LATEST
NEWS

Toby Ingleton
/ Categories: News

Promontory Club par-three course promises holes of character

A new 18-hole par-three course designed by Richardson | Danner for Promontory Club in Park City, Utah, is on schedule to open in summer 2023.

Wadsworth Golf Construction began work on ‘The Hills at Promontory’ in April 2022 and the new course is now approaching completion. It will join the Dye Canyon and Nicklaus Painted Valley layouts at the private community. 

“Our vision is one where each of the one-shot holes will all have their own character,” said golf course architect Forrest Richardson. “The common thread will be fun, beauty and lots of smiles.” 

In addition to classic template concepts such as Redan, Biarritz and Punchbowl holes, the architects have included an island green twelfth, surrounded by native Utah wildflowers, and the ‘New Moon’ ninth, where a crescent-shaped turf ridge has been created in the green.  

At the eleventh, ‘Ha-ha’, a green is set alongside a low stone wall where players may need to use the ground to craft shots that land short and then roll over the embankment to the green below. “We’ve always been fascinated by ha-ha’s,” said Richardson. “These walls are a landscape design feature that gives the illusion of a continuous view, yet there is a vertical element of surprise.” 

Design partner Jeff Danner worked through multiple routing options to achieve gradual elevation changes across the course. The course begins with a head-on view of Bald Mountain, the highest point in the Park City-Deer Valley Ski Area. “We routed holes across a 300-acre hillside,” said Danner. “Yet we have left plenty of natural open space around the layout so the player will feel ‘away from it all’ as they experience loops of six, nine, 12, 15 or all 18 holes.” The finishing holes wind up a canyon, culminating with an eighteenth that cascades down the hillside and across a small mountain stream. 

“Our goal was to create a course where everyone can score,” said Neil Jones, Promontory’s director of golf. “This is the course where we can have generations playing together, and where the fun will equal the challenge.” 

The 18-hole course includes options for short-cuts. “It’s the Old course at St Andrews in terms of its path,” said Danner. “We take you out and then back again. But at several points on your way out, you have the option to return, so it ends up being several courses in one.” 

Three sets of tees provide holes ranging between 66 yards (from the front tees at the ninth) and 226 yards (from the back tees of the fourth), with a total course length ranging from approximately 2,000 to 3,000 yards. 

The course has been designed with just 30 acres of managed turf, carefully engineered to be drought-tolerant with water saving measures in all areas of the design and infrastructure. 

A 400-yard range, short game area and golf academy will also be built. Jones said: “The Hills Course will become Promontory’s go-to golf training and practice facility. It’s where we will spend time with our members on lessons and fine-tuning their game for whatever lies ahead.” 

A new 18,000 square-foot clubhouse, designed by Douglas Fredrikson and including four indoor golf simulators, will be built overlooking the 20,000 square-foot Cascades putting course, integrating outdoor dining with the golf facilities. 

“Only so often do we get to bring dreams into reality,” said Richardson. “With the forward-thinking group at Promontory, the design team has been able to suggest new ideas for this one-of-a-kind site – the result will bring new energy to Promontory’s already incredible options for golfers.” 

Previous Article Five golf projects recognised by ASGCA for environmental excellence
Next Article Kevin Norby renovates Tillinghast design at Golden Valley
Print
7752 Rate this article:
No rating
Slideshow HTML
  • Promontory Club
    Richardson | Danner

    A new 18-hole par-three course will open at Promontory Club in summer 2023

  • Promontory Club
    Richardson | Danner

    The ninth, New Moon, has a crescent-shaped turf ridge in the green

  • Promontory Club
    Richardson | Danner

    The architects have included classic template concepts, such as the Biarritz fifth

  • Promontory Club
    Richardson | Danner

    Architects Forrest Richardson and Jeff Danner have created eighteen holes with individual character

  • Promontory Club
    Richardson | Danner

    The ‘Dell’ sixteenth and ‘Short’ seventeenth

ADd Image Credit here for home page
Richardson | Danner
Toby Ingleton

Toby IngletonToby Ingleton

Other posts by Toby Ingleton
Contact author

Contact author

x
The April 2025 issue of Golf Course Architecture is out now!
Magazine, News | Wed 16 Apr, 2025

The April 2025 issue of Golf Course Architecture is out now!

Includes reports from Maggie Hathaway and Apogee, interviews with Martin Ebert and Dave Axland and a feature on golf art

Spring 2025 issue of ASGCA’s By Design magazine is out now
Magazine, News | Fri 14 Mar, 2025

Spring 2025 issue of ASGCA’s By Design magazine is out now

New issue asks whether the golf boom has led to an increase in municipal golf investment

FEATURE
ARTICLES

Bringing golf to Benin
Afrikafun Production Stephane Brabant
Report | Richard Humphreys

Bringing golf to Benin

Jeremy Pern and Gregori International are creating the first 18-hole course in the West African country, on an ‘almost perfect’ site that also includes a sacred grove and voodoo shrines

The future of vegetation management on Melbourne’s Sandbelt
Lukas Michel/CDP
Opinion | Mike Clayton

The future of vegetation management on Melbourne’s Sandbelt

Mike Clayton discusses Alister MacKenzie’s transformative impact on Australian golf and how clubs can avoid repeating previous mistakes by establishing a long-term plan focused on indigenous plants

Maggie Hathaway: A force for good
Stephen Barton – Second Collective
On site | Adam Lawrence

Maggie Hathaway: A force for good

The reconstruction of the nine-hole course in Los Angeles is the golf industry at its best, says Adam Lawrence

Designs for the big screen
Pizá Golf
Interview | Richard Humphreys

Designs for the big screen

Chad Goetz and Agustin Piza discuss their design decisions for the virtual holes that featured in the first season of TGL

The ties that bind
Crooked Stick
Opinion | Justin Olmstead

The ties that bind

Justin Olmstead of Profile Products talks about the relationships behind the renovation of Crooked Stick in Indiana

Bob Harrison: Wizard of Oz
Konrad Borkowski
Interview | Adam Lawrence

Bob Harrison: Wizard of Oz

The Australian designer has had a long career and, like many of his countrymen, has spent much of it away from home. Adam Lawrence listened to his tales from the road

Jim Wagner and Rusty Mercer discuss Kinsale design and build
Kinsale Golf Club
Interview | Richard Humphreys

Jim Wagner and Rusty Mercer discuss Kinsale design and build

Florida course is a tribute to the Golden Age designs of Raynor and Macdonald

Are bunkers getting too pretty for their own good?
Larry Lambrecht
Feature | Adam Lawrence

Are bunkers getting too pretty for their own good?

Is the beauty of bunkering being over-emphasised at the expense of its function, asks Adam Lawrence

Good Read: The Prairie Raynor
Grant Books Ltd
Good Read | John Moran and Rand Jerris

Good Read: The Prairie Raynor

John Moran and Rand Jerris share insight into their book about Seth Raynor’s design at Chicago Golf Club

Vinpearl Golf Léman: New pearls for Vietnam
Vinpearl Golf Leman
Report | Richard Humphreys

Vinpearl Golf Léman: New pearls for Vietnam

The first of two Golfplan-designed courses at club near Ho Chi Minh City has opened for play

Seven Canyons: Desert drama
Brad Klein
Report | Bradley Klein

Seven Canyons: Desert drama

Brad Klein reports on a Phil Smith Design renovation in Sedona, Arizona

Gopher Watch Competition – April 2025
Gopher Watch, News | Wed 16 Apr, 2025

Gopher Watch Competition – April 2025

Which course has Sandy the gopher visited this month?

MOST
POPULAR

FEATURED
BUSINESSES