The best courses you can play in Palm Springs

Originally private, the Stadium Course (the original 18 at PGA West) was among the rota of courses for the old Bob Hope Desert Classic until some pros, objecting to its difficulty, petitioned to remove it. (It’s now back.) It's Pete Dye at his rambunctious best, with a finish mimicking his later design at TPC Sawgrass: a gambling par-5 16th (called San Andreas Fault), a short par-3 17th to an island green and an intimidating par-4 18th with water all the way to the green. Though hideous in its difficulty and aesthetics by 1980s standards (it was can't miss television when it hosted the 1987 Skins Game), it's matured into a noble piece of architecture that represents the tail end of Dye's extreme middle phase.

This Jack Nicklaus-designed course annually hosts the first PGA Tour event in the continental U.S. each calendar year, along with PGA West’s Stadium Course and La Quinta Country Club. Surrounded by picturesque desert mountains, the championship venue is equipped with two island greens and challenging cavernous bunkers.

The Greg Norman course at PGA West is a challenging layout where the 102 bunkers provide much of the defense. As is typical of many Norman designs, the fairways are guarded not by thick rough but by sandy waste areas that often allow for a recovery shot, provided you don’t find one of the lingering bushes. Water comes into play on half of the holes, and in nearly every instance it is on the right side.

Indian Wells Golf Resort is a 36-hole facility that previously hosted a season of Golf Channel’s Big Break series and as well as the Skins Game, an unofficial PGA Tour event last held in 2008. The Clive Clark-designed Celebrity course opened in 2006 and features undulating fairways, meandering streams and pristine ponds that are often connected by flowing waterfalls. A few tee shots, particularly on the back nine, can be quite demanding with narrow corridors and well-protected fairways.

This Arnold Palmer-designed layout used to be in the rotation for the Bob Hope tour event. Water comes into play on 14 of the 18 holes, and many holes have fairways that slope toward the water hazards, so driving the ball is at a premium. The facilities are top-notch at this Troon-managed club—including a 63,000-square foot, three-floor Tuscan-inspired clubhouse.

When Pete Dye was building the Mountain Course at La Quinta in 1980, he knew that even if the layout wasn't ideal working through resort corridors, the holes would make up for it with the views, shelved against the base of the Santa Rosa Mountains, their stony facades towering above. Holes like four, five, six, 14 and 15 play so tight to the mountains that the walls of rock are in play and care must be taken not to hit them. The design is premium 1980s Dye, desert version, with long stips of sand paralleling fairways and plateau putting surfaces set above moat bunkers. The downhill par-3 16th, playing from a platform tee in the foothills over a field of boulders to a drop-shot green surrounded in sand and rock, is one of the most memorable in California but nearly every holes requires high, precision approach shots into the elevated greens. The Mountain Course is part of the vast PGA West conglomorate of courses that now numbers nine. The headliner is the Stadium Course, the evil West Coast twin of TPC Sawgrass and home course of the PGA Tour's The American Express as well as several must-see TV Skins Games in the late 1980s. The Stadium Course should be on anyone's list who visits the Palm Springs/La Quinta area if for no other reason than to experience what was intended to be the hardest golf course in the country, as interpreted in the mid-80s by Dye and the Landmark Land Company developers (this was the mandate given to Dye at the time). Spoiler: it remains frightening in roughly the same proportion as most 80s slasher films still do. But if you could only play one course at PGA West and it was the Mountain Course and not the Stadium or any of the others, you'd still leave feeling you got a taste of the best resort golf the Coachella Valley offers.

One of the most underrated courses in the desert is the Firecliff course at Desert Willow. Dr. Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry designed 36 holes (including the Mountain course) on this flat desert floor in the Coachella Valley and moved enough earth to create some interesting holes that frame the surrounding mountains. Playability for all handicap ranges is strong, but even for the better players, the Firecliff course is a intriguing and fair test of golf.

Indian Wells Golf Resort is a 36-hole facility that previously hosted a season of Golf Channel’s Big Break series and as well as the Skins Game, an unofficial PGA Tour event last held in 2008. The Players course offers wide fairways but small, demanding greens protected by expansive bunkering. There is an exciting risk/reward opportunity at the short par-4 11th, where longer hitters may try and drive the green that is closely guarded by water on both sides.

SilverRock, formerly in the rotation for the Bob Hope tour event from 2008-2011, is set hard against the Santa Rosa Mountains in La Quinta. Water comes into play on more than half the holes on this desert layout, requiring quality ball striking. The close proximity of the mountains and the picturesque water hazards make SilverRock a uniquely scenic course.

Despite being in the desert, the Pete Dye Dunes course at PGA West has a links feel, with fescue-covered mounds lining many holes. At just over 6,500 yards from the tips, the course is relatively short but features narrow fairways that demand accuracy. Though not as challenging as some of the other layouts at PGA West, the Dunes course shares the scenic mountain backdrop that characterizes Palm Springs golf.

Originally opened in 1961 as the private Canyon Country Club, the now-public Indian Canyons Golf Resort is a 36-hole facility set at the base of the San Jacinto Mountains. Over the years, celebrities and politicians have played at Indian Canyon, including Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Dwight Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson and Ronald Reagan. The property is surrounded by mountains on three sides, often shielding the courses from the wind. The South course has relatively wide fairways guarded by numerous bunkers that often have tall faces. There are plenty of palm trees lining the fairways that can cut off angles for approaches to the small greens.

One of the more player-friendly options in the Coachella Valley, Heritage Palms offers expansive fairways that play through a residential community. The landing areas are generally large with a few low-lipped bunkers scattered throughout. Water comes into play on a few holes, including on the risk/reward par-5 17th, where a lake guards the right side of the landing area on the second shot. The strong finishing two-hole stretch concludes at the par-4 18th, where a creek guards the right side of the fairway before flowing into a greenside pond.

Dr. Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry designed 36 holes—the Firecliff and Mountain View courses—on this flat desert floor in the Coachella Valley and moved enough earth to create some interesting holes that frame the surrounding mountains. Mountain View, though slightly easier than Firecliff, offers similar fairway contouring and challenging green surrounds that make both courses must-plays in the California desert.

Tahquitz Creek Golf Resort is a 36-hole facility conveniently located just a few miles from the Palm Springs airport. The Ted Robinson-designed Resort course is a playable and scenic layout with wide, rolling fairways. Though water comes into play on at least six holes, the landing areas are generous, often leaving plenty of room to hit driver. The signature par-3 8th—perhaps the most demanding hole on the course—plays over water to a tiny green set beside a creek.

The Lights at Indio is an 18-hole par-3 course that is fully lit at night, allowing golfers to play well past sunset for a unique experience. The holes range from 110 to 240 yards, with seven holes measuring over 160 yards, providing more variety than a typical par-3 course. Though the municipal layout is relatively straightforward, the ability to play under the lights makes this a must-play in the Palm Springs area. The course also offers FootGolf, a golf and soccer combo where players kick soccer balls into 21-inch diameter cups. The Lights at Indio is designed to accommodate both golf and FootGolf simultaneously.