I played with the GK Gurus this afternoon with Nick, Larry, and Kevin. I didn't play the early round because I didn't want to wake up before 5:00 to make the 2-hour drive. Friendly, professional sta... Continue »

I played with the GK Gurus this afternoon with Nick, Larry, and Kevin. I didn't play the early round because I didn't want to wake up before 5:00 to make the 2-hour drive. Friendly, professional staff, nice driving range (balls included), and a top notch clubhouse give the golfer a nice feeling before heading out to play. The weather was perfect: mid-70s with very little wind.

The fairways were idyllic, and as others have noted, the rough is generally dormant. Generally the rough was thick enough to slow wayward balls from rolling completely through and out of play. The downside of that is the rough was thick enough to hamper ball striking at times. The bunkers were a little uneven. Some were a little thin, leading to some wayward bunker shots from our group, but others that were fluffy and easy to judge how to hit. The tee boxes were in great shape, and the greens were immaculate, although the breaks were a little difficult for the first timer to judge. I tended to see more break than there really was, and never did figure them out. Speed was about medium and very consistent.

The layout was varied, with some wide open fairways, others that it is prudent to leave driver in the bag, and a good mix of long, medium, and short par 4s. Fortunately Nick was familiar with the course. Without his advice it could be frustrating for the first timer, as there are numerous holes where it is not obvious where to hit the ball and how far. POP wasn't a problem at all until the last few holes when it slowed down.

I'm not in a position to judge how good a deal the rack rate is because I haven't played many courses in the area, and because the Gurus get a nice discount. But the course was pretty crowded, an indication that it is priced competitively. Overall, a good day on the course. Many thanks to Johnny for setting this one up.

I played the Players course with the Gurus on Wednesday. I really liked the layout of the Players course. The fairways were lush and green with the rough a bit dormant. They were in fantastic conditio... Continue »

I played the Players course with the Gurus on Wednesday. I really liked the layout of the Players course. The fairways were lush and green with the rough a bit dormant. They were in fantastic condition with no bare spots and very few divot marks. If i would have spent more time on the fairways I would not have had to hit from the sticky sometimes clumpy rough. Being mostly Bermuda with some mixed grass mixed I had some trouble getting the club through it. The greens were fast and true with some very subtle breaks. Even playing later in the day they were very smooth with few ball marks. The staff was on point and took good care of our group. The course is a nice challenge that I look forward to playing again.

Second round of the day with the GK Guru’s at Indian Wells and now on the Player’s Course. Didn’t have the eye appeal like the Celebrity course did when standing on the 1st tee as the rough was dorma... Continue »

Second round of the day with the GK Guru’s at Indian Wells and now on the Player’s Course. Didn’t have the eye appeal like the Celebrity course did when standing on the 1st tee as the rough was dormant brown. More folks playing on this course and pace of play slowed down a bit on the back. Still under 4.5 hours and finished just before dark.

Fairways still in great shape. Same with the tee boxes. Greens were not real fast but rolled very true and held good shots. A couple of greens were near water and you had to clear out a putting path through the duck poop but overall fantastic. The one bunker I was in was hard pan under a thin soft layer on top. Learned that the hard way as I skulled a bunker shot across the green.

Regardless, this is a wonderful golf course and IMO, more challenging than the Celebrity. Great layout with some blind shots, dog legs and water coming into play on a couple of holes . Also some great desert views worth taking pictures of. Great customer service – we were individually thanked for playing by I believe Michael Tebbett (forgot his name as he introduced himself) on hole #3. Very classy! Also, a big thank you to Johnny GK for setting up this great day.
A must play if you’re in the Palm Springs area.

Played afternoon round with the Guru's on 01/24. Course is a little different than the Celbrity as it has the dormant rough. It is something I really like, seeing the lush green fairways in contrast t... Continue »

Played afternoon round with the Guru's on 01/24. Course is a little different than the Celbrity as it has the dormant rough. It is something I really like, seeing the lush green fairways in contrast to the dormant rough. I think it actually helps me play better as I can see the target lines I need to hit at. Course conditions were great, sand was a little thinner on this course but still very manageable.
Can't wait to get back. Thanks again Johnnny

2nd round of the day was on the players course at IW. Teed up with Johnny, Sixpez, and my father. The course is completely different that the celebrity. The course is relatively flat and easier to man... Continue »

2nd round of the day was on the players course at IW. Teed up with Johnny, Sixpez, and my father. The course is completely different that the celebrity. The course is relatively flat and easier to manage in many ways although they do have 4 par 5's and 4 par 3's which I like better than the celebrity.

Conditions were very nice but not at nice as the celebrity course because they did not overseed the rough this year which gave this course that typical brown rough and emerald green fairways.

The fairways, greens, and tee boxes were darn near perfect in my book. Everything was cut the perfect length and made for easy ball striking and putting throughout the day. The only down side to me was the bunkers, they need a little TLC, I was in the bunkers quite a few times and noticed they were getting a little low on sand. The top layer was about 1/2 inch and firm and wet under. There was one bunker on the back nine that the liner was coming up in the middle of the bunker.

Overall an amazing day and I highly recommend getting out to Indian wells soon.

We switched up the groups a little for the second round, so I played with Johnny, mpisarski01 and Fastfish433. This course was much busier in the afternoon, but the pace moved along pretty well until ... Continue »

We switched up the groups a little for the second round, so I played with Johnny, mpisarski01 and Fastfish433. This course was much busier in the afternoon, but the pace moved along pretty well until the final few holes when things backed up for some reason. We teed off around 12:40 and finished with just a little daylight to spare. We had just enough time in between rounds to grab a quick lunch and relax a few minutes before heading out for the second round, and the timing worked out perfectly. The tee boxes, fairways and greens were comparable on Players to Celebrity in the morning. Overseeded and ideal, though as Nick noted a few of the greens did have some major issues with coot droppings. Otherwise, I thought the greens on this side were actually slightly nicer because they had firmed up and were rolling significantly quicker in the afternoon. Still not too fast, but better speeds than we had in the morning. The bunkers on this side seemed a little less consistent in places, though still quite good overall in the ones I actually hit into. They opted not to overseed the rough this year, so it has a semi-dormant look. It sure doesn't look as pretty as the fully overseeded presentation on Celebrity, but the rough areas played just fine. It was cut low and matted down. It was definitely a bit grabbier than the lush Celebrity rough, so it presented a little more challenge (though still pretty friendly). I'll always prefer Celebrity for numerous reasons, but Players is also an excellent course with a lot of fun and challenging holes. It's very enjoyable on every level and I never mind any excuse to come out and play it.

Played the Orange Tees (6538/71.6/130) with GK Guru's Kevin, Larry and David in slightly over 4H twilight. Really nice to play with Larry/David for the first time and to get to play with Kevin again! ... Continue »

Played the Orange Tees (6538/71.6/130) with GK Guru's Kevin, Larry and David in slightly over 4H twilight. Really nice to play with Larry/David for the first time and to get to play with Kevin again! Almost perfect golf weather, clear and fairly calm in the mid 70's. The course conditions were very good, but not nearly as good as it's Celebrity sister course. The layout is a good mixture of flat and rolling hills. Par 72 (37-35) with 7 sets of well spaced tees. I especially like how basically all their tees except the tips are combo tees. Makes it easier for people to play different tees since you are playing 9 tees from the color in front of you on most tee sets. The tees were lush and nicely maintained with few divots. The over seeded fairways were lush and VERY nice to play from. The mostly dormant Bermuda rough is not over seeded like Celebrity. It is decent to play from, but a large step down from the plush over seeded rough @ Celebrity. The sand traps were nicely maintained with nice fine sand. The over seeded greens putted medium fast, were firm and had few ball marks. However, several greens had so much coot poop they severely hampered play on those holes. These large greens have many subtle undulations with few straight putts. I enjoy this layout more with each visit. Challenging course featuring many holes with fairways that are either narrow in the landing area or require turning the ball to get in prime positions. Large challenging green complexes. This course would be challenging to walk since there are numerous tees hundreds of yards from the last green. The customer service is always excellent here. Had a cheeseburger and lemonade for lunch, pricey but excellent. Cart gal was around numerous times. Complementary range balls on an all grass range is always a plus. Definitely recommended.

Indian Wells is always a go to resort for the wife and I. Celebrity is the prettier of the two but both courses are excellent. As others mentioned this is a resort course so the greens are very mana... Continue »

Indian Wells is always a go to resort for the wife and I. Celebrity is the prettier of the two but both courses are excellent. As others mentioned this is a resort course so the greens are very manageable. They roll true at a decent pace with some subtle breaks. Basically they are fairly flat but are soft and hold approach shots well.

Bunkers offer superb sand and yes the fairway bunkers with their rather steep faces offer the majority of challenge off the tee. Fairways are spacious otherwise. The course features water hazards on about 5-6 holes which I always enjoy as they add to the challange and beauty of the course.

Carts have GPS and will let you know how you're doing on pace of play which will always be around 4 1/2 hrs.

Customer service is great, however the quality of the food at the restaurant has gone down hill from previous visits.

Oh, the selection of clothes in the pros shop is Outstanding !!!

Got out here just before Coachella. I had an amazing time. The Gurus kept the round fun and the course was in Fantastic condition. The range was packed with a tournament on the other course. Other... Continue »

Got out here just before Coachella. I had an amazing time. The Gurus kept the round fun and the course was in Fantastic condition. The range was packed with a tournament on the other course. Otherwise service is great as always. Played in just under 4:30 with no waiting really. All the greens were great minus 1. They were rolling a little slow but true though.

This was the first time I played the Players course and enjoyed it. I much prefer it to the celebrity. Less holes with the huge drop-off like 9-10 and less holes next to the road, which gets into my head these days.