Public residential golf in Palm Springs

[Shindig]

Hi all, Can anyone point me to what the good and bad parts of golf in Palm Springs are for a resident? Which courses are good, which to avoid, which are worth trying but not making one's home course, and so on?

[Golfingdad]

Hi all,

Can anyone point me to what the good and bad parts of golf in Palm Springs are for a resident? Which courses are good, which to avoid, which are worth trying but not making one's home course, and so on?

Calling @tristanhilton85 ....

Palm Springs is rough ... they just don't have very many golf courses.

[tristanhilton85]

As a resident, it's nice because at some courses you can get some resident rates. However, it's still pretty expensive.

In Palm Springs in particular, I'd avoid Mesquite Country Club and the Legends course at Tahquitz Creek (the Resort course there is ok). Probably the best deal for anybody living in the valley is Classic Club; you get a card for $25 and then rounds cost between $45 and $60 depending on time of year, but you get a $15 voucher for lunch or whatever. My home course (Terra Lago) also has decent resident rates ($60ish) and they don't require a card, just a ID with a local address. Both of those courses give the resident rates to anybody living in the valley.

Then there are the two great municipal facilities; SilverRock Resort in La Quinta and Desert Willow in Palm Desert; as long as you live in the courses city (La Quinta or Palm Desert) you qualify for their card and then preferred rates (around $50 during season). Palm Springs does a similar thing at Tahquitz, but like I said, avoid the Legends course, which is the older/shorter/less maintained/cheaper of the two.

Possibly the biggest downside to golf in the valley is that unlike most places, our peak season is during the winter so the days are obviously shorter and there are less times available. That leads to a lot of the courses squeezing as many golfers onto the course as possible and rounds are easily between 4.5 and 5 hours. Things are quite opposite in the summer as with high temps (often 110°) the courses are empty and can be played quickly and for next to nothing.

If you have any questions about specific courses or something, let me know.