The Lake Course is one of two 18-hole routes available to golfers at the Wasatch Mountain complex. William Howard Neff designed both Lake and its companion Mountain Course during the late ‘60s / early ‘70s.
While the Mountain has since been significantly renovated by Gene Bates, the Lake remains a testament to Neff’s work and is considered the tougher of the two. There is not a singular “Lake” in question, but rather a series of irrigation ponds that perforate the landscape during this 18, offering a penal hazard not present on the Mountain route.
If you’re looking for more than just strategic, challenging design from their golf course, Wasatch Mountain also touts the views from both of its golf courses, particularly during the Autumn as the leaves turn on the sides of the surrounding hills. They also offer considerable camping offerings if you’re incorporating golf into your outdoors vacation.
This is just one of multiple 36-hole municipal facilities on Wasatch Mountain: Soldier Hollow features both the Gold Course and Silver Course, both designed by Bates.
Wasatch Mountain State Park is a big place with two 36-hole complexes, Soldier Hollow, and the creatively named Wasatch Mountain. The latter is unfortunately stuck in the shadow of the former, so after all the times I've visited Soldier Hollow, I figured it was finally time to give Wasatch Mountain a try. As the Mountain Course is the more famous of the two, it is much harder to get on to, leading to me playing the Lake course instead. While the course's history is commendable, being one of the earlier designs of William H. Neff, a prolific Utah architect whose designs you've almost certainly played at least one of if you live in Northern Utah, the Lake course is not a particularly riveting design.
The front 9 is little more than a standard traditional course layout. Mature trees and a decent amount of water, but this is hardly the only place with these characteristics. The back 9 is slightly more distinct, as it starts with a slightly elevated tee shot and the holes aren’t directly next to each other, but it’s not radically different that the front.
6 and 8: 2 par 3s with a long water carry to the green and several bunkers. Mishits can end in disaster. These aren’t that unique though.
14: A 90-degree dogleg right par 5, the interesting thing is that a Super long-hitter could theoretically reach this green in one shot (please don’t attempt this unless the previous hole is clear). Still, good drive can definitely allow for reaching the green in two.
There’s no denying that the views up the canyon are great and the course is in decent condition. But these alone don’t make a course standout, and this course doesn’t offer anything special in my opinion. The Lakes course is otherwise as traditional as they come (pun intended). Combined with a median price for Northern Utah, and it’s hard to recommend playing the Lake Course by itself. For 36-hole warriors, the Lake Course might be a fine warmup before playing the more popular Mountain course. Otherwise, you’re likely better off just playing the Mountain Course and saving your second-round money for Soldier Hollow’s Gold Course or checking out some of the lesser-known Northern Utah courses.