Between LA and Palm Springs

[madrgolfer]

Hi guys,

 

In mid March I am heading to Palm springs for a few days. We are flying into LA I believe and then driving to Palm Springs. Does anyone know of any very good courses between the locations that are worth stopping for. Looking for an unreal course that is a bit of a don't miss, as opposed to a solid course, which there are many of in PS.

 

Thanks

[bradski]

Oak Quarry in Riverside. Not too far out of the way. Good course and different scenery than most of the palm springs courses.

[justwellsy]

seeing that you'll likely be taking the 105 freeway to the 605 North to either the 60 or 10 East.... there's not really a course that's "can't miss" that I can think of. In fact, unless you can somehow get on at Hacienda Country Club, there's not really any courses worth playing until you reach the Inland Empire. The only 2 that would be worth a stop IMO are Goose Creek and Oak Valley. Oak Valley used to host PGA Tour Q-school years ago and is a nice test of golf. It's not terribly long with the longest tees barely over 7,000 yards, but it will test your shot making.

[DukeOfChinoHills]

Oak Quarry is more of an experience than Oak Valley.

[DaveGoodrich]

Oak Quarry is more of an experience than Oak Valley.

 

I agree with this, although Oak Valley is very, very good. I play there with folks from Palm Springs all the time because it is different enough from the typical desert courses for it to be worth the 25-minute trip for them. Its also a bit cooler that Palm Springs (its about 96 degrees in Palm Springs right now, 85 at Oak Valley.

[markheardjr]

Just for future reference, Montebello CC is a muni off the 60 east of the 710. IMO it is one of the better public layouts in L.A. and was a lot of fun to play. Its not on the level of Oak Quarry/Valley but it is closer to LAX. Rancho Park is sort of near LAX, used to host the L.A Open. Muni, lots of play, interesting layout. Either of those courses you could play taking 405N to 10E from LAX.

 

I'll also toss out Soboba Springs Casino course out in Hemet. (West side of that giant mountain behind Palm Springs.) It hosted a Nationwide/Web.com event and is usually in better shape than Empire Lakes which used to host a Nationwide event. Sobobo is nice, taller trees, wide fairways, bombers course. Empire Lakes used to be worth the 90+ min drive from my house in SoCal. But it has gone downhill steadily over the years due to poor management (Real life Billy Madison type runs it for his parents.) It was a good course, longer and wider, but was fun.

[sharkiesj]

Empire Lakes closed last year.

[SteveL1]

Curious where you ended up playing? We are doing the same trip in Nov and looking for a place to stop along the way. Our concern is proximity to LAX as our flight gets in at noon and by the time we get bags and rental car, getting to Oak Quarry in time to beat day light may be a challenge due to day light savings time.

[DukeOfChinoHills]

Curious where you ended up playing? We are doing the same trip in Nov and looking for a place to stop along the way. Our concern is proximity to LAX as our flight gets in at noon and by the time we get bags and rental car, getting to Oak Quarry in time to beat day light may be a challenge due to day light savings time.

 

Even if you land on time and get your luggage & rental car quickly, getting out to Riverside before 2PM or 2:30PM will be a miracle. Hope you can figure out the logistics! Good luck!

[the bishop]

Oak Quarry is more of an experience than Oak Valley.

Oak Quarry certainly offers better views than Oak Valley and OV has nothing like #14 at OQ. That said from a quality of course and test of golf perspective they are pretty close IMO. I did however just take a Friday off not long ago to play OQ and had a 9:30 tee time. When we reached the Par 5 #2 there were 5 groups on that hole: 1 on the green, 2 in the fairway and 2 on the tee box. It took an hour and two minutes to play the first 3 holes. From the time we putted out on 2 and teed off on 3 was more than 25 minutes. I jumped off after 3 since if you are familiar with the layout your next opportunity to do so wouldn't be till after 16. I don't have the patience for 6 hour rounds. No marshalling that I could see. Was slightly windy but still....

[sharkiesj]

Curious where you ended up playing? We are doing the same trip in Nov and looking for a place to stop along the way. Our concern is proximity to LAX as our flight gets in at noon and by the time we get bags and rental car, getting to Oak Quarry in time to beat day light may be a challenge due to day light savings time.

 

The traffic you will be facing going eastbound will be absolutely brutal, if you come on a weekday.

[the bishop]

Curious where you ended up playing? We are doing the same trip in Nov and looking for a place to stop along the way. Our concern is proximity to LAX as our flight gets in at noon and by the time we get bags and rental car, getting to Oak Quarry in time to beat day light may be a challenge due to day light savings time.

 

The traffic you will be facing going eastbound will be absolutely brutal, if you come on a weekday.

No doubt about it.

[flushem]

Landing in Ontario (ONT) would have been the best choice if route is available. Smaller airport with easier way put. Also, an hour closer to palm spring than lax.

 

The next choice is John Wayne (SNA).

 

I work at lax and I pay extra to avoid the nightmare for my business and personal travel.

[SteveL1]

Arriving at noon on Sunday. Ontario is an option but no direct flights and at least $100 more in air fair. Last year we flew direct in to Palm Springs but air fair has gone through the roof for that. American is currently the cheapest at $600+ round trip and they charge an extra $65 for baggage. United and Delta are over $800 round trip. Non stop to LAX on Southwest is right at $380 and gets us there by noon.

[flushem]

Arriving at noon on Sunday. Ontario is an option but no direct flights and at least $100 more in air fair. Last year we flew direct in to Palm Springs but air fair has gone through the roof for that. American is currently the cheapest at $600+ round trip and they charge an extra $65 for baggage. United and Delta are over $800 round trip. Non stop to LAX on Southwest is right at $380 and gets us there by noon.

 

Welcome to SoCal.

 

No direct flight to John Wayne? There are good courses to play nearby and along the way to Palm Springs.

[SteveL1]

No direct flights to John Wayne but we can get there on Southwest by 11:00AM. Where would you suggest playing along the way?

[falken19150]

Dude forget the "play on the way" thing. By the time you get your clubs from LAX and the rental car you're talking 1:30-2pm. I would try book it down to Palm Springs after you land and hit up a twilight rate down there. If its November you'll prob run out of daylight, so that means Mexican food time and Tecates. My second choice would be to swing over to Pelican Hill after you land and play there. Of course about 30 people are going to flame me for saying that place is way overpriced, but I'm not them :)

[flushem]

No direct flights to John Wayne but we can get there on Southwest by 11:00AM. Where would you suggest playing along the way?

 

Along the way to Palm Spring, I suggest these notable premium courses as follow:

1. Oak Creek (6 miles East)
   
2. Strawberry Farm (6 miles East), Costco has deal now as "Orange County". $149 for two
   
3. Tustin Ranch (9 miles North)
   
4. Black Gold (20 miles north)
   

The green fees are not cheap but I suggest you shop around with golfnow.com or teeoff.com for the best deal. At the four courses above, you will feel the ocean breeze especially in the afternoon. At my home course (Black Gold), you should be able to enjoy nice scenic view along with nice afternoon ocean breeze. If you land at 11 am in November (probably after summer time is gone), you should rush to get rental car and head to course.

 

There are other nice courses but either they are out of the way or would be too similar to courses in Palm Springs.

[McMoo]

I used to play black gold a lot. It's a good course and on the way to Palm Springs. Used to have pretty reasonable rates too.

 

Another option that hasn't been mentioned is Industry hills. I think both the Ike and Babe courses are at the top of LA public courses.

[the bishop]

There's Oak Valley and Tukwet Canyon off of the I-10 east. You will pass them both on the way to Palm Springs. Tukwet is a 36 hole facility. Oak Valley is a little more shielded from the wind when it kicks up out there (and does occasionally).

[Schley]

#1 DON"T fly into LAX! Ontario or actually Palm Springs solves the issue although expensive.

#2 Don't stop to play until outside East LA.

 

What about the Beaumont courses? Oak Valley and the PGA of Southern California (is that even open anymore?)

[dave willie]

I guess the OP has already done his November trip, but nobody mentioned Coyote Hills in Fullerton. I used to play that course all the time (and Black Gold) when I had relatives to visit in Orange County. It's not far out of the way and relatively close/due East of LAX. I always enjoyed it, but haven't played there in about 10 years. Is it still a good course?

[eurekaiv]

I guess the OP has already done his November trip, but nobody mentioned Coyote Hills in Fullerton. I used to play that course all the time (and Black Gold) when I had relatives to visit in Orange County. It's not far out of the way and relatively close/due East of LAX. I always enjoyed it, but haven't played there in about 10 years. Is it still a good course?

 

Both are definitely still good. I wouldn't recommend that anyone stop there (or Black Gold) for a weekday round if they're planning on driving out of the city afterward, unless one is teeing off early in the AM. The drive inland—after 2PM even—can be absolutely miserable.

[VCGolfer79]

Oak Quarry is awesome. Its one of the coolest courses I've ever played. Long down hill Par 3 on the back is legit.

[rangersgoalie]

the only real answer to the OP was nothing..

If you drive from LAX to Palm Springs, there are no "unreal or can't miss" courses that are not extremely private.

 

Oak Quarry has some unique and spectacular viewpoints.