Best golf courses near St. George, UT

Black Desert Resort in the arid desert of southern Utah, surrounded by horizons of red rock mountains, was the last golf course Tom Weiskopf was involved in building (he was diagnosed with cancer as construction was beginning). Opened in 2023, the public course is a stunning juxtaposition of wavy fairways chiseled out of fields of black lava rock that had to be blasted into golf formations. Phil Smith, Weiskopf’s longtime design partner, completed the visually arresting design that hosted the PGA Tour’s new Black Desert Championship in the fall of 2024—the first tour event in Utah in more than 60 years—and an LPGA event in 2025. Black Desert Resort is located outside the golf-rich area of St. George, Utah.

One of the most scenic courses in the southwest, Sand Hollow’s Championship course has several holes that play on the edge of jagged cliffs: three of them made the Golf Digest America's 100 Greatest Holes ranking. The front nine is a relatively straightforward desert layout with well-placed bunkers. The back side features more elevation change as golfers play along a towering ridgeline, which falls off dramatically into a red rock canyon on the left. For the views alone—not to mention the strategic design—this is a must-play in southern Utah.

The Ledges of St. George is a playable southern Utah public track with tremendous views of the red rocks that characterize the region. There are some shorter par 4s that can be drivable for the longer hitter, making for some exciting risk/reward decisions. Though the views are nice throughout, the back nine offers some stunning vistas of the surrounding rocks, ledges and mountains.

Entrada at Snow Canyon was Golf Digest's Best Transformation winner in 2022 following a complete strip-down and rebuild by architect David McLay Kidd of the modest 1990s design. Every hole was redeveloped, with fairways widened and greens lowered and enlarged, their surrounds recontoured to better promote recovery options and the ability to bounce and run balls onto the putting surfaces. The setting in the high desert of southern Utah remains scenic, with holes skirting lakes and making a turn through outcroppings of black volcanic rock on the second nine, but the course is much more playable and elastic for the members.

Built on a sprawling piece of property with desert dunes and mountain views, Copper Rock is a 6,901-yard routing that opened in February 2020 that's absolutely worth playing if you're in Southern Utah. The course has also hosted the LPGA's Epson Tour in the past.

Set in St. George’s Virgin River Valley, SunRiver is an affordable, scenic and player-friendly layout. There are scenic vistas of the surrounding red rocks and mountains on nearly every hole. Burnt red sand lines many of the fairways, and the greens have enough undulation to be interesting without being too daunting. Interestingly, the back nine features three par 3s and three par 5s, creating plenty of variety.

Coral Canyon has all the aesthetic and strategic beauty of a desert golf course without the penalizing bite that often characterizes southwestern tracks. This southern Utah layout is relatively forgiving off the tee, with wide fairways and thick rough that often stops balls from rolling into the surrounding rocky desert. Still, there are some forced carries into greens which require solid ball striking.