Nestled in a bench-area neighborhood in North Salt Lake is Eaglewood Golf Course. Some might say it’s a little too tucked into the neighborhood.
Eaglewood has plenty to offer in terms of terrific putting surfaces and great views, but if you’re looking for a flat surface beyond the tee box, Eaglewood is not the place.
The front nine twists and curls around two small ponds located at the bottom of a large grass-filled bowl. The holes are all individually named and golfers will find the No. 8 hole, appropriately named Hangtime, to be most picturesque.
This signature hole is a par 3 that plays off tiered tee boxes and looks down to a green guarded by a pond off the backside and a greenside bunker in the front. The hole plays just 159 yards from the blue tees, and the scorecard will tell you it’s the easiest hole on the front side, but don’t be fooled. It’s easy to misjudge the distance, especially because the prevailing wind and severe downhill slope will help decrease the feel in distance to any golfer’s shot.
Golfers playing all 18 holes will quickly find themselves on the second tee with an excellent chance to get some confidence behind them. Off the Wall’s tee shot plays downhill and a good drive can significantly cut off the 455 yards that the hardest hole on the course offers from the blue tee box. Find the cart path off the right side, and most golfers will discover they’ve just had a drive of Tiger Woods proportions, but only the most “skilled” slice golfers can find the cart path and avoid falling off the right-side lip and down to the eighth hole some 50 feet below.
Once golfers get through the intimate settings of the front nine, the course spreads out over the back nine. Holes 11 and 12 are bordered by houses, and both offer treacherously close out-of-bounds areas to the right, which do not play into a typical slice-swing golfer’s strengths.
Average golfers might find scoring opportunities difficult on the back nine as there is only one par 5, and only one par 4 that plays under 400 yards. Local hackers will find the back nine a quiet end to a round as each hole is virtually secluded from the other holes, as the course carefully winds its way through the newly built subdivisions situated on the fringe of the par 71 course.
To Eaglewood’s credit, the course offers cart-mounted course guides to help golfers navigate through the course’s many blind shots, bumps and hazards. The guide also offers safe places to drive the ball and distances to, and over, most hazards.
Eaglewood, especially on the backside, offers a lot of drop-offs into native grass areas and scrub oak thatches, putting a premium on driving accuracy and the use of the pro shop for an extra sleeve of balls before starting a round.
The two small drawbacks of the course are the phone-booth-sized bathroom on the main level of the clubhouse and the parking lot, which isn’t much bigger.
But the greens, Eaglewood’s strength, do outweigh the small pre-round inconveniences. Unlike most hillside courses in Utah, Eaglewood’s greens roll true to the course, and the valley below typically has no bearing on the break from green to green.
Overall, the experience for golfers in the intermediate to experienced range is above average, while novices will find that shot-making is extremely important at Eaglewood, and may want to seek shelter on a flatter course before trying their luck with these hills.