Black Desert Resort in Ivins, Utah, will open a new golf course on 27 May. The layout is a design by Phil Smith and the late Tom Weiskopf.

The eighteen-hole course has been built among black lava fields below Southern Utah’s red rock mountains.

Playability was one priority for the designers, with most of Black Desert’s fairways being 70 to 100 yards wide. The course also features two driveable par fours – the fifth and fourteenth holes.

Watch: A hole-by-hole flyover tour of the course, narrated by Tom Weiskopf.

The resort opened nine holes for preview play in November, as the remaining nine grew in. An 85-yard par-three nineteenth hole, set beside a lake, will open later this year.

Heritage Links was responsible for construction and installed an AquaFuse by CMF Global irrigation system, designed by GPS Golf As-Built Design.

Black Desert Resort has been developed by Reef Capital Partners and the project includes a 150-room hotel, walking trails, a wellness spa, retail and restaurant areas, 32 estate lots, and shops.

“Black Desert Resort is located at the convergence of three unique landscapes – jet-black lava beds, towering red rock cliffs of Zion National Park, and Utah’s beautiful Mohave Desert,” said Jared Lucero, CEO of Reef Capital. “The emerald fairways and greens laced among the lava fields are set against the red rock backdrop, making for an awe-inspiring golf setting.”

Troon will manage golf operations and agronomy at Black Desert. The resort will also be the home for the Dixie State University golf teams.