Black Desert Resort emerges as crown jewel among St. George-area golf venues

Tom Haraldsen
The City Journals

There are 11 golf courses in the St. George area, and another eight within 20 miles. All but two are public or municipal, and each offers a variety of beautiful landscapes and challenging topography.

Few have garnered as much attention recently as the Black Desert Resort in Ivins. This multi-million-dollar resort broke ground in February of 2021. Last fall, it opened by hosting a PGA Tour event known as the Black Desert Championship. In May, it will host an LPGA Tour event with the same name. For any golf course to host events from both professional tours is rare (Pebble Beach and Augusta National come to mind), but for it to happen in Utah makes Black Desert’s legacy already impressive. Developer Patrick Manning has the PGA contracted to do a second event this fall and the LPGA for a total of three years.

Manning first saw the property where he is building the Black Desert Resort more than 20 years ago. He came to Utah after a friend of his told him, “you gotta see this land.” So Manning and his wife flew out from their home in Florida and have never looked back.

“My wife and I stood right about where the resort center is built, and I told her, ‘I can’t explain the feeling I have — it’s suffocating,’” he recalled. “I had the overwhelming feeling that we needed to sell everything we had and move here. It took some convincing, but she agreed, and we made the move, and I’ve never regretted it for a day.”

Fast-forward almost two decades to when Manning envisioned a championship golf course, since he’d already designed more than 150 of them around the world. Manning acquired 3,000 acres of land for the resort, portions of it split among Ivins, Santa Clara and St. George boundaries. The 7,400-yard course also features an amazing short game facility with a driving range, a chipping range and the largest putting green in the country, with 36 holes. Manning has connected with Utah Tech University in St. George to offer both the school’s men’s and women’s golf teams a home course and practice facility.

You don’t need to wear a collared shirt to play here. At the practice facility, golfers can climb out of a nearby hot tub and start putting away wearing shorts. Manning said his goal was elegance without pretense.

“It rivals any practice course and facility of any other college or university,” he said. “I’ve always wanted this to be a project that benefits not just players, but our neighbors and friends in the community, including our college students.”

The course was the final design work of late PGA great Tom Weiskopf, which he worked on in collaboration with fellow architect Phil Smith. It was Weiskopf’s 73rd course, and that number resonates around the resort. The stylish “Club 73” adjacent to the putting green features a super-cool vibe — TVs outdoors and misters to keep guests cool as they sit and drink or dine. There’s a full-size bronze statue of Weiskopf on the grounds, and his widow Laurie Weiskopf was present along with her two sisters in October when the first Black Desert Resort Championship PGA tournament was held.

That event came about when Manning invited PGA officials to come view the course. It’s difficult getting either the men’s or women’s tours to add new courses, but Manning said once the PGA folks toured the course, they signed on. The LPGA was already onboard.

“One particular PGA official came up on the tee at No. 18, looked at the view, and said there was nothing like it on any other course he’d seen,” Manning said. Said Weiskopf before he passed away: “It’s one of the most beautiful vistas and places that you could ever just stand there and (do) a 360 turnaround and look at all these beautiful mountains.”

Black Desert combines Bentgrass from tee to green, with narrow strips of Kentucky bluegrass on the borders against the ever-present surrounding black lava. The PGA players enjoyed abundant sunlight in October, but late-afternoon rounds were accompanied by shadows and at times gusty winds. At 3,000 feet above sea level, golfers certainly enjoyed increased ball flights and low humidity.

Manning’s plan includes development of a mega-resort, with a downtown village, an amphitheater, 400-plus hotel rooms, 20 restaurants (all original and no chains), a waterpark, and numerous trails and activities related to the nature of the area. Much of the work is still in progress, and some phases of development will likely run over several years. At one time Manning had planned to build a large arena capable of hosting NBA or NHL games, but he put that plan on hiatus this winter and may revisit it later.

The nearby Virgin River is a habitat for various endangered fish species, and Black Desert has partnered with the Utah DWR Southern Utah Region to work with Melinda Bennion, a native aquatics biologist. The project is designed to protect the Virgin River chub, a species found only in the Virgin River. The resort is also developing projects aimed at protecting the desert tortoise and creating pollinator gardens to safeguard endangered species such as the monarch butterfly.

In addition to environmental stewardship, Black Desert Resort is committed to energy efficiency and water conservation. The resort was recognized with a 2023 Utah Green Building Award for implementing high-efficiency HVAC systems, low-voltage wiring, efficient irrigation systems, water recycling methods and energy reuse.

Green fees at Black Dessert Resort are $300 for 18 holes. Utah residents are being offered a promotional discount for rooms during the preview period that runs through March 31. Rates for Utahns start at $199 a night and include a $50 resort credit. Reservations can be made at blackdesertresort.com.

“My goal has always been to make this everyone’s resort,” Manning said. “I think we’re well on our way.”