Ah yes! Another course review from my favorite part of U.S.A., Red Rock Country, Utah.
Sky Mountain Golf Course is a municipal course located in Hurricane, Utah. Hurricane is actually pronounced “her-a-cun” by the locals and not like the word is spelled. Hurricane is a salty small town between St. George and Zion National Park. I judge the size of small towns by the number of traffic lights they have. If my memory is correct, Hurricane has four.
The Course
The first thing you notice when you get to the pro shop and look out on the course is the incredible view. There’s a red rock canyon with awesome rock formations in the distance. It looks like a mini Grand Canyon. Most of the holes on the course are prime picture taking opportunities with the plush green grass in the foreground and the red rock in the background. When I played the course I shot over 100 pictures.
#9 Tee. My ball is in the desert on the left somewhere.At 6312 yards and a par 72, this is not a long course. My home course across the street from my house is 6300 yards and is only a par 70. If you are a bomber and love to hit 300+ yard drives on par 4’s, you may run out of fairway here. Many of the holes not only require a shorter tee shot, but they also require accuracy. I could easily get around this course and shoot a low 70’s round without any woods in the bag, if I could resist the temptation to drive some of the par 4’s. When I played the course I was suffering from a bout of Winter rust and my normally accurate tee game cost me some strokes when I missed the fairway and ended up in the desert. If you can hit a ball off the tee 200+ yards or so with accuracy, you won’t have any problems.
Nice backdrop!The approach shots for the most part aren’t too tough. There are some nice elevation changes from tee to fairway, and from fairway to green. If you don’t get your yardages right you may find your ball rolling back to your feet on uphill approach shots. If you don’t judge the distance right on your downhill approaches you’ll airmail the green.The greens are nice and smooth and provide an enjoyable putting experience. They’re not really tough to putt at all. If you get your putt started online and at the right speed, you’ll make it. The greens don’t have any crazy tiers or circus like curves like some greens being designed these days.
Amenities
The pro shop and cafe are more than adequate for the course. The staff is friendly and helpful. If you have lunch in the cafe you can look out over a spectacular view of the course and the red rock canyons in the distance.
The range at Sky Mountain has to be the most spectacular range I’ve ever seen. You are hitting balls to a severe downhill slope which then drops off into infinity with amazing red rock formations in the distance. Quite honestly, the range could be the best part of the whole course!
There’s a practice putting green which is nice, but I didn’t see a practice bunker.
Critic’s Corner
Sky Mountain, being a municipal course, is cheaply priced compared to the other courses in the St. George area. As such they don’t have the budget to maintenance the course like resort courses or private clubs do. Some of the cart paths are cracked and falling apart. There are some maintenance areas which are not in the best of conditions.
The crowd at Sky Mountain is a little more of the “denim” type so many of the players aren’t quite hip on the rules or the common courtesy aspects of golf. But they are there to have fun and the course isn’t expensive so I have no problem with that.
Sky Mountain Photo Gallery
I have a TON of photos of Sky Mountain in the Sky Mountain Photo Gallery.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a “resort” type experience with perfectly manicured fairways and paths, cart boys, gourmet food and the like, Sky Mountain may not be for you.
Sky Mountain is an inexpensive course which won’t bring you to your knees and has stunning views. If you like a casual round, not too tough and some spectacular views, this is the course for you.
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