Black Desert Resort — Hotel in Ivins

Hats off to the late Tom Weiskopf. Black Desert Resort sits in the Northwestern area of St George in Southern Utah. It’s a course you’re going to want to familiarize yourself with for sure!

With the highly scenic Sand Hollow and the newer Copper Rock, St George is quickly becoming a hot spot for destination golf in the desert Southwest.

Situated just north and partially bordering Entrada, Black Desert Resort is primed to be THE course to play in Southern Utah.

While the resort has yet to be completed, the 18 Championship golf course opened up about a month ago, and we took the 2.5hr drive up from Vegas to see if the hype Black Desert had been getting was real.

With the resort not finished, they have had to use trailers for the sales office and pro shop. So don’t expect a luxurious retail space yet. If there are any indications of what’s to come based on our experience, the resort is going to be extremely good. So be patient.

Still, the small trailer is very nice, and there is quite a bit of merchandise if you wish to commentate your trip with some souvenirs.

To make up for not having a kitchen or bar, Black Desert has a Taco Truck on site and offers unlimited food and drinks (beverage cart, too) while you’re on site. Hats off to them for this!

Once you leave the parking lot, you take a short drive to the practice area. An employee escorts you to the practice area and introduces you to the practice area attendant. Yup. There’s someone on the range to answer any questions, get you some tees, tell you the yardages, wipe down your clubs, etc.

The range is extensive and features excellent targets. There is grass, but we were on mats, and that was ok because they were the best range mats I’ve ever hit off.

To the right of the range is a chipping green with many lie options and a deep bunker to practice your bunker game. I recommend doing so because the sand was flawless.

Behind the range, the practice area features a 2 Acre putting green that has two 18 Hole putting courses laid out for everyone. It is MASSIVE!

The attendant called us for our tee time, and we headed off. The starter was fantastic. He provided all of us with a Black Desert ball marker and divot tool and then sent us on our way. Be sure to make some putts on the practice green by the first tee. It’s arguably one of the best-putting surfaces I’ve ever putted on.

As you can see from the photos, the course is gorgeous. The Snow Canyon backdrop, when playing to the north, is so picturesque it almost looks fake.

The golf carts are fantastic too! Very quick with comfortable seats, they’re very new and feature a GPS that has a hole preview with audio from Mr. Weiskopf.

The golf course, only being a month old as far as play goes, was insanely good. The fairways were pure, with a few patchy areas, and all the bunkers and tee boxes were in excellent shape.

I highly recommend watching the hole previews and looking at the GPS for your tee shots and several approaches. There are quite a few shots where you are clueless about how to play the hole. The overview will help.

The video I shared is us teeing off from the secret tee box on the 8th hole. It’s a fun shot and worth playing from there.

We’ll be back for sure, the golf is fantastic, and the staff, from the parking lot to the pro shop to the practice area, the course, the beverage cart, and even the Taco Trucks, were an absolute pleasure to deal with. They make you feel like a rock star, sorry Billy Idol.

Once the resort opens up, Black Desert will be a must-play. But if you just want to experience some damn good golf, get to...

Pool is amazing! Poolside servers walk around and bring you sodas and beverages, free ice water, and defintely order from the poolside food menu the burger with fries. The pickles put on the burger are SOO good too. I asked for a cup full of pickles on the side that's how good they are. Also order a load of fries with sauces. Kids love them and adults too. They are SO good. I think they're tallow fries and have this perfect crunch to them.

The pool water was unlike anything I've experienced before anywhere. It was silky smooth and warmed perfectly. It was such a joy to just wade in the water and feel it on my skin. We all commented on it. Super soft water. Something is special about this water. The hot tub is also a joy in the evenings. It's large and perfect to relax in. The poolside cabanas you can rent for half day or full day and have TVs and fridges and warmers in them. Definitely worth it for a poolside "home base" for your group or family.

I love the pool towels rolled up nicely and placed on each pool lounge chair. So organized and first-class. I also loved the nice umbrellas for shade. Order the fries served with the burger. So so tasty!

Snow Canyon is gorgeous and a must see. It's only a 5 minute drive. For kids, stop and play at the sand dunes inside Snow Canyon. Silky smooth red sand. Perfect at sunset too. Great romantic date night option for outdoor sunset picnic. There is a fee to enter the park, but with a senior citizen in your vehicle, they discount it to only $5. Score! Takes about 15 minutes to drive through the park at 25mph. Go at sunset (golden hour) and you'll be amazed how the mountain formations are illuminated so beautifully. It's mesmerizing!

I loved you can park under Building E underground parking away from the bustle of the resort and rent a ground level unit in Building E. Unit 3102 was amazing and I highly recommend renting this unit. Great red mountain view off the balcony. Be sure to ask for it. It's the best location to the water park too. Once water park it done, it will have one of the best views and be a short ramp walk down to all the excitement. You can park underneath out of the hot sun and just take elevator right up one level to your hallway to your unit. Perfect convenience! And right now, it's not crowded and the best time to stay before it grows and gets busier.

20th Hole Restaurant is the place to eat in the afternoon and for dinner. It's right next to the pro shop. Definitely order the bread pudding before entree comes out. Soo good!

Tuacahn Amphitheater is 4 minute drive away and such a gem to experience the Broadway outdoor shows on weekends. We saw Wizard of Oz on opening night for Memorial Day weekend and it was so well done and fun. Be sure to check their website for current shows and concerts playing and get your tickets. You won't regret it for a night of fun for all. Valet park for $10 and bypass the traffic. But leave show 5 mins early to jet out early or it's a zoo getting out. Great concessions available and a cafe for dinner if you go early.

Black Desert impressed me and...

We recently celebrated our 10-year wedding anniversary at Black Desert and overall had a mixed experience—some truly exceptional highlights, but also several areas that fell short of expectations for a luxury resort.

We booked the stay-and-play package, and I cannot say enough good things about the golf experience. It was absolutely phenomenal—an 11 out of 10. From the moment we arrived, the staff made us feel welcome, helping with our bags, ensuring smooth check-in at the pro shop, and offering excellent service at the range and throughout our round. A special shout-out to our caddie, James—truly the best of the best. Every team member we encountered on the golf side was kind, attentive, and made the experience unforgettable.

After golf, we checked in at the front desk where we were warmly greeted. While the anniversary note hadn’t made it onto our reservation (even though my husband pre-arranged a cake), the staff was still gracious and helped secure us a dinner reservation at Basalt. Our room was lovely, complete with the wine, cake, and chocolates we had ordered, along with a thoughtful note congratulating us on our anniversary. Small touches like that really made us feel special, though we did notice little misses—like being provided plates and a knife for the cake, but no forks.

Unfortunately, our dinner at Basalt was where things took a sharp downturn. Service was extremely slow—it took 15 minutes just to be greeted, over an hour to receive an incorrect appetizer, and more delays before our entrées finally arrived. By the time the food came, I had even left the restaurant briefly to grab a jacket, only to return and find it finally on the table. The entrées themselves were fine, but not memorable, and the unsolicited desserts brought out at the end were not to our preference. For what should have been a fine-dining highlight, the entire experience was a disappointment.

Checkout was another area where the resort fell short. We requested a box for our anniversary cake and were told it would be brought up within 10 minutes. An hour later, with no delivery, we ended up carrying everything down ourselves and retrieving the box at the front desk. Small details like this made the hotel service feel disorganized and below the standard of what we expected from a luxury property.

In summary, Black Desert delivers a world-class golf experience with staff who go above and beyond, but the resort side—particularly dining and hotel service—has a long way to go before it matches that same level of excellence. With some improvements, it truly has the potential to be a five-star...