Desert Willow Resort (Firecliff) - $$$
38-995 Desert Willow Drive • Palm Desert, CA 92260 • (800) 320-3323
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REVIEWS (35)


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nolldesertgolfer - Palm Desert 
Played on 11/4/08,course just reopened 1 week ago from overseeding. The course is in perfect shape from tee to green, the only thing is the greens are a little slow, so you have to be firm with your putts.I highly reccomend playing this course if you are in the Palm Springs area.

Posted: Friday, November 7, 2008
Member Since: June 27, 2007
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spoonrak - Rancho Mirage 
WE played EARLY on Sun 11/2/8 and the course is in FINE shape after the reseed BUT we were the 3rd group off and played in 4 hrs BUT waited on EVERY shot on every hole. We all know what a bummer that is. The marshall claimed he could do nothing because the PACE of play was 8 min ahead. Go figure.

Posted: Monday, November 3, 2008
Member Since: January 31, 2007
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bradleycoop - La Palma 
Played both the 19th and 20th, course looks really nice despite the heat. If you are not driving the ball well on this course it is going to be a very long day with lots of lost balls. Course was in good shape with the exception of the greens, slow, bumpy, and sandy.

Posted: Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Member Since: September 1, 2006
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eatmon - Rancho Palos Verdes 
Played on 5/16/08 with 1:10 tee time. Pace of play was tedious; Marshall apologized to us (I was part of a twosome) saying one group was the culprit but didn't respond to requests to speed up. Sent us to the front nine on the Mtn. View course. Firecliff was in terrific shape though greens were a little slow. Terrific public facility and everyone is professional and courteous.

Posted: Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Member Since: July 20, 2005
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mjquick - Pasadena 
Played 4/12/08, 12:10 t-time and it was SLOW. We played in the morning on Mountain View and went around in about 4 hrs. but this round took almost 5.5 hrs. Now the course is in great shape, greens 10.5 to 11 and true as can be.

Posted: Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Member Since: February 19, 2003
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bradleycoop - La Palma 
Liked the layout and the course was in good shape for the summer. This round was less enjoyable then previous rounds at the classic club and Escena, played on 7/7, it was a hot day. I did not come as prepared because water had been easily available at the previous courses. The front 9 was good, but I don't believe we saw the cart girl after the 9th and the last bathroom/ water station was on the 12th I believe, this made the last few holes very hot and tough.

Posted: Monday, July 9, 2007
Member Since: September 1, 2006
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mreinig1 - San Diego 
Played on 6/1/07. I'll echo what the other reviewers have said. This is a great facility and although the 120+ bunkers seems a bit excessive its a fun round of golf. The greens were fast but rolled true with very few surprises. The customer service was great from the moment we showed up and for $55/rd on a Friday morning you cant beat the value. Will definitely play here again.

Posted: Sunday, June 3, 2007
Member Since: May 17, 2006
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spoonrak - Rancho Mirage 
Once again Palm Desert should be proud,outstanding golf course TEE to Green and staff is top shelf as well. Indian Wells could learn a thing a two from these folks. Had a 4 a group of 4 played in 3.5 hrs,and NEVER the same PIN location. Folks out there who get to play ONLY on weekends get very tired of SAME hole locations on the weekends.

Posted: Monday, May 21, 2007
Member Since: January 31, 2007
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mark_6m - Glendale, CA 
Excellent track. Tee boxes, fairways, and greens, were in excellent condition. The practice facility is outstanding. A challanging track with many well placed bunkers and narrow to average sized fairways. A great course and a real golf challenge.

Posted: Monday, May 21, 2007
Member Since: February 19, 2007
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bmackenzie - Victoira 
Played Apr. 26 12:30 tee time and the temp got up to 105F. Course is in great shape tee to green. This layout has over 100 bunkers plus waste area. If they are going to have that many bunkers on the course they should have a machine to groom them. Most were the same consistency as the waste areas. Take lots of water if you play in the heat they only have 2 filling stations.

Posted: Monday, April 30, 2007
Member Since: March 14, 2006
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pvstone03 - St. Louis, Mo 
Course has it all, best course in the Palm Springs Area. Great condition, great variety of holes, great pace of play, great customer service well worth the $.

Posted: Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Member Since: February 15, 2007
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jirgesgolf - Cypress, CA 
this course was in excelent shape. everything about it made it perfect. the people working there were kind and curtious when i got there. A must play for any type of golfer

Posted: Sunday, November 12, 2006
Member Since: November 12, 2006
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bluefortydeuce - La Quinta 
Course is in decent shape. Greens are a little slow right now.

Posted: Friday, August 4, 2006
Member Since: March 30, 2006
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xavier92264 - WHITTIER 
PLAYED 7/20 WITH CHAPPY23US. COURSE WAS IN GREAT SHAPE FROM TEE TO GREENS. PLAYED 18 HOLES IN ABOUT 3:45MIN. "COURSE IS NOT TO CHALLENGING"? IM SORRY BUT WHAT DID YOU SCORE ON THE THE FRONT NINE? A MUST PLAY BUT NOT IN JULY. TO F&^$^* HOT!

Posted: Thursday, July 27, 2006
Member Since: January 19, 2005
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chappy23us - Upland 
Played here 7/20/06. Greens and fairways were in good shape considering the time of the year. Course is not overly challenging but still a fun test of your game. Drive it straight here and you will score well.

Posted: Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Member Since: January 12, 2005
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stickboy - Lakewood 
This is my new favorite Palm Springs area golf course. The course is in great condition for this time of year, and the layout is fun and challenging.
The greens are in good shape. I had trouble reading them, but I always have a little more trouble with Bermuda.

I did have a unique experience regarding the hidden rakes. I hit my approach shot on nine into the back right bunker. When I opened the hatch to get the rake, there was a horrible odor. I told the starter about it and he suggested that a critter might have crawled in there and died. I would advise that you stay out of that bunker for awhile.

Great service. Great course conditions. Great layout. The green fees are affordable for everyone this time of year.

Posted: Friday, July 7, 2006
Member Since: July 9, 2003
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golfindolphin23 - pismo beach 
I played 0n 6-28 with a rate of $30 after 2pm. From the time we got to the club house we were treated great. Excellent customer service all around. Marriot desert springs needs to take a lesson from these guys and gals. Its a wonderful course, one of my favorites anywhere with great conditions. This course looks intimidating with all the bunkers and water but as long as you keep it relatively straight, you can score good. The word is that they are building a Westin Hotel next to the course.

Posted: Friday, June 30, 2006
Member Since: July 18, 2005
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NOODLE - McKinleyville 
$30.00 @2:00 is a steal. Course is immaculate. cart/gps.......Only if you can handle the heat. Tee boxes are beautiful, over a hundred bunkers......greens are very protected with must hit fairways....nobody else around!!!!!!!

Posted: Monday, June 26, 2006
Member Since: June 23, 2006
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swbkrntom - RSM 
Played on 6/24, course was awsome, people were very nice and I had a great time...However, the greens were not as good as the rest of the layout, bumpy, slow and not very true....That being said, I'd go back in a heartbeat....Just the opposite of the Mountainview layout (read the post)

Posted: Sunday, June 25, 2006
Member Since: November 16, 2004
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sealskinz - Duarte 
I admit, it might take another try or two to get used to it. I wasn't trying to bash the course. I was just trying to give my honest oppinion and I was dissapointed. I had anticipated playing there for a couple years and that's just how I saw it. Kudos to you for having a different oppinion.

I'd suggest playing elsewhere at this time of the year, of course! I knew to expect the heat. I'm just glad I wasn't playing in Laughlin that day where it was 130 degrees.

I'm one the best putters alive( excuse me if I do say so) and I had a good stroke going that day, but struggled to have a putt not bounce off-line as a result of that "funny grain". I've played down south before plenty of times were there is grain everpresent. But there, it either goes in one direction or the other. The grass they use on the greens at Desert Willow is specially bred to hold up to the heat and as a result is much for fiberous than the greens of the other courses I mentioned. Maybe they change the grass when the weather cools down. I just think they need to reevaluate the type of grass they are using and perhaps use a tiny bit more water, even reclaimed water .

Everything else is great on the course with the exception of the hidden rakes. I added up the minutes we waited on groups ahead of us to walk all the way around the bunkers to find the rake boxes and it sure added a lot of time to the round. If the bunkers had a few rakes easily visable like anywhere else, it would facilitate the "easter rake contest" on every fairway bunker and greenside bunker. To boot, I only got in two of those bunkers and I just assumed raking it with my feet. Which, by the way, does a better job than most players care to do with a rake anyway.

However, I assume if the rakes were left out at that couse in that weather they would be too hot to pick up anyway!! =)
Whadayudo?!! =)

A self raking bunker would be a great idea...just like the automatic kitty litter box! =)

However, I can't stop myself from saying that the layouts were boring. In great shape, but just plain dull.

I'll shut up now...thanks

Posted: Thursday, June 8, 2006
Member Since: June 3, 2005
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golfindolphin23 - Pismo Beach 
Sealskinz.. Not sure what your complaint is. Just played on 6-7 and course was great. They did just work on the greens but not as poor as you described and as far as the rakes, come on, at least they tried something different and I had no problems with the two I needed to use. Maybe stay out of most of the 200 traps on that course. As far as the heat, what the hell did you expect at this time of the year, 75 and cool?. Im used to playing excellent courses on the central coast that are not too crowded, and by no means was that course terrible or a big dissapointment. I will be back on the 25th for another wonderful experience.

Posted: Thursday, June 8, 2006
Member Since: July 18, 2005
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mygolf88 - Torrance, ca 
agree with below that the rake deal is stupid... half of them don't even work properly and your left to smooth out traps with your shoes. played when the greens were pretty smooth, a course that you need to play a few times to get used to angles. overall experience not bad but do stay away from summer golf, just not worth it.

Posted: Tuesday, June 6, 2006
Member Since: April 27, 2006
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sealskinz - Duarte 
A big dissapointment.

Greens have some really wierd grain and get worse as the day goes on. Very slow and bumpy greens for such a highly rated course. Layouts on both courses are pretty boring. Maybe desert golf just ain't for me. Lack of visual enticment. Hole's are too similair. Tee boxes are not well marked--tee markers were completely off the tee in some cases. What are you supposed to do? Tee off from the rough?

I prefer greens like those of La Purisma, Robinson Ranch, Valencia TPC, Santa Anita, Sand Piper, Rancho San marcos, Rustic Canyon, Moorpark CC, etc. Desert Willows greens are some form of crabgrass that has somehow been cutdown to represent a smooth surface which they just aren't!! The result is a multidirectional grain which throws putts in anywhich direction it chooses too. Ram all your putts here and hope they find the hole. Lipouts were the norm.

Bunkers have good sand, Fairways are decent, Rough is playable but sticky therefore penalizing regaurdless of the short length of it. Service was ok no complaints.

Rake deal is absolutely stupid.

Too crowded!! Pace of play was inconsistent.

It's too hot anyway--118 degrees in the shade!!!

Posted: Monday, June 5, 2006
Member Since: June 3, 2005
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fatchoy5 - San Mateo Calif 
Must play in the Palm Spring area

Posted: Friday, April 28, 2006
Member Since: April 28, 2006
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mjquick - Pasadena 
Played 3/31/06 12:30 t-time I can't figure out which course I like better as both are in great shape. I think the greens are a little slower on this course, but what day, shot 79 on Mountain and 81 on Firecliff.

Posted: Sunday, April 2, 2006
Member Since: February 19, 2003
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kendall - walnut 
Great course,understand this track is owned by City of Palm Desert ,and is in the top ten Muni courses in the entire U.S. Also its the most expensive. But, it is in great shape, fun to play and tougher than it looks. A must play at least once. Firecliff is the tough one, Mountain View is the fun one.

Posted: Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Member Since: April 25, 2003
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stuff99 - Long Beach 
Love this Golf Course. Only complaint is that the greens were a little slow and the hidden bunker rakes. The hidden pop up rakes for the bunkers are annoying. Fairways and tee boxes are in Great condition. Very challenging but fair.

Posted: Sunday, February 12, 2006
Member Since: October 27, 2005
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pmeister - Lancaster, Ca 
An excellent layout. The staff treated you like it was the high season. I will definitely play this course again.

Posted: Friday, July 22, 2005
Member Since: November 15, 2004
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golfindolphin23 - pismo beach 
Played here in the summer at a $25.00 rate after two. More than worth the rate. I would highly recommend this course to anybody visiting the Palm Springs area. Course was perfect, customer service was great, overall wonderful experience. Incredible amount of bunkers on Firecliff but well placed.

Posted: Monday, July 18, 2005
Member Since: July 18, 2005
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dortega - Manhattan Beach 
Great course! This course is more difficult then the Mountain course.

Posted: Monday, June 27, 2005
Member Since: May 5, 2003
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iansletterbox - Lawndale 
Truly a great course. Nothing more to say but greens are a little slower in the summer.

Posted: Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Member Since: July 25, 2004
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jtbmw - La Quinta 
This is one of the BEST open play courses in the Desert area.. and was just rated better than Pelican Hill... and I agree.. The staff is very good, and customer friendly.....

Posted: Wednesday, September 1, 2004
Member Since: May 5, 2004
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wstorch - Santa Clarita 
The course is in fantastic shape!!!

Posted: Friday, June 18, 2004
Member Since: February 11, 2004
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robule - Laguna Hills 
Awesome course. I enjoy this course every time I play out here. Good service.

Posted: Friday, April 23, 2004
Member Since: July 4, 2003
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carlcrawford - La Verne 
Course in great shape in spite of heavy "Spring Break" player load! Fun course, challenging but fair, true greens.

Posted: Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Member Since: December 30, 2002
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