SilverRock Resort, the newest comer to the family of upscale golf courses in La Quinta, sits on some of the finest non-oceanfront property you will ever find for a golf course. Set right up against the rocky crags that mark the end of the city, SilverRock enjoys spectacular natural beauty interrupted only by the man-made canal that finds it's way into the design on several occasions. Fortunately, the canal is used well in the design (a slap in the face to it's mission to scar the landscape with concrete) and I didn't mind it too much.
SilverRock, though still in its nascence as a destination, has set into place an array of amenities of which they can be proud. The true clubhouse is yet to be built (they operate currently out of what I can only guess will end up as a restaurant or social center) and a second course is planned in addition to other resort amenities, none of which includes (mercifully) condos encroaching upon the fairways. The current setup requires a bit of a drive from the "clubhouse" and staging area to the practice area and the first tee, but this is merely a temporary problem. Despite the drive, the practice area is one of the best I've ever seen. The range is wide, long, and features an enormous hitting area that virtually ensures that you'll always have nice grass from which to hit. It wouldn't hurt to set out a few more PVC aiming poles, though, as everything else out here seems to be the model of adequacy (including the large putting green and the separate professional-quality short game area). The staff is friendly, always willing to help, and exceptionally accomodating from the pro shop to the cart barn to the grill/restaurant.
The Arnold Palmer Signature layout stretches out to over 7,500 yards from the tips, and with six sets of tees, it's easy to find a yardage to your liking. It's a solid golf course, and a few of the Palmer hallmarks (love 'em or hate 'em) do manage to find their way into SilverRock - the beach bunkering on the 18th comes immediately to mind. Clearly, this is a course that was designed with the ultimate intention of crashing the Bob Hope tournament rota, and though initial plans for it to achieve this goal were in place, drainage issues (most notably in the forth fairway) derailed that train for 2006.
In fact, it is the conspicuous presence of these drainage issues on several holes that prevented me from considering the fairways to be in "9" or even "10" condition. By and large, the fairways were absolutely pristine and are worthy of my highest praise, but when large chunks of golf course in the line of play is roped off and healing, a perfect score is an impossibility. It's a true shame that these fairways, which are so often at their immaculate best, are dragged down by an unforseen design flaw. To SilverRock's credit, there is movement on this problem, and I anticipate that come this time next year, these problems will be a distant memory.
Palmer's team has built a good number of solid golf holes, and while they would likely point to the dramatic par 3 17th as their signature hole, I consider holes like the option-filled 9th and dangerously tempting 10th to be examples of their best work. As the back nine turns inward to the clubhouse following the comically short (but not overly easy) 14th, you'll be confronted with the most difficult three hole stretch on the course, culiminating in the aforementioned signature 17th. Do your scoring before you get to this monster stretch, and then top your round off with a good score on the 18th, and you'll be sitting pretty.
SilverRock has a promising future ahead of it. This is not to gloss over the merits of the current version of the resort, but I think it's fair to say that it is still a work in progress. For a young golf course, the main elements are in place to be a viable destination: a challenging, well-conditioned layout, a spectacular practice area, and an idyllic setting that begs you to bring your camera along and capture the early morning sun hitting the rugged La Quinta mountains.
