Coral Canyon Golf Course, Washington, Utah: How to Pick Your Tees on the Steepest Slope Near St. George

Coral Canyon Golf Course in Washington, Utah, about 17 minutes northeast of downtown St. George, is the toughest test in the region by the numbers: 75.2 rating and 148 slope from the Black tees, the highest men's slope of any course on our St. George and Mesquite map. It is also one of the better values among St. George golf courses, at about $135 for 18 in season with a cart, range balls and tax included. The trick is choosing the right tee, because the fairways are wide but the front nine is brutal.

This guide is about the scorecard: which tee to play, where the course gets hard, the house rules that catch visitors out, and how Coral Canyon fits into a golf trip on the Washington and Hurricane side of Washington County.

Coral Canyon at a glance

Find it on the map or in the Coral Canyon course guide.

Where Coral Canyon sits: Washington, 17 minutes east of St. George

Coral Canyon is the farthest east of the two Washington City courses. It sits up the I-15 corridor from St. George, by the Coral Canyon / SR-9 exit, which is the road toward Hurricane, Sand Hollow and Zion National Park. That makes it a natural hinge between the St. George courses and the Hurricane cluster.

Drive times on our map, from downtown St. George and from the hotel closest to the course:

If you base near Coral Canyon, the Hurricane courses are closer than the courses on the west side of St. George. From that same hotel, Black Desert in Ivins is 24 minutes and The Ledges 26. For the whole east-side picture, see our guide to Washington, Utah golf, and for the courses past it, Hurricane and Sand Hollow golf.

Why the slope is so high

Coral Canyon's fairways are wide, framed by thick rough, dry washes and red-rock outcrops. The difficulty comes from the forced carries into greens and from sheer length on the front nine.

The USGA rates the front nine much harder. From the Black tees the men's slope is 155 on the front and 140 on the back. That 15-point gap is the biggest single fact to plan around: if you are going to struggle, it will be early.

Copper Rock in Hurricane has the higher men's course rating from the tips (75.8), but its slope is 146, so Coral Canyon still carries the steepest slope in the St. George area. For how the two compare with Black Desert and the rest, see the hardest golf courses in St. George.

Coral Canyon golf course tees: which set to play

All six sets are par 72. Ratings are from the USGA database and were confirmed in our October 2026 audit.

What the numbers mean for your handicap

A quick way to compare tees is the standard USGA course handicap formula: your index times the slope, divided by 113, plus the rating minus par. For a golfer with a 15.0 index, that works out to:

So moving up from the Blue to the White tees takes 770 yards and about six strokes of difficulty off the course for a 15-handicapper. For a mid-handicap visitor, the Blue/White combo or the White tees are a sensible starting point.

Women should note that even the White tees carry a 145 slope. The White/Red combo at 134 is a more comfortable starting point for most.

Where Coral Canyon golf course gets hard, hole by hole

The mapped layout shows how the course moves. Elevation is tee to green from a terrain model, and yardages are as mapped rather than from the scorecard.

The front nine has three par 5s and three par 3s, including the 253-yard 4th, and two long uphill par 5s at 5 and 9. That helps explain the 155 slope. On the back, the 14th falls about 92 feet, the largest tee-to-green drop we have mapped in the St. George area.

One note on the 6th: Greater Zion describes it as a short par 3 over a canyon to a two-tier green, but the current official scorecard lists the 6th as a 496-yard par 4. The hole number may have changed, so do not expect that par 3 on the 6th tee.

Across the round, the course drops about 307 feet and climbs about 208 feet, tee to green. No walking policy is published, and with a half cart in every tee time, plan to ride.

Green fees and what's included

These figures come from an October 2026 local newsletter rather than the course, and a September 2026 GolfPass reviewer paid $125. Seniors, military and juniors get about $20 off. Prices change, so confirm on the tee sheet. When we checked on October 11, 2026, the online sheet showed no bookable times for the next day.

Each tee time includes a half cart, range balls and tax. Carts have GPS. Rental clubs are $65, and Ship Sticks is available. For how this compares with every course in the area, see St. George green fees.

Coral Canyon golf course house rules

• Your own bag. Every player needs one. No sharing.
• No extra riders or extra carts (since September 1, 2025).
• Booking: up to 90 days for groups of 11 or fewer; 12 or more call (435) 688-9226. Cancel 24 hours ahead or pay the full rate.
• Range: closes at 2 pm on Tuesdays for maintenance. Non-players can buy 3 hours for $15 or a day for $30.
• Dress: soft spikes, collared shirts, no denim, no gym clothes, no sleeveless or tank tops.
• Walking: no policy is published.

Conditioning, pace and timing

Conditioning has rebounded under the ownership that took over in fall 2020, according to Golf Digest panelists (2026) and GolfPass reviewers (2025). The new owners redesigned bunkers and added cart paths.

Pace is mixed. A 2024 reviewer reported about 5 hours, while a 2025 reviewer rated pace 5 out of 5. On hot afternoons, bring your own water, since cart coolers may be empty.

Why Coral Canyon matters in September

Most Washington County courses are bermudagrass and close in September to overseed. Coral Canyon does not overseed, so it has no fall overseed closure. In 2026, Sunbrook was closed September 8 to 22 and nearby Green Spring closed September 18 and 21 to 25, then ran cart-path only to October 11. If your golf trip lands in September, Coral Canyon is one of the safer bookings. The brief aeration closures are the ones to watch. See our overseed schedule.

Weather still matters. St. George averages highs near 92°F in September and about 102°F in July, so the first tee times of the day are the ones to book from June through September.

Pairing Coral Canyon with other courses

Coral Canyon fits two kinds of day:

• The Washington double. Play Coral Canyon in the morning, when you are fresh for the hard front nine, then drive to Green Spring, about 10 minutes away. Both are in Washington City, and Green Spring's canyon holes make it a scenic second round. Our 36 holes a day in St. George guide covers how to time it.
• The road east. Coral Canyon is on the way to Hurricane. Pair it with Sky Mountain, the closest course to Zion's south entrance by road, or with the Sand Hollow course guide for a full day on the Zion side of the county.

The Ledges' stay-and-play packages also list Coral Canyon as the fifth round on their six-night option, so it appears in multi-course trips even for golfers based on the north side of St. George.

Where to stay near Coral Canyon

Rates were seen October 2026 and change. The Holiday Inn Express has no restaurant or bar and nothing much within walking distance, so plan to drive for dinner.

The course has views to Pine Valley Mountain and Zion; for golf that fits around a park visit, see golf near Zion National Park.

Plan it on the map

Open the 3D map of St. George golf and click Coral Canyon to see each hole's par, mapped length and elevation change, along with the hotels around the Coral Canyon exit and drive times to every other course in Washington County and Mesquite.