ALERT: (Projected Overseeding Alert)
The South Course is closed for maintenance and overseeding until 10/10. The North Course is be closed for overseeding 10/10 – 11/13 and reopen 11/4.
* Please note that although we put a great amount of effort into forecasting course maintenance, we still recommend you contact the golf course to confirm this information.
Formerly known as Landmark Golf Club, The Golf Club at Terra Lago is stretching the legs of its new identity. An impressive facility with an entertaining view from the clubhouse and grill, Terra Lago has many things working in its favor. It's apparent that the management at Terra Lago is working very hard to estalbish their new community brand and personality, and if they depend on the strength of their 2 excellent golf courses as the centerpiece of their development, they'll do just fine.
Set just north of I-10 in Indio, Terra Lago occupies a (relatively) remote setting for the area. I’ll caution you from the start that the fact that this is part of a residential development should in no way bring to mind hives-inducing images of cookie cutter homes lining every single fairway. The vast majority of holes at the Golf Club at Terra Lago are free from homesites.
The North course at Terra Lago is, in my opinion, the better of the two. While both are true championship layouts, the North brings with it a little more fun, excitement, and was at the time of my visit in superior (and more uniform) condition.
Designed by the venerable Schmidt/Curley duo, this is in my opinion one of the best public courses in the Coachella valley. Holes worth noting appear throughout the layout, and its personality evolves through several stages before all is said and done. The 2nd and 3rd holes will get the juices pumping from the get-go. 2, aptly named “Moonscape”, leaves little secret as to how this moniker was earned, and the drive to the 3rd tee, one of the most scenic spots on the course, fits in with the established theme. Overall, the front nine plays along, through, and up the desert hills on the property, and flushes you out on the semi-blind 7th to direct you back to the clubhouse. The water-protected 9th gives you a taste of what’s to come for the back (as well as a simultaneous preview of the South course).
While 12 and 13 are both excellent (and beautiful) golf holes, it’s difficult to talk about the back nine without centering commentary on the closing stretch of 14-18. “Go For It”, the name for the 14th, challenges the player to take a crack at a water-protected green with an aggressive tee shot. 15 is an island green with an abnormally sloped putting surface, which guarantees that your work is not done simply because your tee shot has found dry land. The 16th isn’t anything to speak of, but 17 offers one last chance at birdie knowing that the gargantuan 18th looms ahead. The finishing hole, no doubt one of the more difficult ones you will find, puts the icing on this strong closing stretch that guarantees any good score here is well-earned.
The conditions on the North course are about as good as you will find. Fairways, tee boxes, and rough are positively immaculate with nary a blade of grass out of place. The greens, while understandably a bit grainy (though not at all like bermuda grass) roll perfectly. The speed and consistency of the surfaces is nothing short of amazing, and if this were the golf course I played for the rest of my life you’d never hear a single complaint about the grass conditions. The only shortcoming I found was the bunkers, and I single these out because they are simply not up to the standards set by the rest of the golf course – they’re a bit dusty, compacted in places, and reliably average from start to finish. Of course, if this is my biggest complaint about the conditions (and about the golf course as a whole), then I’d say they’re doing quite well. Enjoy taking divots out of the carpet, and enjoy a very strong and memorable golf course. ..it's truly one of the best in the area.
