Last fall I wrote about some vandalism to one of my home courses, Hidden Valley Country Club here in Sandy, Utah. Some jerk (who I hope gets a lifetime case of the yips and the shanks) actually poisoned several trees on the course. Those trees played heavy roles in the strategy of the holes. Case in point was the Mountain nine’s 8th hole. The hole is a short par-5 which had a large tree on the right side at about 200 out. That tree was a great defense to bombers going for it in two. The tree died and was removed. Following its removal the club did some work on the hole, replacing the tree with a bunker. They also did some reshaping of the area about 100 yards short of the green. That spot previously was rough which blocked a view of the green and had an unsightly cartpath. The new shaping added more fairway and gave a nice look at the green, and removed the cartpath.
In the photo below, captured with my aerial photo/video quadcopter, the bunker to the right is the new one where the tree used to be. The two smaller bunkers short of the pond are on each side of the new fairway shaping. I’m sad to see the tree go, but I think the new shaping and work they did on this hole is excellent. I do however think the scoring average of this hole will go down.
Hidden Valley Country Club Mountain 8th Hole – Sandy, Utah
Below is a video flyover showing the approach with the new shaping and bunker tweaks.
2 responses to “Video/Photo Flyover of Sandy Utah’s Hidden Valley Country Club Mountain #8 Redesign”
Thanks for the comments BWSmith. I do agree the changes were very well done. I’m not on the bandwagon of redesigning a bunch of the course though. I love it how it is. Just because a few pros or bombers eat it up with their length doesn’t mean it needs to be redone. Then again, if they can do as good a job as they did on 8 mountain, it might turn a great course into a special course. BUT, if they hack it up and ruin the hole like they did on Valley #9 a few years ago, it would be another story.
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It’s been a great redo. I love that hole now. Now if we could just get the rest of the members to sign off on the other 26 holes/greens.
Thanks for the comments BWSmith. I do agree the changes were very well done. I’m not on the bandwagon of redesigning a bunch of the course though. I love it how it is. Just because a few pros or bombers eat it up with their length doesn’t mean it needs to be redone. Then again, if they can do as good a job as they did on 8 mountain, it might turn a great course into a special course. BUT, if they hack it up and ruin the hole like they did on Valley #9 a few years ago, it would be another story.