Palm Springs Provides the Perfect Respite from Winter By Dave Silbar Springs-inspired merchandise. With nearly a dozen restaurants and lounges, your culinary options are vast, most offering palm tree-laden views and mountain- ous backdrops. From authentic Japanese cuisine to classic American fare using the freshest local ingredients, you can find a perfect spot to celebrate a low round or commiserate over a high one. The PGA WEST Experience: Championship Golf and Instruction No Palm Springs golf trip is complete without a stop at PGA WEST in La Quinta, home to six legendary courses and a new hub for modern instruction. PGA WEST’s Dye Mountain Course is a true standout. Nestled at the base of the Santa Rosa Mountains, the design is famed for its spectacular visuals and challenging playability. To explain how cool the Mountain Course back 9 is, you have to talk about the shift from “desert golf” to “mountain golf.” While the front 9 is a great resort course, the back 9—specifically the stretch from hole 13 to 16—is what makes this a bucket-list experience. The most striking thing about the back 9 is how it physically climbs into the Santa Rosa Mountains. Around hole 14, the course stops being “next to” the mountains and starts being carved into them. You aren’t just looking at the scenery; you’re playing off of granite boulders and dramatic rock formations. If there is one signature hole on this stretch it would the par-3 16th, which features a Pete Dye signature: an island green. However, instead of being surrounded by water (like at the Stadium Course), this green is surrounded by a sea of jagged rocks. The vibe feels like you’re hitting a ball onto a green on the moon from an elevated tee box offering a panoramic view of the entire Coachella Valley. It’s widely considered one of the most photographed holes in Califor- nia. Before you hit the 16th, you play through a natural amphithe- ater of rock, starting with hole 14, a par 4 that plays directly toward a massive mountain wall. The backdrop is so close and vertical that it messes with your depth perception. Then there is 15. Ah, hole 15 on the Mountain Course. It’s a par 5 that literally hugs the base of the mountain. You have to “snake” your way around the rock face to reach the green. It’s the definition of “risk/reward” because the mountain doesn’t give many friendly bounces. For the dedicated golfer looking to shave strokes or simply wanting to take a deep dive into the science of the swing, the newly unveiled Performance Lab at PGA WEST is a game-changer. This state-of-the-art training facility incorporates cutting-edge technology
T he Coachella Valley—better known to golfers as Palm Springs— isn’t just a destination, it’s a pilgrimage. With year- round sunshine blanketing over 125 courses, this desert oasis transforms the game of golf into a spectacular experience. Beyond the perfectly manicured fairways and dramatic mountain backdrops, a golf trip here is a blend of world-class resort luxury, cutting-edge game improvement, and exhilarating desert adventure ... all sur- rounded by mountains, some even snow-capped. Fortunately, my trip this past December came just before cold and snow gripped Chicago. Direct flights are usually easy to find from O’Hare to Palm Springs. Your vacation starts the minute you deplane at Palm Springs Interna- tional Airport and realize that yes, you are outside. It is, in my humble opinion one of the world’s greatest airports, offering sunshine and mountain views the minute you walk off the plane. Best of all, it’s a very small, easy-to-navigate airport, with rental cars a pitch shot away and your final destination no more than 25 minutes away. The Epicenter of Golf The sheer number of golf courses in the greater Palm Springs area is staggering. From the classic layouts of Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, and Palm Desert, to the championship complexes in La Quinta and Indian Wells. With daytime temperatures hovering between 65 to 80° and surrounded by the Santa Rosa Mountains to the west and Little San Bernardino Mountains to the east (with Joshua Tree National Park in the distance), there really isn’t any other place like it in the country. Very little cloud cover and just a trace of annual rain makes this destination perfect for golf, dining, relaxing, hiking, and much more. It’s a two-hour drive from Los Angeles and a four-hour drive from Las Vegas. Golf options in the greater Palm Springs area are endless. You can play a course that has hosted the PGA Tour in the morning and a beautifully playable Ted Robinson design in the afternoon. This unparalleled density of high-quality tracks makes the region a bucket-list destination for every golfer. Want to spend the day in one of the great U.S. National Parks, Joshua Tree? Done. Want to take the aerial tramway up Mount San Jacinto and hike at 8,500 feet? Done. Want to tour the San Andreas Fault in a Red Jeep? Done. Want to feed a giraffe and tour one of the country’s most unique zoos, The Living Desert? Done. Resort Royalty: The JW Marriott Desert Springs Your journey into desert opulence should begin at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa in Palm Desert. This sprawling, 450-acre property isn’t just a hotel; it’s a world unto itself, complete with its own Venetian-style waterways and even pink flamingos on the grounds. The resort boasts two championship courses, the Palm Course and the Valley Course, both masterfully designed by Ted Robinson. The Palm is defined by its abundant water features and rolling greens, demanding accuracy from tee to green. Keep an eye out for the picturesque back nine, which features the signature Flamingo Island near the 16th tee. It’s challenging yet friendly, offer- ing a memorable resort-golf experience. The Valley Course provides a strategic counterpoint, with tighter fairways, strategically placed bunkers, and undulating greens that emphasize precision and shot placement over raw power. After your final putt, the resort caters to every post-round whim. The resort features over 20 on-site retail stores, offering everything from the latest high-end golf apparel from brands like Peter Millar and Travis Mathew to unique desert-inspired merchandise. It was hard for my wife to pull me out of the shops offering classic ‘70s Palm
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