Tag: Phil Smith

Scenic Arizona golf course that battled javelinas will reopen in April after renovation

Javelinas, which are most active at night, dug up big swaths of grass at this scenic golf course.

A viral video last October showed what happens when hungry javelinas have free rein on a golf course in the dark of night.

Now, Seven Canyons Golf Club, located in scenic Sedona, Arizona, is getting ready to unveil a new look.

Originally a Tom Weiskopf design that opened in 2003, the course is putting the finishing touches on a Phil Smith renovation and, according to Golf Course Architecture, will reopen in April.

The course got new ownership in 2022 and Weiskopf visited later that year to offer some thoughts on the renovation, according to Golf Business News.

“It was Tom’s last site visit out of his home state of Montana,” Smith said of Weiskopf, who died in August of that year. “It was wonderful to have him here.”

The renovation includes a re-sequencing of the holes, levelling tees and rebunkering, with new sand in all the sand traps, which were returned to their original shapes.

New amenities include an 8,000-square-foot putting green and a social space called the Turn House.

Seven Canyons is tied for 178th on Golfweek’s Best Top 200 residential courses. The course does have a membership but tee times can be secured by staying in the Enchantment Resort or renting a townhouse at Seven Canyons.

During its back and forth with the javelinas, the grounds crew at Seven Canyons, with the aid of Arizona Game and Fish Department, managed to corral 18 of the wild animals before relocating them to less populated parts of the national forest nearby. It’s likely to be an ongoing battle, however.

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Photos: Black Desert Resort opens gorgeous new Tom Weiskopf/Phil Smith course in Utah

Check out photos of the new Black Desert Resort course in Utah that is quickly earning rave reviews.

Black Desert Resort Golf Course in Ivins, Utah, opened in late May as the last course designed by Tom Weiskopf, who passed away in 2022. The Golfweek’s Best raters have a lot of great things to say about the new layout not far from St. George in the southwest corner of the state.

The resort’s 18-hole layout is open for daily-fee play among the region’s ancient basalt rock formations near Snow Canyon State Park. Partnering with architect Phil Smith, Weiskopf built an expansive layout with most fairways 70 to 100 yards wide. The course features two driveable par 4s, the fifth and 14th.

Upon buildout, Black Desert will feature a full hotel and conference center, more than a thousand residences, trails, a spa and plenty more. The property is managed by hospitality-management company Troon Golf, and Black Desert is already slated to host an LPGA event starting in 2025. The course also will offer an amphiteater-style 19th hole and a 36-hole lit putting course.

After a first tour of the course, the Golfweek’s Best raters had many positive comments.

“An amazing design and absolutely stunning contrast of the lava rocks with the greenery and surrounding red mountains,” wrote one rater. “Truly an oasis. Several holes can be played in multiple different ways depending on your confidence that day as risk/reward options abound. It’s a beautiful course, one you’ll remember for a lifetime.”

“Black Desert blew me away,” wrote another. “It has everything I would want in a modern course. The combination of setting, vistas and course itself is the total package. The black lava rock is so unique, I’ve never seen it anywhere else in the mainland. You also have the beautiful sweeping vistas of the red canyons visible from every hole.”

Check out several photos from Black Desert Resort below.