Johnny Miller has high expectations for the golf course he's designing at Thanksgiving Point.
"There'll be nothing like it in the state," he said. "The design of this golf course will be unique to Utah since it will meet the challenge of an almost 10 percent added golf club distance, a product of the golf course's 4,500-foot elevation and Utah's dry air."At a projected 7,600 yards from the tournament tees, the 18-hole, par 72 course will be the state's longest. It will be laid out on the gentle as well as dramatic rolling hills along the Jordan River just southwest of Point of the Mountain. The fairways and greens will be nestled in and around a 70-acre, European-style botanical garden. Miller predicts it will be Utah's most difficult course to play. It is scheduled to open in spring 1997.
Miller's design philosophy is that a great course should be an integral part of nature, allowing each golfer to enjoy a creative window and walk in nature as part of the experience. Miller said Pebble Beach would be an ordinary golf course if it was built in the desert. Its seaside location makes it a world-class course.
Miller says the same holds true for Thanksgiving Point. The new golf course's setting among the attractions and amenities Alan and Karen Ashton intend to build - a luxury hotel, restaurants and gardens - will attract golfers from the world over, he said.
That's why Miller envisions the course as a possible site for major professional golf events such as the U.S. Open and Ryder Cup.
"We can compete with all but a handful of courses in the country," he said.
Miller figures the course will be mature enough to stage a major tournament just prior to the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
Miller, who's also designing the Entrada course in Snow Canyon near St. George, considers the Thanksgiving Point project a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And the former Brigham Young University golfer says he didn't get the job simply because of his ties to Utah County.
"It wasn't a gimme that Johnny Miller was going to get it," he said. "All the top designers tried to get this job."
While the course will challenge the world's best golfers, Miller said its five tee boxes will make it enjoyable for all levels of play. The course will offer 6,000 yards to 7,250 yards from the various forward tees. Miller said he doesn't know what the green fees will be but expects that the Ashtons will make it affordable to local golfers.
In conjunction with the golf course, the Ashtons intend to establish a golf academy that Miller will oversee. The center, including a driving range, will be a training and practice facility for people interested in improving their game. The course might also eventually become home to the BYU golf team.