RADIO
The PGA Tour is set to play its first professional tournament in Utah since 1963 this week, as Black Desert Resort is primed to host the Black Desert Championship. The course is brand new, only finished about a year ago and has been described by the few who have seen it as "spectacular" and "unique".
We are tasked with learning about and understanding a new venue with a ton of nuance as we attempt to figure out what skill sets will be best suited to take on the challenge. In this article, we will give you all the facts about Black Desert Resort so we can make informed and educated betting and DFS decisions.
I wanted to use this piece to hopefully highlight a few different angles and elements that may be less spoken about to provide some value in this course preview. I'm hopeful you can utilize this to get your research started and provide you with an opening glance at Black Desert!
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An Introduction to Black Desert Resort
Located in Irvins, Utah, the freshly opened Black Desert Resort golf course is unlike any other course on the PGA Tour schedule. That's because there are not many courses on Earth that were carved out of lava. The initial property was breathtaking, and developers envisioned lush green fairways bordered by blue lakes, desert native areas, and unique black basalt rock.
The course was conceptualized by the minds of Tom Weiskopf and Phil Smith and officially opened for play in May of 2023. It feels like a very short time between the opening of a course and hosting a PGA Tour event so I expect some logistical complications, but the course is going to present incredibly well on TV.
The 2 Billion dollar resort has already put a heavy emphasis on sustainability and environmental consciousness. The property will showcase large elevation changes, plenty of water hazards, and unique desert agronomy that will challenge this "less-than-elite" field. I always enjoy the challenge of breaking down a new course, and here are the hard details that you need to know.
A good flyover of the Black Desert course.https://t.co/C46vLNDVJL
— Martin Mathews (@Sundogmonkey) October 6, 2024
Scorecard:
Course Specs
The total elevation above sea level at Black Desert Resort is 3,100 ft., so the total yardage on the scorecard of 7,371 yards will not be overtly long for PGA Tour pros. The par 71 layout features three par 5s ranging between 570-590 yards, two of which close down each set of nine holes with a good opportunity at birdie or eagle.
The fairways are generous like you see with most resort layouts, averaging 30 yards wide in the landing areas. That said, the rough is minimally wide and runs directly into bluffs or overgrown desert and rock native areas that look unplayable in many spots. It effectively makes accuracy more important as some spots only have 4-5 yards of rough before the trouble begins.
The par 3 3rd hole has a massive green with a pit bunker directly in the middle modeled after the famous hole at Riviera Country Club. Most of the greens are big and look to have a ton of undulation. They average 7,000 sq. ft. in size and feature Bentgrass on the greens and collars.
The course has bentgrass throughout, including the tees and fairways. The rough however is a 2 inch Kentucky bluegrass that will be easy to navigate, just don't end up in the native areas. Water technically only comes into play on 2 holes and there are 44 bunkers on the course which is well below tour average.
Even from the overhead videos, you can see the movement in the fairways that were carved out as lava flowed through the region when the volcano that you will see in the distance erupted. The black is eye-catching and the course will provide a great opportunity for the thriving golf culture in Utah to shine.
Statistical Considerations
From the overhead videos I have seen, there does appear to be some advantage for the longer hitters in terms of shortening doglegs and potentially driving a few of the par 4s, but the penalty for wayward drives will be severe. I'm shifting the pendulum slightly with more emphasis on Driving Accuracy and Fairways in Regulation over pure power.
Here are the top 10 players in Fairways in Regulation in the field:
- Ben Kohles
- Brice Garnett
- Adam Svensson
- Carson Young
- Lucas Glover
- Zac Blair
- Mac Meissner
- Chez Reavie
- Ryan Moore
- Doug Ghim
Without any reference points from previous years, it's hard to accurately gauge proximity ranges on Approach because we aren't sure how many times players could lay back off the tee. That said, it does feel like we are going to see a good bit of Approach shots come from 200+ yards.
There is also the unusual nature of the course region. There aren't many players in the field that have likely played a ton of golf in Utah and under these course conditions. It should present an advantage for those who have some familiarity or past success in Utah or Nevada.
Lastly, with large greens and predictably high GIR rates, I'm avoiding scrambling and short-game data. Instead, I'm putting my emphasis on Bentgrass Putting, 3 putt avoidance, and even looking at how players have putted at TPC Scottsdale in the past. Even though the greens are a different grass, it should give us a look into how they putt on Weiskopf-designed greens and the desert.
A final note, Black Desert Resort features fully robotic mowers in an effort to increase sustainability and reduce costs. It's a cool idea, and look at how perfect these mowing lines look. This place is going to look amazing on TV!
Ken Yates, superintendent, @BlackDesertResort, Ivins, Utah, will be featured on “Katrek and Maginnes On Tap” today at 5 p.m. Eastern Time on SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio channel 92 to talk about his first professional event and the FireFly robotic mowers being used there. pic.twitter.com/9ifeNJQAXx
— FireFly Automatix (@FireFlyAuto) October 2, 2024
Good luck and enjoy the 2024 Black Desert Championship!
