Palm Springs weekend continued this past Sunday at the Cimarron Boulder course when using an old Under Par voucher that was good for two players at a very low price and free replay (which we used on t... Continue »

Palm Springs weekend continued this past Sunday at the Cimarron Boulder course when using an old Under Par voucher that was good for two players at a very low price and free replay (which we used on the Pebble course - review is posted). I was very much looking forward to coming back to play Cimarron Boulder as I'd played here early in my golf career and remember it as very green, rather flat and certainly a good place to get the Palm Springs experience without paying the Palm Springs (winter) price.

The last part we got right this weekend, but unfortunately, outside of the greens, the course did not resemble its beautiful green and lush state from a few years back. Why? Well, it's a no-brainer that this is probably the absolute worst time to be in PS, just ahead of the winter seeding and letting everything turn yellow during the lowest of low seasons. And the heat!

Start out by saying that Cimarron is definitely much tougher than my recollection thought it was going to be after having improved my game since last playing here two years ago. I thought I would crush this course, but I was wrong, however conditions did not help much.

The dry gulches and waste areas are an absolute disaster (is that the point?) - avoid at all costs lest you get frustrated losing balls where none should be lost! It's absolutely aggravating to spend 10 minutes under the relentless sun looking for a little white ball in sea of sand, tumbleweed and rock. And the fairways themselves are in not so great shape, with many a dried and burned out area to greet you even after good drives.

The bunkers are in pretty neglected shape as well, as in plenty of little pebbles and rocks to contend with in many of them, however some others I found to be in playable shape. Tee boxes were burned out and in need of some love as well.

The good part? The greens. Wow! They were in absolutely excellent shape - rolling fast and true, not a single area of disrepair, nor ball marks to speak of the entire round. Even well struck shots held onto the green but left little to no ball marks at all. Outstanding. Hard to imagine they're so good while the rest of the course looks like it does.

Starter was great with us and has a lot to deal with as I think he was the only one there working. The cafeteria was closed entirely so you also get hot dogs and Gatorade from the starter - the man wears many hats. And again, for the UP voucher during the good season here, this deal is a no-brainer. However, I would currently avoid this course until the winter season and some extra TLC gets handled.

Little late on this one. Played last Thursday with a good friend (but not so good golfer), I'll include some of his observations as well.

In general the course is in pretty good shape, especially ... Continue »

Little late on this one. Played last Thursday with a good friend (but not so good golfer), I'll include some of his observations as well.

In general the course is in pretty good shape, especially for this time of year. With only a couple exceptions, tee boxes were pretty much level with good coverage and were trimmed fairly short, par 3's were pretty clean with very little divot damage. Fairways were somewhat "tight" but had good coverage, less rollout than I expected given the conditions. Greens were smooth, rolled well at medium-fast pace but were fairly firm, anything longer than an 8-iron you need to play for about 5 or more yards short of where you want to end up. About 70% of the areas around the greens you could putt from anything inside of 5 yards away, the other 30% was pretty thick. Sand in the bunkers was nice, good coverage and consistent.

Definitely want to stay in the fairway or first cut because anything beyond that gets ugly in a big hurry. Lots of wash/arroyo areas with thick brush mixed in. If you get into those areas hit a provisional - you'll either come across your ball sitting out in the open with a decent lie or never find it at all.

No cart service during the week, not a lot of water either and the "restrooms" were port-a-potties exposed to the sun - they'd make good sauna's but you're a lot better off taking a break at the turn than braving those hot boxes.

Service at the pro shop was very good - we had a couple unexpected set-backs in the morning on the way to the course, called to let them know and they were great about accommodating our delay. Nice grass range, the tee areas there were better than a lot of fairways I've encountered over the summer. Putting green was large enough to handle several players at once, was similar in speed to the greens on-course and offered plenty of variety re: uphill/downhill/sidehill and short/long practice.

Overall I enjoyed the course, it has a kind of "links" feel with each nine running out and back. There's a good variety of long/medium/short par 4's, same for the par 5's, while 3 of the 4 par 3's were about the same length but played differently due to direction and design.

It's not going to make the "top 10" list of desert courses (maybe not even the top 20) but it's a solid track that will challenge your game at a very reasonable price. If you're going to be out that way to play one of the "name" courses and have some extra time, this would be an excellent "secondary" course that won't hurt your wallet.

Recommended.

Played 36 from the Black "Cimarron" tees yesterday with mpisarski01. We started round one at 6:16 and finished 36 by just past 1:00, using an UnderPar voucher I had. Amazing deal.

Conditions can be... Continue »

Played 36 from the Black "Cimarron" tees yesterday with mpisarski01. We started round one at 6:16 and finished 36 by just past 1:00, using an UnderPar voucher I had. Amazing deal.

Conditions can best be summed up by two words, "Good, but..." For the most part, the course is in very nice condition. But like Matt mentioned in his review, I felt like I kept finding the "exception" spots – thin spots in the fairway, bunkers with rocks, lumpy area on a tee box, etc. Here's the breakdown: Greens are smooth and accept full shots well but running quite slow. Fairways are lush Bermuda with about 90% good coverage and 10% thin spots. Same ratio for the rough; most of it was pretty easy to hit from (preferable even to the thin spots of the fairway), but stray too far off path and you might find some very deep, penalizing areas. The borders of the wash often had long stuff, and I found one area on the right edge of No. 18 that might be the deepest, nastiest rough I've ever been in. My ball was nestled down in probably 8-inch tall grass, and it took me two thrashings with a PW to extract it about 30 yards into the fairway. (Lesson learned: I'll take the unplayable next time.) Bunkers were decent for the most part; fairway bunkers less cared for than greenside, and they all seemed to have some rocks in them. Tee boxes mostly good, except No. 9 which is lumpy.

All in all, great pace, decent weather, great price and a fun day on a course that has more bite than it might appear.

Joined itslikeimsaying at Cimarron today using his voucher for golf plus replay. We ended up playing the boulder course twice as it was easier to get on after out 640am tee time. We went out early at ... Continue »

Joined itslikeimsaying at Cimarron today using his voucher for golf plus replay. We ended up playing the boulder course twice as it was easier to get on after out 640am tee time. We went out early at 615 and joined a single named vince and were on our way. We waited quite a bit we ended up behind a father and adult kids that were all over the place but POP was still fast at 3hrs. 2nd round was just under 2hr45 and we could have been faster had we not caught a ground on 14. Course was in great summer shape from tee-green. For a links style course that is susceptible to wind it was in great shape. A few cancer spots in the fairway that had a magnet to Marks ball but nothing serious. Rough was normally very good and cut about 1 inch. There were spots that were as deep as 5+ inches which made the shot very interesting. Greens were a little Crusty and very slow but smooth so it just took a while to figure out how hard to hit a putt. In all a fun day with 36 holes we thought about playing one more round near by but nothing special came to mind for deals. Thanks Mark for the invite It was fun.

Played the Boulder course from the Blues (6328/69.6/117) today with my neighbor on July 4 early AM in about 3 hours. POP was great with only a couple other groups out at 7am. It was a nice morning, ... Continue »

Played the Boulder course from the Blues (6328/69.6/117) today with my neighbor on July 4 early AM in about 3 hours. POP was great with only a couple other groups out at 7am. It was a nice morning, little breeze, starting around 80 and ending around 90ish. We were behind a single and he cruised. Driving range was nice with grass. Practice putting green was punched a while back and still showed signs of maintenance. They rolled much better than the on course greens.

Fairways were in good shape. Nice lies were usually the outcome. Some areas were pretty thin and should have been GUR. Divot mix was on the carts, containers were not full at the start and we ran out before the turn. The mix rack at the turn had some containers, all were empty. So we couldn't fill any of our divots on the back 9. Rough was not overly penal, but, you had to be careful with the some of the taller grass (hosel grabbers). The desert areas will eat up balls and the bushes can be brutal.

The traps were usually filled with decent sand. The greenside traps were good, if not a little hard packed. They weren't fluffy and care was needed as to not overcook any shot. They definitely had too many footprints from the lazy arse golfers and could use a good raking. Fairway bunkers looked OK, luckily I wasn't in any. My playing partner was and caught the lip on a shot as some bunkers are very steeply faced.

The greens were not good at all. They were great at accepting a good shot. Ball marks a plenty from those same lazy folks that don't rake bunkers. They had been punched and sanded about 2 weeks prior and showed evidence of punching. Rough and sandy. Breaks were non existent and speed was very slow to the point of throwing a parachute out on some putts. Very frustrating to have one going right at the heart and the brakes gets thrown on to come up short. Maybe in a week or two the greens will recover.

Cart service personnel was fantastic. Didn't catch his name, awesome older gentleman. Carts had well stocked ice in the cooler and had a GPS info panel which worked OK. I prefer a range finder to the generic info the GPS provided. There were plenty of water coolers around the course and no food/drink service that early in the morning.

I had never played this course before. I enjoyed the layout. Good course for a reasonable rate that isn't a killer like many courses out here in the valley can be. Had the greens been in better condition, it would have made the round much better. I would definitely return to play again when the greens are healed up.

Played the Blacks (6782/71.6/122) in 3.5 hours. The weather was clear and breezy, which was actually nice since the temp was north of 105. The tees were good overall. Mostly lush with divots proper... Continue »

Played the Blacks (6782/71.6/122) in 3.5 hours. The weather was clear and breezy, which was actually nice since the temp was north of 105. The tees were good overall. Mostly lush with divots properly maintained. The fairways were also good overall. Mostly lush, with a few thinned out brown out areas that should be marked as GUR. The primary rough was cut close and actually good to play out of, the ball sat up nice. They had the course set up to score and have good POP, you needed to reach the nativescape before there were lost ball opportunities. The traps had decent sand, but contain too many unraked foot prints, which is a golfer issue. The greenside traps could have been very good if they were consistently raked. The fairways bunkers need to be avoided here because many have good sized lips and you cannot play enough club to reach the green and get out of many of these traps. Still visual evidence of the recent punching, but the greens putted medium speed and were mostly smooth, firm and had few ball marks. They are easier than average to putt IMO since there is not a huge amount of slope/break and none have tiers. Well struck shots held well, but it was challenging to hold chips and pitches. The customer service was excellent. Danny in the cart shack especially stood out as going above and beyond to make sure the cart was well stocked with ice and to take care of our clubs. No drink cart is not a surprise on a less crowded weekday, but having both the pro shop and restaurant closed in the middle of the day was. Thankfully, the ice water stations are plentiful on the course. Cimarron is reasonably wide open, flat with few forced carries, not overly tough for the average golfer. I enjoy this course as a change of pace, a solid mid level alternative for the Palm Springs area, usually in decent shape. Recommended.

Played the Blues (6328/69.6/117) on an Underpar Voucher, 18 + replay with Hermgolfs. The weather was clear, calm to breezy and in the low 100's. We took our time and still averaged barely 3 1/2 hours ... Continue »

Played the Blues (6328/69.6/117) on an Underpar Voucher, 18 + replay with Hermgolfs. The weather was clear, calm to breezy and in the low 100's. We took our time and still averaged barely 3 1/2 hours per round. The tees were mostly lush, most divots had been properly maintained. The fairways were generally lush, with a few thinner browned out areas that should be marked as GUR. 90+% of the fairways were above average, the other less than 10% make me mark them down a bit. The rough was cut close and not penal to chip from or even hit longer clubs. The farther you got off the fairway it was more hit and miss. Could be thin, hardpan or lost ball deep. If you missed the grass rough, next stop was the native areas further off the fairways... depending on your luck, could be playable to unfindable within a few feet. The bunkers had decent sand, but many had unraked areas. They could have been quite good if they had been raked throughout. More so than many courses, with the rough mowed close, the main thing to avoid here IS the numerous fairway traps. Many have good sized faces and you basically could not reach the green in regulation if you found them. The greens putted medium speed and were mostly smooth, firm with few ball marks. Not alot of slope or tiers on these greens, easier than average to navigate overall, especially with the rough cut down low around them. Well struck shots held well, but it was challenging to hold chips and pitches. The customer service was excellent but limited. No drink cart, and when we went in between rounds to grab a bite, we found both the restaurant and pro shop closed mid day? Plentiful ice water stations available every few holes, something I definitely look for and expect during the summer in the Palm Springs area. This layout is fairly flat & wide open with a few forced carries here and there. Good condition overall, very playable. I enjoy this course, the par 5's in particular are very scoreable. Solid mid level alternative for the Palm Springs area that is in decent shape and not overly tough for the average golfer. Recommended.

On Wednesday 6/1, met Nickesqire for a day of golf, using a voucher that Nick had purchased through underpar - awesome deal at $20 for me. Shout out to Danny the cart attendant, who charged our cart a... Continue »

On Wednesday 6/1, met Nickesqire for a day of golf, using a voucher that Nick had purchased through underpar - awesome deal at $20 for me. Shout out to Danny the cart attendant, who charged our cart and filled the cooler with ice while we took a quick break to grab a bite off course. There wasn't any drink cart, nor any restaurant, but there was ample chilled water available throughout the course. Note that the numeric rating seems a bit lower than my overall impression - just off the cuff, I'd give it a solid 7.5, better than the 6.9 that came out of my survey. I played from the blue Championship tees (6328 yards/69.6 course rating/117 slope). Course conditions were solid, on a track that I found moderately challenging, but fair. This course is pretty much wide open, with fairway bunkers guarding most landing areas, and some deep greenside bunkers. The native areas and dry washes provide more defense for the course. Luckily, the wind wasn't too much of a factor. Tee boxes were mostly lush, with some divot damage on par-3's, but most divots had been filled. It seemed that most boxes on the 4 and 5 par holes were slightly crowned in the middle, but level ground was available close to the markers. Bunkers had ample sand, some coarser than others, but generally maintained. Rakes were plentiful around each bunker. Sand was on the heavier side, damp from watering. Several fairway bunkers proved difficult to escape because of their depth - trying a long iron to advance was my mistake, where a short iron would have been the smarter play. Rough was generally cut to about an inch, and easy to play close to fairways. The farther off the fairway, the deeper it was, transitioning to native areas further off the fairways. Fairways were generally lush, with some thin and browned out areas, but overall quite nice to play from - if only I could find the short grass more often. There was some divot damage, but most had been filled with divot mix which was readily available throughout the course. Greens were in good shape, generally firm and smooth, with few ball marks. Well struck shots held well, but chips and pitches hit low would roll out. Putts rolled true, at medium speed, slowing from morning into the afternoon. I look forward to playing here again, especially if a good deal can be had.

Played here this past weekend. I have always liked this course. A bit of no frills. Even though there's a restaurant, it never seems to be open. No cart girl. Just a nice golf course always in consist... Continue »

Played here this past weekend. I have always liked this course. A bit of no frills. Even though there's a restaurant, it never seems to be open. No cart girl. Just a nice golf course always in consistently nice shape, no matter what time of the year. The price is always great with super deals to be found everywhere. It's a links style, about 5 trees in sight, not too challenging, but not that easy either. Greens are large and seem flat... ish but have so many subtleties that they really present a strong challenge. You honestly have to be really on with your putting to putt well here. The great thing is that the greens are basically the same summer or winter. I've never seen a course so consistent with it's conditioning year after year, regardless of the season. Really the only course that I can actually say I have ever played that the typical course advertising that says challenging for the expert but fair for the novice actually holds true.
Tees were mostly level, a few moderately crowned, something I hadn't remembered before.
Fairways nice, consistent and not too soft or hard. Very nice.
Rough just a bit longer and easily manageable. Not a bare spot.
Greens almost fully healed. A few bumps, no big deal. Receptive of good shots, slower than normal.. Expect them to be a touch faster once fully healed. Nary a ball mark.
LOVE the fringe here. A perfect transition on every hole from green to fringe to rough/fairway.
Sand... Used to be horrific hard rock/dirt. Then they actually dumped too much in a year or two ago. Had felt like your foot was going to sink to China. Still quite a bit in there now, a few rocks... Grr.. But so much better than they used to be. Still.. almost too much sand, dare I say. But hey, I'd rather have too much than not enough, so thank you management for the sand!
Very nice practice area and a great view of the mountains all day.
Pace of play is generally awesome here. Foursome finished in 3:40 taking out time. Never saw group ahead or behind. A great day of golf.