Palm Springs Teaser continued for 2024 Golf Vacations

[ZipinZ]

I'm on your side, this place is paradise, wish we bought something back in 2008 when the Cdn dollar was higher than the greenback. Last year some scumbag at the Desert Princess listed his condo for rent but never intended to rent it, he robbed us of our $2500.00 deposit. We were fortunate to get another place for Feb/March, when we arrived we called the Cat City Police, they came out at 9:30pm to take our statement then went over to the scumbag's place about 4 blocks away, we were advised they charged him with obtaining money fraudulently or something like that & he spent 5 sleeps in the Banning Jail, we never got our money back, but were back in P/S enjoying life, while I hope bad karma follows that guy for the rest of his life.

D.

[ZipinZ]

Tks Paul .... I'm pleased I played yesterday, not a breath of wind, staying home at the moment, wind came up and it's gusting to plus 20 mph. Tonight's date night, going to a nice Italian Ristorante called "Trilussa" on Hwy 111, then walking over to the Mary Picford to see the new Star Wars movie, the gray hair rate is $7.25, cheap.

 

Link to decent Italian Rest in Cathedral City on Hwy 111 .... http://trilussarestaurant.com/

 

Edit: now it's gusting to plus 33 mph, only place I know of that's somewhat protected out here is Indian Canyons South.

 

 

 

 

[ZipinZ]

Hi Mike .... when you leaving the Great White North and making a trip down here, soon ?

Recognize this RedTail pic, kinda hard to see, was it you?Edit ... hope your enjoying the pics & posts on this thread.

Cheers

D.

 

 

[ZipinZ]

Classic Club, one of my favorites, designed by Arnold Palmer and it was the host site of the 2006 - 2008 Bob Hope Classic, it can get really windy here bring extra balls, it has rolling terrain, wide landing areas, no houses to worry about, 30 acres of water, 14 bridges, lots of pine trees, pine straw ground cover with 5 sets of tees on each hole. They say their bunker renovations are completed & needed improvements. T-times are a bit expensive starting at $165.00 and drop minimally to $125.00 at 1:30 pm. Two years ago, I was fortunate to get a couple of early afternoon green fees as a single for $99.00 on Golf Now.

Edit: Classic Club Webcam link ....

 

Enjoy a bunch more pic's.

Cheers

D.

Hole # 12 the most scenic hole on the course, don't forget to take a pic!

 

 

Classic Club is a tough track when it's windy .... that's why the PGA Tour relocated their tourney to LaQuinta.

 

[mikedejong33]

Haha, that is definitely not me as I am a lefty! But I could have been playing that day... I wouldn't put it past me. I am actually heading to Phoenix / Mesa at the end of January for a few days, and then we are off to Cabo for 2 weeks in February to stay and play at Diamante. So Palm Springs likely wont be until end of March or early April this year. One of my buddies has a house right on Indian Wells so he gets the resident rate there. He pays something ridiculous like $20 and anyone in his group pays $60. So we usually play those two courses over and over, with the odd trip out to Eagle Falls, Firecliff, or PGA West. I am enjoying seeing your photos. I am jealous as it is really crappy here right now that's for sure!

[ZipinZ]

Mike ... enjoy your stay in Mesa, spent last January in Gilbert, different scenery, sure sounds like a sweet deal at Indian Wells, stay warm.

D.

[ZipinZ]

This was just on the local NEWS, Pete Dye the legendary golf course architect is dead at 94 ... sad.

New York Times .... https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/09/sports/golf/pete-dye-dead.html

[ZipinZ]

 

Socrates .... the new arena appears to be going forward, it was just on the local news, they said const will start next month & it should be open in 2021. Google found the following info.

D.

 

 

[davep043]

Its been nice seeing the photos, thank you very much. I'm leaving tomorrow for a week in La Quinta, staying with a friend who has a second home in the Golf Club at La Quinta neighborhood. We're playing Silver Rock, Desert Willow Firecliff, Classic Club, Eagle Falls, and the Dunes Course at the La Quinta resort. We're happy that we got a notice from United about potential issues flying through Chicago, changed our flights to connect through Houston instead.

[URStillAway]

We escaped Manitoba Dec 30. Weather has been great so far. Usually 70F with no wind.

We stay in Palm Desert so have been mostly playing close to there. Desert Willow, Shadow Ridge, Bermuda Dunes CC, Desert Springs. All are in great shape this year except The Palm course at Desert Springs where the greens are dormant ,painted green and are rock hard and a bit bumpy.

We will make it to PGA West, Rams Hill and some others soon.

Enjoy.

[vernon]

 

If this doesn't spike the 'ol Palm Springs trip anticipation meter I don't know what will!

Had an inch of rain, then a half inch of ice, followed by a half inch of sleet and now about two inches of snow with up to eight more on the way.

Of course it's currently 12 degrees with a windchill of zero and that's after a high for the day of 21 at midnight going to 5 tonight.

I love it here - the people are so "friendly".

Dang you David!

 

 

 

[ZipinZ]

 

Paul .... looks bad, but could be worst if you live where we do, concerned our furnace doesn't quit, everyone here is happy & friendly although the temps are a bit cooler next week.

Negative 40 is the same in F or C, Tuesday night concerns me, not just our furnace, but any homeless person or for animals who have no home.

D.

[ZipinZ]

Indian Canyons Golf Resort ..... From their Website, has been the jewel of Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley since 1961. Once a private club named Canyon Country Club, this 36-hole facility was a favorite haunt of Hollywood celebrities like Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, and Jackie Gleason. Former U.S. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson and Ronald Reagan also walked these fairways. The course is set on 550 acres on the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation.

I only played the South course, very few houses to worry about, the North is surrounded by houses, South Green fees start at $135.00 and reduced to $105.00 in the afternoon, was lucky to find a few early morning & a early afternoon T-times on Golf Now for $85.00.

This is the first P/S course where a Palm Tree ate one of my PRO V1's, never got it back.

A few old pic's of the South course.

D.

 

 

 

 

[lchang]

Love it, ZipinZ!

Do you have anything to say about Cimmaron vs. Tahquitz Creek?

[vernon]

Great stuff as always David!

That South course is really pretty and I thought fun to play.

The snow has stopped here and I hope for good. About five inches and all in all not as bad as anticipated. Just finished cleaning off the patio and driveway and it wasn't too bad. I'm not too sure what happened to the ice and sleet that had been underneath there but I didn't miss it a bit.

A not so robust 12 degrees with a windchill of 5 at the moment.

But enough of that.

I wanna get back to focusing on Palm Springs posts, photos and daydreams!

I'm finding that link to the Air Museum's live webcam to be addictive.....

[ZipinZ]

Tahquitz Creek Golf Resort .... from their website, is one of the premier public golf resorts in Palm Springs. Play golf within minutes from Palm Springs International Airport and downtown night life and hotels in Palm Springs. Tahquitz Creek Golf Resort offers two challenging championship golf courses. Golf Digest recently rated Tahquitz Creek Golf Resort Course as “One of the Best Places to Play” for golf resorts, I don't agree.

I played the "Resort" course twice, there were never any carts had to wait until people came in & they power washed them before you could go, It was somewhat fun but always a long round, it was packed with mostly average skilled golfers, who played it due to the reasonable price. The course is owned by the City of Palm Springs, if you have a P/S zip code you can get a residence card and the rates are much less ($50.00 ???) I was told they may now sell a Coachella Valley discount cards & round is about ($70.00 ???) which may include something to eat, not sure.

I only have 3 or 4 pic's not worth posting, click on link to website to have a look. .... https://tahquitzgolfresort.com/

Golf Now also has a few of they're early afternoon T-time ... sample for Monday January 13th.

If you try it, let us know what you think.

 

Cimarron is located next to the Desert Princess on the wash area, last year they lost both the Bolder - Tournament & Pebble - Par 3 courses due to almost 4" of heavy rain on Valentine's Day 2019. Both courses were rebuilt & recently reopened, they told me they made improvements so hopefully it won't be damaged as bad the next time, went for a bike ride and took a bunch of pic's, see first post on this thread. I played it once, not much scenery, all 18 holes are in the middle of the wash, due to the reasonable price & discount card program, it's also very busy and can get very windy & almost unplayable. Green fees are very reasonable and Golf Now has a few, too.

 

D.

Palm Springs - The Power of Water - Golf Course Damage - Updated March 16th, 2019.Here's a bunch of pics on the power of water .... https://forums.golfwrx.com/discussion/1747086/palm-springs-the-power-of-water-golf-course-damage-updated-march-16th#latest

 

 

 

[ZipinZ]

This old bird (Douglas C-47) was making a few rounds around the valley, I found all my WWII Air Museum pic's will have to post a few, it takes your breath away when the P51 Mustang is out, not to mention the fella last year who was out here with a private CF18 Hornet doing laps around the valley. For those fly-boys visiting the Air Museum is a must see.

D.

 

 

 

[lchang]

Thanks!

[ZipinZ]

 

Escena was toooo busy on Jan 13th, just booked Fantasy Springs, Eagle Falls @ 11:08 am for $85.00, I believe I played this once before in 2015, no pic's, it was a fun track, will have to take a few pics this time out.

D.

[ZipinZ]

Haven't heard from Member "RSinSG" lately, he lived here & was a great resource & contributor, need to give him a poke.

D.

[ZipinZ]

SilverRock ... owned by the City of La Quinta it's an Arnold Palmer Classic at 7,239 yards sprawling over 200 acres with massive native bunkers and stunning water features. Set against the backdrop and natural beauty of the Santa Rosa Mountains, SilverRock is a former home course of the PGA Tour’s Bob Hope Classic from 2008-2011.

Played it a couple times every year until they did the reno's, didn't care for the changes, it's also a bit expensive at $129.00 early morning and reduced to $89.00 at 1:00 pm, haven't been back since.

Link to website .... http://www.silverrock.org/

My favorite hole was #17 not it's #16 a 180 yd Par 3 (Blue) over the water to a protected green. These pic's were taken in 2015-16, it should bring back some fond memories of the fun course it once was.

Enjoy.

D.

 

Local Maintenance Crew.

 

This guys got more decorations than a X-Mass Tree.

 

My Pic not someone else's ..... Title: Sometime Golf Just Sucks!

 

Sigh ... those sure bring back memories of the past.D.

 

[Socrates]

Funny story about Silverrock #14 (I guess it’s now #13)... Playing with some guys that weren’t very good so I’m playing from some forward tee box, so it was 80 some yards. I hit hard 60° and it’s all over the flag. Hits just in front of the hole, one hop and hits the flag about 2ft up, spins off the green and all the way down the false front. I think I had 40 yards in. Made bogey. If it misses the flag it likely one hops a few ft past the flag and spins to tap in range. Accuracy is over rated.

 

Number 11 and #18 are possibly the 2 worst designed holes I’ve ever played.

[lchang]

Seems like the changes to Silver Rock have been universally panned. Sounds like I’ll be leaving it off our agenda....

[vernon]

Cryin' shame about Silver Rock if you ask me.

Kind of a man raping land for big bucks story if high dollar golf courses count as "land".

With all the vacant property around that place I can't believe they couldn't have built whatever they wanted to build while leaving the back nine intact.

Below is a rather longwinded review that I composed a couple of years ago after we played it for the first (and last) time after the renovation. Just my opinion of course.

 

Friday was a return to SilverRock – a course that all of us have really enjoyed and looked forward to playing every year at least once and occasionally twice. I’d been trying to gather some feedback and opinions regarding the new back nine but hadn’t really gotten much. So, we went into it hoping for the best.

When we were checking in, I asked in the pro shop how the response to the new back nine had been. I guess not unexpectedly I was told it was, “Great. Well over 90% positive. Everybody loves it.”

Well, the front nine was exactly the same as it had always been and in typical shape – in other words “great”.

However, the back was a major disappointment. Number 10 is as before but 11 is now a par 3 over water to a narrow green that is flat on the front but slopes severely from the middle to the back and is completely out of view from the tee. Terrible. Add a couple windmills and train tunnel would be nice. I’ll really be surprised if this green makes it two years before it’s redone.

The hole was playing 167 and I hit a very nice, very high seven iron that landed on the front of the green which I thought was perfect. However, the ball bounced high in the air, released down the slope and ended up about ten feet over the green. From there, I hit a pretty good pitch up to about three feet short of the hole only to see it roll back down the slope to where I stood. Next I played to about ten feet beyond the hole and two putted for a most aggravating double.

On the other hand, my brother about rolled the sod over his tee shot and it landed way short and on the hill to the right of the green. Yeah well, it bounced down the hill, onto the green and rolled up to about three feet for birdie.

Why didn’t I think of that?

Number 12 is the old number 13 although it’s now a par 5 with a new tee that requires a drive over an iron cart bridge. Although not really in play for most, I gotta say that while we were on that part of the course we heard two or three balls clang off of the thing. The fairway is quite wide but the next shot is where the adventure really begins, as it’s completely blind unless you really get all over the tee shot. I was in the left center portion of the fairway and had about 220 to the middle of the green and couldn’t see a thing.

Consequently, everyone has to drive up to take a look, pick an aim point, drive back to their ball and then give it a whack based on faith and memory. I hit a hybrid that I thought was way too far right but somehow ended up on the far left side of the green. I say “somehow” because I have no idea how it got there. Once the ball started coming down I never saw it again until we were almost to the green. From there I three putted for par but whatever.

That green was fine as a par 4 when a guy was hitting shorter irons in but it’s ridiculous as a par 5 with a longer approach shot and no real spot to layup – or at least no visible one.

Number 13 is old 14 and unchanged as a par 3 although it still has the goofy cart path turnaround that has never made a lick of sense and also slows up play.

Number 14 is old 15, which was a pretty long and difficult par 4 that, again, has been converted to a par 5 with a new tee and green. The tee shot is now quite a bit easier as it’s more difficult to reach the waste area on the right while aiming away from the canal on the left. However, the layup area is again not very large or well defined. There’s also still the canal on the left to account for and a steep slope on the right that will take any ball in the vicinity quickly down the hill and into the waste area on that side. The green is also pretty severe with lots of undulation.

I drove it perfect to just short of the fairway bunker and decided to go for it (primarily because I couldn’t figure out where to layup again) and hit a seven wood pin high about twenty or thirty feet left of the green. I then hit a pretty good little lob shot to the front of the green but, again, it released down the hill, through the swale and ended up in the rough on the other side. I was able to get up and down for par but it sure seemed like a lot of work after three pretty darn good shots.

And, in retrospect I still really have no idea how else to better play the hole.

Numbers 15 and 16 are unchanged – just re-numbered and the par 3 number 16 is still a beautiful and challenging hole that I’ve always really liked.

Number 17 is old 12 (I think that’s right) and is an OK shortish par 5 where you have to layup the tee shot short of the canal which I don't particularly care for as it again slows up play trying to figure out how much club is too much so as to avoid the canal.

EIGHTEEN however is complete crap for a finishing hole (in my opinion of course). As best I can tell it’s the old number 11 but how it plays does not seem familiar to me. It’s now a short (316 yards from the gold tee) par 4 with a gaping bunker in the middle of the fairway. I played a hybrid left of the bunker that immediately ran through the fairway and down the hill into the waste area on the left. My brother chose to play to the right of the bunker and bounced quickly into a fairway trap on the right. My wife hit her best drive of the week, high and directly over the middle bunker and ended up with a ridiculous lie in a greenside bunker on the right.

How a guy’s supposed to play that hole is beyond me and even if the hole occurred somewhere else more towards the middle of the round it would still be a lousy hole in my opinion. But as a finishing hole it’s probably the worst I’ve ever played.

I would add, however, that the condition of the back is about as good as the front. Although the new greens seemed quite a bit firmer than the others, it was almost impossible to tell where the old turf ended and the new stuff started. So there’s that I guess.

Afterwards we talked to several other groups that had finished ahead of us and they were equally disappointed and just as confused as to how to navigate most of the back nine. Even the guys working around the cart barn agreed that most people don’t like it at all and they’ve heard mostly complaints.

That’s too bad too. I hope the new resort hotel and amenities proves worth ruining a pretty darn good golf course (again, only my opinion) but we won’t be going back to find out anytime soon. Construction on the new expansion is supposed to start this summer so it’ll probably be one big mess for a while anyways.

Regardless, to me the green fee is a little steep to spend half the day trying to figure out where you’re going and what to hit on a golf course that you’ve played a dozen times before. For our money, we’ll be going elsewhere from now on.

[vernon]

By the way, I love the photos David.

And you're right - they bring back great memories of the B.R. (Before Renovation) days!

[Socrates]

However, the back was a major disappointment. Number 10 is as before but 11 is now a par 3 over water to a narrow green that is flat on the front but slopes severely from the middle to the back and is completely out of view from the tee. Terrible. Add a couple windmills and train tunnel would be nice. I’ll really be surprised if this green makes it two years before it’s redone.This is how I saw it. IF you play from the forward tees, the shot is impossibly stupid. In retrospect, the only sane way to play that hole is from the back back tee box and you now have a clear view of the hole. A really dangerous hard shot for anyone above 10 hcp (which is about 95% of the players playing there).EIGHTEEN however is complete crap for a finishing hole (in my opinion of course). As best I can tell it’s the old number 11 but how it plays does not seem familiar to me. It’s now a short (316 yards from the gold tee) par 4 with a gaping bunker in the middle of the fairway. How a guy’s supposed to play that hole is beyond me and even if the hole occurred somewhere else more towards the middle of the round it would still be a lousy hole in my opinion. But as a finishing hole it’s probably the worst I’ve ever played.Spot on critique. When I stood on the tee, I didn't believe the yardage and I actually couldn't believe that was the green. It had to be some remainder from the reno - didn't it? But it was the green. Hit hybrid to some absurd lie left of the green and somehow made par. Walked off shaking my head. I think the original plan had some tee box behind and across the canal near 11 tee, but it doesn't seem possible in the real world.I think the only way to enjoy the course is to now play twilte and quit after 16.

[vernon]

Yep I agree. And I actually used to look forward to the old eighteen as it was challenging off the tee if you wanted to bite off a little extra by the water on the left and go for it in two or play it as a three shot hole and just hit it out to the right.

Regardless, the approach to the green required a little bit of thought and it was a pretty well designed green complex with the slopes and undulation and the water could easily come into play as well if the hole was cut to the left.

Now?

Pfffft.

It's almost as if they allowed whoever's building the conference center and hotel/resort complex to design the back nine around their project however they saw fit.

And who knows they just might have.

[ZipinZ]

Not much love here for SilverRock, I agree.

Back in 2017, noticed ROWLND2 parked on the street within the Desert Princess gated community, wonder what's the story here ... not hail, looks like a golf club did this or maybe ROWLND1 ?

Interesting.

D.

 

[Greg_egg]

Are Palm Springs courses playable in late June/early July - when I presume it is pretty darn hot there?

[vernon]

Faldo's former girlfriend relocate from Arizona?

That took a lot of energy!

Hell hath no fury like a..............