The Loop

A PGA Tour course for $40? Yep, if you’re OK playing in an oven

June 01, 2016

Great news for those who have wanted to play the Stadium Course at PGA West in La Quinta, Calif., but were dissuaded by green fees upwards of $200.

On Saturday afternoon, you can play the host course for the tour's CareerBuilder Challenge for $40, according to GolfNow.com. The price turned up on what the website calls “hottest deals.”

The operative word here, however unwittingly, is “hottest.”

The forecast for Saturday in La Quinta is for the temperature to hit 117 degrees.

La-Quinta-Weather.jpg

If it holds, it would threaten a record for hottest June 4 in recorded history there. The previous mark was either 115 or 118, on June 4, 1957, depending on which weather website.

“If you’re playing at 117 degrees you’re an idiot,” long-time Desert Sun golf writer Larry Bohannan said bluntly, noting that the hottest part of the day is in the afternoon. Play early, play fast and finish early, he advised.

Presumably, there won’t be a rush on those available tee times. Who would play golf in that kind of heat? Dave Stockton Jr., a resident of nearby Rancho Mirage, for one. Note his Tweet and hashtag (#FistFightInTheFurnace):

But as the locals say, it’s a dry heat. Of course, so is an oven.