Palm Springs Teaser continued for 2024 Golf Vacations

[SpeedKills7]

How is Mountain Vista Golf Club?

[lchang]

Heading to the area at the end of January. For an afternoon round, I assume Shadow Ridge is a better choice than Eagle Falls because  of the risk of high winds at Eagle Falls--is that right?  If so, does anyone here prefer Eagles Falls over Shadow Ridge enough to take such a risk? 

[Socrates]

33 minutes ago, lchang said:

Heading to the area at the end of January. For an afternoon round, I assume Shadow Ridge is a better choice than Eagle Falls because  of the risk of high winds at Eagle Falls--is that right?  If so, does anyone here prefer Eagles Falls over Shadow Ridge enough to take such a risk? 

I don't think that either one has a greater risk of high winds.   If the round is late afternoon, Shadow Ridge has the last 3 holes going away from the setting sun so you aren't looking directly into the sun to finish.  Last hole at Eagle Falls is looking into the sun.  Price will be a factor as Eagle Falls is going to be less expensive.  Depending on where you are staying, you might be in the middle of rush hour traffic and there is no real good way to get from EF to say Palm Desert or Palm Springs at that time of day.

[Bonneville85308]

Trip report part 2. 

 

Sunday early AM: Mountain Vista - San Gorgonio course

 

Last winter I had played and enjoyed the other course at Mountain Vista, which is Santa Rosa, and found the conditions at that one to be top notch and the layout pretty good for a Sun City course. San Gorgonio had apparently gotten new miniverde greens within the past year or two. My understanding is these do not get overseeded in winter. They were quite firm, had a light fertilizer topdressing, speed was pretty inconsistent (not only from green to green, but the practice green was crazy lightning fast and no green on the course was like that), and they had a lot of weird breaks. I didn't like them. As for the rest of the course, they overseed pretty much everything here wall-to-wall, and it was a top-notch plush overseed job. Some morning dew but otherwise not too soaked. Fairways were in great condition for the amount of play and cart traffic they get here. Bunker sand was good. Overall I really liked both layouts but San Gorgonio is the winner by a small margin.

 

I had the first tee time of the day and paired up with two quick locals, we flew around in a hair under 3 hours after catching some 9-holers on the back nine. $140 is kinda steep for this type of course but the conditions made up for it besides my opinion on the greens. Note that San Gorgonio doesn't have a driving range unlike Santa Rosa.

 

 

Sunday mid-day: Woodhaven CC

 

This is a semi-private course that seems to open times to the public starting late morning each day. It is short, card says around 5700 from the tips and around 5200 from the tips, but both sets were pretty close together and more towards 5200-5300. The nines are kinda repetitive, maybe one interesting hole per nine but the rest forgettable like at Palm Desert CC. Fairway overseed was decent, but some larger thin areas and a lot of cart wear. Wall-to-wall overseed included the rough.  Greens were in nice condition but real slow. Bunker sand was average. There is a driving range with balls included with the greens fee.

 

Paid about $60 on a golfnow hotdeal with promo code. It is absolutely not worth their $105 rack rate. I'd maybe play it again if I got another cheap hotdeal and needed a last minute filler round but otherwise I'll skip it and play Shadow Mountain again if I want a shorter course. I was concerned pace was going to be a problem since they use 7-minute tee time intervals and the place was packed, but we made it around in about 4 hours despite waiting on every hole.

 

 

Monday early morning - Terra Lago, South course

 

This one was seriously fun for me. Lots of variety and memorable holes. Like the North course, some holes are up in the hilly part of the property (front nine) and others are in the flats (back nine). They have the fairways dialed into a great level of firmness, lots of bounce and roll but you can still get an iron under the ball easily. Greens were good, I'd say slightly faster than the average public course and rolled smooth. Some unfixed ball marks from the day before but otherwise few blemishes besides one area on a back nine green that looked like it got messed up due to a sprinkler leak. The 8th fairway had some pretty major bare spots but the others were fine besides a few small thin spots here and there. Rough is pretty much all dormant and cut tight except greenside. Greenside bunkers were pretty bad all around, most hard as a rock and of a steep lipped design that you can't just hit it like a chip shot to get out. I played the white tees at little over 5,800 yards (68.3/124 par 72) which were plenty challenging but allowed me to reach all green complexes in 2 shots on the par 4s.

 

Rate was about $95 which I thought was a fair price. Was the second person off the tee in the morning behind another quick single. North course was pretty booked up but South's tee sheet was fairly open for the first couple hours of the day. I've noticed both times I've been here that the parking lot when I leave has more Canadian license plates than any other course I've played in the area. I really like both courses at this facility and they are on my repeat list for future trips.

 

Edited December 12, 2023 by Bonneville85308

[ZipinZ]

Bonneville ... many tks for taking the time to provide a detailed report with pic's. I skimmed your post, plan to go back & read it more closely I haven't had the opportunity to play some of the courses you did, the pic's are a bonus. 

 

I'm counting down the days, we arrive on January 05th for 3.5 months, can hardly wait.

 

Cheers

 

David

[RSinSG]

On 11/7/2023 at 6:53 AM, ThermalDan said:

I head down the weekend before Thanksgiving with games lined up at Marriott Shadow Ridge (one of my favorites) and Stone Eagle (bucket list) along with a couple surprise rounds that my host won't reveal.  I've tried to do the deep dive on Stone Eagle for years, but there just doesn't seem to be a ton on-line about the course.  If anyone's played, would love to hear your thoughts.

I played Stone Eagle soon after it was constructed. As I recall, the infrastructure wasn’t finished yet and it was before the course officially opened. One of my buddies had a contact there and he got us on so I’m sure my experience was vastly different than playing it now.

 

That said, the course itself was amazing.  All the holes are carved out of the mountain and the views were spectacular. Lots of elevation changes, which sometimes can be gimmicky (Wolf Creek) but the course was enjoyable and not too difficult.

 

Around that same time I got to play Porcupine Creek not far from Stone Eagle. When I played it the course was owned by Tim Blixseth and it was one of only a handful of privately owned tournament sized courses. His (then) wife Edra opened the course for a scramble for the California Police Chiefs Association and a bunch of hackers got to play on a course that IMO was as well maintained and groomed as Augusta. The tee boxes were better than many greens I’ve played on. There were flowers and other beautiful landscaping with drink and refreshment stations on every hole. It was a once in a lifetime experience for us.

 

You can play it now if you want. Larry Ellison now owns it and it’s called the Sensi Welness Retreat. I think it costs $1600+ a night to stay there and golf is $950.

[ASN21]

Have played 5 courses in these areas and this is how I would rank them:

 

1. Classic Club

2. PGA West Stadium

3. Silverrock

4. PGA West Mountain

5. Desert Willow Firecliff

 

Was absolutely wowed by Classic Club today. It belongs in its own tier IMO. well worth every penny. 

[double or triple?]

33 minutes ago, ASN21 said:

Have played 5 courses in these areas and this is how I would rank them:

 

1. Classic Club

2. PGA West Stadium

3. Silverrock

4. PGA West Mountain

5. Desert Willow Firecliff

 

Was absolutely wowed by Classic Club today. It belongs in its own tier IMO. well worth every penny. 

 how were conditions for Classic? Thinking of heading there before I move back to SD. Tough to get a tee time?

[ASN21]

1 hour ago, double or triple? said:

 how were conditions for Classic? Thinking of heading there before I move back to SD. Tough to get a tee time?

Conditions were fantastic and not too difficult  to get a tee time. I booked like 3-4 weeks in advance and probably paid $40-$50 more than I needed to. I just didn’t want to risk missing it. 

[ZipinZ]

4 hours ago, ASN21 said:

Have played 5 courses in these areas and this is how I would rank them:

 

1. Classic Club

2. PGA West Stadium

3. Silverrock

4. PGA West Mountain

5. Desert Willow Firecliff

 

Was absolutely wowed by Classic Club today. It belongs in its own tier IMO. well worth every penny. 

Tks for the feedback, it helps others planning their golf vacations.

 

Three or the 5 are my favorites, too. Stadium #1, CC#2, FC#3, I like PGA Mtn but don't care for SilverRock since they made the changes.

 

MY neighbor at the Desert Princess works at the C.C. and if he's still there he said he's able to get me on for cheap if the course isn't busy, hoping his offer stands. Two weeks to go and counting down my sleeps.

 

Cheers

 

David

Edited December 22, 2023 by ZipinZ

[ASN21]

20 hours ago, ZipinZ said:

Tks for the feedback, it helps others planning their golf vacations.

 

Three or the 5 are my favorites, too. Stadium #1, CC#2, FC#3, I like PGA Mtn but don't care for SilverRock since they made the changes.

 

MY neighbor at the Desert Princess works at the C.C. and if he's still there he said he's able to get me on for cheap if the course isn't busy, hoping his offer stands. Two weeks to go and counting down my sleeps.

 

Cheers

 

David

I asked some of the folks about Escena and got mixed reviews on it. I’ll probably end up checking it out. I did hear good things about Eagle Falls which was on my list. Will definitely do that course next time. 

[ZipinZ]

3 hours ago, ASN21 said:

I asked some of the folks about Escena and got mixed reviews on it. I’ll probably end up checking it out. I did hear good things about Eagle Falls which was on my list. Will definitely do that course next time. 

 

Escena is my home course, bought a short stay membership, it's a fun track some would say a hidden gem & if it's windy very challenging, too. The biggest con is they have no practice range, you hit into nets as per pic below.  See my January 08th review with pics on Page 1 of the thread, it's near the bottom of the page.

 

Cheers

 

D.

 

 

Hole 1.

 

 

Practice Range .... sucks.

 

[SpeedKills7]

Which of these courses would be worth playing?  
 

Cimmaron

desert Princess

Desert Dunes

Desert Falls

Palm Desert Resort

 

 

[ASN21]

On 12/22/2023 at 7:55 PM, ZipinZ said:

 

Escena is my home course, bought a short stay membership, it's a fun track some would say a hidden gem & if it's windy very challenging, too. The biggest con is they have no practice range, you hit into nets as per pic below.  See my January 08th review with pics on Page 1 of the thread, it's near the bottom of the page.

 

Cheers

 

D.

 

 

Hole 1.

 

 

Practice Range .... sucks.

 

Oh yes, one person I spoke to said that course was a no go due to the lack of a range. For me to play there it might be good to do after playing a different course first in the morning. 

[Socrates]

31 minutes ago, ASN21 said:

Oh yes, one person I spoke to said that course was a no go due to the lack of a range. For me to play there it might be good to do after playing a different course first in the morning. 

I played 45 rounds this season (snow bound for 5+ months) and of those 45, I only used a range prior to play in 5 of those rounds.   

Not having a range isn't a deal breaker. 

Lace up your golf shoes and hit the tee. 

Anything more than 2 stretching moves is considered cheating.   😉😬 

 

If I do warm up, it's a few drivers, a few irons, a few chips and a few putts.

 

[ZipinZ]

2 hours ago, SpeedKills7 said:

Which of these courses would be worth playing?  
 

Cimmaron

desert Princess

Desert Dunes

Desert Falls

Palm Desert Resort

 

 

 

- I rent at the Desert Princess & it's 27 hole but I only enjoy playing Lagos & El Cielo not the Vista's 9 hole it's crap. The 2024 rate for renter mid-day = $75.  general public $135 morning, $105. mid-day, $75. twilight. 

- I don't care for Cimmaron, it's in the open wash area, not fun on windy/dusty days, not very scenic or challenging, it may be cheaper than the D.P. others here have played it they said it wasn't all that bad for the price.

- Desert Dunes is cheap, not in great shape & if it's windy it's unplayable, I found that out & lost too many golf balls won't go back.

- Never played Desert Falls, see Bonneville's review/pic's about middle of page 22. He ends his review with "Once & Done for me" .... check it out.

- Never played Palm Desert Resort & don't believe others here have ever provided any feedback or pic's on that track in this thread. (Edit) Just noticed Bonneville played it on Dec 11th see review bottom page 26.

 

Perhaps someone can offer up some comments?

 

Enjoy the golf vacation were ever you decide to play.

 

Cheers

 

David

 

Edited December 26, 2023 by ZipinZ

[ZipinZ]

1 hour ago, ASN21 said:

Oh yes, one person I spoke to said that course was a no go due to the lack of a range. For me to play there it might be good to do after playing a different course first in the morning. 

 

I would disagree with buddies 'No Go" comment. When I go to warm up I pick a spot on the back net area and that's my target for me it's all about getting into a smooth tempo & that makes all the difference on first T, which is a Par 5, so if you miss hit it you can still recover.

 

If it's that important, there's 2 full ranges 10 minutes away at the Desert Princess or Cimmaron stop there to hit a small bucket then finish the warm up at Escena's chipping & putting green.

 

D.

 

Escena putting area with a view ... pic taken after the round from the outdoor patio, their food & drinks are great, too.

 

 

 

 

Chipping area also has a sand bunker which is in between the flags in the background.

 

 

 

Edited December 26, 2023 by ZipinZ

[SpeedKills7]

1 hour ago, ZipinZ said:

 

- I rent at the Desert Princess & it's 27 hole but I only enjoy playing Lagos & El Cielo not the Vista's 9 hole it's crap. The 2024 rate for renter mid-day = $75.  general public $135 morning, $105. mid-day, $75. twilight. 

- I don't care for Cimmaron, it's in the open wash area, not fun on windy/dusty days, not very scenic or challenging, it may be cheaper than the D.P. others here have played it they said it wasn't all that bad for the price.

- Desert Dunes is cheap, not in great shape & if it's windy it's unplayable, I found that out & lost too many golf balls won't go back.

- Never played Desert Falls, see Bonneville's review/pic's about middle of page 22. He ends his review with "Once & Done for me" .... check it out.

- Never played Palm Desert Resort & don't believe others here have ever provided any feedback or pic's on that track in this thread. (Edit) Just noticed Bonneville played it on Dec 11th see review bottom page 26.

 

Perhaps someone can offer up some comments?

 

Enjoy the golf vacation were ever you decide to play.

 

Cheers

 

David

 

Thanks for the great run down.  Playing some of the bigger courses but looking for a few cheaper rounds.  This definitely helps avoid some bad ones.  
appreciate it! 

[ZipinZ]

6 hours ago, SpeedKills7 said:

Thanks for the great run down.  Playing some of the bigger courses but looking for a few cheaper rounds.  This definitely helps avoid some bad ones.  
appreciate it! 

 

Your welcome .... check out the next post, I updated the Course Index & Things-to-do while in P/S.

 

D.

Edited December 27, 2023 by ZipinZ

[ZipinZ]

Updated the “Index of Course Pic’s/Reviews or Things-to-do in P.S.” to make it easier for those who haven’t played some of the more popular tracks in the Palm Springs area or wish to take a day off to do something different.  When they upgraded the forum, we lost the actual post numbers, to find the applicable post with pics go to the page number/date and scroll down accordingly.

 

1.) Escena Golf Club - My Home course I buy the short stay membership here see Page 1 near bottom.   

2.) Westin Gary Player, Mission Hills North, 70705 Ramon Rd - Page 2 near top. Page 20 dated Jan 22^nd, near bottom

3.) Desert Willow – FireCliff – Page 2 near top. Page 25 April 09^th - top.

4.) Terra Lago – North – Page 2 near bottom bad review page 20 Jan 10^th & 13^th & good review Page 22 Feb 20^th near middle.

     Terra Lago – South – Page 27, Dated Dec 12^th, near top.

5.) Classic Club – Page 3 near top & Page 17 bottom, page 22 Dated Feb 14^th near top.

6.) Indian Canyons - South – Page 3 in middle, Page 20, Jan 22^nd near bottom

     Indian Canyon's - North - Page 22 near bottom.

7.) Silver Rock Resort – Page 3 middle, Page 24 dated march 28^th near top, see const. stand still Page 26 dated Oct 11^th near middle, Page 26 dated Dec 11^th near bottom. .

8.) Rams Hill Golf Club, Borrego Springs – Page 4 near top & more info past middle page 4.

9.) Eagle Falls – Page 4 near top & Page 22 dated Feb 14^th near top.

10.) Pete Carlson Golf Expo & Demo Days late Feb every year - Page 4, Page 9 & Page 21 near middle.

11.)  P.S. Air Museum – Page 5 near top.

12.) San Diego road trip & Torrey Pines, La Jolla - Page 5 in middle.

13.) Joshua Park Road Trip – Page 7 near top.

14.) PGA West – Stadium – Page 7 near top & Page 17 near bottom.

15.) McCormick’s Classic Car Auction – Late Feb every year – Page 10 top & Page 17 near middle.

16.) PGA West – Nicklaus – Page 11 near top.

17.) Westin Mission Hills, Pete Dye, 71777 Dinah Shore Dr, Rancho Mirage,  Page 15 past middle.

18.) Volunteering at AMEX PGA Tournament La Quinta – Page 16 near top.

19.) Coachella Valley Firebirds & new Acrisure Arena – Page 16 in middle.

20.) Salton Sea Road Trip up to Salvation Mtn & Slab City – Page 17 at top.

21.) Tahquitz – Resort Course – Page 17 near middle, Page 21 dated Feb 03^rd near middle.

22.) Dinah Shore - Tournament Course, Mission Hills Rancho Mirage – Page 18 near top.

23.) Shadow Hills (South course), Indio - Page 22 near top. 

24.) Desert Falls, Palm Desert - Page 22, dated Feb 20th, near bottom.

25.) Mountain Vistas - Santa Rosa, Sun City Palm Desert - Page 22 near bottom.

26.) Ping Custom Club Fitting - Desert Willow Academy of Golf - Page 22 middle/bottom.

27.) TURO Car Rentals – Page 21, dated Feb 11^th near bottom.

28.) Desert Princess G&CC – I rent a condo here - (Logos - El Cielo – Vista’s) Page 23 dated March 04^th near top

29.) Palm Springs Downtown Street Fair – Page 23 dated March 09^th near middle

30.) Tahquitz Canyon Hike to 60 ft Waterfall – Page 23, dated March 10^th past middle

31.) Sunnylands Outdoor Sunday Concerts – Page 24 dated March 26^th near top

32.) Shields Date Garden – Hwy 111 Indio Page 24 Dated April 06^th near bottom.

33.) Cimarron – Boulder Course – Dated Jan 13^th on Page 20 near top pics of damage from Feb 14^th 2019 storm damage.

34.) Westin Rancho Mirage – Pete Dye course, Page 20 dated Jan 22^nd, near bottom

35.) Desert Dunes - Page 20 dated Jan 22^nd, near bottom

36.) Mountain Vista’s - Page 21, Feb 07^th near bottom. Santa Rosa Page 22 near middle,  Page 27, Dated Dec 12^th near top.

37.) San Gorgonio - Page 21, Dated Feb 07^th near bottom, Page 27, Dated Dec 12^th near top.

38.) Palm Desert CC – Page 26, Dated Dec 11^th near bottom.

39.) Woodhaven CC – Page 27, Dated Dec 12^th near top.

Edited January 1 by ZipinZ

[ASN21]

6 hours ago, Socrates said:

I played 45 rounds this season (snow bound for 5+ months) and of those 45, I only used a range prior to play in 5 of those rounds.   

Not having a range isn't a deal breaker. 

Lace up your golf shoes and hit the tee. 

Anything more than 2 stretching moves is considered cheating.   😉😬 

 

If I do warm up, it's a few drivers, a few irons, a few chips and a few putts.

 

When you are traveling and dropping over 3 grand on the trip the little things matter like a nice grass driving range. At least for me it does. I probably played half the number of rounds you did and I get no time to practice. The range is the only time I get to take swings. 

[Bonneville85308]

 

8 hours ago, SpeedKills7 said:

Which of these courses would be worth playing?  
 

Cimmaron

desert Princess

Desert Dunes

Desert Falls

Palm Desert Resort

 

 

 

I haven't played Desert Princess and can't comment on it. If you are only looking to play one or two courses of the ones listed,  I'd skip Cimarron and Desert Dunes for the reasons @ZipinZ mentioned.  I didn't like Desert Falls, see my post on page 22. Palm Desert Resort CC was an average layout but in excellent condition and a good value for the price. Note that Palm Desert Resort CC and Palm Desert CC are two completely separate courses/facilities, though they are fairly close to each other. Between the two I'd take PDR CC 10 times out of 10 since the conditions were much better for similar pricing. I'm guessing based on this list you want to keep your cost under $150 per round, so I'd look at Indian Canyons or Terra Lago for the best conditions and layouts for the money in addition to PDR CC.

[Socrates]

4 hours ago, ASN21 said:

When you are traveling and dropping over 3 grand on the trip the little things matter like a nice grass driving range. At least for me it does. I probably played half the number of rounds you did and I get no time to practice. The range is the only time I get to take swings. 

If I am travelling and I am playing a high end or resort course, having the option to hit the range before hand is nice and I will use it if it is there.  Escena is a nice course, but I also know what I'm in for.  At least they have an area to hit a few shots before you hit the 1st tee.  Not having a range wouldn't preclude me from playing a course.

[vernon]

12 hours ago, Socrates said:

If I am travelling and I am playing a high end or resort course, having the option to hit the range before hand is nice and I will use it if it is there.  Escena is a nice course, but I also know what I'm in for.  At least they have an area to hit a few shots before you hit the 1st tee.  Not having a range wouldn't preclude me from playing a course.

Escena is a good enough golf course and such a great value that not having a range has never mattered to us although we do tend to schedule it later in the week after we've played a a couple of rounds since odds are we haven't played for awhile prior to arriving in the desert.

 

And David is absolutely correct about the food and beverage - one of our favorite places to have a beer on the patio and grab something to eat.

 

Good food, service and scenery in a pretty unique setting.

 

In my opinion the only two other courses that are in the same ballpark relative to course quality and value are Eagle Falls and Indian Canyons although I've not played Terra Lago.

[Ninja]

On 12/21/2023 at 10:11 PM, ZipinZ said:

Three or the 5 are my favorites, too. Stadium #1, CC#2, FC#3, I like PGA Mtn but don't care for SilverRock since they made the changes.

 

Agreed on SilverRock.... used to be my favorite 'must play' but has dropped well out of my top 5. We're skipping it this time around.

 

Staying in Indio this trip.... any food recommendations in the the area would be appreciated.

[ZipinZ]

18 hours ago, Ninja said:

 

Agreed on SilverRock.... used to be my favorite 'must play' but has dropped well out of my top 5. We're skipping it this time around.

 

Staying in Indio this trip.... any food recommendations in the the area would be appreciated.

 

Hi ... can't help you out on any decent restaurants in Indio, perhaps other can, most of our favorites are in downtown P.S. If your willing to drive a bit, I'd suggest Stuft Pizza Bar & Grill in La Quinta, we enjoy this place.

 

Link .... https://stuftpizzabarandgrill.com/

[vernon]

On 12/30/2023 at 12:10 AM, Ninja said:

 

Agreed on SilverRock.... used to be my favorite 'must play' but has dropped well out of my top 5. We're skipping it this time around.

 

Staying in Indio this trip.... any food recommendations in the the area would be appreciated.

We really enjoy the Jackelope and for a sports bar it's hard to beat Burgers 'N Beer.

 

Both have pretty wide ranging menus

 

Arnies in La Quinta is also pretty good with lots of cool memorabilia.  You can do the white linen table cloth side which is pretty expensive but very nice and I've been told the food is good or the bar side which we prefer.  

 

Cheaper but still very good with a fun atmosphere although if the weather allows sitting outside is the way to go.

 

Ditto the Jackelope.

 

 

[npham]

I haven't been down to Palm Springs in a while (5 years or so), but stayed in PS proper last time. This time I was thinking of staying further east, Indian Wells, La Quinta, etc. Anywhere to avoid? Will have my family and in laws as well, so a place with kids activities and places to eat is important.

[ZipinZ]

20 hours ago, npham said:

I haven't been down to Palm Springs in a while (5 years or so), but stayed in PS proper last time. This time I was thinking of staying further east, Indian Wells, La Quinta, etc. Anywhere to avoid? Will have my family and in laws as well, so a place with kids activities and places to eat is important.

Those communities mentioned have very little to worry about, from the local NEWS all the action is up in Desert Hot Springs and not to far from were we stay in Cathedral City, there are a few bar's on & just off Ramon that you wouldn't take the family to. It's easy to get around P/S and the surrounding cities, lots to see & do. Scroll up to the updated INDEX dated Dec 26th, there's a few items on the list worth checking out.  As well consider taking a ride up Mt. San Jacinto on the tramway, although there most likely is snow up there.

 

Enjoy the vacation

 

D.

 

 

 

[Divot_Forensicist]

2 hours ago, ZipinZ said:

Those communities mentioned have very little to worry about, from the local NEWS all the action is up in Desert Hot Springs

 

 

 

Can you clarify what you mean by this reference to Desert Hot Springs? We are supposed to stay at a VRBO there in March. Thanks in advance.