SARATOGA SPRINGS — If you want a good measuring stick of how a new golf course holds up to scrutiny, look no further than TalonsCove, a baby new track west of Lehi, site of the 80th Utah Open this weekend.
Unprotected by sometimes stiff prevailing winds, TalonsCove yielded to par in the first round, and it didn't take a veteran pro to mark up the red numbers.
Participants had high praise for the layout, the conditions, the course. But that didn't prevent drawn blood on this rookie layout, one of Utah's newest.
Take the case of Brandon Wagstaff of Heber City, a guy who just finished his junior year at Wasatch High and finished fifth in the state 3A tournament.
Young Wagstaff got it to 6-under par on Friday. He thought he could run it to 10-under once he got started and got into that zone golfers feel from time to time.
Again: "I thought I could go 10-under." End of Wagstaff quote.
YIIIIKES.
Wagstaff, who turned 16 last November, has almost zilch experience playing against professionals. His first venture came two months ago at the Provo Open at East Bay, where he shot 74-75.
On Friday, just after lunchtime, Wagstaff found himself the leader in the clubhouse with a 3-under par 69. And he had run it to 6-under before making double-bogey on a frustrating three-putt after a bunker shot on his next to the last hole, No. 8. He started on the back nine.
"I lipped out my putt to three feet and when I putted for bogey, the ball hit a ball mark and jumped off line," he said.
Wagstaff doesn't do that, and maybe he's at 5-under 67. He had five birdies, one eagle, two bogeys and one double-bogey. A roller coaster round. But heck, he's only had his driver's license six months.
Five-under is the exact score he predicts the big boys will shoot each day of the Utah Open. The winner come Sunday will coast in at 15-under par.
"It felt easy out there," Wagstaff said. "The greens were great, putted well. You have to keep it in the fairway and make putts."
Sure enough, that's the exact score posted by Little Mill professional Jeff Keye from Park City almost an hour later.
Said Keye: "If the wind doesn't blow, the scores should be under par. The course was in great shape. I liked the greens, but if the wind comes up, it will be different."
TalonsCove is a course pretty devoid of trees. The fairways and greens make up for it with some undulation and the par-3 holes are very challenging, especially with wind, which was considered when the course was designed by Gene Bates.
This course came into play this year when the Utah Section PGA moved the tournament from Alpine Country Club and the Cove was available.
"We just couldn't match up our dates with the dates available at some of the other courses around," Utah PGA executive director Scott Witaker said. "We looked at this and wondered how it would work out. We weren't sure months ago when we decided to move it here. To tell you the truth, (TalonsCove) wasn't sure if they wanted it here because it might not have been ready.
"But they did a great job preparing this course and all the feedback I've had all week, through all the pro-ams, is that (golfers) like what they've seen."
Keye hit a lot of 3-woods and mixed those with his driver.
"You have to hit the fairways to have a chance at hitting the greens," Keye said.
Although the par-4s and par-5s aren't extremely long if the wind subsides, they can be attacked, especially when the soft greens tacked shots like darts on a cork bull's-eye.
Wagstaff and Keye finished early on Friday. There were plenty of big guns following them after those in the morning finished their work.
Two youngsters even younger than Wagstaff ran into plenty of trouble with TalonsCove — which should make Keye and other professionals feel more comfortable.
Gipper Finau and Zac Blair, who turn 15 within a day of each other, shot 75 and 85, respectively.
Blair, son of Ogden legend Jimmy Blair, said he could get nothing going until his last two holes, which he birdied. Finau said he simply got in trouble, but birdied 13, 15 and 9.
Wagstaff made birdies right out of the chute in his round, also starting off the back, taking red numbers on 10, 12, 13 and 14. No. 13 is a par-5 and 14 is a par-3.
Predictions about low rounds this week?
Blair said 65. Finau said 67, as did Wagstaff. But what do they know? In a few weeks, they've got to worry about biology and math.
E-mail: dharmon@desnews.com