Soldier Hollow Golf Course (Gold)

Overview: The Gold Course at Soldier Hollow is a public mountain layout in Midway, Utah, built into the upper slopes of Wasatch Mountain State Park. Gene Bates shaped the 18-hole course around substantial elevation changes, native scrub oak and mountain-valley grasses, with views stretching over the Heber Valley. The Gold course is the more dramatic of Soldier Hollow’s two 18-hole layouts: fairways rise and fall across the mountainside, and several holes change elevation within the hole itself. It can stretch to 7,719 yards, but the combination of altitude, uneven lies and changing visual horizons makes placement more important than the scorecard number alone.

History: Soldier Hollow was selected as a major venue for the 2002 Winter Olympics, when the surrounding site hosted biathlon and cross-country events. The 36-hole golf complex was completed in 2004, adding the Gold and Silver courses to the state-park landscape. Gene Bates’s design preserved the feel of the mountainside by keeping native vegetation and existing terrain central to the layout. Since then, the facility has served both everyday public play and championship golf, giving Midway a course with a strong Olympic and Utah State Parks connection.

Did You Know? Soldier Hollow contains two separate 18-hole courses, Gold and Silver, rather than one 36-hole routing. The Gold Course also hosted the 2012 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, while its high-elevation setting and native scrub oak make it immediately different from the more open Silver layout.