About the only bad thing you can say about the Birch Creek Golf Course is that its location isn't so great.
That's not taking anything away from the Cache Valley area or the lovely town of Smithfield, where the course is located. It's just that because of Birch Creek's setting in extreme northern Utah, more people don't get a chance to play this excellent course, one of the best in Utah."It's the best-kept secret in Utah," is how one Birch Creek regular put it. And he's right.
Birch Creek has just about everything you want in a course - it's challenging, but not too difficult, it has a nice variety of holes, it is well-maintained and isn't overly busy.
If this course was in Salt Lake, Davis or Utah County it would be busy from sunup to sundown every day of the week. As it is, the course is only really crowded on weekends. On weekdays, they don't even take tee times, for crying out loud. How many courses in Utah still don't take tee times?
The course was originally built in the mid-1960s, apparently laid out by some local farmers. Then in the late 1970s, the course was expanded and redesigned with only six of the original holes sticking around.
Birch Creek is demanding, no doubt about it. At 6,511 yards, it is one of the longer courses in Utah from the middle tees. The championship tees aren't that much longer at 6,770 yards, while the front tees are a reasonable 5,734 yards.
Besides the length, Birch Creek has a rolling terrain and plenty of trouble. A stream comes into play on the first three holes and a gully must be crossed on three consecutive holes, at 6, 7 and 8. The 6th is a layup hole, a dogleg right with an approach shot across a chasm. Hole No. 7 is a long par-3 that requires a long carry, while 8 is a dogleg left.
The 12th hole also requires a drive across a gully, while the par-5 13th is a neat hole, a par-5 with a sloping fairway to a green guarded by a bunker. No. 17 is a par-3 off an elevated tee, while No. 18 is a par-5 with a steep upslope on the approach to the green.
While there really isn't one standout hole, most of the holes are memorable and none is boring. The course features a nice mixture of large older trees and several young trees.
Birch Creek is approximately 100 miles from Salt Lake, about 10 miles north of Logan. It's certainly worth the drive to play the course at least once.
*****
Additional Information
Birch Creek Golf Course
Hole Par Yards
Hole Par Yards
1 5 511 10 4 350
2 4 296 11 3 185
3 3 153 12 4 427
4 4 433 13 5 488
5 5 520 14 4 409
6 4 349 15 5 379
7 3 183 16 4 379
8 4 374 17 3 192
9 4 393 18 5 482
Out 36 3,221 In 36 3,290
Total 73 6,511
Location: 600 East Center, Smithfield
Head Professional: Craig Sario
Course Designer/Year Opened: Bill Hull, Ray Howard, 1979
Cost: $8/$16, carts $8/$16, range $2/$3.50/$5
Reservations: 563-6825, one week in advance for weekends
Easiest time to get on: Weekday mornings
Course Record: Jay Don Blake, 64 (competitive)
Difficulty: 5
Enjoyability Index: 5
Layout/Scenery: 4
(5=Highest, 0=Lowest)