About Park City Golf Club in Park City, Utah
The Muni sits in the middle of town with the Park City Mountain Resort ski runs rising straight off the back of it, which makes it the only course in the valley you can walk to from Main Street. It opened in 1962 as nine holes and William Neff expanded it to eighteen; his son, William Neff Jr., rebuilt the 18th in 2003.
It is municipally owned, which keeps green fees where they should be, and it is the course most locals actually play. That combination usually means compromises somewhere. Here it mostly does not.
Only 6,662 yards, and the number is a trap. The doglegs are tight enough that driver is the wrong club on half of them.
— The Park City Golf AuthorityThe card says 6,662 yards, which at 6,700 feet of elevation reads like a pushover. It is not. The fairways dogleg hard and they are lined with mature trees, so anything that cannot be shaped on demand runs straight through the corner and into timber. Three-wood and long iron is the honest play on a lot of tees, and that is a more interesting decision than it sounds.
Water is in the argument on a surprising number of holes and there is sand on nearly all of them. The greens are small, quick and undulating — the real defence of the place, and where the strokes go. The front nine is the prettier half, with streams and ponds threaded through tight tree-lined corridors.
There is a driving range, two practice greens and a putting green, plus a full programme of lessons and leagues for juniors, women, couples and seniors. Tee times go up to seven days ahead, and in July you will want them.
What Stands Out
If you only get one public round in Park City and you want the town rather than the resort, play the Muni. It is cooler than the valley floor by ten degrees, it is over in under four hours, and it will take more shots off you than the yardage suggests.
