Advice Needed: Palm Springs

Sorry, I do realize this topic has probably been repeated a few times already, but I would just like some specific advice.

A group of my buddies are going to be down in the area later this summer end of August/beginning of September for a bachelor party. As of right now, it looks like we're staying in Yucca Valley, which puts us a little bit out of the greater Palm Springs area...I think...this will be my first time out in the area. We plan on playing two rounds while we're out there.

My dilemma, not all the guys are actual golfers, but some of them show some interest in playing at least one round (we're planning to play best ball to make sure pace is kept and everyone still has some fun). I was thinking, play at an easier muni like course. While the rest of us who play regularly will play both days, hopefully at one of the nicer resort courses that represent desert golf, though we're not particularly looking for a tough course...

With my prerequisites below, what course would you guys recommend for the two courses.

Course one: ?

1. Friendly to non-avid golfer (wide fairways, not too many obstructions around to hit with errant tee shots)

2. Fairly inexpensive, but not a complete requirement

3. Hopefully still representative of desert golf

4. Not too difficult

5. Open to public

Course two: ?

1. Nicer course

2. Representative of desert golf

3. Tougher, but not overly difficult

4. Price not too much of a factor, but hopefully no more than $120 for the round.

5. Open to public

Anyway, thanks in advance for any input.

For course one, I'd give Desert Dunes a shot. They're on golf now for $15 - $30 right now. It's an RTJ Jr. course. I've always enjoyed it and it definitely meets your criteria.

If you're up for a little drive, check Soboba Springs in Mt. Jancinto (Web.com course), or the courses in Beaumont (Oak Valley and Morongo).

I'll throw out a few courses on the west end of the Coachella Valley (near Palm Springs) since you will be coming from Yucca Valley.

Criteria One courses: Cimarron (wide open fairways, inexpensive), Indian Canyons South (beautiful course, mid priced, not difficult), Mesquite (inexpensive and not difficult), Tahquitz Creek "Legend" (wide fairways, inexpensive).

Criteria two courses: Escena (nice course, located in palm springs, mid priced), Westin Mission Hills "gary player or "pete dye", Indian Canyons South (I think it fits both criteria).

Other courses that fit criteria two but are 10-15 miles east include: PGA West, Indian Wells, Eagle Falls, Desert Willow, Silverrock, Marriott Shadow Ridge.

Enjoy your trip, but you should call first as some courses start closing in September for overseeding. Also, Desert Dunes is a fun track but it really isn't for beginners and doesn't really fit criteria two either

It is still very hot in August (NASTY HOT) and September and nothing will cost $120 this time of year. You can play nice tracks for under $60 and the category one tracks for under $30 if you look around on golf now or ez links.

Do not, under any circumstances, take your group to Desert Dunes for Criteria 1. That course will eat them alive and they'll lose all their balls before the turn. Lots of blind shots and scrub brush.

Criteria 1... Escena, Cimarron, Indian Canyons South, Desert Willow Mountain View (maybe a stretch but a lot easier than FireCliff.), Mission Hills Gary Player Course (Criteria 2 as well)

Criteria 2. ..Desert Willow FireCliff, Marriot Shadow Ridge, SilverRock, Eagle Falls, Mission Hills Gary Player, anything at PGA West and the Mountain Course at La Quinta.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll start calling some of the courses listed to inquire about overseeding.

Another question: I know that early tee times are preferred, but if we were to play one of the rounds in the afternoon/twilight, what would be the best compromise between starting late enough to where it is a little cooler, but also early enough to where we can finish the round?

most palm springs courses start twilight around noon right now..I was out at Desert Willow Firecliff for 3 days last week and played 18 everyday in 2 hours and 20 minutes..green fees ran me about $25

edit: palm springs is at its hottest around 5pm in the summer

[quote name='toomanydimples' timestamp='1373996223' post='7466074']
Another question: I know that early tee times are preferred, but if we were to play one of the rounds in the afternoon/twilight, what would be the best compromise between starting late enough to where it is a little cooler, but also early enough to where we can finish the round?
[/quote]

I'm on vacation this week so I'm playing a few solo rounds. Tomorrow I'm playing Tahquitz Creek Resort at 3:52pm for $5 (the expected high is 110F). Playing Sunday at Westin Mission Hills Gary Player at 8:30am for $19 with a buddy. The weather forecast for the weekend is great with a sunday high of 101F (30% chance of showers). I can play in 100F degree weather all day long.

You can find some killer deals late in the afternoon online. Depends on how fast your group plays but a 3:30pm to 4:30pm tee time should work. Yes, It is hot for the first hour but the back nine cools off quite a bit.

The intensity of the heat is a bit of a crapshoot, you might get lucky with a high of 101F or it could be 114F. If it is the later, I would only play before 6:30am and if it is 100F, I'll play at 2pm.

July and August are the hottest months and it does start cooling off in September (average high is 103F).

Welcome to the Coachella Valley, September is actually one of my favorite months to play golf because rates are still dirt cheap, the courses are empty, and the weather isn't too brutal (most of the time).

Thanks for the tips again gents. I think we're going to shoot for a round a day as early as possible at Indian Canyons on Friday, then Escena on Saturday. Indian Canyons South is scheduled for overseeding late September. I'll have to call Escena to see when they'll overseed.

I just played in +100F weather at an inland course up here (though I'm sure its different in the desert) with a 1PM tee time and fared well enough.

I can't wait!

Indian Canyons and Escena are two of my favorites in Palm Springs. I have an Escena players card and I believe they reseed in early October.

Have a great trip!

[quote name='Desert Golf' timestamp='1374025605' post='7469640']
Indian Canyons and Escena are two of my favorites in Palm Springs. I have an Escena players card and I believe they reseed in early October.

Have a great trip!
[/quote]

Thanks!

I hope you're not being too affected by the fires down in that area right now.

Thanks for the advice from everyone. Got back from my trip this past Sunday and we had a blast. We played Indian Canyons South on Friday and Escena on Saturday. While it was extremely hot and humid, it was worth the torture

I won't bore anyone with how our rounds went except that I played better overall at Escena (shot a stroke under my hc). My only complaint was that they had mulch all over the Indian Canyons South course. They said it was left like that because they were doing maintenance on the turf.

Anyway, had a great time in the area and it helped that the villa we rented had an awesome pool to jump into after golf! Planning to make another trip down there soon to play some of the more known courses.

@ Dimples...good to hear you enjoyed your rounds. That's too bad about mulch at Indian Canyons South. I haven't played there in a few months and had no idea they were applying mulch.

Our weather hasn't been very good the last couple of weeks with the combination of high heat and humidity. Looks like we are finally going to get a break with temps about 100F and a drop in the humidity.

Thanks for asking about the fires. Our roof had a thick layer of ashes from the mountain fires but we were never in danger. I work for Riverside County Health Dept and we regulate small water systems (we have many in the mountains), and a few of the water systems suffered damaged and many homes were destroyed.

Our economy relies on heavily on tourism (golf), and I think we have some great deals outside of our peak season (October-March). May and September are my favorite months to play golf out here. I can afford to play the nicest courses and you sometimes get some decent weather.

Good to hear you enjoyed your trip.

Hey WRXers in Palm Springs and environs. Any flood damage in the area? I'm on my way down for 11 days from 23 September for a golfapalooza. I heard that there was some flooding that might effect golf courses that use the (dry) washes as part of their golf courses. I hope all residents are safe with golf courses being a secondary concern.

[quote name='sikoram' timestamp='1378598781' post='7813335']
Hey WRXers in Palm Springs and environs. Any flood damage in the area? I'm on my way down for 11 days from 23 September for a golfapalooza. I heard that there was some flooding that might effect golf courses that use the (dry) washes as part of their golf courses. I hope all residents are safe with golf courses being a secondary concern.
[/quote]


I've heard that Silverrock had damage (especially to their bunkers) but I'm not aware of any other effected courses. The eastern Coachella Valley was hit the hardest.
I played today in Palm Desert (Marriott Desert Springs) and there was no damage.

Probably a good idea to check with the course if in doubt.

Trip Report Palm Springs and Inland Empire (Beaumont and Lake Elsinore)
Played the following courses in PS and IE booked on Golfnow or through a course website. All the a/m courses were our 1st time playing them

Indian Canyons North Course $20.00 on GolfNow in good shape with hard fast fairways and greens. Fun course.

Marriot Shadow Ridge (Faldo) $38.00 on GolfNow great course in great shape everywhere. Loved it.

Woodhaven [b]$7.00 [/b]on GolfNow. Just started scalping for overseed. Greens were OK. Ball ran a mile. Nice old fashioned course.

Morongo Legends (Beaumont) $28.00 on GolfNow. Challenging, in good shape. Fresh seed on the fairways the last few holes.

Links at Summerly (Lake Elsinore) $25.00 on a drive up. Great links course with patchy fairways due to heat and heavy rain storms earlier this summer. Watch the GPS for BURNs (creeks) running across the fairways and on green approached.

Desert Willow (FireCliff) $39.00 on a Monday Night Football special (included buffet dinner). Now this is a golf course. Loved every aspect of it and won free lunch for two on a draw.

Indian Springs $30.00 included lunch. Had a blast playing this course in 3 hrs. as a twosome. Good greens. Everyone on staff very friendly and accommodating.

PGA West Greg Norman Course $62.00 on GolfNow. Course in great shape after hosting the Web.Com finals and the Golf Channel Senior National Am. ( a friend won the 3rd flight 4-7.6 index coming from 13 shots back of the leader on the last day with a 74)I played from the same tees and shot 80. Lots of bunkers and hardpan in the desert areas.

I think our total outlay for golf for 8 rounds in 9 days was $234.00 pp. We looked up GolfNow, EZE Links etc either the night before or the morning of and confirmed course conditions either by telephone or Greenskeeper.org. Our only criteria was that it could not be a course we had already played.

A word to those with allergies. Anytime after mid September until mid October (and maybe later) is not a good time to be in the Coachella Valley with allergies. Not only are the golf courses getting rid of their Bermuda, the hotels and residential communities are as well. Overseed is the best time to golf for the cost conscious but courses are limited and mysteriously after the 23rd of September, the area courses raise their prices. Hotels are much cheaper and there are no lineups for the more popular bars and restaurants if they are open.

Had a great trip and recommend this area to anyone.