Well I got a lot views but no suggestion, so for those of you interested in where to golf in Palm Springs, let my review help you.
I loved Palm Springs. I used to live in Lake Tahoe (ski bum) and Palm Springs reminded me of the same scene except the young people there working the industry are golfers instead of skiers/snowboarders. And for good reason. This desert area is Mecca for golf.
I arrived ont the 27th of December. If you live anywhere in North America you might recall that the whole continent and a lot of land in Europe was drowning in Snow, Ice and Rain on that day. Not Palm Springs. 75 degrees. No wind. Perfect greens.
Day one I played Tahquitz Golf Resort in Palm Springs. I pulled into town at 12:45. Teed off on the Resort Course at 1:00pm. I was really impressed with the facility at this point. Nice Staff. Well Organized. The course, though it had just rained fairly hard for PS the day before, the course was in excellent shape. (Except for the slabs of Cart Path concrete that had been picked up and moved about from the flood water. Other than that you would have never known it had rained.)
The green were true and rolled brilliantly. I pared my first hole (a new course first) and really enjoyed every bit of this course. The views are fantastic and the cart girls were top-notch. Though I didn't score too well. I had a great time.
My second day was the real treat. I payed the $140 rate at municipal Indian Wells Celebrity Course and I gotta say, I think it was a bargain. By far the greatest golfing experience ever! Wow! I really thought Tahquitz was nice, but it doesn't come close to the quality of Indian Wells. As a skateboarder, the fairways at this course reminded me of snake runs. Really narrow fairways with tall grassy walls that snaked down the middle toward the greens. Hitting it straight would always get you to the middle of the fairway, but a slight fade or cut and you are in some deep rough. Most likely with the ball below your feet.
The quality of course had me terrible nervous on the first 4 holes. It wasn't till the Cart girl came round with my beverage cure did I start to play well. The cart girls did a fantastic job keeping me hydrated and buzzed all day, but they definitely lacked the kind of talent you would expect to find at such a high end course. Well. Not really ugly, but...
One feature I fond to be common on the two courses I played and really enjoyed were Par4s under 300yds. While my playing partners were all trying to drive the greens (and finding the water) and was able to knock to pitching distance and make par. It was truly satisfying.
I can't wait to get back.
