Nice course, worth about am 8.5 for condition except for the greens which were worth about a 2. The front side was thick with sand while the backside had many, many barespots and holes. It was easier putting through the sand dunes than through the peaks and valleys of the final 9 holes. No way that they should have let the greens get so bad, with the rest odf the course condition in reasonable shape. Only saving grace was that I paid $14 by reserving through EZLINKS with a 25% discount.

Marriott Desert Springs Golf Course Review
Palm Springs California Golf Course Reviews

NO WAY is this a course that deserves an 8+ rating. The fairways were very hard with brown dying grass - greens had multiple grass types - rough was non-existent. Environmental hazard areas run along all holes and many greens edges are within 5 feet of the hazards. Greens are full of shelves, dips, bends, hills and valleys. Only things missing are windmills and clowns. Oh, I forgot to mention - the round that I started on a Sunday afternoon at 2:00 took 5 1/2 hours, although we were waved through by 3 foursomes during the round. I've never seen so many people rolling the ball down the fairway at a course charging nearly $100.

Haven't played here in about 2 years and was pleasantly surprised. Layout is very challenging but conditions became poor after course had been opened for a year. Fortunately that has been reversed and everything was excellent. Lots of maintenance people at work which is always a good sign. Very few bare spots on fairways and greens rolled very true. Only criticism is that fairways are cut very, very close so that tee shots just keep rolling. My drives averaged about 20-30 yards longer than usual which meant that I was hitting short irons on many holes. If I had known about the fairway roll I would have played longer tees. Senior rates are $52 but my playing partner complained that instead of being in place M-F, they are only valid M-W.

After playing the rather benign TPC course, I was brought back into desert reality by the Monument layout. Desert golf at its finest - lots of grass and lots of cactii. Actually the fairways were rather wide and there wasn't many forced carries from the white (silver) tees. The scenery was beautiful and looking out from the tee on some holes was just breath-taking. Greens were only average - very hard and bumpy. I didn't know how to rate the rough as there wasn't any. On all the holes you went from fairway directly to desert brush. This leads to a lot of unplayable lies from balls rolling off the fairway. Bring a Charles Schwab freebie or lots of cash.

This course is not your typical Phoenix layout - it is resort golf at its finest. Not a cactus to be seen, just lush fairways and soft smoooooth greens. Oh - I forgot the rough which was about 5 inches as they are preparing for the FBR Open next month. If fact there is a 'local rule' that if you are above a 9 handicap you get a free drop onto the first cut if your ball lands in the rough. We hacked the ball out if we were near the greens but if you are more than 50 yards away it was hopeless. Course was very pleasant to play and having a forecaddie along was very helpful with the high rough. Greens were very playable - very soft and relatively slow. I expect they will play a bit differently next month. Fortunately I was playing on a Schwab freebie or the $200+ green fee would have been painful even for this delightful round.

Great course, excellent condition and fine service. Very interesting holes, most with severe elevation changes. The feel of the course changes dramatically throughout the round. First you start by winding through canyons with narrow fairways. In the middle holes you are in the middle of a housing tract with wide meandering fairways. Then for the last four holes the monster strikes. Fairways laid out at an angle with plenty of traps and hazards so to just keep the ball in play is challenging. Greens are elevated and tucked behind more hazards.

Greens were very hard and fast even though they had a thin layer of sand applied to the surface. Without the sand they would have beedn brutal.

I definitely suggest you choose yoiur tees very carefully. the whites were a shade short of 6000 yards and gave me plenty to think about. With all the challenges that the course provides you need to shorten the yardage or the day will be very long.

I was really worried about playing this course from the reviews but it was actually very playable. First of all it was in immaculate condition, groomed fairways and rough. I played from the white tees and on only one hole was there a forced carry on the drive. The course played more like a resort layout than desert target golf.

The friendliness wears off when you approach the greens. They were HARD. It was nearly impossible to get any shots with medium or long irons to stop on the green. Most of the time you hit sort and run the ball up - unfortunately many greens did not have openings at the front. The speed of the greens was awesome, but true. Took about 6 holes to really get the feel of the pace. Not many big breaking greens so once you calibrate the speed, putting became enjoyable.

Fortunately I played on a Charles Schwab freebie - regular price for a visitor was north of $200. I believe there's a discount rate for Vegas residents of $600 for 10 rounds.

I live adjacent to the course - haven't played it for 3 years and don't intend on going back. Conditions, even for an LA County course are awful. Tee boxes have virtually not grass, fairways contain many types of grass and greens are very bumpy - surprisingly since they are also very, very soft. The staff has no training in golf sourse etiquette. They never stop their mowers when you are taking a shot and drive right through the fairway when you are on the tee. They added a low budget GPS to the carts and if you don't want to use it you 'cancel' it at the beginning of the 4th hole and you are supposed to get $1 back. I did this since I have a laser finder but at the pro shop they claimed that I continued to used it. Big argument ensued over the $1. Oh, did I mention - round took 5 3/4 hours after a 1 1/2 wait on the waiting list. This on a Monday morning. The views were excellent but if I wanted views I would have walked along the PV cliffs.

Very pleasantly surprised with the course condition. More like a high-end semi-private course than a LA County muni. Excellent grass in the fairways, and even well defined rough areas. Quite a few of the holes present sharp dog-legs so drive position is important. Unfortunately no sign of a marshall so a 1 hr 45 minute first 9 holes turned into a five hour round when we caught up to a fivesome of walking senior, senior citizens.

Conditions were outstanding, fairways were immaculate and greens rolled true. Bunkers were very wet, not clear why as it was a hot sunny day. As metioned by others, two very different nines. front is much shorter and narrower, some very interesting holes require accurate placement of tee shots. Back nine is wide open but today was extremely windy (>30mph) and this made the nine very difficult. The three par 5s all played with the wind and added nearly 50 yards to my drives. However the short par 4s and two par 3s played directly into the wind and also had very large elevation changes so that unless the shot was hit perfectly, it would blow offline by 30 yards. If you hit it straight the length was reduced by over 2 clubs. Not exactly the British Open but very difficult.

Golfers playing Santa Barbara courses must be very easy graders. Based upon the rating (nearly 9!!) and the reviews I was expecting an immaculate, challenging course. Challeging and tough it was, but the condition was very mediocre. Fairways had mixtures of many different types of grass and many, many divot marks. Rough was non-existent, grass was about the same length as the fairway, except for the many bare spots. Tee boxes were lumpy with lots of divot marks, even on the par 4 and 5 holes. Cart paths are mostly dirt trails. Condition of front nine is passable, back nine is awful.

The course layout is very tough - many holes not only have blind tee shots, if you haven't played before you have no idea where to aim. Not much room around the greens, no bail areas just unplayable hazard area.

If this course was in the LA area, it would be in the middle of the pack. How it can have an 8+ rating is unbelieveable. I wonder if the other Central coast courses also suffer from this rating inflation?

Hadn't played this course in nearly 3 years and wished I hadn't played it today. It is just awful. Fairways have clumps of mixed grass in many areas. Rough is non-existent. There are many bald spots where large (>>yards) of sod have just been removed. This course has some intertesting and challenging holes. When its conditions were A1, it was a pleasure to play. Now it is overgrown and is just another cow pasture - no better that the many second class muni courses throughout Southern California. Definitely not worth the drive.