BlogBlack Desert Championship Preview and Picks

The Buzz:

A couple of notes: I have had the first two eye surgeries to help make my eyes work a bit younger. I still have two cataract surgeries in the coming weeks, which I have been told are much easier than the two previous surgeries. My sight has improved, but I look for significant improvements around Thanksgiving.

A couple of weeks ago, we told you about the problems with the water supply on the island of Maui and how it had affected the Plantation course at the Kapalua Resort. With all of the grass close to dead, the PGA Tour announced last month that it would move the event to another venue.

The assumption was that the event would be moved to another venue on Maui, another Island, or even California.

The PGA Tour did this seamlessly last year with the Genesis Championship when it was deemed too hard to hold the event at Riviera after the fires ravaged the Pacific Palisades area. That event was moved to Torrey Pines, which was holding the Farmers Insurance Open. The big difference with that move was that it was announced the week of the Farmers Insurance Open so that it wouldn’t affect that event, and all of the infrastructure was in. If they were to move the Sentry to Southern California, it would seriously affect the upcoming events like the Farmers and Genesis, taking away ticket sales. So I thought the PGA Tour could move the event to TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. The course held the Presidents Cup and the 2020 PGA Championship. The PGA Tour has an agreement to hold future events, so it seems easy. Guess I was wrong. Lots of people are involved in moving a tournament, primarily for television. Golf Channel has the rights to the Sentry and the Sony Open, both in Hawaii. They also show the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, on the Big Island, and have worked out a way to have production trucks and facilities to cover the three weeks. Changing the course in Hawaii could be possible, but moving an event to California or anyplace outside of Hawaii would be a terrible burden.

Thanks to a podcast from the Fried Egg, they had a guess that had some unofficial news. The guest was longtime NBC and Golf Channel Analyst Mark Rolfing, who also had a significant part in the birth and growth of the Sentry Tournament as he ran golf operations at Kapalua. So Rolfing is an insider to what is happening at the Kapalua Resort, and he feels there is no scenario to move the event, and it will probably be canceled. It’s a shame when we see how much good the event does. Last week, Dave Reardon and Dan Nakaso wrote pieces on the long-range problems if the event was canceled in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Nakaso pointed out that $50 million would be lost to Hawaii’s economy and to Maui-based nonprofit organizations. The fire that destroyed the town of Lahaina just down the road and the already downtrend of tourism would pose a drastic problem for Maui. Reardon pointed out that the cancellation of Kapalua could put the Hawaii swing in Jeopardy. The week after the Sentry, the Sony Open in Hawaii is played in Honolulu, and many marquee players stick around to play in both events. The fear is that many marquee names won’t play in the Sony if the Sentry isn’t held or played in Hawaii. So, with the PGA Tour changing leadership, Brian Rolapp’s first real problem must be addressed. As of now, with just two months left before the event is supposed to be played, no word from the PGA Tour. So don’t be surprised if the Tour only has one choice: to cancel the event, sorry to say.

The Bank of Utah Championship

The PGA Tour visits Utah for the second time since 1963. The course is at 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, two hours north of Las Vegas. The course is built among ancient basalt rock formations 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.

Last year, Matt McCarty won by three shots over Stephan Jaeger. Matt was a recent Korn Ferry Tour graduate and only played in his 3rd event on the PGA Tour. McCarty started with a first-round 62 and never looked back. He finished with rounds of 68-64-67. Hard to pinpoint why McCarty won. He ranked T-65th in fairways hit, was T-22nd in Greens Hit, and didn’t achieve a reason for winning despite being first in Strokes Gained Total. Even in Scrambling, he was 21st, getting it up and down on ten of the 15 greens he missed. Nothing spectacular in putting stats, he was 6th in strokes Gained Putting as he was 18th in putting inside ten feet, making 67 of 74 putts in this distance. He made 23 birdies for the week, but seven others made more. He did make three eagles, which helped him increase his parbreaker total, ranking him 4th best for the week.

So the question is, how did he win?

He kept it in play on a new course, making six bogeys and no doubles. Two of his three eagles happened on Par 4s as he holed out on the fifth hole in the first round and the 14th hole when he drove the green and made a three-footer for birdie. He was also the best in the final round, playing his last five holes in three under par. But I doubt he could win with the same stats this year because more players will be able to figure out Black Desert and stay out of trouble, just like McCarty did.

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 drivable. Water plays a part in the drives at the 6th and 13th holes and in front of the 11th green. Bunkering is very sparse and, in some cases, gives the hole more beauty. Four par 3s range 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. First of all, despite looking scary off the tee, Black Desert fairways were pretty wide, and the field hit 84.05% of the fairways, making them the second easiest fairways to hit in 2025. Only El Cardonal at Diamante saw more fairways hit.

Now, for greens hit, Black Desert saw 75.94% of the greens hit in regulation, making it the third easiest course to hit greens for 2024 behind El Cardonal and Kapalua. The one thing that was hard at Black Desert last year was getting it up and down on greens missed. Players could only get it up and down 54.87% of the time, as it ranked 9th on the PGA Tour. So, look for scramblers to have an advantage.

So, to summarize what to look for in a winner, look for someone who can hit it far, avoid big numbers, and get it up and down on greens missed. Also, look for that player who has a hot hand coming into the week.