St. George golf trip in late September

mccjud · January 30, 2019

Hello WRX'ers and @venand (Co-sponsor of this fall buddies golf trip),

We will be planning a buddies golf trip to St. George area this late September and need some feedback and suggestions.

Some info about the group. 12 - 16 attendees. Seven attendees are are handicaps of 5 or lower. Four attendees are handicaps of 6-18. 19+ handicaps represent the remaining attendees (but all can get the ball airborne and make the occasional natural par and sometimes, birdie).

Questions to pose to the group:

Lodging by Sand Hollow? The proximity to sand hollow, sky mountain, future copper rock golf course, coral canyon, is good. We're looking at AirBNB's or a rental house through sand hollow.
Dining options - best to pick up some steaks and grill every night at the house we rent or dine out?
Entrada at Snow Canyon - is it worth it and how much more enjoyable than the other courses in the area?

Tentatively this is the golf course list/plan and we need you to evaluate the options at the bottom:

Thursday - Coyote Springs on the drive up
Friday - Ledges and coral canyon or sky mountain or future copper rock
Saturday - Sand hollow for 36 holes. Is the links course cool/fun/memorable or not? Is it payable twice given it's 9 holes? If not we could do copper rock that afternoon or something else.
Sunday - trying to get feedback on playing a course that has just been overseeded in Mesquite. Wolf creek was our original intention, but they will just be opening and the pro said it's not worth it. What about Conestoga, or others? Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thank you for all the feedback as we refine this itinerary to make it a great trip for our group!

Best,

mccjud

fairways4life · January 30, 2019

Sounds like a fun trip. My thoughts....

1. Entrada will straight up murder a high handicapper. It's a good course, but someone who struggles to break 100 will really have a hard time out there.

2. Dining -- we usually rent a house from AirBnb that has a grill and oven. Get some steaks and frozen pizzas. I find it to be more enjoyable (and way cheaper) than going out. St. George is a rather sleepy town anyway.

3. Sand Hollow -- best golf course you will play down there easily. The links course is a lot of fun. There is also a 9-hole par 3 course there as well, so you can actually play 36 there without having to play anything twice (if a par 3 course is your thing). We usually play the regular 18 in the morning, grab lunch inside and then play the links 9 in the afternoon.

4. Conestoga is okay. I thought it was good but not great. But others will have different opinions of course.

mccjud · January 30, 2019

Thanks @Fairways4Life !!

Awesome feedback. Is thenlinks course enjoyable enough to play twice? Or worth trying to do another 9 on the champ course?

fairways4life · January 30, 2019

Thanks @Fairways4Life !!

Awesome feedback. Is thenlinks course enjoyable enough to play twice? Or worth trying to do another 9 on the champ course?

If you can play another 9 on the championship course for a comparable price as another 9 on the links course, champ course is the way to go. The links course is fun, but certainly not more so than either of the nines on the championship course. Honestly, if you can just play 36 on the championship course, it's well worth playing twice. The links course is fun but not any sort of "must play."

mccjud · January 30, 2019

Anyone else out there have feedback on courses aside from Sand hollow? Coyote springs? The ledges, Sky mountain, coral canyon?

fairways4life · January 30, 2019

Coral Canyon is a good track. Last time I was there (maybe 3 years ago) conditions were not what they were back in its heyday but still good. Some blind-ish shots, which not everyone loves. Mostly good holes with a few bad ones. All in all it belongs in the rotation.

I've played Ledges and Sky Mountain a couple times each but it was so long ago I hardly remember much about them other than having some pretty awesome views off the cliff sides. Never played Coyote Springs but heard good things about it.

Sun Mountain has 27 holes and it's a good course.

There's also a place called Bloomington Country Club that's not talked about much but kind of under the radar. I think it's restricted to members in the mornings but they open it up to the public in the afternoons for like $50. We used to play that a lot as our second round in a 36 hole day. Good value and the course was always empty in the afternoons. Been a few years though so of course things may have changed.

Circling back to the topic of eating out --- hit up In N Out Burger while you're there if you've never been.

YMark · January 30, 2019

I've played Wolf Creek and Conestoga. I'd take Conestoga all day every day over WC. WC is kind of gimmicky after about 4 holes and way overrated IMO.

mccjud · January 30, 2019

Thanks for the feedback! Good to know Conestoga would be better than wolf creek. And I’ll check out that Bloomington country club, too.

deadsolid...shank · January 31, 2019

If it’s a pretty tight group that likes needle each other here’s a Sand Hollow tip. Be the first group out. The patio by the bar is up high and you look basically down on 18 green (and down the fairway for approach shots too). It’s about the best place I’ve been for some good natured heckling of the rest of your group.

I really like both Coyote Springs and Coral Canyon. CS will absolutely punish you if you are in the wrong spot around the greens. I’ve personally become more of fan of Falcon Ridge over Conestoga in Mesquite, but I know that is a minority opinion. A lot more “memorable” holes at FR to me.

mccjud · February 6, 2019

Thanks for all the responses!

We have a good option to stay on site at sand hollow. Would you guys recommend that?

cnnmaverick · February 8, 2019

Hey there - done a St. George trip multiple times (5x over the last 5 years).

We usually stay at the Inn at Entrada... not cheap but very nice accomodations and easy to check in/out and a great property, even if you don't play Entrada.

St. George is a real sleepy town. Chances are you'll find a few dive bars and random texmex restaurants. Head to the main square in St. George for dinner. We usually go to George's Corner (nice American pub/bistro), but you can get solid Thai food, Pasta Factory and Bear Paw for breakfast. I hear Painted Pony is nice and upscale but usually too expensive for us.

Wouldnt stay near Sand Hollow unless you have a big group and plan on doing BBQ. "Town" is almost non-existent and a shlep from St George proper.

Entrada is a nice course but a lot tigher and with more houses next to fairways. I would classify it as a regular CC course. It's pretty narrow and tight, so you may want to leave the driver in the bag mainly. Well manicured though. Tough to get early tee times as they reserve it for members. Last few holes through lava fields are very memorable.

Ledges is a two-faced course. The front 9 are boring, flat and wide open. You almost CANNOT lose a ball even if you tried. Back nine are almost another course. Undulated, interesting, much better views. You'll enjoy these a lot more.

HAvent; played Sky Mountain or Coral Springs in a while, so won't comment.

For SH : Don't play the links course. If you've never been on a links course it'll feel "linksy" and novel. That said, it's generally in pretty poor condition, the holes are generic after having played 2-3 and being a "Links" course does not equate to having to be poorly maintained. It's simply not worth the money, especially when you can play a great 18 holes next door!

Have fun, PM me for any further questions

DandyDon · February 9, 2019

1. Have made a couple of trips out there, here are my thoughts.

First, just play the Sand Hollow course twice, it is a fantastic golf course, and the back 9 is something to behold....

Second, definitely play Conestoga in Mesquite, lots of fun, unique holes...

I agree about Ledges, the 2 9s are incredibly different, but I liked the course. Front 9 is a more wide open modern style that is in great shape, but not tremendously difficult, the back 9 is something sweet

I liked Coyote Springs, play it

As for Sky Mountain, conditions are so so. They have about 3-4 holes that are great, and a bunch of not so great holes. The wind can be absolutely brutal

Have played Coral Springs twice, the first time I loved it, the second time I thought it was only ok..It was the first course I played out there

I would play the ledges before Coral Springs or Sky Mountain....If I had to decide between Coral Springs or Sky Mountain, I would basically determine if I wanted better views, or better conditions. Conditions at Coral Springs are better than Sky Mountain, but you do get some sweet views at Sky Mountain that you don't get at Coral Springs.

RSinSG · February 9, 2019

Don’t know how I missed this thread.

I’ll send you a PM on restaurants if you want. Depending on the type of food you are looking for there are some good options here. Hopefully Mexican food isn’t on the list as Utah Mex food is unique. (I grew up on Mex food in SoCal and admit I’m a snob.)

I work at and live next to The Ledges, and while I don’t have details there are literally hundreds of brand new nightly rental units on the course now (much to my dismay.) If you haven’t settled on a place yet I can get you rental information. The Ledges is under new management and is investing some money. New carts w/GPS were just added last month, and the remodel of hole 16 is finally maturing. The course will be in great shape that time of year.

If you have an odd number of players and would welcome a WRX’r in your group let me know. I know the course pretty well and can tell you what to avoid. That may save you some $$ if you’re a betting group. ;)