The Salt Lake disc golf course located on the University of Utah is a good little course for beginners who want to learn how to throw their discs around and gain some confidence. For the most part it’s wide open, and none of the holes are very long. It has a few trees. some hills, and if you have a really bad throw off of hole #5 you could hit the trax train, but other than these the obstacles are minimal.
The University of Utah disc golf course is well marked with signs, maps, and distances for every hole (except for #8 when I was there). It has cement teeing areas and consistent fields with grass and trees. I was there on June 1st and much of the grass was dry and dying, I’m betting the grass gets pretty dead in the hotter part of the summer.
If you have a decent drive, it is possible to Birdie nearly every hole. The location of the trees make it very advantageous to throw your discs forehand, or left handed on the first four holes. The final three holes have slight hills which have an effect on the distance you can drive.
Hole #6 is the coolest hole. The basket is located in the midst of a big grove of trees. It’s also the most difficult, at least it was for me as I bogeyed the hole.
The U of U disc golf course is built on the remains of what used to be a traditional golf course. Being prime University expansion real estate, half of what used to be the disc golf course has been removed. I wouldn’t be surprised if the remainder of the course is turned into additional campus buildings in the future.
The course apparently used to be a lot more desirable. It used to have some more enjoyable holes as well as some “sand traps” left over from the original golf course. Those days are gone now, and what the University of Utah has left is simply a good beginners disc golf course.
Address of the U of U Salt Lake Disc Golf Course:
The course is located right on South Wasatch Drive on the U of U campus at approximately 50 S. 1800 E. in Salt Lake City.
To find the course you turn left off of Foothill Drive on to Mario Capecchi Drive, and then take a weird left onto S. Wasatch. After driving down South Wasatch for about 500 yards, park using reverse angle parking. That was something new for me. The first tee pad is located right across the street from some U of U baseball fields.
Recommended Disc Golf Discs for this course:
This is a very short, wide open course. If you are right handed, and don’t throw forehand, I’d recommend discs like the Archangel and Kite that gives you sharp turns and the potential for anheizer throws, and won’t fade too much. This will give you lots more potential for birdies.
The first half of the course is largely unchanged, aside from 8 & 9. The back 9 that were removed in 2012 were much longer holes that heavily used elevation to add to the challenge. The course was getting quite popular just before they changed it. As it is now, it is an excellent little course for beginners. It also is useful for working on the shorter ranged technical shots for more experienced players.