My parents were just in Palm Springs for vacation last week, so I researched which courses were in great shape during their stay. If you are into well maintained courses, I highly recommend playing Classic Club, Desert Willow (play Firecliff Course, Mountain View course recently finished maintenance and may not be quite peak form), and La Quinta Mountain and Dunes courses. The parents played all three courses and confirmed all were in pristine shape. You’ll also be happy to hear that Stadium is in tremendous shape right now. The parents also played Stadium, and said Stadium was probably in the best shape of the bunch and was also the hardest course during their trip with La Quinta Mountain coming in 2nd on the difficulty scale.
Have fun on your trip, Palm Springs is awesome for winter golf!
This makes me happy, since we are staying at Desert Willow.
Just noticed that the Bob Hope/Chrysler/Humana now American Express PGA Stop is in town, we just bought tickets for Saturday. So might not get to play PGA Stadium and if I do it will be right after the tournament.... Fingers Crossed!!!!
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Definitely going to play PGA Stadium (kinda like playing courses I see on TV), are any other must plays? Any hidden gems?
As you play the Stadium Course I encourage you to keep track of the surroundings. The golf course is a masterpiece of design. The foliage was used to frame each hole and actually creates a flow to follow the layout. There is a certain feng shui to the design that is subtle and brings a unique aesthetic to course unlike any other I've played.
As far as others to play in Palm Springs, as others have mentioned, Desert Willow is right up there. Wonderfully tough golf courses. Indian Wells is another must play facility. Terra Lago (formerly the Landmark) is really nice, when they have good conditions. Mission Hills is fun and usually worth the money. SilverRock is usually in great shape and a fun test (a Palmer design). Shadow Ridge is nice as well. Word of warning, La Quinta is grossly over-rated. I know guys that like it, but given the other courses available, and the conditions of the various tracks, have La Quinta low on your list. Enjoy yourself and make some birds!
I just booked two rounds at Torrey Pines in March. I've always wanted to play the south course. The par 5s are over 600 yards in length (from the back tees which I doubt we'll hit from).
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Classic Club really is a nice course. So many courses in palm are in amongst houses, I really appreciate the ones without houses even more.
Classic Club was in fantastic shape. Greens were smooth as glass and lightning fast. I was only in a couple bunkers, my partners were in a bunch more, and they were fantastic to play out of. Course had a great layout, really appreciated the variety of holes and the layout. Solid par 3s. Great practice range, short game area and putting greens. The facility is really top notch.
BUT... I really didn't like it. The way the course is set up it's way too penal, especially for first timers. I hit three tee balls that landed in the fairway and then watches the ball roll off the slope, through the shaved dormant Bermudagrass rough into the water. It wasn't like I was getting cute at cutting off the hazard, these were straight shots into what looked like the heart of the fairway. Given a second chance, I wouldn't have chosen a different line off the tee. Really makes the course a lot narrower than it is.
Twilighting at Firecliff tomorrow teeing off at 2pm. Hope to get most of the back 9 in. Gets dark here at 5:15 with the mountains to the south and west.
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Any recommendations for a good kids program in Calgary where you don't need to be a member? I have a 10 year old son who is a decent golfer. Looking for something for this coming spring/summer. Thanks.
Lots of private courses have sponsored junior programs where the parents dont need to join. Normally have to be 12 years old and up I believe but can try giving courses a try. Country hills has a good junior program (I was a sponsored junior there many years ago).
will be interesting to see if charlie takes after his dad with respect to golf.
further to above, i played the torrey pines south course - of course i found water on the 18th. had an early morning tee time and the fog was hanging over the course as we passed along the ocean. fun to polay a course that the pros play. Don't recall my score, but it was over 100
i played as a single and golfed with a couple from ontario who were on a golf vacation where they were playing torrey, del monte plantation, pebble beach, spyglass hill. I felt like they were going to drop almost $3k $CDN on green fees during this golf lovers vacation
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