manage the golf operations, golf course agronomy, food and beverage, and marketing for the golf facility, the centerpiece of the 600-acre resort community. Tee times for daily-fee guests will begin to be made available by mid-summer 2022.

Weiskopf, the designer/co-designer of 70-plus courses around the world, and architect Phil Smith have designed the par-72 Black Desert Resort Golf Course with playability in mind, with most fairways 70 to 100 yards wide. The property's distinct black lava rock, called basalt, originated as lava that intermittently flowed from small local volcanoes approximately 2.3 million to 20,000 years ago. No stranger to working in an ancient lava landscape, Weiskopf also designed the award-winning Ke'olu Golf Course at Hualalai Resort on the island of Hawaii, which is set in the dramatic lava fields of Ka'upulehu.

"Black Desert Resort is located at the convergence of three unique landscapes - jet-black lava beds, towering red rock cliffs of Zion National Park, and Utah's beautiful Mohave Desert," said Jared Lucero, Reef Capital CEO. "The emerald fairways and greens laced among the lava fields are set against the red rock backdrop, making for an awe-inspiring golf setting."

In true Weiskopf-style, Black Desert will feature two drivable par 4 holes (5th hole and 14th hole) bringing both strategy and the risk/reward element into play.

"This 19-hole course at Black Desert is a rewarding course. Truly a spectacular place with many photographs taken. Great backdrops with the red mountains that remind me of Sedona (Arizona)," said Weiskopf.

In addition to the 18-hole, Weiskopf-designed golf course, guests of Black Desert will enjoy a 36-hole illuminated putting course for day or night play. The resort's 19th-Hole, an amphitheater-style lakeside gathering place terraced into the black lava, will be the ultimate venue for winding down after a day of golf.

Reef Capital Partners is developing Black Desert Resort. Upon buildout, the property will offer 150 hotel rooms; 1,050 residences; miles of nearby trails; a wellness spa; and 46,160 square feet of retail and restaurant space. The property will also feature 32 single-family estate lots and approximately 214,000 square feet of commercial space, with the amenities of the resort center available for full-time residents. The golf course will serve as the home course for the Dixie State University golf teams.

Top-rated courses designed by Weiskopf include Double Eagle Golf Club in Galena, Ohio, the original Forest Dunes Golf Course in Roscommon, Mich., Loch Lomond Golf Club in Scotland, and both Troon North Golf Club and Troon Country Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

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Revised: 04/01/2022 - Article Viewed 14,398 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.