Quick drive over from DD to Rancho Mirage for the afternoon 18 on 2/16 a blustery day in the desert when much of the lower 48 (Texas for sure) in the grips of winter. Here this day that meant long pan... Continue »

Quick drive over from DD to Rancho Mirage for the afternoon 18 on 2/16 a blustery day in the desert when much of the lower 48 (Texas for sure) in the grips of winter. Here this day that meant long pants windbreaker in the morning to shorts for the afternoon.
Great conditions overall here golf wise. Didn't go in or use the CH facilities for covid safety.
Joined gurus Ron, Gary and Pedro for a fun afternoon of play. The housing is spaced nicely away from the course itself. The open feel and sight lines are encouraging to the higher handicapper to try and get it out there off the tee. Gary Player provides much mounding and most bounces come back into play. Snow on the mountaintops and cactus and palm trees bordering the course. Read JohnnyGK review below for full details. I concur with him. Score wise the back 9 here was my low 9 of the day.
The fairways are very green over-seeded growth this time of year and the rough dormant brown. I enjoyed that contrast and would like to see it in summer mode too. Bermuda fairways and green rough but the play from there would be much more penal I'd estimate.
Enjoyed and recommend.

Second round on Tuesday was another first time golf course. I remember Mission Hills North Gary Player Course being one of GKer Shebylo’s favorite when he lived in Palm Springs (side note Shebylo move... Continue »

Second round on Tuesday was another first time golf course. I remember Mission Hills North Gary Player Course being one of GKer Shebylo’s favorite when he lived in Palm Springs (side note Shebylo moved back to Australia 5 years ago). I toured around the course with the superintendent a couple weeks ago and the layout sure looked fun. I was not let down Tuesday. This golf course is a blast and kept in excellent playing condition. It’s a flat course the weaves throughout a community. They did a great job with the design creating space to not feel like the homes are crowding in. The fairways are generous on most holes and there are many holes where if you miss the fairway the ball will kick back towards the fairway from the dormant rough. I loved all the well-manicured water features. Take a look at the photos I posted. Beautiful.

The facility has a small clubhouse and place to grab a bite. However it’s big on golf with excellent driving range and practice facilities. The service was excellent all day long and although I did not grab a bite to eat there before the round I heard the food was very good from other GKers.

Regarding the conditions of the golf course, the putting greens are in fantastic shape. Fast, smooth (with exception of some ball marks – no fault of the golf course – aggravates me to see some unfixed ball marks on greens this nice) and holding shots. Fairways lush overseeded full coverage providing good lies and roll. Rough is dormant berunda with full coverage (dig the constrasting look). Tee boxes are overseed like the fairways, cut tight, level and very nice. Bunkers I found greenside had excellent sand. Bunkers adjacent to the fairways had less sand and were firm. I also found a waste bunker that was nice enough to be a fairway bunker.

Pace of play was excellent finishing in just under 4 hours teeing off at 12:40. We had plenty of daylight to spare.

I loved this golf course, especially the back nine. Highly Recommended.

2/16 guru outing in a stiff breeze 1-3 clubs worth with a 4 hr POP with Johnny, Gus and Brian a really fun grouping. Fairways are mostly lush good roll and good cushion, a few too many unfilled divot... Continue »

2/16 guru outing in a stiff breeze 1-3 clubs worth with a 4 hr POP with Johnny, Gus and Brian a really fun grouping. Fairways are mostly lush good roll and good cushion, a few too many unfilled divots but considering that the course gets a lot of "resort" play it unfortunately is mostly expected. Rough is dormant so the beige in contrast to the deep green of the fairway is a sight to behold. Tees level and playable. Found 1 bunker which looked to have adequate sand bt was a little firm under the surface. Greens were somewhat soft but still quick rolling well at medium fast speed. Greens have enough slope and contour to make for some challenging putts. Excellent customer service. .

2nd round today 2/16/2021 was at the Mission Hills North Gary Player course joined by Pedro, Ron and Peter. Really laid back fun group to play with. We had a constant 15-20mph wind with gusts up to 25... Continue »

2nd round today 2/16/2021 was at the Mission Hills North Gary Player course joined by Pedro, Ron and Peter. Really laid back fun group to play with. We had a constant 15-20mph wind with gusts up to 25mph. Beautiful temp around 75 degrees even with the blustery wind conditions. Looking back I actually played this course many years ago but don't even remember one hole.

Hit a couple shots on their massive all grass range and rolled a few putts on their putting green. My buddy and I had the burger and fries which were awesome. Was told they have one of the best breakfast burritos around(next time). Very friendly cart barn and pro-shop staff. We teed off around 12:50pm and finished at 5pm.

Man the greens were in great shape, Firm(talking no ball marks on iron shots) and with the wind if you were short sided they were firm enough for chips to roll and extra 5-10 feet by the hole. They looked as good as they putted. Highlight of the course Beautiful and rated 8.5/10.

Fairways had a great green contrast in relation to the dormant brown rough. Mostly all fairways had a tighter would say semi-lush base. Pleasure to hit off of. Rated 8/10.

Tees were lush and level and in great shape. Rated 8/10.

Was not in any bunkers so can't comment or rate them. There were plenty of them out there.

Rough was dormant and brownish color. Mostly mowed down but around the greens it gets tricky here with I thought with very grabby rough. Rating 7.5/10.

I liked the layout. Some good birdie holes, some nice water features where greens are tucked in between water and bunkers. Homes lining some of the fairways. I know cause I hit a house right of 9 and got a huge lucky bounce back into play(lol).

Would recommend this course but I do like Silverrock, Indian Wells Celebrity, Classic Club, Desert Willow Firecliff and a couple others before this course.

Played 2/7/21 1:15 Pop 4hrs. Second round of the day and first time playing here. Really enjoyed the visual appeal of the emerald Fairways and tan dormant rough. Fairways completely full overseeded ... Continue »

Played 2/7/21 1:15 Pop 4hrs. Second round of the day and first time playing here. Really enjoyed the visual appeal of the emerald Fairways and tan dormant rough. Fairways completely full overseeded and lush. Cut a little on the tight side and mostly firm underneath. They played great. Greens were firm and consistent. Rolling pure, quick and true. Highly recommend. Really enjoyed the layout and the senic views of the hole designs even with the many homes that surround the course. Fairways mostly flat with rolling mounds along many. Greens are fairly small. Some very small. Most do not have any severe undulations, but if you miss, chips can get very exciting. Almost every green if not every green is surrounded by rolling mounds that can create "turf" bunkers. Some times multiple rows of mounds. Many of the greens are " Radan" style set up were the rough drops away from the green on all sides making the small greens even seem smaller. I found the whole course to be a fun, challenging and entertaining test of golf.

Played Gary Player mission hills 1/9/21..what can I say, I play Yucaipa Valley, Rancho Del Sol, Shandin Hills most of the time and if they are a 2 out of 5 Gary Player is a 6 out of 5. Nice fairways ... Continue »

Played Gary Player mission hills 1/9/21..what can I say, I play Yucaipa Valley, Rancho Del Sol, Shandin Hills most of the time and if they are a 2 out of 5 Gary Player is a 6 out of 5. Nice fairways over seeded full and green, greens full and true...rough lift brown and dormant which makes course look very good and lets you have a fair lie in the rough. Used Under Par so 2 for $149, played Rancho Del Sol for $45 last week and I would say the $59 difference for the 2 of us was money well spent....

I played today with a 9:50 a.m. tee time. It was my first time playing here. Having caught a glimpse of it while driving by recently, it looked to be in good shape which helped make my decision to pl... Continue »

I played today with a 9:50 a.m. tee time. It was my first time playing here. Having caught a glimpse of it while driving by recently, it looked to be in good shape which helped make my decision to play there. Upon arrival, I was quickly greeted in the parking lot by an attendant who brought a cart to me. The cart looked fairly new. It was comfy and had a decent GPS. One of the cart guys later told me that the course is no longer owned by Westin. It was sold in May to a Korean company. They plan some changes like a new club house but are waiting for the adjacent land to be sold. The current club house is a no frills pre-fab building. The pro-shop is pretty sparsely stocked but they had logo balls so I was happy. The offered complimentary range balls and I headed out to warm up. The range is all grass with a dozen or so stalls. There is a nice chipping/bunker area and a large putting green. I was paired with a very nice couple wintering here from Oregon and we started right on time. Course conditions, overall, were really good. Tee boxes are large, lush and level. The fairways are emerald green but are a lot thinner than they appear from a distance. The rough was tough. It’s all dormant so is visually beautiful against the green fairways. But the grass was very uneven, clumpy in spots and is growing in all different directions. I managed several good chips out of it but a few other times it just grabbed my club and the result was less than impressive. The greens were hard and ridiculously fast. It took me a few holes to quit trying to go for the pin and instead just go short and let it run. The bunkers were the only negative and they were really poor. There are so many on the course and there was pretty much no sand at all in them. There were no rakes but there certainly was no need for them. The layout is fun. My partners had played it several times so their course knowledge was very helpful on a few holes that the GPS didn’t show clearly enough. Most holes were fairly straight forward. The fairways are somewhat narrow and are lined with many mounds and swales. Those got really crazy around the greens but I always enjoy that. The jade tees are pretty short at just under 5000 yds but I still got the fun of some carries over water and waste areas. I’m often disappointed when the forward tees take out an elevated shot or forced carries. True, I don’t always make it over but I want the challenge. The beverage cart came by 3 times and POP was a bit under 4 hrs. I thoroughly enjoyed it and scored well too. I would definitely play here again. Recommended.

Played Sun. 06/14 The course is in very good condition. Tee boxes were lush with very little divot damage on the par three holes. The fairways were excellent. There is no rough to speak of. It is sti... Continue »

Played Sun. 06/14 The course is in very good condition. Tee boxes were lush with very little divot damage on the par three holes. The fairways were excellent. There is no rough to speak of. It is still dormant and they are starting to aerate it. The greens are very hard with no divot damage and they are in their summer transition. There are no water stations on the course and they took the coolers off the carts. I never saw the beverage cart on the course. The pro shop is completely empty. My only disappointment is their lack of social distancing. The starter walked right up to me with no mask on and so did the cart attendants after the round.

Played here 5/27/20 with a 7:54 tee time. The conditions are maybe the best in the desert area, as noted about a month ago from the prior review, and they haven't changed. I won't go into much det... Continue »

Played here 5/27/20 with a 7:54 tee time. The conditions are maybe the best in the desert area, as noted about a month ago from the prior review, and they haven't changed. I won't go into much detail, because tee to green, including the sand and the rough, was almost immaculate. Greens were firm and rolling fairly fast. Very few ball marks due to the firmness. A couple of the pool noodles were a little high in the cups, but that's a minor issue. Pace of play was decent. We felt like we were waiting on most shots and most holes, but even with a 4some in front of us that looked like were all going to shoot over 100, we still finished in 4 hours. Driving range and practice green were both open and in great shape. Cart Girl- not available As of the 5/27, they were allowing you to bring your own beverages onto the course. Also, the week of the 27th was extremely hot, so some conditions may have changed.