I have never golfed out in Palm Springs but it surely is a golf destination for the serious golfer with over 100 courses tucked snugly into the Coachella Valley. My golf buddies and I decided to head out there to play 36 holes at Weston Mission Hills at the Pete Dye course.
Playing 36 means getting up crazy early and our group was the first off the tee at 6:30am. This round was a lot of first for me. First time playing a Troon course, first time playing in Palm Springs and after racking my brain, I think its the first time playing a Dye course.
The staff at Troon was great, from check in to marshal-ing and they run a top-notch operation there at the Westin. Palm Springs golf was, well Palm Springs-y. There are homes along the course but the homes are set back enough that you never really felt closed in and of course there were palm trees all around.
As for the Dye, course component, he certainly lived up to his reputation as an earth mover and as a penalizer if your ball was off line. Many of the holes had valleys of death around the greens, with severe slopes and collection areas that your ball definitely shouldn't go into. My favorite version of this was the par 3 that was mostly bunker, very little green.
The course was in great shape although the greens were running pretty slow but true. This is a double edge sword of having a course in the middle of the desert. If you cut the greens short/fast, they will die out in the heat. I saw at another course that they installed metal fans to blow on the grass to keep it alive (which seems a bit much). The fairways were in great shape as was the rough.
I was also surprised at the number of water holes on the course. Westin also has a Gary Player course and that is supposed to have more water than the Dye course and if so it must have a LOT of water. I really liked the water holes on Dye (except when I scored so poorly on em ;)).
Overall I enjoyed my day at Westin and golfing in the desert. If you want a tip when you play the course, make sure you get a hot dog at Pinzimi, it is delicious!
For more info on Westin, check it out here: http://www.westinmissionhills.com/palm-springs-golf-resort
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