Summit course gets visit from designer: Nicklaus

PARK CITY — When developers of The Promontory Ranch Club, the upscale Summit County private-community a few miles east of Park City, signed on Jack Nicklaus to design one of their five golf courses, they gave the golf legend the pick of the property.

He chose a valley and ridge high on the property's east side — an area where the residential development is just now starting to reach. The Nicklaus Valley Golf Course at Promontory, the second of five, is in the late-construction stages and sod will start going down in about a month.

Nicklaus toured the course Saturday, and he moved a few bunkers and altered a few greens. The course, with holes that run mainly north and south along two valleys, will be the state's longest from the championship tees — measuring more than 8,100 yards from the tips. Even from the white tees the course will be among the longest at more than 7,100 yards. The opening hole is a downhill par-5 that measures 740 yards from the back tees and 634 yards from the white tees.

"This golf course is not going to be a long golf course from a playing standpoint," Nicklaus said, alluding to the effect of altitude and that many of the longer holes are downhill.

Still, a course with that kind of length makes one wonder if a future national tournament is planned on the layout. However, Nicklaus said that wasn't one of his design objectives, and that the championship tees are mainly there for "members' pride" reasons. Promontory officials say there are no plans to use the new course to attract a big-time golf event.

"That really isn't our focus," Promontory managing director Rich Sonntag said.

With no plans for the course to host a national tournament and because the course is part of an exclusive multi-million dollar private membership, it's not one that many Utahns will ever play, walk or see. But Nicklaus' visit to the site Saturday provided some insight into his golf course design philosophies - and he admitted that many have changed over the years.

First, he designs a course that is best-suited for the people who will play it by taking the land available and "aesthetically making it pretty and aesthetically making it fair."

He's learned to make his courses more forgiving from the women's tees, and likes his greens to hold a shot while also allowing golfers a way to run a shot onto a green.

"I try to make every shot on the golf course a good shot with what the golfer will have," Nicklaus said.