Nestled among southwest Utah's National Parks, Sand Hollow's Championship course is a 7300-yard beauty graced with breathtaking views. Built in 2008, this John Fought design winds through the lower part of the valley for the first nine before taking you up to the ridgeline for the second half. For those looking to extend their round or just play nine, Sand Hollow features a nine-hole links course. Today, we'll explore the Championship course, ranked by many, including Golf Magazine and Golfweek at number one in Utah (1), and Golf Digest at number 10 (2).
Getting There
Up at 4am and on our way non-stop from Columbus to Las Vegas, we arrive a little before 9am. Sand Hollow is just a little over two hours north of Las Vegas, making it reasonable to play the same day. However, that depends on your depiction of "reasonable" and "vacation."
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This is me sans golf bag. Don't worry, the lime monster
fits right within the airline weight guidelines.
You can understand why moving this, two golf bags,
and a large roller bag isn't on my list of favorites. |
Our rental car experience was interesting at best. Budget Rent-A-Car's Fastbreak allowed us to proceed right out to our rental, listed as spot A4 on the screen. We quickly found our car, loaded everything in, and then agent informed us that was not our car. We reserved something larger. Out the bags go. We schlep over to car number two, a white Toyota Camry. Great gas mileage, perfect color for the desert sun, this is meant to be. Shawn starts loading up the trunk. I open the car door only to find the stench of cigarette smoke slapping me in the face. "It smells like cigarettes," I moan apathetically. We just sit and look at each other, defeated. I think out loud, "It's okay, I'm sure we can air it out. Then again, I don't want to be fined for the stench," as I notice the window sticker warning of a fee for smoking in the car. Since we're here for eight days, Shawn walks back to the rental counter to try again. Someone comes to confirm that the car, in fact, smells like smoke, and then we're granted a third chance at a rental. A black-on-black Ford Fusion.
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| The Fusion. |
Luckily, Shawn had the same rental earlier this week in Hershey, PA (Yes, this is a golf-heavy week for him), so he already knows the perfect luggage configuration. Third time's the charm with this one, and we're off.
We venture out on I-15 N, only to find we're hungry in the desert. It is lunchtime three hours from here, back in Ohio. Luckily, the Moapa Paiute truck stop has everything one could desire to survive in the desert: fuel, tobacco, liquor, a casino, fireworks, and promises of jerky from every animal imaginable. Naturally, we leave with PowerAde, water, granola bars, and Shawn's impulse of pork jerky. For those wondering, it's like uncooked bacon.
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| Into the great wide open. |
We are overjoyed to find the speed limit is seventy-five on this wide open stretch of desolate land. What we didn't anticipate is our lovely Ford Fusion's warnings once you reach 75 mph. A warning and delightful chime alert you of nearing the car's top speed of 80 mph. Interesting.
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| Del Taco delights. |
The first sight of civilization, indicated by hills dotted with green, is Mesquite, NV. Some athletes have a pasta party or carb load before an event. In lieu of pasta, we head to Del Taco. You know, "of the taco." Kind of like El Niño, which leads me on a tangent to only think of Chris Farley's SNL sketch. A Del Taco virgin and proclaimed chips and salsa enthusiast, I'm agape at their combo meals featuring "famous crinkle cut fries." Have you ever been to a Mexican restaurant with French fries as the standard side? No. Only if you've been to Del Taco.
Chilled drinks in hand and bellies full, we load back in the Fusion. I'll admit the fries were a nice touch. I didn't hate it. Might just have to stop back in on our way back to Vegas tomorrow.
Just beyond Mesquite, I-15 makes an unanticipated venture into Arizona for about 30 miles. This is the Arizona strip zone. Words and pictures can only begin to describe how beautiful this section of road truly is. You wind through the mountains before entering red rocks of Utah.
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| Squeezing through the peaks of the AZ strip zone. |
The navigation leads us into St. George and onto neighborhood streets. We anticipate where the course must be based on the red rocks we see in the distance. They seem further than the two minutes Waze, my navigational app of choice, claims we have to our destination. We reach our final destination: a single-family home. Well apparently this is the wrong address. Quick research and redirection finds us heading another half-hour down I-15 to those red rocks previously mentioned. It’s about this time I also realize the time on my phone and that of the car are different. Lovely. In all our research and diligence to cross every “t” and dot every “i,” we missed the bit about Utah not being on Pacific Time. We’ve instantly lost an hour and another half hour due to the unexpected detour. We're now aiming to arrive right at our 2 pm tee time. I suppose we won't be warming up. I'm sure we aren't stiff considering we woke up at 4 am EST and spent our day sitting on a plane and in a car... First world problems, I know.
We pull in, and Shawn runs to check in for our tee time. I unpack the golf bags, grab a couple granola bars, and our now lukewarm PowerAde from our earlier Moapa truck stop. The starters are warm and gracious, loading our cart before sending us off the first tee. I then realize I don't have my phone. This is what happens when you’re running late. I wouldn't mind except that I rely on the Golfshot app to direct me around the course. Back to the car I run. A welcome surprise, a gentleman pulls up in a cart to take me back to the tee. We're off.
The Round
It's 104º of dry heat, but there's a great 16 mph crosswind to keep us cool. You sweat, and it just evaporates. I love the desert. The views and 3300-foot altitude are both breathtaking. Maybe it's not the altitude. Perhaps it's that we've been on somewhat of a relay race to start this round. Each hole is surrounded by outcroppings of red rocks, and views down into the valley beyond. The course is very playable. I'm pleasantly surprised to find I can par more holes than usual. (Context: I'm nowhere near a scratch golfer.) The first nine move quickly, as Sand Hollow is a very drivable course. We're able to cut over to most of our balls via the cart, so there isn't much hiking. Rumor (aka my research) has it the back nine is even more breathtaking.
Eleven is proof of this. Leading us to the edge of the mountain before delving back into the valley, this hole is only a glimpse of what's to come.
Thirteen is a canyon-side, par 4 force to be reckoned with. My tee shot went right, and therefore right into the rocks lining the fairway. I hear the crack of the ball against the rocks, and reach into my pocket for another ball. It's only then I hear Shawn exclaim, "You're on the green." I throw up my hands with excitement. No wonder they call this God's country.
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I'm the purple blob in the lower left with my
hands excitedly at goal post position. |
The fairways continue to extend to the edge of the canyon sides like infinity pools, and the fairways are incredibly undulated, making each shot a little different than the last. Roadrunners, crows, rabbits, and some type of desert chipmunk follow us throughout the course, along with a large winged insect that seemingly greets us on every tee box.
If you land in a bunker, as I often do, good luck chipping out. The coarse, rust sand is not friendly to the polish of your lob. Sand Hollow uses over 1.5 million gallons of water each evening to water the bunkers alone--creating a dense and compact sand more analogous to the red clay of Georgia. However, there are aspects of the course where we found sand of the same color, but fine as powder.
The course ends beautifully: the fairway winding down, with a great view of the clubhouse, canyon, and 18th green atop the hill in the distance. We finish up in less than four hours.
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| Shawn's tee shot on 18. |
Ultimately, Sand Hollow is a great way to explore this National Park--providing a beautiful setting and playable challenge. There really isn't much out in Hurricane, Utah, so it's a destination, but it was worth the drive for us.
Food and Rest
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| Frito slider at George's. |
We rounded out our evening at George's Corner Restaurant in downtown St. George. The Frito slider and mint chile lemonade were divine. If you find yourself in St. George, it's certainly worth the stop. A born-and-bred child of the Marriott empire (my dad is lifetime Platinum, aka the man had to travel way too much for business), we're staying at the Fairfield Inn St. George. There isn't much around this region, and this was a great choice. We scored a free upgrade on our already free room, so life is pretty good.
Tomorrow morning, we'll gain our hour back as we head back into Nevada to play Wolf Creek in Mesquite.
Scorecard
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