Flowing to 18

Black Desert Resort Golf Course in Ivins, Utah, will officially open 18 holes to daily-fee play on May 27, 2023. The last design of Tom Weiskopf’s incredible career, Black Desert’s bentgrass fairways are carved amid ancient black lava fields and are surrounded by southern Utah’s red rock mountains.

In November 2022, Black Desert Resort opened nine holes to limited preview play, allowing the remaining nine holes to grow-in and mature under the guidance of superintendent Ken Yates and team. An additional 19th hole, an 85-yard par 3 set lakeside and terraced into the black lava, will open later this year.

Weiskopf and his partner, architect Phil Smith, designed the par-72 course with playability in mind, with most fairways 70 to 100 yards wide. The Troon-managed course features two drivable par 4s – the fifth hole and 14th hole – a Weiskopf hallmark, bringing both strategy and risk/reward elements into play. The property’s black lava rock, called basalt, originated as lava that intermittently flowed from ancient volcanoes.

Prior to Weiskopf passing in August of 2022 from pancreatic cancer, he narrated a hole-by-hole flyover tour of the course in which he shares the vision behind the design. The tour is available on the Black Desert Resort website and on the club’s YouTube channel.