Heber City

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Heber Valley Golf

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Wasatch
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4 out of 5
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Nice Climate, Great Golf

  • May 28, 2009
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Wasatch from heber ctity, Utah
Nice Climate, Great Golf

The 18,000 residents of Heber Valley share 36 square miles with 6½ golf courses-- 117 holes of golf. Golf is big in Heber Valley because there is a near ideal summer climate. Nobody gets excited if there is no rain for 6-8 weeks. When it rains, a rain that lasts for more than an hour gets a lot of attention. Humidity is 10-25%. Midsummer temperatures average 92 very dry degrees, dropping to 50 at night. If you play early in the morning, bring a sweater. *We live here, and it is not unusual for us to change clothes three times a day in summer to adjust to changing temperature. The 2,000,000 residents of the Salt Lake Valley, less than an hour away on the other side of the Wasatch Range live 1,500 ft. lower than Heber Valley. The lower altitude plus the urban heat island effect and the lack of wind makes their summer days 10-15 degrees hotter. They escape the heat by golfing in Heber Valley. So do people from Phoenix and Las Vegas.

The mountain wall surrounding the valley rises 5,000-7,000 feet above the valley floor, creating its own micro-climate. Every afternoon, a good breeze, created by temperature differences between the mountain tops and valley floor, blows across the valley. With the breeze and low humidity, it is never stifling hot. If you don’t have good tan, look out for sun burn. The high altitude (6,000 ft.) and dry air make the sun’s rays much stronger. If you live 1,000 ft. above sea level or lower, exercise at 6,000 ft. will leave you noticeably more out of breath than you expect. A rare visitor will experience mild altitude sickness– headaches for a few days. Try Ibuprofen.

Golfers can walk three of the five 18 hole public courses. The very hilly Gold and Mountain courses require carts-- the 13th green on the Mountain is 800 ft. higher than the first tee.

Golf in Heber Valley is relatively inexpensive, with one exception, the 27 hole private course a Red Ledges. The four 18 hole public courses within Wasatch Mountain State Park charge $40 with cart. The Homestead's Bruce Summerhays designed 18 public holes costs $35-70 for 18 holes. Carts are equipped with a GPS distance to the hole map. The 27 Jack Nickolaus designed holes at Red Ledges are new in 2009. Play is limited to the of Red Ledges property owners.

Advanced reservations, which can be made on line, are strongly recommended for all five courses.

All five have putting greens and a driving range. The Homestead has a practice sand trap. Speaking of traps, Soldier Hollow has fine white sand in the traps. However, when the fairways are watered every night, the sand is also watered and packs down to a wet concrete consistency.

Wasatch Mountain State Park covers 20,000 acres on the lower slopes of the Wasatch Range. The park is so large than its four golf courses are mere specs along the valley floor. Soldier Hollow’s two courses run across the lower hills of the Wasatch Range. The Gold Course is somewhat more difficult because it crosses higher, steeper slopes. Most holes demand adjusting for a downhill roll when the ball lands. On the the few that don’t, you face impressive uphill or downhill approaches to the green.

Soldier Hollow bears a perverse resemblance to Scotland’s famed links. The land between the narrow fairways was left native– a rough sage brush desert. There were no trees on the course when it opened, but they ruined the effect by planting some. The odd effect is a treeless course demanding as accurate fairway play as going down a tree alley in places where it rains. You can walk the Silver Course. Because of the steeper hills, carts only on the Gold Course.

Although Soldier Hollow is part of Wasatch Mountain State Park, the two much older courses in the park are known as Wasatch Mountain golf course. The Lake Course is almost flat. The 13th green on the Mountain Course is 800 feet higher than the first tee. One hole has a 180 feet deep dip in the middle of the fairway. Don’t be short. There are lots of trees on both courses. A few years ago, Golf Magazine rated these courses in the top 20 public courses in the nation. The Lake Course is the easiest of the four cuirasses in the park. The Mountain is more difficult because the fairways are tighter through the trees. Although there are no trees at Soldier Hollow, both Soldier hollow courses are impressively more difficult than the Mountain Course.

The Homestead is an attractive resort with an 18 hole golf course open to the public, year round scuba diving inside a volcano in 90 degree water, indoor and out door swimming pools supplied by thermal springs, and a good Sunday buffet. In addition to daily greens fees, golf packages including room and board are available. The Homestead course has fairly narrow fairways, trees, water hazards, and strategically placed traps. Some call it challenging or difficult. I call it a mean golf course. It is unforgiving and nasty, fun to play, and not terribly expensive. You can walk all 18 holes or take a cart. Only the Lake Course is flatter for walkers.
There is a small waterfalls to the left of the cart path between #16 and #17.

All have a restaurant. The Homestead has two, Fanny’s Grill overlooking the duck pond and the house trailer like building next to the pro shop which serves hot dogs, Polish sausages, chips and such and drinks. Also, the Homestead has a snack cart that travels the course selling pop, chips, and candy bars. The Mountain course has a little snack bar with hot dogs and nibbles near the 9th hole. The most attractive setting is the restaurant at Soldier Hollow with big windows overlooking Heber Valley with Mt Heber (alt. 10,000 ft.) In the distance.

Golf season starts when the snow melts, usually by April but sometimes not, and runs usually until Thanksgiving but some times not if there is a big early snow. In early April, one can ski in the morning and play afternoon golf.

When you are tried of golf, or need something for the wife and kids, the Heber area has a abundance of recreational opportunities: Wind surfing (Deer Creek Lake); hang gliding (Point-of-the-Mountain and Squaw Peak Rd.); horse bark riding at Sundance and The Homestead; trout/fly fishing in the Provo River and Mirror Lake), hot air ballooning, sightseeing flights, and gliders at the Heber City Airport; hiking; lift served mountain biking at Sundance, Park City, The Canyons, and Deer Valley, or rent a bike and tool around the Heber Valley; The Mormon Tabernacle Choir-- open rehearsal on Thursday evening, free concert every Sunday at 9:00am; fall foliage; and scenic drives-- UT Rt. 92, US 189 through Provo Canyon, and the Mirror Lake National Scenic Byway. These roads are especially impressive in the fall– mid August to the end of September.

Some of Heber Valley's more unusual activities are year round scuba diving, swimming or hot tubing inside a volcano in 90 degree water; day trips to Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef National Parks, and Cedar Breaks, Fossil Butte, Timpanogos Cave (very strenuous and reservation required), and Dinosaur National Monuments; waterfalls-- Bridal Veil along the road to Provo, and Stewart's Cascade near Sundance; salmon runs at the Strawberry Reservoir Visitor Center, Aug- Oct.; 1,000,000 acres of federally protected wilderness areas; or slide down a glacier on your butt in mid-summer on Mt. Timpanogos.
A visit to Zion's Bank on Center St. in Heber City takes you into a well restored real old west home. Feel free to wander around. Midway's Main St. has several houses designed by Queen Victoria's personal architect. What could be more Victorian than that? You don't
need addresses. You will know them when you see them. Midway's Swiss inspired Town Hall has an authentic European glockenspiel that performs every 15 min. if it feels like it. Midway’s "Swiss Days" around Labor Day is an outpouring of arts and crafts and early Americana with entertainment and home made sauerkraut.
In June, there is a vintage car show in Heber City and an Indian Pow-wow at Soldier Hollow, which also hosts a sheep dog contest sometime.

For accommodations, summer is high season in Heber Valley, but low season at nearby Park City and at Robert Redford’s Sundance Resort.

GETTING THERE Catch a nonstop from Atlanta to Salt Lake City by 8:00 am
and be in Heber Valley for a late lunch and a round of golf. Everything in Heber Valley is about an hour drive from the airport. Leave the airport on I-80 eastbound. Exit on
US 40 for Heber. It's all expressway.

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