WingPointe GC at SLC International (with pics)

[Kalen Braley]

If you ever find yourself with a long layover at the Salt Lake City airport, you may want to consider playing a round at WingPointe Golf Course.



Built in 1990 by Arthur Hills the course is a faux links style course routed thru wetlands that literally sits right next to the airport.  While the fairways are fairly wide and forgiving, the approaches into the greens are demanding and often well guarded by bunkering in front and wetlands behind.  As the pictures will show, it is guilty of containment mounding, but the conditioning is good and it offers a nice variety of long and short holes.

The fun starts right away at the 2nd hole, a short par 4 of less than 300 yards.  But it requires an exacting shot to hold the green even with a wedge in hand after a layup.  The 3rd is a bite off as much as you can chew hole over the wetlands, while the par 3 4th requires a long carry over the same hazard to a well protected green.  While the par 5s are shortish, the greens are well protected and require good play to score well.

The course climaxes on the back 9 which meanders thru faux dunes that at times requires thoughtful tee shots and layup planning.  Ironically, after completion of the course, the wetlands on this section of the course had to be abandoned as they attracted too many water fowl which don't mix well with low flying aircraft.  To add insult to injury the last 2 holes are well...I'll let the picture of the 17th do the talking.

Overall though I'd put it in the range of 3 to 4 on the Doak scale as some of the holes are IMO very interesting.  While its not worth a special visit to see by any stretch of the imagination, it is a great economical option at $27, and can make a long layover at SLC International that much more palpable... Enjoy.


Par 4 - 2nd Hole

I had this tough approach from right of the green at the short par 4 after having a go at the green.




Par 4 - 3rd Hole

The approach in after playing well clear of the water on the left:




Par 3 - 4th Hole

A closeup view of the green complex that presents plenty of awkward lies if you choose to play safe away from the water.




Par 4 - 6th Hole

The approach in guarded short by a bunker and long by wetlands:




Par 5 - 7th Hole

If going for the green in 2, these bunkers must be negotiated.  I choose to lay up back for a short 3rd in.




Par 3 - 8th Hole

This is a pretty little temptress that requires a precise shot in.  Short, left, and long are all wrong, but you can bail out to the right.



A closer look at the green complex:



Selected holes on Back 9 to follow..

[Kalen Braley]

Back 9 Pics:


Hole 12 - Par 4

After a ho hum start to the back, the fun starts at the short par 4 12th which plays at about 325 yards.



After a wind assisted 3 wood to here, it was a short pitch in to the front pin:




Hole 13 - Par 4

Toughest tee shot on the course that plays right into the prevailing wind with a narrow landing area.  If you lay back off the tee this is the 2nd shot in.



If you are Tiger and can hit it 300 yards into the wind, you might have something closer to this;



A look back down the hole from behind the green:




Hole 14 - Par 4

The tee shot to a semi-tight landing area:



The long approach in if you don't hit a good tee ball:




Hole 15 - par 5

Reachable without wind, into the wind, pretty darn tough.  



Looking back from behind the green:




Hole 16 - Par 5

A long carry over the abandoned wetland is required but usually plays downwind:



The approach in requires a precise wedge...hidden trouble lurks to the left of the green...




Hole 17 - Par 3

Sadly, it would have been nice to end after the 16th, but they had to get back to the clubhouse.  Being next to a secured airport area, the fence had to be there I guess.  Anyways....just brutal...

[Mike_Cirba]

I played WingPointe back shortly after it opened and it was a lot of fun.

Am I losing it or was Keith Foster the design associate responsible for the Arthur Hills design?

[Mike_Cirba]

just double-checked...it was Keith Foster when he worked for Hills.

Man, it's sho' a damn sight better than the Hills stuff back east!!  

[Jason Connor]

I played it this summer on a 100 degree day and shot the best 9 holes of my life!  The only time I've been under par for a nine (4 birdies, 3 bogeys on the back nine).

It was a fun course.  The front had plenty of doglegs and so identifying the right line off the tee was tricky since we didn't have any locals in the group.

I think it also advertises itself as the least expensive Arthur Hills course in the country.

Great pictures.

[Kalen Braley]

I was curious what the feedback would be given its a AH course.  Its the only one I've played and couldn't figure out why everyone here seemed to not care for his work.

It is good fun, the conditioning is usually decent and there are some challenging shots to be found out there.

And for whats its worth, the tee markers on 17 were all the way to the left that day.  Normally you don't hit it straight over the fence like that, but more of on an angle to the right of there.  

[JMorgan]

What's with the spelling?  Did the owners expect to lend the course more character with that Middle English e?

[Mike_Cirba]

I was curious what the feedback would be given its a AH course.  Its the only one I've played and couldn't figure out why everyone here seemed to not care for his work.

Kalen,

I think this points out that it's very difficult to generalize about the work of the large architectural firms, simply because there are a lot of variables involved, which most importantly includes which associates might be primarily responsible onsite.

For instance, a lot of us here have issues with Tom Fazio's work, yet love World Woods Pine Barrens.   Could one of the reasons be that Mike Strantz was the lead guy?

Ditto Rees and a lot of his resume.   Yet I'm a huge fan of Olde Kinderhook and it's probably no coincidence that the associate involved there also was part of a number of other highly regarded Rees courses.

Ault/Clark have courses all over the mid-Atlantic, and most of them are fair to middling.   I noticed a few years back that the ones I really liked all had either Bill Love or Dan Schlegel involved.  

And so it goes...

In the case of a guy like Hills, similar to Fazio, Rees, Nicklaus, et.al., geographic location might mean an entirely different team and it's important to note that most of the guys we like the most worked for others first, whether that be Keith Foster with Hills, Doak for Pete Dye, Kelly Moran with Robert Von Hagge, and so on.

I think that's why keeping an open mind is largely a good thing, no matter who the architect of record might be.

[Andy Troeger]

Kalen,
Thanks for posting. For $27 looks like a worthwhile course to play. That said, once I finally get up there to tee it up from your profiles both Thanksgiving Point and South Mountain look like more fun to me than this one. The architecture itself looks pretty good for the site, just doesn't look like it was a very interesting site to begin with. All a guess anyway from the photos.

Mike,
You make a very good point about architects. I've had situations go like that both ways where I played a clunker by an architect I normally really like and where I play a gem that really surprises me. Part of the fun of discovery.

[Kalen Braley]

Kalen,
Thanks for posting. For $27 looks like a worthwhile course to play. That said, once I finally get up there to tee it up from your profiles both Thanksgiving Point and South Mountain look like more fun to me than this one. The architecture itself looks pretty good for the site, just doesn't look like it was a very interesting site to begin with. All a guess anyway from the photos.

Mike,
You make a very good point about architects. I've had situations go like that both ways where I played a clunker by an architect I normally really like and where I play a gem that really surprises me. Part of the fun of discovery.

Hey Andy,

I would agree, if spending a day or two in the area, South Mountain and Thanksgiving Point are definitly worth a look over WP as they are at least 2.5 to 3 points higher on the doak scale for me.  


Mike,

You make some great points about seperating out the art from the artist.  I very much try as best as I can to get a sense for a course and not worry too much about who created it.