It's too bad that golf's inventors decided on 18 as the right number of holes for a golf course. At Schneiter's Pebblebrook Golf Course, 18 holes are just too many for the amount of space available.
Most 18-holes courses have in the neighborhood of 200 acres of space to work with. But at Pebblebrook, 18 holes are crammed into less than 100 acres of land, which makes for a disjointed layout with a lot of short par-4s and nets around several tees to protect golfers from holes too close together.Pebblebrook was built in the mid-1970s as a 9-hole course by George Schneiter. Another 9 holes were added three years ago, which shortened some of the original holes but mostly utilized land to the west that had been a waste pit. However, the new holes weren't opened until last year because of a dispute with Sandy city.
Schneiter's has one of the nicest driving ranges in the valley with not one, not two, but four sizes of buckets ranging from small ($1.00) to jumbo ($7.00). It's also lighted until 9:30 p.m. for those who like to hit their balls into the night. In addition, there's a miniature golf course, just north of the clubhouse.
Because of the lack of space for the course, the layout is bizzare at places. For instance, where have you ever seen two pairs of holes running parallel . . . in the same direction?
After you play the 136-yard par-3 4th hole, you walk back more than halfway and play the 142-yard 5th hole. While you're on No. 4 green, watch out for slicers hitting off No. 5.
But that's nothing like 12 and 13. Both holes go off from elevated tees right next to each other. So after playing the short 95-yard 12th hole, you walk back up the hill and tee off on the 232-yard 13th hole.
Most of the new holes down below run parallel from east to west. But they don't go in order. After playing No. 6, you go past 17 and 14 to get to 7. On the other side of 7 are 15 and 16. After playing 16, you must go back past 15, 7 and 14 to get to 17. If it wasn't for the signs, you'd definitely need a trail guide on this course.
The most convoluted part of the layout comes between 17 and 18, where you do the following: Go south across the No. 6 fairway (watch out for tee shots coming from your left), turn left up a dirt road, go around the 5th green, turn left again, go past the water tank, past the 1st green and you're there.
At 4,607 yards, Pebblebrook is one of, if not the shortest 18-hole layout in the state. But don't expect to eat this course up. Many fairways are narrow and the greens are small, making for tough scoring.
"It's not too long, but it has a lot of character to it," said teaching pro Gary Schneiter, who helped design the back nine holes with his father.
One of the better holes is the 450-yard par-5 17th, a narrow dogleg to the left. The green is reachable in two, but it's hard to hit, since it is elevated and not very big. The 282-yard 11th is short, but curves around a cliff, making for some thoughtful decisions by the golfer.
*****
(Additional information)
Schneiter's Pebblebrook Golf Course
Hole Par Yards*
1 4 328
2 4 301
3 3 186
4 3 136
5 3 142
6 5 468
7 4 273
8 4 258
9 4 251
___ ___ _____
OUT 34 2343
10 4 262
11 4 282
12 3 95
13 4 232
14 4 312
15 3 180
16 3 156
17 5 450
18 4 295
___ ___ ______
IN 34 2264
___ ___ _____
TOTAL 68 4607
* Middle tees
Difficulty
*
Layout/Scenery
*
Enjoyability Index
*
Location: 8969 S. 1300 East, Sandy
Head professional: George Schneiter
Cost: $6/$12, $7/$14 Carts, $1/$3/$5/$7 range
Reservations: 566-2181, Mon. for Tues.-Wed., Wed. for Thurs.-Fri, Thurs. for Sat.-Sun-Mon.
Easiest Time to get on: Afternoons before 5 p.m.
Course Record: Steve Schneiter, George Schneiter. 27 (No record established for 18 holes)