Golf course of the week: Park City Golf Club

Directions: Exit I-80 toward Park City on Highway 224, course is off to right just before Park City

Head professional: Bob Rudd

Superintendent: Clint Dayley

Course designer: William Henrichsen Neff (back), Pres Maxwell (front)

Year opened: 1962 (back), 1972 (front)

Cost: $31 (residents) $41 (non-residents) Carts: $14

Reservations: 521-2135 (SLC), 615-5800 (PC), 7 days in advance

Easiest time to get on: middle of weekdays for twosomes and after Labor Day

Course record: Jeff Green 64 (comp)

Course description: Head pro Bob Rudd calls his course "still the busiest course in Utah for 100 days" and it's no wonder. The Park City layout is fun, scenic and reasonably priced for what some would consider a resort course. To oldtimers, it's just Park City Muni, a course that has seen few changes since the second nine was completed in 1972. The course is not all that long at 6,562 yards from the back tees and 6,256 from the middle. But it plays longer since the good players can't hit driver on several holes and some tricky doglegs take accuracy rather than length. Rudd calls it "definitely a ball-striker's course" and says the key to scoring is hitting the ball on the lower side of the holes. Water comes into play on seven holes on the front and three on the back. About half of the clientele are locals, who get a $10 break on green fees, with a quarter coming from the Wasatch Front and the rest tourists. The nines were switched about five years ago and if you haven't been up to the course lately, you'll be shocked to see the brand-new Park City Hotel standing where the old clubhouse used to be. Although the course is busy every day from Memorial Day to Labor Day, Rudd says September is a wonderful time to play the course because of the fall scenery and open tee times.

Holes to remember: The par-5 No. 18 has changed over the years and its latest redesign makes it one of the best. The island green is gone, but the course has been lengthened slightly and still has a water hazard to contend with. Nos. 4-5-6 on the front nine constitute the best stretch of holes on the course. The par-5 No. 4 hole is a dogleg right with water at the corner and some up by the green, which is surrounded by bunkers and slightly elevated from the fairway. The next hole, the par-4 No. 5, might be the prettiest on the course as it heads toward Thayne's Canyon. The par-4 6th is short at 333 from the middle, but the dogleg left, features a knee-knocking shot over a lake to a shallow green.