BlogThe Black Desert Championship Preview and Picks

The Buzz:

The PGA Tour visits Utah for the first time since 1963. The course is the Black Desert Resort in the small town of Ivins, Utah. The town has a population of almost 9,000 people and is a short drive to St. George, which is two hours north of Las Vegas. The course is built among ancient basalt rock formations and is near Snow Canyon State Park. It is the last course that Tom Weiskopf built. He died in 2022, and the course opened in May 2023.

Weiskopf built an expansive layout with most fairways up to 100 yards wide. The course features two driveable par 4s, the fifth and 14th. The course presents a remarkable contrast in color: red rock mountains, lush green fairways, and black lava. Weiskopf had to blast every square inch they wanted to use as playable land, making it a tedious, time-consuming, and expensive act as the course was routed through the lava outflow utilizing natural veins and dynamite.

Course information:

• Black Desert Resort
• Ivins, Utah
• 7,371 yards     Par 36-35–71

So what will it take to win?

The course is very special.  Its beauty is breathtaking, especially in the early morning and late afternoon when the sun is low.  The course meanders through lava fields, and the players will find it very playable.

Every hole has no blind spots and only a few doglegs. Long hitters will have a field day as they can roar back and hit it as far as possible. The yardage is deceptive because of its elevation of 3,000, so the ball flies further. Three holes over 480 yards and three par 5s over 570 yards are still within reach.

Two par 4s, the 5th and the 14th, are under 322 yards, so they are driveable.  Water plays a part on the drives at the 6th and 13th and in front of the 11th green.  Bunkering is very sparse and, in some cases, gives the hole more beauty.  Four par 3s are ranging from 151 to 202 yards.

The course is located in an area that gets lots of wind in the afternoon, but with low humidity and temperatures just over 90 degrees Fahrenheit most of the time, the ball will fly a long way.

So look for players who hit it long, can hit lots of greens, and make a lot of birdies and eagles. Look for the scores to be shallow, in the 20 to 23 under numbers.

Let’s take a look at vital stats that are important for those playing at Black Desert:

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:

Click any column title in the table header to sort columns.

DraftKings tips

*Here are the guys that cost the most on DraftKings this week:

• Keith Mitchell – $10,600
• Seamus Power – $10,300
• Kurt Kitayama – $10,200
• Beau Hossler – $10,000
• Erik Van Rooyen – $9,900
• Chris Kirk – $9,800
• Patrick Fishburn – $9,600
• Ben Griffin – $9,400
• Stephan Jaeger – $9,300
• Ryan Fox – $9,200
• Lucas Glover – $9,000

Keith Mitchell at $10,600, is a good pick this week because of two essential items. He is 10th in driving distance on the PGA Tour, which will help him this week. The following essential item: he finished 12th at the Procore, and last week was T-3rd at the Sanderson Farms but struggled in the final round. That 70 on Sunday, with a bogey at the final hole that cost him a lot of FedExCup points and about $350,000, could be a learning experience for him. Mitchell is also good at hitting greens but needs help as he struggles with the putter. Still, he will be a perfect choice for this week. Seamus Power at $10,300, could be seeing his game improve. He was T-10th at the FedEx St. Jude, T-26th at the Irish Open, and T-11th at the Sanderson Farms so that he could be on the verge of a run, so don’t worry about him. I have not seen much of Kurt Kitayama at $10,200, but this could be a good week for him. He is 44th in driving distance and hits greens, but his putting holds him back, so he is a no for me. Beau Hossler at $10,000, comes into this week hot after losing a playoff at the Sanderson Farms. His stats are good; he is 84th in driving distance and is a good putter, so he is a person to think about. Erik Van Rooyen at $9,900 is a gamble; he seems to finish in the top 20 and then misses the cut on the next start. One thing to remember about Van Rooyen is that he is 42nd in driving distance, 23rd in greens hit, and 35th in putting. I picked him because this course is similar to El Cardonal at Diamante, a course he won in the World Wide Technology competition in Mexico. Chris Kirk at $9,800, is another player to think about; again, he won in January at the Sentry, a course with wide-open fairways. He hasn’t played since the FedExCup playoffs but had a good summer. Patrick Fishburn at $9,600, is another player to watch. He drives it long, and his stats on the Korn Ferry tour also had him hitting lots of greens and putting well. So, there are a lot of great players, and at best, you can only take two of them. Of the seven we have discussed, I like Van Rooyen, Mitchell, and Fishburn the most. Ben Griffin at $9,400, doesn’t hit it very long, and I don’t think he will play well this week. Stephan Jaeger at $9,300 is a thought since he hits it long. But he is weak in Green Hit and putting, which causes me to look the other way at Jaeger. Ryan Fox at $9,200, is a lot like Jaeger; good off the tee but is not great in greens hit and putting. Lucas Glover at $9,000 could be a great choice because his putting has come around.

*Players in that $7,500 to $8,900 price range, which ones are worth the money?:

I like Patrick Rodgers at $8,600. Yes, he missed the cut last week but has played well over the summer and on courses like Black Desert. Andrew Novak at $8,100 is worth a look. He has played well this summer and is great at hitting greens and putting. Matt McCarty at $8,000 is worth looking at. He had a great summer on the Korn Ferry Tour, including three wins, and I just think Black Desert is a good course for him.

*Some of the “bargains” this week at the Black Desert Championship:

Bud Cauley at $7,400 was T-5th last week at the Sanderson Farms, could be his week to shine.  Pierceson Coody at $7,200 is sneaky long and could be a great pick since he does make a lot of cuts.  Henrik Norlander at $7,200 is worth it, playing well of late and can hit it long.  This is a great course for Cameron Champ at $7,100.  He is 3rd on the PGA Tour driving stat and is always a threat on bomber courses like this.