Copper Rock GC - St George, UT - NEW COURSE

[MillerLowLife]

 

Wanted to start a thread for the new course that opened this year next to Sand Hollow and should provide from some good competition. Would be a really great combo for golf trips to this area from what I can tell from pictures. I'm heading down there this weekend to play but seems like from people in the golf community that have played - it's going to be one of the best public courses in the state. As they have hopes of building this site into a top 100 resort course.

 

"Located near Zion National Park and Sand Hollow State Park, the daily-fee layout winds through a grassy valley for the first nine holes before moving to hillier terrain for the back nine.Construction of the golf course began in late 2016. The course is part of a 950-acre master planned development that includes a hotel site. Beddo says the end goal is to be a top 100 resort destination in the USA.Notable features include the 210-foot long green at the fifth, and the double green for the ninth and eighteenth holes.“We had anticipated possibly naming the holes: with two-to-five grouped to be called; ‘A wee bit of Ireland,” said Beddo. “These four holes are core golf holes as is the front nine, but these holes are grouped together and inspired by what I like to think Ireland would feel like.”Beddo was introduced to the Copper Rock site through a mutual friend shortly after finishing work at the Arnold Palmer-designed Red Rock Country Club in Las Vegas. His construction firm, G3 Golf Group, has completed all phases of course construction, and was supported by the late Riley Stottern, who served as the grow-in superintendent and Andy Dunlop, who oversaw the irrigation. Beddo also served as the feature shaper.“Utah golfers have for 50 years played local subsidised golf, though city and county operated golf courses,” said Beddo. “It was not unit the late 90s did we begin to see privately developed and operated golf courses in Utah. This meant that the quality of golf was often overshadowed by the battle over tax dollars being utilised for golf recreation. That left many of our more ambitious golfers travelling out of state to find unique golf courses to play.“Many of the features you find at Copper Rock derived from golf experiences typically found at higher end resort destinations. Pebble Beach, Texas Hill country and golf from the UK helped to inspire much of the creativity.”The course will host the Copper Rock Championship on the Symetra Tour in September, bringing the LPGA to Utah for the first time since 1965."

 

Source: https://www.golfcoursearchitecture.net/content/new-copper-rock-golf-course-to-open-for-public-play-in-february

 

Looks like it could have some good green complexities and bunkering. Has anyone played the course yet?

 

[Mnalette]

I will chime in on the course. The course is in the middle of nowhere. We played it the first week it was open to the public. Payed 55 bucks. At that price it was a good deal. When they go up to their regular rack rate at 120ish I would not pay that to play there.

The course Is new, had some interesting holes, has some so so holes. Still needs a lot of work. Carts paths fixed, on course bathrooms, starter shack, food. There is really no services at the course...again it’s brand new. No joke it is literally a 10 minute drive from check in trailer to the first tee...no exaggeration. The practice range and practice green next to the first tee are nice.

The area around the Course is nice, there is a lot of area to put hotels, houses, mixed use developments. There are a few parade of home homes in the area.

In the future I think it might be a top 10 course in Utah. I don’t believe that this will be a top 100 resort course in the US. I have no knocks or bad things to say about the course. I feel it will be a while before the area develops into a golf resort/community.

I just don’t see people driving out past Sand Hollow Golf Course and paying $120+ for a round at Cooper Rock. Good course... it has potential to be great...it lacks the wow factor of Sand Hollow. Pricing will be key to make this course successful!!

These are all my 2 cents, go play it to check it out for yourself.

[MillerLowLife]

Thanks for chiming in! I agree with a lot of what you said.

Course: It's a shorter course but because of the green complexities and bunkering, really makes you think about your placement of tee shots and approaches. The pin placements can make for real difficult holes. Green were in great shape and was recently rolled when I played but they could probably get these rolling pretty fast. I enjoy a course that makes you think about your approach shots. They need to tell you pin placements however, cart gives you a reading to the pint but not where the pin is placed. Only real bad thing I didn't like was that they planted pine trees on the course. Seems like a weird choice.

As you said, the course needs a lot of work in terms of facilities. The $120 was a bit much for not having facilities even.

St George Trip: I think this is a great addition to golf trips to St George. Certainly at this price, not something you would want to play multiple times but I great addition to other courses in the area.

Vs Sandhollow: I don't think this course should be higher priced than Sand Hollow but I think I would rather play this course over SH because of the greens/bunkers. Sandhollow is a fantastic course but I think it usually gets held in higher regard because of the views of the canyon on the back nine.

 

Hopefully they bring the price down so you can make a great weekend of both courses in a weekend.

 

 

[RSinSG]

I tried to get my regular group to play it now that the summer rate of $60 is in effect. No interest from them now - probably because of all of the wind (it is in the city of Hurricane after all.) Maybe next month.

[johntchow]

I'm staying with the family from 7/18-7/23 at sand hollow. Besides sand hollow, I Was planning to check out copper rock, sky mountain and possibly ledges.

I prefer walking courses and don't mind heat or wind. Prefer it not too windy but I can deal with it.

Any other good courses to check out while I'm in the area?

 

[MillerLowLife]

Sky Mountain has some amazing views to say the least. Course is is not in bad condition, just the layout isn't my favorite. Still worth playing. Ledges I love and would play again, also great views. Green Springs is my favorite to play that's located in St George. Has a couple holes you play across a small valley. I usually end up playing Coral Canyon almost every time I go down to play SandHollow since it's next door to it. Doesn't have amazing views like the others mentioned but I enjoy the hell out of the course. Sometimes this course gets a little baked out but this Spring was a cool one so I expect them all to be in good shape.

 

Good list but definitely add Green Springs if you can but Sand Hollow and Copper Rock would be my 1 and 2.

 

EDIT: Let me know what you think. Also here is my list of my favorite courses for a multitude of reasons.

Sand HollowCopper RockGreen SpringsLedgesCoral Canyon

[johntchow]

ok ill check out green springs. i dont think that course showed up in the golf greater zion brochure i was looking at.

 

have you by any chance made the trip to wolf creek in mesquite from st. george? wolf creek was on my short list of courses to visit on my next vegas trip but noticed its about an hour drive from st george.

[MillerLowLife]

I haven't but just about everyone one of my friends has. I seem to always be down there during the time of year it's closed for overseeding. I've heard great things but it's a very challenging course as well. So if you don't mind the possibility of getting beat up, it's worth experiencing. This is a course I grew up playing on Tiger Woods Golf and thinking it was a fake course for the game. Green Springs is the really great local track I would say. Probably doesn't get the attention because of the others mentioned but all around great track.

Coyote Springs (Jack Nicklaus design) just outside of Mesquite is a great track as well and probably has great summer deals. Just a pain in the ass to get to though depending on where you're staying.

Everything you're mentioning I don't think you can go wrong and just depends on how many days you're trying to golf. Sand Hollow and Copper Rock are a must IMO tho.

[johntchow]

ok so sky mountain wouldnt make your top 5 in that area? i'll probably just go check it out since its pretty close to sand hollow.

so you'd pick green spring over ledges? green spring looks like a nice walking course from the few video flyovers i watched. im thinking i might prefer it over ledges now.

i do think i want to try to make it out to wolf creek one of the days im out there though.

hmmm, never heard of coyote springs but looks legit. will probbaly have to make that as part of a vegas trip next time. looks too like at least another hour drive from mesquite which is going to be too far with my family staying in sand hollow.

 

[MillerLowLife]

For me, no. Sky Mountain has probably the most beautiful back drop for their range that you'll ever see but that is sort of the highlight of the course for me. Couple nice views of a canyon on 17/18 but the course it self isn't my favorite. It's certainly not the worst course and you probably wouldn't hate your round but with so many courses in the area - I'd pick others every time. But yeah, worth playing once if you haven't while you're down there.

So again, for me, I like Green Springs over Ledges. Green Springs is a golf course I could play every week. Ledges is too but there are a few holes I don't care for much. There are aspects I like/dislike about both courses but the 3 hole stretch playing over a dried up riverbed at GS are some of my favorite holes.

 

So yeah, Play Sand Hollow and Copper Rock. Don't sleep on Sand Hollow's links 9 hole course they have there too, it's fun to play before or after your 18 hole round at SH. They also have a 9 hole chipping course by the range and the #1 tee of the links 9. Go Check it out if you have time. Anything beyond those 2 courses you get to play, you wont hate. I've just played most tracks down there so I've grown to have a preference to some over others.

 

Vegas trip would be great to play Paiute/Coyote Springs/Wolf Creek. Perfect trip for Mesquite/Vegas.

 

[johntchow]

On 7/16/2020 at 8:51 AM, MillerLowLife said:

For me, no. Sky Mountain has probably the most beautiful back drop for their range that you'll ever see but that is sort of the highlight of the course for me. Couple nice views of a canyon on 17/18 but the course it self isn't my favorite. It's certainly not the worst course and you probably wouldn't hate your round but with so many courses in the area - I'd pick others every time. But yeah, worth playing once if you haven't while you're down there.

So again, for me, I like Green Springs over Ledges. Green Springs is a golf course I could play every week. Ledges is too but there are a few holes I don't care for much. There are aspects I like/dislike about both courses but the 3 hole stretch playing over a dried up riverbed at GS are some of my favorite holes.

 

So yeah, Play Sand Hollow and Copper Rock. Don't sleep on Sand Hollow's links 9 hole course they have there too, it's fun to play before or after your 18 hole round at SH. They also have a 9 hole chipping course by the range and the #1 tee of the links 9. Go Check it out if you have time. Anything beyond those 2 courses you get to play, you wont hate. I've just played most tracks down there so I've grown to have a preference to some over others.

 

Vegas trip would be great to play Paiute/Coyote Springs/Wolf Creek. Perfect trip for Mesquite/Vegas.

 

 

 

thanks again for the recommendations

 

sand hollow is awesome, one of my favorites courses ever and played some of my best golf there.

 

i didnt realize copper rock was a links style course until i got there. since ive been to bandon, copper rock was a bit of a letdown for me. i did almost get a hole in one on that short 120 yard par 3 on 17 i think. 

 

as for green springs, the condition wasnt the greatest but it was one of the more difficult tracks ive played. definitely good variety of holes that one hole that is the par 4 coming back over the river bed is a trip. never seen a hole that like that before. i cant believe there are houses with exposed yards right on the green and fairway. the landing spots just dont suit the eyes on that hole. i can only imagine how many balls either ended up in the riverbed or in the homes. that was the gnarliest looking hole ive ever played. i think i either birdied or par'd all the par 3s there which i was pretty happy about since most of the par 3s play over a hazard. i guess i was kind of expecting some better views.

[MillerLowLife]

15 hours ago, johntchow said:

 

 

thanks again for the recommendations

 

sand hollow is awesome, one of my favorites courses ever and played some of my best golf there.

 

i didnt realize copper rock was a links style course until i got there. since ive been to bandon, copper rock was a bit of a letdown for me. i did almost get a hole in one on that short 120 yard par 3 on 17 i think. 

 

as for green springs, the condition wasnt the greatest but it was one of the more difficult tracks ive played. definitely good variety of holes that one hole that is the par 4 coming back over the river bed is a trip. never seen a hole that like that before. i cant believe there are houses with exposed yards right on the green and fairway. the landing spots just dont suit the eyes on that hole. i can only imagine how many balls either ended up in the riverbed or in the homes. that was the gnarliest looking hole ive ever played. i think i either birdied or par'd all the par 3s there which i was pretty happy about since most of the par 3s play over a hazard. i guess i was kind of expecting some better views.

 

Glad you enjoyed at least some of them! Sand Hollow is fantastic. I'm actually going down this weekend. I have been interested to see how the conditions are at the tail end of summer there. It can be hit or miss. 

 

Friday - The Ledges AM and Wolf Creek PM 

Saturday - Sky Mountain AM and Sand Hollow PM

Sunday - Copper Rock

 

Couldn't get on GS because of a tournament which is why we're playing Sky Mountain. It will be my first time playing Wolf Creek so it should be fun, for the most part. I really like Copper Rock but I'm interested to see how I feel after I second time playing the course. Hard for anything to compete with Sand Hollow because of the view on the back 9. I dont think really any course has great views if you compare it to SH. I like the view at Copper Rock tho. 

 

EDIT: I've never played Bandon or really good links course so all the "links course" I have to go off is Utah courses. There's about 20 guys going to Bandon in November. Wish I could've gone but the price tag was not something I could do with building a house next year. 

 

Edited September 15, 2020 by MillerLowLife

[I_HATE_SNOW]

Any one driven out to where Kokopelli was?  Only played it once and found it impressive other than a few holes that needed more time to grass in. 

[RSinSG]

13 hours ago, I_HATE_SNOW said:

Any one driven out to where Kokopelli was?  Only played it once and found it impressive other than a few holes that needed more time to grass in. 

It’s gone. Not just closed but gone. It never had much infrastructure and the developers plans for a clubhouse and homes fizzled. We played it a few times but it was a drive and if you didn’t pay attention it was easy to miss the road as it was pretty undeveloped. 

[I_HATE_SNOW]

15 hours ago, RSinSG said:

It’s gone. Not just closed but gone. It never had much infrastructure and the developers plans for a clubhouse and homes fizzled. We played it a few times but it was a drive and if you didn’t pay attention it was easy to miss the road as it was pretty undeveloped. 

Still remember all the rabbits out there, also saw a tarantula on the fairway.  Also lots of bunnies at Sand Hollow, you guys must be short on coyotes.

[RSinSG]

10 hours ago, I_HATE_SNOW said:

Still remember all the rabbits out there, also saw a tarantula on the fairway.  Also lots of bunnies at Sand Hollow, you guys must be short on coyotes.

Well, there is a $50 bounty on coyotes in Utah. I live adjacent to state owned land and occasionally hear them, but they were more bountiful in Palm Springs by a long shot. Right now we’re having a deer problem on the course. They cause a lot of damage and make a mess. 

[vallygolf]

Now in its second season Ill give my 2 cents on copper rock.  I played it on a Friday and Sand Hollow on a Saturday (same Saturday as the big Ironman race at the state park).  First off I really enjoyed both courses and I will definitely be returning to play both again.  I wont review Sand Hollow here as this is a Copper rock thread, but suffice it to say if I was given 10 rounds to split as I wish between the two, I would do 7 at sand hollow and 3 at copper rock.  Possibly 8-2.  I really enjoyed the green complexes at Copper Rock.  The greens were firm but playable, with a great variety of design features.  Im too lazy to remind myself which one, but I especially enjoyed a long skinny par 5 green reminiscent of #4 at spyglass.  It fit the hole really well.  The flag was playing back the day I played and it was a bear.  I can see how this course would need to be played many times to enjoy and appreciate the nuance.  On the downside there were a few quirks that were just wonky.  With all the space they had to work with parts of this course seem cramped.  OB splitting #2 and #5 fairways is inexcusable, and I was nearly decapitated by an errant tee shot as I was playing back down #5.  The guy proceeded to play his ball from the 5th fairway disregarding the OB, which im sure is common.  A real head scratcher to be sure when there are miles of open space in every direction.  Same with the long par 3 uphill, why is the tee box of the next hole so close?  The mound running along side #3 looks contrived and unnatural. Possibly the worst design feature in the history of golf are parallel holes around a central lake sharing a green or tee boxes.  Put this feature as #9 and #18 and you have a major architecture mistake on your hands.  (Ask Pete Dye, He tried it at Karsten here in Az, and that course is now plowed under).  I think much of this is fixable and will be with time (hopefully cash flow allows).  Those are pretty big flaws, but the rest is good enough I will be back.

Edited May 17, 2021 by vallygolf

[WilderMan]

Played Copper Rock one day in March this year, pretty chilly (low 50s) and a steady 30 mph wind through the first 15 holes.  Had played sand hollow the day before in steady rain and had a blast.  Given the weather was a challenge, my enjoyment of the course was probably diminished somewhat, but given 10 rounds sand hollow would get at least 8 of them, maybe 9.  

Copper Rock has none of the dramatic holes through the rocky canyons like SH, sky mountain, even a few holes at the ledges.  Otherwise a decent layout with a few odd holes.  Doesn't drain well at all (we got a discount due water standing on a number of fairways) but it's in the desert so not a huge deal.  They wanted $180 a round, got a deal due to conditions but it's overpriced by about 50% after 1 round there.  

I will probably play it again but it's not close to a favorite in the area.

[ATXHorn]

On 5/17/2021 at 6:29 PM, vallygolf said:

Now in its second season Ill give my 2 cents on copper rock.  I played it on a Friday and Sand Hollow on a Saturday (same Saturday as the big Ironman race at the state park).  First off I really enjoyed both courses and I will definitely be returning to play both again.  I wont review Sand Hollow here as this is a Copper rock thread, but suffice it to say if I was given 10 rounds to split as I wish between the two, I would do 7 at sand hollow and 3 at copper rock.  Possibly 8-2.  I really enjoyed the green complexes at Copper Rock.  The greens were firm but playable, with a great variety of design features.  Im too lazy to remind myself which one, but I especially enjoyed a long skinny par 5 green reminiscent of #4 at spyglass.  It fit the hole really well.  The flag was playing back the day I played and it was a bear.  I can see how this course would need to be played many times to enjoy and appreciate the nuance.  On the downside there were a few quirks that were just wonky.  With all the space they had to work with parts of this course seem cramped.  OB splitting #2 and #5 fairways is inexcusable, and I was nearly decapitated by an errant tee shot as I was playing back down #5.  The guy proceeded to play his ball from the 5th fairway disregarding the OB, which im sure is common.  A real head scratcher to be sure when there are miles of open space in every direction.  Same with the long par 3 uphill, why is the tee box of the next hole so close?  The mound running along side #3 looks contrived and unnatural. Possibly the worst design feature in the history of golf are parallel holes around a central lake sharing a green or tee boxes.  Put this feature as #9 and #18 and you have a major architecture mistake on your hands.  (Ask Pete Dye, He tried it at Karsten here in Az, and that course is now plowed under).  I think much of this is fixable and will be with time (hopefully cash flow allows).  Those are pretty big flaws, but the rest is good enough I will be back.

Good review. I'd go 8-2 or 9-1 SH>CR.