MIDWAY — Never has there been a better time to play the Homestead Golf Course, which is celebrating its 20th year of operation.

Prices are down, availability is up and the course is in terrific shape.

Chris Briscoe has been the director of golf operations all those years and says his course is doing its best to cope in these tough economic times. He said the number of rounds is up significantly over last year due in part to better weather and lower prices.

"We've really rolled back the prices," Briscoe said. "People have really responded well."

Where the Homestead was once the expensive course of the three in Midway, the price this year is just $40 for 18 holes, including carts, comparable to nearby Wasatch Mountain State Park and Soldier Hollow. Last year, it would have cost $55 and $65 on weekends to play Homestead.

And with corporate tournaments, once the lifeblood of the course, down 25 percent to 40 percent this year, the course is open more often for individual golfers or small groups. Briscoe said in the past, about 50 percent of his business was from corporate events, but the economy is limiting businesses from holding company golf outings.

The idea for the golf course was hatched in the mid-1980s when a local landowner approached Summerhays about designing a golf course near the long-standing Homestead Resort property.

Homestead owner Jerry Sanders thought it was a good idea, and when enough land was acquired for the 18 holes, the golf course was built with Summerhays as the designer, opening in the spring of 1990.

The setting for the golf course couldn't be much more scenic with the mountains to the north, west and south with a view of the beautiful Heber Valley below. It is adjacent to the popular Wasatch Mountain course and a couple of miles north of the Soldier Hollow.

The course isn't easy and can be downright difficult, stretching to 7,040 yards from the black tees. In fact from the black tees, the Homestead course has a 73.2 course rating with the highest slope rating of any course in the state at 146.

However, only the best golfers should try to play the back tees and even the blues might be too difficult for above-average golfers. Water comes into play on more than half the holes with carry shots required on some.

It starts with a dogleg left, which is uphill on the second part of the leg. Summerhays designed the second hole with Augusta's famous No. 12 hole in mind with a shallow green angling to the right. However, it is more uphill and doesn't have a creek to hit over like Augusta's Amen Corner hole.