Golf Course Scouting Report: Black Desert Resort Golf Course

The PGA Tour schedule welcomes the first-ever Black Desert Championship this week at the brand-new Black Desert Resort Golf Course in Ivins, Utah. Established in 2023, this wild Tom Weiskopf design weaves through harsh rocky desert beneath the dramatic backdrop of Utah's red mountainous formations.

The layout pushes the limits of golf course architecture to the extreme and epitomizes the modern style of golf course design. It should make for an intriguing test for Tour players that will punish inaccuracy during the first PGA Tour event in Utah in over 60 years.

Overall: 6.30 - Black Desert Resort Golf Course is an extreme design with the rocky Utah desert providing an omniscient hazard throughout the property.

Memorable Holes: 9.5

Black Desert Resort Golf Course can never be accused of being vanilla. Each fairway and green is lined with rugged desert complete with dry shrubs and dark lava rocks for which the course is named. Several holes play toward a red mountainous backdrop with panoramic views emblematic of the state of Utah. The 589-yard seventh is one of the best examples of these traits; this par five winds downhill through humps and bumps with harsh lava rocks bordering the fairway and even intrusively popping up in the middle of the fairway. Golfers at Black Desert will definitely not be bored.

Interest: 7.5

In some ways, the quality of holes doesn't live up to the spectacular setting of this golf course, but the surrounding terrain is so unusual that even the middling design quality provides extremely interesting golf. As I describe on my podcast, Linksworms, there are multiple holes throughout Black Desert where golfers simply can't miss; the 450-yard sixth, for example, features water hazards on both sides of the fairway and lava rock surrounding the green. The fairway is wide, but any misses are disastrous. The 488-yard fourth is similarly interesting due to the encroaching lava rock on both sides of the entire hole; this black rock is uneven and creates uncomfortable sight lines by blocking out views of the landing areas on both the tee shot and the approach.

Par Threes: 4.5

The par threes are among the weaker aspects of Black Desert as they are neither unique nor particularly difficult. The possible exception is the 198-yard third which adopts the Riviera template using a large green with a bunker in the center. After that, the 152-yard eighth and 151-yard 17th are very similar easy wedge shots with little to no defining traits setting them apart from any other rank-and-file par threes. At 202 yards, the 15th at least has PGA Tour length, but aside from the huge inselberg in the distance, the angled green set between bunkers provides nothing that can't be found on thousands of other courses around the country.

Difficulty: 6.0

This is tricky to assess because Black Desert should provide a fair number of birdie opportunities, but the penalty for wayward shots can be so damaging. Furthermore, this venue has never hosted a professional event, so there is a certain degree of mystery surrounding the range of scores we may see this week. To add to the uncertainty, the town of Ivins sits at an elevation of 3,100 feet, so while it will not be as extreme as what we saw during the BMW Championship at Castle Pines, the course will play a little shorter than the yardage on the card. Looking at all these factors, I believe we will see a good helping of birdies and low scores with the occasional large number mixed in. The PGA Tour should be able to achieve its sweet-spot winning score in the high teens under par.

Finish: 4.0

The finishing holes are quite scenic, but ultimately the design doesn't live up to the setting. The 506-yard 16th is a long par four framed by a spectacular inselberg in the distance, but the actual hole is quite generic with its wide, straight fairway and one greenside bunker. The aforementioned 17th is a picturesque par three with a green that falls off on all sides, but it's an easy hole and doesn't have any other defining features. The final hole is a boring 571-yard par five with no water or any other special features. The one cool aspect of this dogleg left is the tee shot playing over a huge swath of desert rock and brush. Beyond that, this is a mediocre par-five finishing hole.

For the criteria used to determine these ratings, please click here.