Where do Coachella Valley’s public golf courses rank among California’s top facilities?
Larry Bohannan
July 2, 2024
Palm Springs Desert Sun | USA TODAY NETWORK
The golf world of the Coachella Valley is notable because of the large number of private golf courses in the area.
While about 75% of the country’s approximate 16,000 golf courses can be accessed by the public, only about 50% of the desert’s 120 golf courses have public access as resort, daily fee or municipal courses.
That doesn’t mean that the Coachella Valley is short on great public golf courses. In fact, Golfweek magazine, part of the USA Today Network, includes six desert courses in its list of the 30 best public-access courses in California.
The highest ranking for a desert course in the Golfweek list is the Pete Dye Stadium Course at PGA West in La Quinta which came in 10th overall. One of nine golf courses operated by PGA West, including three at the La Quinta Resort, the Stadium Course is best known as the host course of the PGA Tour’s The American Express tournament, the original desert home of the Skins Game in the 1980s and 1990s and as a course that caused a commotion among pros when it debuted in The American Express (then the Bob Hope Classic) in 1986.
It lasted just one year in that tournament at the time, coming back in 2016 with its deep bunkers, large lakes, forced carries and its famed island green on the par-3 17th hole.
Classic Club in Palm Desert, a former host course of The American Express, is next on the list from the desert at 17th. Located on the north side of Interstate 10, Classic Club is an Arnold Palmer design that features wide fairways and an instantly identifiable clubhouse from the freeway. It was host of the American Express for three years starting in 2006.
Another current The American Express course, the Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West, comes in at 19th in the state rankings. One of two courses designed for PGA West by Nicklaus, the Nicklaus Tournament Course shows the dramatic design features prominent in the1980s, with deep bunkers, large lakes and even its own island green on the par-5 15th hole. The Nicklaus Tournament Course joined The American Express rotation in 2016.
The only course in the desert directly adjacent to a casino resort, Eagle Falls Golf Club at Fantasy Springs Resort in Indio is 23rd on the list. Designed by La Quinta resident and former Ryder Cup golfer Clive Clark, Eagle Falls’ most notable feature may be the drivable par-4 11th that requires a drive avoiding a stone wall and two large bunkers in front of the green. The course also features wide fairways and sloping greens.
