Black Desert Championship Key Fantasy Stats

Black Desert Championship

October 10th – 13th, 2024

Black Desert Resort

Ivins, Utah

Par: 71 / Yardage: 7,371

Purse: $7.5 million

with $1,350,000 to the winner

Defending Champion: First year event

by Sal Johnson

Founder, Chief Data Officer, GOLFstats

E-mail me at:
sal@golfstats.com

The PGA Tour is being played in Utah this week with a new and exciting tournament. What makes the event exciting and special is the course, the Black Desert Resort, which just opened up and has been built at the base of a black lava field. Situated up the road from St. George, which is next to the Utah/Arizona/Nevada border, is just two hours up I-15 from Las Vegas. The course, Tom Weiskopf’s last work, has stunning views of the hills and a desert look with the fairways guarded by rock croppings. It resembles the Hualalai Golf Course in Hawaii, without the Pacific Ocean. The course has a dramatic look, one that puts fear into the average golfer that each shot could bring disaster. But just like the Hualalai Golf Course, which hosts the Mitsubishi Electric on the Champions Tour, for the best players in the world, this resort course will be very manageable for the best players in the world. Like the Plantation Course at Kapalua, which holds The Sentry, Black Desert will be very accommodating for those playing this week with its wide open fairways on which a wide-body jet can land on. Lengthwise, the course plays to 7,371 yards, but players get an added advantage since Black Diamond is 3,000 feet above sea level, making the course play to around 6,900. The greens are generous at 7,000 square feet, and since the course only has 44 bunkers and water coming into play on just two holes, it could produce low scoring. But the course does have one protection: wind that seems to blow in the afternoon.

So who does the course favor? This will be a bomber’s course in which long hitters will dominate. The player with the best iron play will rule, as I expect many greens to not only be hit but also find shots close to the hole.
So, with that said, how can we judge this course? First, we will do something we have done in picking categories for new courses. We are going to use strictly strokes gained stats. Our first is Strokes Gained Off-the-Tee because driving will be necessary. With wider fairways and the course being played over 7,371 yards, this is a bomber’s course. Missing fairways will be nearly impossible since the fairways are so wide, but those wild players will find lava hard to recover from. Our second stat is Strokes Gained. Approach the green because hitting greens is essential, and you must make sure to hit the greens. Our third stat is Strokes Gained around the green because players will miss greens, and to win, they will have to get it up and down. Last is Strokes Gained-Putting because that will be very important for players this week.

*Strokes Gained Off-the-Tee: The per-round average of the number of strokes based on the number of fairways and distance hit

*Strokes Gained Approach-the-Green: Takes into account the number of greens and the proximity to the hole in the interest of saving shots.

*Strokes Gained Around-the-Green: Number of strokes gained from shots around the green. A lot of it is scrambling and bunker play.

*Strokes Gained Putting: The number of strokes gained in putting

88 of the 132 players from this year’s field with stats from 2024:

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