Hidden Valley Country Club’s origins date back to the early 1920s when the club was known as the Fort Douglas Country Club. The clubhouse was located on private land near the University of Utah in the Fort Douglas area, and a golf course was constructed on public land nearby. Since the course was built on public land, it was later given to the University of Utah, and the course was no longer operated by Fort Douglas Country Club. In 1957, the club purchased nearly 300 acres of land along with good water rights at the present Hidden Valley location for its future golf course, and the club became known as Fort Douglas/Hidden Valley Country Club.
Also in 1957, the club engaged renowned golf course architect William Bell, Jr. from Pasadena, Calif., to design and build an 18-hole golf course at the Sandy, Utah, location. The purchase price for the land and associated irrigation rights was $337,000. Mr. Bell sent a letter to the membership stating that the Sandy location was well suited for a golf course and predicting the area would produce a high class residential neighborhood. The club members supported the location and financial obligation, and construction began in 1958 on the clubhouse and golf course.
The original 18-hole golf course opened in May 1959, and comprised what is today known as the Lakes nine and Valley nine courses. The clubhouse was completed in fall of that same year. In 1979, the membership voted to expand the course by adding an additional nine holes. Golf course architect William Neff was hired for the design work and, in the spring of 1980, the additional nine holes opened for play and are today known as the Mountain nine course.
In 1997, the Equity members of the Fort Douglas/Hidden Valley Country Club voted to sell the Fort Douglas clubhouse to the James L. White Jewish Community Center, and the Fort Douglas reference was dropped from the club name. Proceeds from the sale of the former clubhouse were allocated to construct a new clubhouse in Sandy that members enjoy today.
I love the golf course and my male and female friends at the club. One of my favorite things about HVCC is the deer population. This year it seems as though we have more fawns than normal. Sunday when I played golf with the Lovely Sharon, and friends Bruce and Grace, I bet I saw 12-15 different fawns. There were five fawns and a doe on our last hole (Mountain Nine). Although I see deer on the course almost every time I play, for me it is always exciting to see them. The deer are almost as tame as big dogs. They will often allow you to get within 10 or 15 feet from them. This time of year I like to pick apples from the fairway apple trees and roll them to the deer to eat. Once you roll them a couple of apples they wait patiently for you to roll em a few more.
I will post a few HVCC photos in the next day or so.
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