Palm Springs Teaser continued for 2024 Golf Vacations

[ZipinZ]

Monday, Jan 23rd .... they're fortunate it was very light winds here yesterday, the Santa Ana winds (sometimes devil winds) are brutal this morning and it's expected to blow even higher this afternoon.

 

From out our back patio .... can you imagine what the Classic Club would be like if they still played there!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by ZipinZ

[vernon]

3 hours ago, ZipinZ said:

 

Tks for taking the time to provide some excellent feedback on the courses as well as your accommodations. That will be helpful for others following this thread.

 

I played Mission Hills North & share your thoughts, I enjoyed that track. I played Desert Dunes about 8 years ago, early morning round and would never go back or even recommend it.  It was in very poor condition and very windy that day. My playing buddy from Canada stepped into a sprinkler hole covered with tall grass near the green on back 9 and almost broke his ankle, that ended his round and the course wouldn't do anything for him for a refund, even after he suggested he would be contacting a lawyer. Indian Canyons "South" not "North" is also one of my favorites and recommend it highly especially is wind is in the forecast, it's almost non existent there. I played Palm Desert Resort about 4 years ago when some friends from Canada came to visit, they normally have a number of discounted rounds on Golf Now. It was a fun course, but very slow play, every one from the community owns a cart and the course is busy all day, have never gone back. Pleased to read you got paired up with good people, in 8 years of spending 3 plus months in the desert, I only had 1 bad experience on Escena with a fella who drove me around that had no patience with big attitude and was more interested in alcohol than golf.

 

That said, I've met some great people including WRXers & try to get together with them every year. Hope my buddy Vernon (Paul) from Kansas City and Jarederco (Jared) from Texas, can make it back this year. If you plan to return perhaps we can get out together at Escena, my short stay membership includes discounted rounds for guests. 

 

Cheers

 

David

 

 

Hey I didn't think my attitude and lack of patience was THAT bad.

 

Oh wait that's right - we didn't play together at Escena.

 

Whew - that's a relief.

 

Kathy and I are still trying to work it out to get out there either the last part of February and first part of March or maybe even mid March.  

 

Having some emotional conflicts with the March dates due to March Madness and our Jayhawk's!

 

I'll keep you posted.  Hopefully it works out.

[ZipinZ]

1 hour ago, vernon said:

Hey I didn't think my attitude and lack of patience was THAT bad.

 

Oh wait that's right - we didn't play together at Escena.

 

Whew - that's a relief.

 

Kathy and I are still trying to work it out to get out there either the last part of February and first part of March or maybe even mid March.  

 

Having some emotional conflicts with the March dates due to March Madness and our Jayhawk's!

 

I'll keep you posted.  Hopefully it works out.

 

Still have that sense of humor.  Feb is better than March, I need to join someone for Ram's Hill, no one here wants to drive that far or pay the price.

 

 

 

[Bonneville85308]

4 hours ago, ZipinZ said:

Monday, Jan 23rd .... they're fortunate it was very light winds here yesterday, the Santa Ana winds (sometimes devil winds) are brutal this morning and it's expected to blow even higher this afternoon.

 

From out our back patio .... can you imagine what the Classic Club would be like if they still played there!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That is exactly why I ended my Palm Springs trip on Sunday and didn't stick around another day....

[ZipinZ]

Jan 24th .... brought home something from the AMEX that I didn't want, feeling like I was getting a cold, scratchy throat & fever last night, no loss of smell or taste yet. Covid self-test says I'm "Positive", now that sucks. No golf & in hiding for the remainder of the week. Fortunately, the Mrs is Negative, that's a relief. Now I get to watch the golfers on the 9th fairway from my back patio.

Edited January 24, 2023 by ZipinZ

[vernon]

On 1/23/2023 at 6:44 PM, ZipinZ said:

 

Still have that sense of humor.  Feb is better than March, I need to join someone for Ram's Hill, no one here wants to drive that far or pay the price.

 

 

 

Once a class clown.......

 

Not surprisingly accommodations are becoming few and far between for February and tee times are going fast as well.  

 

Of course we usually have lodging secured by October and make tee times as far out as allowed.

 

Have even considered a stay and play at Ram's Hill but I just love Palm Springs too much.

[Warrick]

Flying out Thursday for a week, with some buddies.

 

Shadow Ridge

Marriott Palm

Marriott Valley

Dunes

Classic Club

Silver Rock

 

i had to get tee times quick at the 30 day out mark.

[ZipinZ]

2 hours ago, Warrick said:

Flying out Thursday for a week, with some buddies.

 

Shadow Ridge

Marriott Palm

Marriott Valley

Dunes

Classic Club

Silver Rock

 

i had to get tee times quick at the 30 day out mark.

 

Some excellent choices, January has been windy & cool here with more rain expected on Monday, fortunately the temps are improving back up to 70's next week ..... enjoy.

 

[jpdx]

11 minutes ago, ZipinZ said:

 

Some excellent choices, January has been windy & cool here with more rain expected on Monday, fortunately the temps are improving back up to 70's next week ..... enjoy.

 

never been this time of year with it being so cool. And monday will be interesting. I actually am bringing rain gear! 😳

[Warrick]

My folks bought a place at Monterrey CC in 2018, went out first time in February with wife, played all the good ones, Stadium, CC, Firecliff, Indian Wells, Desert Willow. I had some buddies I wanted to take so we decided to start going late October before my folks went out for winter.

 

They moved out there full time this August, so they charge us a reasonable fee to stay there, they shoot off to Vegas or Catalina while we stay at their place now, back to February, tired off fighting overseed schedule that time of year.

 

This is my 5th trip since February of 2019, love it out there.

Edited January 27, 2023 by Warrick

[jpdx]

2 hours ago, Warrick said:

My folks bought a place at Monterrey CC in 2018, went out first time in February with wife, played all the good ones, Stadium, CC, Firecliff, Indian Wells, Desert Willow. I had some buddies I wanted to take so we decided to start going late October before my folks went out for winter.

 

They moved out there full time this August, so they charge us a reasonable fee to stay there, they shoot off to Vegas or Catalina while we stay at their place now, back to February, tired off fighting overseed schedule that time of year.

 

This is my 5th trip since February of 2019, love it out there.

This is my third or fourth in the same time frame. Its a close race between PS and Bend, OR in the summer. But neither hold a stick to Bandon Dunes 😉 anytime of year. 
 

I’m on my way tomorrow morning with the wife and her friend in tow along with my cousin and a buddy that i havemt seen in about 4 years. We're celebrating two birthdays. So unfortunately not all golf. That being said: tahquitz creek after lunch on day of arrival, classic club sunday, maybe 36 so my cousin and buddy can get a taste of the afternoon wind there (😂) and the. Indian canyons south on monday.

Edited January 27, 2023 by jpdx

[ZipinZ]

1 hour ago, jpdx said:

This is my third or fourth in the same time frame. Its a close race between PS and Bend, OR in the summer. But neither hold a stick to Bandon Dunes 😉 anytime of year. 
 

I’m on my way tomorrow morning with the wife and her friend in tow along with my cousin and a buddy that i havemt seen in about 4 years. We're celebrating two birthdays. So unfortunately not all golf. That being said: tahquitz creek after lunch on day of arrival, classic club sunday, maybe 36 so my cousin and buddy can get a taste of the afternoon wind there (😂) and the. Indian canyons south on monday.

 

Wind S/B reasonable on Sunday if Wind.Willy is somewhat accurate, Indian Canyons South is a good choice for Monday, 80% chance of showers, but they don't last & have been wrong in the past. Enjoy ...

 

 

https://wind.willyweather.com/ca/riverside-county/palm-springs.html

[ZipinZ]

Fly-Boys were out doing laps & blowin a bit of smoke this afternoon, the roar of those birds flying over was something, wish I was out on Escena for a closer look.

 

A few pic's ....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ZipinZ]

Some NEWS .... looks like the PGA Tour Champions are coming to Palm Springs in late March for the Galleri Classic at Misson Hills.

 

These guys are sure fun to watch, I had the opportunity to caddy for my buddy in the Shaw Charity Classic Pro-Am in Calgary Ab, about 5 years ago.   Enjoyed watching Bernhard Langer, Fred Couples, as well as local Cdn guys like Steven Ames.

 

They're looking for volunteers to work the tourney, I may just spend a day as a spectator.

 

D.

 

Link ..... https://thegallericlassic.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 28, 2023 by ZipinZ

[ZipinZ]

Feb 03rd .... Got out of jail, no longer C-positive.  Went to the Pete C's Demo Days at the COD this morning, noticed 1/3 of the people who attended in the past didn't show up, lots of parking spots available, no line ups at the various booths and few people buying merch. I hit the new Ping G430 Max as well as the TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus, these guys had a Trackman set up but the fella said it wasn't reading the poor quality range balls, so not very accurate. I preferred the Ping, but not ready to upgrade. The only thing I brought home was two mini-sleeves of free Pro-V's the fella in the Titleist booth gave me to try vs my TP5's. On the way out asked the owner (Pete) is he's handing out any discount coupons for products back at the store .... answer was "no" not this year. I wanted to buy a few new grips, guess not from his shop.

 

A few pic's .... D.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jpdx]

On 1/27/2023 at 2:52 PM, jpdx said:

This is my third or fourth in the same time frame. Its a close race between PS and Bend, OR in the summer. But neither hold a stick to Bandon Dunes 😉 anytime of year. 
 

I’m on my way tomorrow morning with the wife and her friend in tow along with my cousin and a buddy that i havemt seen in about 4 years. We're celebrating two birthdays. So unfortunately not all golf. That being said: tahquitz creek after lunch on day of arrival, classic club sunday, maybe 36 so my cousin and buddy can get a taste of the afternoon wind there (😂) and the. Indian canyons south on monday.

No pics. But a few reviews:

 

first off classic club. Both my cousin and buddy loved the course and the conditions, top notch as always. We had one of the first times and didnt see a group in front teeing off 1 and never saw the group behind. Got our 36 in, initially the person said no tee times until 1:50 for the second 18. The manager leaned over and said theres a 12:10 right there! Funny thing was the manager on the radio just before leaning over was not happy. Guess there was a really slow group and we overheard him say: “ i dont care, i want them to skip 2 holes or they can move to the front tees until they catch up” glad we werent behind them. We had about 15min so skipped lunch meal, opted for liquid carbs and headed out. Wind never picked up and the guys kept giving me crap about it. Firs round was about 4:15 second was just under 4hrs. 
 

we really enjoyed indian canyons south. The threat of rain kept most away. A few sprinkles during warmup was all the rain there was. Nice course. Conditions were not up to par with cc, but very good nonetheless. Good mix of shorter and longer par 4’s. Whats with #3 though? A row of trees in front of the green! Rofl!! Some local knowledge would be helpful here or if youve played a time or two. First time ive ever had to carry the rake though. Guess it got in my head because i was in The sand all day. Once we forgot it on a home out of habit, i didnt hit into sand after that. Go figure. Sand was good but inconsistent as some had a bit more than others and lots that i was in had unraked shots or footsteps. We played in under 4hrs. 

 

tahquitz. Oh boy. Had a 12:30 tee time. Didnt tee off until 1:10. They didnt have enough carts and we had to wait, Our group even offered to walk and they wouldn’t let us. No logo balls  in the proshop. Starters were not very friendly, and the beverage cart kept skipping us. Well, actually we saw her twice. Once, We motioned for her she quickly looked away and kept driving. Second we waved and yelled out. Giess she didnt hear us. Kept driving down the washout area and never saw her again.The course conditions and design is not good enough that i would go back and put up with all that that considering all the available courses down there. A number of groups mustve left because we were on about a 5 hour pace, but finished with it basically dark. Ended up at about 4:25. 

 

[vernon]

16 hours ago, ZipinZ said:

Feb 03rd .... Got out of jail, no longer C-positive.  Went to the Pete C's Demo Days at the COD this morning, noticed 1/3 of the people who attended in the past didn't show up, lots of parking spots available, no line ups at the various booths and few people buying merch. I hit the new Ping G430 Max as well as the TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus, these guys had a Trackman set up but the fella said it wasn't reading the poor quality range balls, so not very accurate. I preferred the Ping, but not ready to upgrade. The only thing I brought home was two mini-sleeves of free Pro-V's the fella in the Titleist booth gave me to try vs my TP5's. On the way out asked the owner (Pete) is he's handing out any discount coupons for products back at the store .... answer was "no" not this year. I wanted to buy a few new grips, guess not from his shop.

 

A few pic's .... D.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16 hours ago, ZipinZ said:

 

Man, that attendance is pretty sparse compared to year's past and the vendor tents used to extend way farther to the east than that.  

 

And no discount coupons?  Used to buy a season's supply of gloves with the discount coupons every year.

 

Would pick 'em up off of the ground and make four or five trips to the store to get two gloves each trip.

 

I don't much like the direction that everything seems to be heading these days.......

 

 

[ZipinZ]

On 2/3/2023 at 7:41 PM, jpdx said:

No pics. But a few reviews:

 

first off classic club. Both my cousin and buddy loved the course and the conditions, top notch as always. We had one of the first times and didnt see a group in front teeing off 1 and never saw the group behind. Got our 36 in, initially the person said no tee times until 1:50 for the second 18. The manager leaned over and said theres a 12:10 right there! Funny thing was the manager on the radio just before leaning over was not happy. Guess there was a really slow group and we overheard him say: “ i dont care, i want them to skip 2 holes or they can move to the front tees until they catch up” glad we werent behind them. We had about 15min so skipped lunch meal, opted for liquid carbs and headed out. Wind never picked up and the guys kept giving me crap about it. Firs round was about 4:15 second was just under 4hrs. 
 

we really enjoyed indian canyons south. The threat of rain kept most away. A few sprinkles during warmup was all the rain there was. Nice course. Conditions were not up to par with cc, but very good nonetheless. Good mix of shorter and longer par 4’s. Whats with #3 though? A row of trees in front of the green! Rofl!! Some local knowledge would be helpful here or if youve played a time or two. First time ive ever had to carry the rake though. Guess it got in my head because i was in The sand all day. Once we forgot it on a home out of habit, i didnt hit into sand after that. Go figure. Sand was good but inconsistent as some had a bit more than others and lots that i was in had unraked shots or footsteps. We played in under 4hrs. 

 

tahquitz. Oh boy. Had a 12:30 tee time. Didnt tee off until 1:10. They didnt have enough carts and we had to wait, Our group even offered to walk and they wouldn’t let us. No logo balls  in the proshop. Starters were not very friendly, and the beverage cart kept skipping us. Well, actually we saw her twice. Once, We motioned for her she quickly looked away and kept driving. Second we waved and yelled out. Giess she didnt hear us. Kept driving down the washout area and never saw her again.The course conditions and design is not good enough that i would go back and put up with all that that considering all the available courses down there. A number of groups mustve left because we were on about a 5 hour pace, but finished with it basically dark. Ended up at about 4:25. 

 

 

Tks for taking the time to provide some feedback on your trip, fortunately the weather system they forecasted never had much of an impact. Tahquitz sure sounds like it was a disappointment, I've played their Resort course a number of times and I remember I had to wait a bit for a cart but 40 minutes is ridiculous. I know its a very busy course being a Palm Springs owned muni, that has various specials & reduced green fee's for residents & long term renters living in zip 92262. Classic Club & Indian Canyons South are two of my favorites & on my list to play this year, too.  

 

 

[ZipinZ]

On 2/4/2023 at 8:38 AM, vernon said:

 

Man, that attendance is pretty sparse compared to year's past and the vendor tents used to extend way farther to the east than that.  

 

And no discount coupons?  Used to buy a season's supply of gloves with the discount coupons every year.

 

Would pick 'em up off of the ground and make four or five trips to the store to get two gloves each trip.

 

I don't much like the direction that everything seems to be heading these days.......

 

 

 

The event is only two days, perhaps Saturday was the busy day, but not likely. I was also a bit disappointed with the lack of men's golf shirts, there were only 3 or 4 racks this year with nothing special, looked like last years leftovers. At least all the major golf equipment companies were there with all the latest offerings. If you were looking to upgrade this was a good opportunity to hit balls out on a range vs a SIM. 

 

[ZipinZ]

Feb 06th - They said the wind would calm down this afternoon, I booked a 12:30 TT, at the Desert Princess were I'm renting, wind was around 8-10 mph, that didn't last it picked up & was steady around 20-22 mph or more, I normally hit 8 iron 160-165 yds, was 132 yds out from green/pin, straight into the wind, hit 8i punch shot, I just made it to the fringe it was a long putt to an up hill blue pin, that turned out to be a 3 putt to end my round, not much fun golfing in a sand storm. 

 

Booked Escena for Friday morning, weather/wind looks much better with temps in mid 70's. 

 

D.

[daegyu]

Heading out to PS this weekend and squeezing in a round. If anybody has played both mountain vista and Escena, which would you pick?

[bb123]

17 hours ago, daegyu said:

Heading out to PS this weekend and squeezing in a round. If anybody has played both mountain vista and Escena, which would you pick?

 

I would give the edge to Escena as its a little bit more polished, and a little bit "higher end" than Mountain Vista. Escena is a bit more $$ if that matters to you.

 

Mountain Vista is a bit of a retirement community, but has the 2 courses though:

(1) Santa Rosa course = Easier of the two, with fairways that have a bit of a bowl effect (i.e. hills on either side) so its hard to lose ball there unless you shank one big time. We used to like doing this one as an easy warmup course on the trip

(2) San Gorgonio = more challenging of the two .. without the sloped fairways to catch all of the balls, and this one is nice and a good challenge. I would put this one up a little bit below Escena, but a very nice course as well.

 

Underpar.com has a great deal for Mountain Vista where you can do both courses unlimited one day for $89

https://www.underpar.com/courses/mountain-vista-golf-club-at-sun-city-palm-desert

 

But if you are just looking to do one fun round there, I would go with Escena. 

[ZipinZ]

daegyu, I never played the Mtn Vista's, however, I really enjoy Escena, it's one of my favorite's. If your staying in or around the Indio area another option would be Fantasy Springs, Eagle Falls, it's about the same price and it's a fun track. I find you have to call to get a TT, their on line system suggests most of the time none are available. Enjoy the weekend golf.

Edited February 8, 2023 by ZipinZ

[ZipinZ]

Feb 10th .... Escena, used my "membership free round" it was Bty day 74F little to no wind, had a 10:37 TT my membership price would of been $105.00, rack rate is $130.00 this year, finished in 4.5 hrs, struggled with my wedges need more work on the short game & stay out of the bunkers.  Changed my putting grip to left hand low while I'm here this season, so far I like the results, made 1 birdie missed a couple others but made a number of 1 putt par saves, shot 83. The overall course is in great shape but the greens on #12 that 2 level par 3 & #13 that par 5 towards A/P, had dead patches & looked like mower damage, the others were great.

 

Stayed for Happy Hour.

 

A few pic's .... D.

 

#12 Green

 

 

 

View from Patio

 

Edited February 11, 2023 by ZipinZ

[tips09]

Well me and the wife are finally making the trip down to Palm Springs. Have our lineup locked in for April. 
PGA West Dye Mountain (The wife loves Pete dye golf courses)

Silver Rock

Desert Willow Firecliff 

Its my first time down to the Palm Springs area. Our air bnb is central to all the courses we have picked for this trip. What’s the Uber situation like in the area? It is looking like it actually might be more of a savings skipping the rental car and just using uber everywhere we plan on going. I already have a list going of courses to play next time we go down if we enjoy the first trip. Can’t wait.

[ZipinZ]

6 hours ago, tips09 said:

Well me and the wife are finally making the trip down to Palm Springs. Have our lineup locked in for April. 
PGA West Dye Mountain (The wife loves Pete dye golf courses)

Silver Rock

Desert Willow Firecliff 

Its my first time down to the Palm Springs area. Our air bnb is central to all the courses we have picked for this trip. What’s the Uber situation like in the area? It is looking like it actually might be more of a savings skipping the rental car and just using uber everywhere we plan on going. I already have a list going of courses to play next time we go down if we enjoy the first trip. Can’t wait.

 

It gets quite windy here in April, hope your week in the desert is decent. You guys will enjoy those courses, Firecliff is a favorite.  As for Uber, I can't offer much feedback, I'm told Uber is better than Lyft, however, I imagine most drives work for both companies. Most everybody here has their own or rents a car/van, etc. A number of Cdn's are telling me they use Turo a car share service, rates are less than the airport rentals and they have had decent vehicles with no issues.

 

Enjoy .... D.

 

Turo link .... https://turo.com/us/en/search?country=US&defaultZoomLevel=11&delivery=false&endDate=04%2F07%2F2023&endTime=10%3A00&isMapSearch=false&itemsPerPage=200&latitude=33.6633573&location=La Quinta%2C CA&locationType=CITY&longitude=-116.31000949999998&pickupType=ALL&region=CA&sortType=PRICE_LOW&startDate=04%2F03%2F2023&startTime=10%3A00&useDefaultMaximumDistance=true

 

 

Five (5) day rental, you can get some high end vehicles just no room for your sticks .....

 

 

Or if your on a tight budget ....

 

 

[Socrates]

48 minutes ago, ZipinZ said:

Five (5) day rental, you can get some high end vehicles just no room for your sticks .....

 

 

With that, you don't need sticks - just chicks.

[jpdx]

23 minutes ago, Socrates said:

With that, you don't need sticks - just chicks.

 Front seat? I saw a picture a while back on jalopnik or carbuzz of a gallardo with 2 sets behind the seats, i saw one fellow in a mclaren, with clubs buckled in the front seat lol! 

[ZipinZ]

Sure has been cooler here this year compared to previous years & more wind in forecast. Nevertheless, it's still warmer than back home ...... D.

 

                            

 

 

Currently ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by ZipinZ

[ZipinZ]

Great game, any K.C. Chief's fan's here other than Vernon ?

 

Congrat's .... on the win.

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by ZipinZ