50 Words or Less
Copper Rock Golf Course, located in southwest Utah, offers players a Tour-caliber challenge with undulating fairways and tricky putting surfaces. Lush rough punishes those that miss fairways and greens.
Introduction
Recently, I got the chance to play a round with LPGA professional Linnea Strom. It was eye-opening to see up close just how easy a true professional makes the game look. This isn’t an experience most golfers will have, but you can test yourself against the same course as the pros at Copper Rock Golf Course, home to an Epson Tour event. Winners here are under par for four days straight in tournament conditions. Can you do the same?
Practice Facilities
The practice facilities at Copper Rock Golf Course are adequate. There’s a range with room for about ten golfers, a small chipping area, and a putting green sized for no more than six golfers. Overall, they’re fine, but they feel underwhelming for a course held in such high esteem with high green fees.
Customer Service & Amenities
The clubhouse at Copper Rock Golf Course is modestly sized, but it has everything you need. There’s a curated array of logo gear, including some really great head covers. If you need a wedge, putter, or new shoes, they have you covered. There’s also a nice snack counter with good sandwiches and enormous hot dogs. You’ll only find three tables inside, but there’s more room for post round drinks and analysis on the back patio.
There are two odd things that need to be pointed out. First, the GPS systems are not great. The images of the holes are blocky and inaccurate in spots, which is a problem for the first timer (more on this later). Second, the routing is bizarre. From the clubhouse, you need to drive backwards through holes 10 and 11 (potentially into oncoming golf shots) to get to the range and the first tee. Then you need to drive through 10 and 11 again after you finish 18. It’s not a deal breaker, but it’s weird. [Learn More / Plan Trip]
Visiting Greater Zion – Lodging
Centering on St. George and extending to include Zion National Park, several state parks, and more, the Greater Zion offers loads of options for lodging both in terms of size and location. I’d suggest thinking about your itinerary and the focus of your trip, then picking accommodations to match.
If you want to stay in the heart of St. George, The Advenire is a trendy hotel with exquisite amenities. It may, however, limit your dining exploration: Wood. Ash. Rye. is located within the hotel, and once you eat there, it’s hard to go anywhere else.
Matt Meeker and I stayed at The Ledges, just northwest of St. George. This is a great choice for families and larger groups, as they offer single family rental homes and luxury villas. It’s located next door to Snow Canyon State Park, so it feels secluded, but all the attractions of St. George are a short car ride away.
Two options for those that want to stay closer to Zion National Park are The Dwellings and Zion White Bison Resort. The former has tiny homes on the edge of the Virgin River, with ample access to outdoor activities and Hurricane, Utah. Zion White Bison Resort offers “luxury glamping” in covered wagons, teepees, or cliff dwellings for those that want something far from the normal hotel room.
Check out the Greater Zion website HERE for a comprehensive listing of accommodations.
For more on non-golf activities in Greater Zion to fill out your itinerary, click HERE.
Beauty & Scenery
When we played Dixie Red Hills, the locals that we were paired with told us that Copper Rock Golf Course was, “a great course, but kind of ugly.” Clearly the people of St. George have the kind of standards for golf course aesthetics that San Diegans have for weather: unreasonably high.
Copper Rock provides golfers with loads of visual interest and natural beauty. There are long views on most holes, ample elevation changes, and the gorgeous contrast of the green course against the desert mountain backdrop.
If I were trying to give credence to the local critique, I’d acknowledge that the housing-lined tenth and eleventh holes are not great to look at, and the nearby mountains are not red like the ones at other courses. But, on balance, this feels like picking nits on a course that most would find quite attractive. [Learn More / Plan Trip]
Tee Shots
With five sets of tees ranging from 7,283 to 5,011 yards, Copper Rock Golf Course has enough muscle to challenge the long hitters and suitable tees for shorter hitters. While appropriate for the natural palette, the tee colors (silver/white and copper/gold) are easily confused for one another, so be sure to count the markers before you hit your drive.
In most of my reviews, I note that picking the right set of tees is important to getting maximum enjoyment. Typically this means not going too far back. Copper Rock Golf Course forces me to issue the opposite warning: don’t play too far forward (unless you don’t want to hit driver). This course gets very prescriptive in terms of tee shot distance. If you try to hit your drive beyond what you can very clearly see is a safe spot, you’re likely to end up in trouble. Without local knowledge, you can hit a drive that looks good but ends up lost.
If you’re playing the right set of tees – or at least have the right club in hand – there’s a fairly generous amount of room at Copper Rock Golf Course. Most of the fairways are average or wider, and there’s typically one side that’s a safe miss. The holes that are exceptions to this are quite short – obvious risk/reward holes. If you venture off the grass, you’re rolling the dice. There were times in our round where we could see the ball sitting up in the desert from the tee. Other times, the ball nestled into the desert vegetation, never to be seen again.
Approach Shots
Outside of the par 3s, you’re unlikely to have any driving range lies when you hit your approach shots at Copper Rock Golf Course. There’s moderate undulations throughout every fairway, and most have at least one substantial feature – a large mound or a tilt from left to right, for example. This forces you to modify your stance, grip, and swing to match what the hole calls for.
These challenges are often ramped up a level if you miss the fairway and compounded by the thick rough. While the rough is not so lush that you need to play out sideways, it will impact your approach shots. If you don’t have ample speed, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to put long approaches on the green from the rough.
On the majority of holes the fairway runs all the way to the green, but that doesn’t mean that Copper Rock Golf Course welcomes links-y, running approach shots. Most of the greens are situated above the surrounds, and the turf is not particularly fast or firm. On top of all that, several holes feature a bunker in the mouth of the green. Figure out how much extra distance you’re getting from the elevation in St. George and plan for an aerial approach.
Greens & Surrounds
I found the greens to be the most fun element of Copper Rock Golf Course. There aren’t many tiered or segmented greens, but every putting surface has personality with shoulders, ridges, and gentle undulations. When we played, the greens were running at a moderate pace, allowing us to play more or less break depending on our preferred speed.
The surrounds are mostly covered in thick rough, but there are some tighter-mown chipping areas. While not really puttable, this shorter cut is much easier to navigate. Most of the greens are elevated above the surrounds, adding a level of complexity to the short game shots. Overall, I would say the surrounds at Copper Rock Golf Course are more tough than strategic, so just try to hit more greens in regulation.
Finally, the bunkers at Copper Rock Golf Course deserve special mention. There’s tremendous variety in their shape, size, and depth, and there are spots that will really stretch the limits of your vocabulary. Devious, diabolical, penal…or, if you end up in a spot like Meeker, you may just choose some four letter words. It’s not always easy, but do your best to play away from the sand because you can catch some really bad breaks.
Favorite Holes
#6 – Par 4 – 377 Yards
The drive is substantially downhill, making this hole play much shorter than the scorecard yardage, but it’s not really drivable. Hit the ball safely into the fat part of the fairway then take on a wedge shot over water and sand to one of Copper Rock Golf Course’s smaller greens.
#17 – Par 3 – 135 Yards
The penultimate hole at Copper Rock Golf Course is the shortest par 3, and it plays even shorter thanks to the dramatically elevated tee box. If you’re too busy taking pictures, you can miss this modestly sized green and need some short game wizardry to save par.
Conclusion
Copper Rock Golf Course provides recreational golfers the chance to test their games against a Tour-quality course while taking in gorgeous scenery. The course does have some quirks, and local knowledge is definitely helpful, but this is a track that deserves to be on your St. George golf itinerary. [Learn More / Plan Trip]
Tee times, course details, vacationing, and community living all in one place, with everything you need to plan a round, explore the neighborhood, and take the next step with confidence.
He founded Plugged In Golf in 2013 with the goal of helping all golfers play better and enjoy the game more.
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.
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