Sand Hollow Golf Course: Greater Zion’s Red Rock Star
Surrendering to the beauty of Sand Hollow Golf Course in Hurricane, Utah, pulls golfers into the sport’s ongoing battle with slow play. On a course delivering amazing views from every vantage point, it’s hard to focus on the task at hand. This guilty pleasure rears its gorgeous head the deeper you delve into Sand Hollow’s red rock golf experience.
Golf architect John Fought, dealt with these same panoramic issues when he conducted the initial walkthrough on this 7,300-yard course located a stone’s throw from Utah’s Zion National Park. “I was stunned by the beauty of this property. I’ve traveled extensively, and Southern Utah is one of the greatest natural wonderlands on Earth,” Fought said.
Golfers feel this underlying excitement as they sip coffee at sunrise from Sand Hollow’s spacious clubhouse deck. From your perch overlooking the first tee box and the 18th green, a blaze-orange gumdrop peeks over the mountains and bursts a ray of warmth into the cool mountain air. As the first wave of golfers mosey toward the neat lineup of golf carts, they can almost hear the morning sun murmur, “If you think this looks good, baby you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
Utopia in Southern Utah’s Great Outdoors
Employment as a starter or ranger at Sand Hollow Golf Course means being well-versed in four letter words. Nice, good, and kind permeate from every pore of the people who call Utah home. Friendly banter adds to the adrenalin rush that generates amongst golfers readying to tee off. You’ve read about Sand Hollow’s beauty, but no written word does justice to this golf environment first impression. Utah is a National Park utopia, and Sand Hollow proudly does its part in this grand outdoors adventure.
Since it burst on the national golf scene in 2008, Sand Hollow has wooed admirers while adding awards to its trophy case. Being number one in Utah, and ranking in the Top 100 in the nation, are just a couple of the accolades garnered by Sand Hollow.
Like a maestro leading his orchestra to a grand finish, Fought teases golfers with high notes of beauty on the front nine. Rhythmic flashes of red rock accented by lush green fairways are even more impressive when you consider the seismic history of where you’re playing.
Jurassic Golf
Sand Hollow sits atop a geological transformation that goes back millions of years. The upheaval of the Colorado Plateau, exposing today’s rock formations, can be felt in a golfer’s bones. Sand Hollow is a real-life Jurassic Park that beckons, reverberates, and celebrates Greater Zion’s ultimate stage for world class golf.
There’s something bold about teeing it up on the Par 5, 565-yard 10th hole. A magnificent red rock formation sits to the left of the tee box and points toward the far-off green. It’s as if the rock is patting you on the back and encouraging, “Go West young man.”
On the Par 4, 433-yard 12th hole, golfers get their first taste of “the ledge.” The left side of the next trio of holes is when utterances like cliff, ledge, and point of no return slip into your vocabulary. Going left means sending chills down the dimples of your golf ball.
Describing a Wonderland
If these diabolical terms make your Footjoys shudder, then consider what you encounter on the Par 3, 230-yard 15th hole. This hole is dubbed the “Devil’s Throat” for those gutsy golfers choosing the far box. It’s here that your will is tested with a tee-to-green passage through a narrow channel flanked by twin monuments of red rock.
As Sand Hollow winds back to the clubhouse on 18, golfers would be wise to make a mental note to look back. The views glancing back from each green offer flashpoints of a timeline that reaches well beyond Sand Hollow’s opening in 2008. The arching red rock formations guiding golfers along designer Fought’s mosaic of Vermillion Cliffs, Grand Staircase, and crimson sand merge to create an 18-hole desert mountain paradise. It’s this same imagery that moved a well-traveled Fought to call Sand Hollow’s canvas a “wonderland.”
After a wistful glance back from the 18th green, you note that your watch reads four hours and 15 minutes have elapsed. In golf’s war against the clock, you splurged an extra 15 minutes. Your group agrees that the golf gods can’t help but acknowledge Sand Hollow’s jaw-dropping scenery. Everyone back on the clubhouse deck smiles as the four-letter words flow. Your foursome agrees that Utah’s hospitality seems to have rubbed off. Sand Hollow is nice, good, and the “kind” of golf course you’ll never forget. https://sandhollowresorts.com/championship-course/
