La Quinta - Stadium Course

[Doublebassist]

Hey fellow golfers,  

I’m looking for some advice. I’m staying at La Quinta this upcoming week and I’ve already booked teetimes on the mountain course and dunes course. My dad is playing with me and didn’t feel he could handle the Stadium course at his age. 

I was thinking of playing the stadium course alone on one of our off days and I’m curious if you guys think it’s worth the money or if you have any other recommendations. Is the stadium course a must play?

thanks in advance for all your input. 
 

 

[mchepp]

9 hours ago, Doublebassist said:

Hey fellow golfers,  

I’m looking for some advice. I’m staying at La Quinta this upcoming week and I’ve already booked teetimes on the mountain course and dunes course. My dad is playing with me and didn’t feel he could handle the Stadium course at his age. 

I was thinking of playing the stadium course alone on one of our off days and I’m curious if you guys think it’s worth the money or if you have any other recommendations. Is the stadium course a must play?

thanks in advance for all your input. 
 

 

Welcome to TST! I find the discussion about the Stadium course to be quite controversial among my golfing buddies. I think if you are considering it, you should absolutely do it. It is a great course, almost always in great shape, and has many memorable holes and shots. 

The whether its worth the money, is where the debate begins. There are TONS of great courses in the Palm Springs area. Even just in PGA West, there is the Norman course, which I really like. There is the Nicklaus course (not as good as Stadium, but still a decent course). SilverRock. The La Quinta courses you mentioned. So many.

My opinion? As I stated before, I would highly recommend it.

[Doublebassist]

10 hours ago, Doublebassist said:

Thanks for the information. Can you recommend any other courses in the area? Indian Wells ?? 

Edited May 7, 2021 by Doublebassist

[Golfingdad]

I think it's totally worth it!  Not sure which day you're going, but next Friday 5/13 its $69 at 3pm and on.

[mchepp]

58 minutes ago, Doublebassist said:

Thanks for the information. Can you recommend any other courses in the area? Indian Wells ?? 

Some of my personal favorites outside of the PGA West courses I mentioned in no particular order:

1. Shadow Ridge
2. Indian Wells (both courses, Celebrity and I forget the other)
3. Mission Hills (I like the Dye the best, but Player is a nice round)
4. Eagle Falls
5. Desert Willow (both courses, excellent QPR)
6. Classic Club
7. Escena (also a decent QPR)

[Big C]

I wouldn't call the Stadium Course a "must play," but since it is somewhat iconic and well known, I think it's worth a round if you go into it with the right mindset. 

I've played it twice and it's a very tough course. Water and bunkers everywhere demand accuracy off the tee, which is not exactly a strength of mine. The second time I played it, they had grown out the rough to above ankle depth, which just made the course ridiculous. We had 4 golfers in our group and I was the only one to break 100. I shot a 98 - as a 9 handicap mind you. We all walked away from that day feeling like we had been through a meat grinder.

If you don't go in looking to break your personal best score, embrace the difficulty of some of the shots, and laugh off your bad ones, you will be fine. Hitting 20 feet uphill out of the huge greenside bunker on 16 was pretty cool and putting your nerves to the test on the island 17th green was fun also. 

If you want to compare and contrast, I think that Silver Rock (just down the road in La Quinta) is a more enjoyable experience, but I don't know how their rates compare. I agree with @mchepp that Shadow Ridge is a great course also.

With the temps heating up, you should be able find some great deals at these desert courses if you look hard enough. Good luck and have fun!

[mchepp]

37 minutes ago, Big C said:

With the temps heating up, you should be able find some great deals at these desert courses if you look hard enough. Good luck and have fun!

Good point regarding the timing. We go every year in mid-May (except last year as some of the courses were still closed) and we play great courses very affordably. Sometimes we can get 100 degree days, but it is a dry heat (at least that is what we tell ourselves).

[DaveP043]

I've played the Stadium Course just once, and enjoyed it.  It strikes me as many Dye courses do, the course gets more demanding as you get closer to the greens.  I don't know that any course is a must-play, but its a good one.  I'll agree with @Big C, there are other really good courses.  Desert Willow and Classic Club are probably my favorites, Silverrock is very good, although renovations have changed it a bit.  Eagle Falls is really good and has been very reasonably priced.

[Shindig]

8 hours ago, mchepp said:

1. Mission Hills (I like the Dye the best, but Player is a nice round)

Second for Mission Hills - Pete Dye.  I play it on my birthday most years.  I didn't last year (for the obvious reason).  Quick round, at least at my birthday time, and it's a great course.  

I really need to play the Gary Player course at Mission Hills.  I understand I can't get on the third course.