Palm Springs Teaser continued for 2024 Golf Vacations

[ZipinZ]

Our American friends who live next door year round, tell me it has reached 124F. Most courses are only open in the early morning and the last available T-time is 10:00 or 11:00 am, some green fees are as low as $0.75 per hole, including cart. I've seen golf carts with misters and even air conditioning units on the roof ..... it's dry heat.

D.

[ZipinZ]

I'm sure it had something to do with infidelity, surprised all the windows weren't smashed out, I imagine ROWLND2 was a write off.

Playing Fantasy Springs Eagle Falls today, will take a few pic's.

Kyle, friend from Calgary booked Rams Hill for the 2 of us on Wednesday, got to get up early for a 9:51 am T-time for $94.00. Looking forward to playing here, it's been on my list for a while now. Link to the website, looks awesome ... https://www.ramshill.com/

D.

 

[Sparky14]

Yes, if you can handle 110 degrees. I do get out there in the summer sometimes, it is cheap, and you can zoom around. Stay in the shade & drink water like you will never see water again. Conditions are better than you'd expect.

[ryder2015]

Enjoying the thread. I will be there this weekend but only time for 1 round. Can't wait for some warmer temps and green grass.

 

[vernon]

Good for you - I think you're gonna really like them both. Has your buddy been over to Ram's Hill before? I only ask because there are two ways to get there and we think one of them is much easier than the other.

Our first time over there Mapquest directed us to head west on S22 which certainly will get you there but it's got about six mile or so stretch that's really rough and not much fun.

The next trip we decided to try Highway 78 and it was much better. You have to travel a little bit farther south on Highway 10/86 before turning west but the road conditions were much better.

Either route took about an hour and fifteen to twenty minutes which is also a little less than Mapquest indicates.

If you get there early enough breakfast on the patio is fantastic and the Bloody Mary's are exceptional as well.

Very nice range and practice area and if you have time I highly recommend taking a cart ride down to the opposite end of the range which is even better and there's seldom been anyone down there when we've gone.

Enjoy and I can't wait to hear your assessment of both!

[bb123]

I would 2nd Vernon's advice about taking Highway 78 to Ram's Hill, the drive on S22 was a bit of an adventure and the road isn't that great. The day we went a big wind storm came in, and it was blowing so bad that most groups just quit after 15-16 holes. Course is awesome though, you can see the big dust storm in the pic below. I just remember playing 18th par 5 straight into the wind and it was driver, 3 wood, 3 wood just to get near the green :)

[UBCAce]

Great thread - thanks to all who have contributed!

I'm with a group of 12 traveling to PS this weekend from Vancouver and wanted to get others thoughts on potential courses to play on Sunday, Jan 19. So far, we have Escena booked for the 17th in the afternoon once we land, Eagle Falls Saturday morning and Desert Horizons Saturday afternoon, Sunday we have SilverRock but seeing the reviews on this thread we are not sure, and Desert Willow Firecliff booked for Monday prior to flying out later that day.

Options for Sunday are to either stick with SilverRock (booked at $129), using Underpar to book either La Quinta North or Mountain Vista San Gorgonio course as we have some credit for UnderPar we could use, or possibly playing La Quinta Dunes ($89). Hoping to keep costs around $100 or less if possible, but open to others feedback.

TIA, the pics of the courses has us ready to go!

[RSinSG]

Got your PM and the thread. The photos make me miss SoCal golf in the winter, but not enough to live there again. I was there a couple of weeks ago and played Indian Canyons South and Tahquitz Legends. The South course was my home course for many years in the 80's-90's when it was Canyon South before the remodel. It's a fun enough course and one of its strongest points is that when it is windy in the valley you can usually still play there as it is protected. Tahquitz Legends is somewhat of a mid-lower tier course but it is the course I learned to play on when I was a teen so I'm kinda nostalgic about it.

I moved out of PS in Dec 2009 and as I still have kids and grandkids I make the drive back every month or so. Right now most of the green fees are <$100 which sting. When I lived there I had contacts at several courses and I was able to play a lot of golf. We'd play the higher end courses during the off season which I actually prefer as it's cheap and empty. You just gotta know how to play in the heat. Last summer I played several private courses as my best buddy that I used to work with is now Director of Security at an exclusive private club there and he can get us on different places. We played Eldorado CC, The Reserve and Stone Eagle.

The area has changed a lot in 10 years and many of my favorite restaurants are no longer. My Kids have taken me to some new (to me) ones and If anyone has questions about food or places to go or see feel free to PM me.

Zip - one thing. Your "mandarin oranges" look to be tangerines to me. I had a huge tree in my yard and I'm pretty sure that is what you took photos of but I'm old and could be mistaken. Also, your tip on Meyer Lemons is spot on. They are without a doubt the best lemons ever. They make fantastic lemonade and desserts and if you've never had them you need to give them a try.

 

[bb123]

I've been a handful of times now, so here are my thoughts:

Escena = great warmup round after getting off the plane. No driving range, but who cares.

Eagle Falls = best bang for the $$ for a public course there. Has driving range, but just no clubhouse for a nice beer/lunch after.  BB123 pro tip: head over to YourPie (build your own pizza place) in Indio one minute away for pizza/beer afterwards. It's like a Subway, but for Pizza and it takes just a couple minutes to make, and has a nice selection of beers on tap.

Desert Horizons = never heard of

SilverRock = never played before, but have only heard bad reviews since the redo.

La Quinta Dunes = it's ok for the price, nothing too special. The Mountain course looks way better, but is $$.

Desert Willow Firecliff = you will have a blast.

Mountain Vista San Gorgonio = Nice course, and is the harder of the two courses. The Santa Rosa course has big hills on either side of the fairway that will catch all slices and hooks, so you will barely lose a ball at that one. We always play the Santa Rosa one first as our warm up round ... lol

Another couple options near the $100 price point are the Mission Hills courses: Gary Player and Pete Dye.

[ZipinZ]

Paul (Vernon) & BB123 …. Many tks for the Rams Hill hwy directions, that will sure help, neither Kyle or I have played this track before, were going based on the recommendations from you & others on the forum, looking forward to it as well as me getting 5 strokes per side, too. Will charge up the battery & take a bunch of pic’s.

UBCAce …. As an option, don’t overlook Indian Canyons South, they don’t really have any issues with wind, the course is up against the Mtns so a late afternoon T-Time could be a problem, it’s dark here by 5:15pm.

 RsinSG … tks for checkin in, you posts have always been very helpful & informative. Kid & G-kids, good reason to get back to P/S and golf a bit, too. Now that you mention it I believe the oranges around our condo are tangerines, they’re very sweet & have a few spits in them, really enjoy them every morning. That Meyer Lemon tree is the only one I found on the entire complex, even the locals don’t know about it, goes great in drinks & with Lemon Chicken.

 Fantasy Springs, Eagle Falls, Bty day, no wind 72F, played it today as a single for $85.00, showed up about 1 hour before my t-time, checked in & the starter said I could get out early with another single, it would be just the 2 of us. Had a great day, met Ron from Idaho, he played from the whites & I joined him, we started at 10:32 the Marshalls kept telling us the course was backed up, finished just before 3:00 pm 4.5 hrs.  Never played this course before, it was one of my cart buddies favorites, I sat back & enjoyed the ride & the round, took a few pic’s.

Lost 1 TP5 as a result of a bad bounce off the cart path into the scrub & long grass, that sucked. Struggled a bit with the greens, pin placement and break messed me up, no birdies, but had one 3 putt on #6, a par 3. Found the front 9 a bit more challenging than the back 9, shot 80. Hole #18 a 455yd Par 5 is the most scenic with the water fall, that’s were they get the name.Double K ... Kyle played the Classic Club this morning, hope he posts some feedback.

 

 Pic’s …. Enjoy.

 D.

 

 

 

Club House & Pro Shop needs upgrading.

 

Range & Putting Green next to Starter.

 

Hole #1 ....

 

The Carts have GPS, but it got annoying talking to you at every T-Box.

 

Lost a TP5 in this scrub & long grass, they need more rabbits from Terra Lago out here.

 

 

Eagle Fall's, that's me ..... Ron never said to smile!

 

Had a few makeable Birdie opportunities, need to spend more time on the putting green.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[vernon]

Can't you say, "cheese"?

I'm glad you like Eagle Falls although I'm not surprised. The hole that always bedevils me over there is that little par 5 number 4 as I can never figure out where or what to hit to layup. And that green is pretty tough too.

Was the lost ball left off the tee on number 5? That scrub looks familiar!

Thanks as always for all the great photos and I can't wait to hear about your trip to Ram's Hill.

Lemme know if you have any other questions and I'll sure do my best to help.

The first trip I think the drive over there is almost as cool as the golf. Lots of guys have made reference to Breaking Bad and I couldn't agree more!

Don't see landscape like that in northeast Kansas that's for sure!

[mikedejong33]

Eagle Falls is one of my favorites as well. Its always in awesome shape, and there is a good variety of holes. Some of the best greens down there usually too, and wont break the bank. Z, you look very similar to my father in law (who I am going down to see and play some golf with next week in Mesa, AZ). That's the "I just won 18 to take the match look" that I have seen so many times...

[ZipinZ]

Paul ... yes Eagle falls was enjoyable, I'd say a bit better than Escena because of the range/practice facility but they also have a few mixed up holes that were poorly laid out. On #4, I believe I was in a bunker it cost me. Par'd #5, lost the ball on #7 the Par 5, took a double. Google helped me with your directions to Rams Hill, programed my vehicle, were good to go will be departing early for our 9:51 am t-time. Kyle can drive the cart, I'll enjoy the scenery & take a few pic's.Mike ... I had to look at that pic of me again, it looks like I just lost the round & a bunch of cash, guess it's all how you look at it. Have fun in Mesa with the family.

Looking forward to Rams Hill.

Cheers

D.

 

 

[ZipinZ]

Save the Date & it's Free .... Pete Carlson's 16th Annual Golf Expo "Feb. 07 & 08" - 9:00-4:00 at the College of the Desert Golf Center in Palm Desert.

Plan to be there early, you can demo ever major mfg's clubs on the range, lots of good deals a few pic's. from a past Expo.

D.

 

[lchang]

Just noticed this comment about Desert Springs - Palm. I was going to add that as a 2nd round (after a morning round at Shadow Ridge) for SuperBowl weekend. My thinking was it'll be less likely for our tired, possibly drunken swings to launch a golf ball into a house (as compared to, say, the Dye course at Mission Hills). Anyway, the Palm course is in bad shape?! Is that true of the Valley course at Desert Springs also?

[ZipinZ]

Rams Hill's, Borrego Springs, Ca, Jan 15th road trip .... picked up Kyle at the Westin, we departed Palm Spring, took Hwy 86 then 78 to Borrego Springs, 98.3 miles one way, good HWY, 1.5 hrs later arrived at the course for our 9:51 am T-time, paid $94.00, BTY day not a breath of wind, 68F, finished at 2:00 pm (4 Hrs). Took a bunch of pic's need to sort through them & will post a few better one's, I liked the course, but hated the greens, decided, I wouldn't go back!

Kyle kept score using the cart GPS, my G80 confirmed my numbers, 42/45 = 87 Hit my driver really well, my P/B was 295 yds, on #5 a 520 Yd Par 5 but 3 putted it. I believe I hit the stick on #9, missed an Ace, but had a tap in Birdie, lost 1 ball in the pond on #10, not pleased with all the 3 putts. Was a long day up at 5:30 am, got home at 4:20 pm, really enjoyed a cold one in my hot tub.

More to follow .....

D.

 

 

 

 

[Socrates]

How could you not like the greens? They are usually quick and you really have to pay attention to the real lay of the land, but I enjoyed the greens. One of my favourite courses.

[ZipinZ]

 

The Pin placements were stupid crazy either on a big break like #16 or 8 ft from the fringe & for me always downhill.

Edit .... the 11 hour golf day with 4 three putts sucked.

D.

 

[URStillAway]

The Palm course is in great shape. But the greens were hard and a bit bumpy the day we played. Dormant grass painted green. Which we have played on there other years. I believe they only overseed the greens on one of the courses each year. We haven’t played the Valley course yet to compare. Both courses and the surrounding areas are very green.

[lchang]

I see. Thanks for the info. If you (or anyone else) happens to play the Valley course in the next week and a half, I’d love to hear about it!

[Socrates]

Yeah, a day of putting from above the hole will kill any enthusiasm. It happens, but I'm sure 2nd time you will know more about where not to be on those greens and it will go much better. You should see the desert coming in on a long weekend. Absolutely bizarre. They get about 40,000 people in motorhomes and whatever camping in the middle of nowhere just to go dirtbike riding or 4-wheeling. Place is nuts.

[vernon]

Dang it David I'm sorry to hear that you were disappointed in Ram's Hill. I was afraid that might happen due to me perhaps overhyping the golf course but it sounds like the greens did it all on their own! They do tend to have some tricky pins and the slowest posted Stimpmeter speed that we've seen over there has been 11 and 12 is more common. That's quite a bit quicker than most of us are accustomed to but we always found that to be one of the allures of the place and actually enjoy the greens quite a bit.

And, even though they can get as slick as a car hood, they've always been unbelievably smooth and true which is fun for us.

However, it is a long day what with two and a half to three hours on the road plus the golf. We typically head over there around 7:00 for an 11:00 to 11:30 tee time as we really enjoy the breakfast on the patio and practice area. When the weather has been good (all but once) we hang around for a beer and go down to the far end of the range to the short game area and spend another hour or so. Consequently, we're usually away from the house for about twelve hours total but absolutely love it.

I'm sure at least part of it is knowing that we've only got a couple of days to enjoy the desert, the weather and the golf before returning home to the frozen tundra for another month or more that keeps us pumped up. Regardless, we're always worn slick and usually just order pizza delivery and sit in the tub for an hour or so before everybody passes out from exhaustion and heads to bed to do it all over again the next day.

When we've only got seven to ten days we try and cram as much fun as we can stand into every minute and in fact when we were still gainfully employed used to joke that we needed to get back to work so we could get some rest!

Golf vacations in the desert can be hard work and it ain't gettin' any easier with age.

Good luck with your recovery and I look forward to the photos!

[RSinSG]

Zip

Are you going to watch any of the tournament? I used to go a lot and you never know when someone will post a crazy low score.

[vernon]

Kind of a crazy question but wondered if anybody could lend any perspective on what a guy might expect driving from Palm Springs to the Ontario airport on a Monday afternoon. My brother and nephew have a 6:00 flight out of Ontario on Monday 10 February and I was hoping to get some idea of what to expect in regards to traffic at that time of day around San Bernardino if they take 10 or Riverside via 60?

I've made the drive via 10 a couple of times but it was a Saturday afternoon so I don't know if rush hour traffic might significantly impact their travel time. We're gonna try and squeeze in a round of golf before they leave but want to make sure that they're on the road in plenty of time to catch their flight.

Mapquest indicates about an hour and fifteen minutes taking either route and that squares with what we experienced on a Saturday but after a couple of times dealing with LA, San Diego and Long Beach traffic I though it might be worth asking about just in case.

Thanks!

[ZipinZ]

Rams Hill Borrego Springs, Jan 15th it was a BTY day, no wind, warm, 68F, the course was in good shape, but for me it was a long day, with way too many 3 putts .

We were fortunate that we where driving East on I10, a semi flipped with a load of alpha bales at the Cook St overpass headed West, what a mess, traffic was backed up to the Fantasy Springs Casino. We took Hwy 86 then 78 to Borrego Springs, it was 98.3 miles one way, both HWY’s were in very good/excellent condition. Arrived about 45 min before our T-time, paid $94.00, they have a decent range with PRO-V1 “Practice” balls, nice. The putting green is very close to the actual course greens, fast & with hole placement with break & undulation, which I putted well on & made some 20 footers. The course wasn’t all that busy there was a 3 some in front, Kyle & I played as a 2 some, there were 2 that followed us & they quit after 9. We chatted with the Starter (Cdn from Van Island) got going at 10:00 am. No Bevy Cart all day, they give you 2 bottles of water & have water/ice on various holes. No food or bevies at the turn, it’s on #14, really! The overall course was in good shape, however, we did notice they had some winter kill on their fairways, more than one was under repair. As previously mentioned, I really hit my driver well, only had one bad drive, with the majority of them in the 260 -280 range and had one 295 Yds but I sure did struggled with the greens & pin placement some were just stupid crazy and four 3 putts was frustrating, which made for a very long golf day. When we returned the fellas were ready to scrub our clubs, until they seen the bag head cover was on, they always asked how we enjoyed the round, I was honest & they still gave us 2 cookies for the drive home. For me, it was a long day up at 5:30 am, got home at 4:20 pm, really enjoyed a cold one in my hot tub.

As I said in the earlier post, I liked the course but don’t see myself going back, took lots of pic’s .... enjoy.

 D.

 

 

Nice ride parked outside of the ProShop

 

The Starter took our pic, very friendly fellow from Alberta living in Borrego Springs & Vancouver Island.

 

Hole #1. The GPS units really helped, bonus they didn't talk to you & no commercials.

 

Good start .... side-x-side two putts for par.

 

 

 

 

Best drive of the day.

 

 

 

GPS tells you pace of play.

 

 

I believe I may have hit the stick but it didn't drop, my first Birdie.

 

Two Par 3's back to back, ended up drawing my ball into the pond on far left.

 

Hole 12 .... no GPS pic.

 

 

Finally a place to get something #14.

 

Hole #15.

 

Hole #17 .... No GPS pic.

 

 

Enjoyed the scenery, the course was in good shape, driver was solid, lost 1 ball in water, struggled a bit with my wedges, but didn't like the greens, too many 3 putts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jarederco]

Thanks for the update! I am playing Rams Hill for the first time on 1/26.

[ZipinZ]

 

Your welcome, at least now you know what not to do, hope you enjoy the course & make lots of putts.

D.

[ZipinZ]

Went 2 years ago had a weekend pass, plan on going this Sunday with the Mrs, need to take a break from playing & just watch some good golf.

Cheers

David

 

[ZipinZ]

 

Rams Hill, a look back at what went wrong.

My first 3 putt, Hole #4, ended up at the back of the green, front left pin, down side hill bad read, 3 Putt, a bit deflated, shook it off, move on.   

Hole #5, Par 3 it was 205 yds to the back pin that was about 7-8 feet from the fringe, hit a # 4 Hybrid, ended up just right of the pin 2.5 feet on fringe, had a 10 footer down hill for Birdie, tapped the ball it went 15 feet past the pin. This one stung, back to back 3 putts.

Hole #7 another front pin & I ended up 1-2 feet just off the green at the back, down side hill did it again, third 3 putt, thought to myself, I’m giving this game away to Kyle.

Hole #16, Par 3 the cart GPS said it was 203 yds, my laser said 195, hit a solid 5 iron, ended up just left of pin on fringe, did it again, my butt was dragging, sucked it up & par’d the last 2 holes.

Tks fellas for the encouragement, hopefully will learn from it & do better next round.

Cheers

D.

 

 

 

[Socrates]

Having studied geography (in another lifetime), I find the drive to Borrego almost better than the golf.

The idiot in me won't let me pass up your first line in the summary...We were fortunate that we where driving East on I10, a semi flipped with a load of alpha bales at the Cook St overpass headed West, what a mess

Good thing they weren't omega bales or it would have been curtains for everyone.