The Emperor wears no clothes!! This is the season of my discontent... I have not posted favorable reviews about 3 of the other 4 pga west/la quinta courses, and this one absolutely took the cake. T... Continue »

The Emperor wears no clothes!! This is the season of my discontent... I have not posted favorable reviews about 3 of the other 4 pga west/la quinta courses, and this one absolutely took the cake. The customer service bordered on obnoxious, the course played like a mine field, yardage was poorly marked, greens were a mess, pace of play was a joke, we saw the cart girl 3 times - once on 9, once on 18, and only once on the course itself. Other than the practice facilities, there is nothing positive to write about this course - I was so sad, I almost cried, I remember back when this course could command a premium rate, now it fails in comparison to Silver Rock, the Norman, and even Terra Lago. Just sad, sad, sad. PGA West needs new ownership.

Played this morning @ 9:36am. Yeah, I know, we are very very stupid. It must have been 110 degrees. Anyway, the course was in very good shape, especially given the heat. The greens seem to be quit... Continue »

Played this morning @ 9:36am. Yeah, I know, we are very very stupid. It must have been 110 degrees. Anyway, the course was in very good shape, especially given the heat. The greens seem to be quite resiliant as they rolled very true. But obviously in this heat they cannot cut the greens too closely, therefore, the greens were not very fast. They were quite hard, however. On the normally shaggy, slow, soft greens of Long Beach courses, it's really easy to stop the ball on the green with pretty much any club. But there were several times today where a long iron had difficulty stopping, where it wouldn't in the conditions under which I normally play. The tee boxes were a little hairy, but again, that was probably due to the temps. I was impressed with the layout and the conditions

This course is very challenging. Tee shot placement is crucial and you have to resist the urge to go at some pins. If you miss in the wrong places on this course, you'll suffer. Buy a yardage book (it's worth the $9) and try to figure out where to miss and not miss. You can't hit driver on every hole, and you shouldn't hit 3-wood to into the par-5 greens either (note: I played from the tips; this advice might not be applicable from other sets of tees). The starter was a little annoying: he pumped us for all our indexes, and then proceeded to tell us from which tee boxes we were to play. I told him I was a 2 (which is true) and he said, "oh, well then YOU can play from the blues". I proceeded to ask him what I needed to say in order to have "permission" to play from the blacks. He said that those tee boxes weren't open. I asked, "Then what in the heck are those tee markers doing there? Shouldn't you just take those out, not cut the grass from those boxes, and put signs there saying they are closed?" After looking at me quizically for a couple of seconds, I told him politely that after paying good money to play, they should let me tee off from the parking lot if I want to, just so long as I don't hold up the group behind us. I walked back to the tips, teed it up, and drilled one. Where does he get off? Power trip much?

Excellent experience! Layout is difficult, as expected. Bunkers were heavy and greens were rolling true. Some holes where the green stands atop a plateu were particulary tricky if you hit short or lon... Continue »

Excellent experience! Layout is difficult, as expected. Bunkers were heavy and greens were rolling true. Some holes where the green stands atop a plateu were particulary tricky if you hit short or long. Thre are several places with ground under repair, but it was still a great round...

Played this last Sunday and it was hot! 110+F. This course was a little tougher than the Nick, but I still enjoyed the layout. The fairways and greens were showing a little yellowing from the heat, bu... Continue »

Played this last Sunday and it was hot! 110+F. This course was a little tougher than the Nick, but I still enjoyed the layout. The fairways and greens were showing a little yellowing from the heat, but overall the course was still in good shape. Some holes felt very generic, but some other holes had me thinking WTF! Especially the 16th with a greenside bunker that was 25 feet below the green!

Definitely a fun and challenging track, Layout favors players that fade the ball, slick and firm greens, loved the San Andreas ( 16th hole ) only because I was witness to my buddy who got out of the M... Continue »

Definitely a fun and challenging track, Layout favors players that fade the ball, slick and firm greens, loved the San Andreas ( 16th hole ) only because I was witness to my buddy who got out of the MONSTROUS Greenside Bunker with the 30 foot wall of Grass, Was Incredible. Fairways were ok considering we are at the brink of Summer. 12 water holes, thru this 18, beautiful and fun.

I was really excited to play this course and check it off my list of must plays. But, to be honest I was really disapointed by a lot of things here. Don't get me wrong, the course lived up to everythi... Continue »

I was really excited to play this course and check it off my list of must plays. But, to be honest I was really disapointed by a lot of things here. Don't get me wrong, the course lived up to everything I had read and seen. It is very tough, unforgiving golf course that you need to bring your A game to play well. But, the condition of the course pales to many of the courses in the area. The rough was just plain bad, the sand traps hadn't been raked in days (and we played the middle of the day Saturday) and the pace of play although understandbly slow due to the toughness of the course was slow, but 5 1/2+ hours? Not to mention the carts were bad the club house is vintage 1970's etc... I am glad I got to play it, but for the $ there are a lot better values near by. I do not think I'll ever play here again.

Played the week of the hope classic. Greens rolled really smooth and great care has been taken to keep them nice with the constant ball mark repair being performed with colored sand topdressing and s... Continue »

Played the week of the hope classic. Greens rolled really smooth and great care has been taken to keep them nice with the constant ball mark repair being performed with colored sand topdressing and seeding. The Fairways were nicely trimmed and the tee boxes were in fantastic condition. As anyone knows this course is not for the faint of heart and I fulfilled a life long dream to play the course. However the rough seemed like it just was not really taken care of. The dormant bermuda is fine and is really clean. It was the areas of overseeded rough that really detracted from the courses beauty. I really had a great time and donated two $20 dollar sleeves of golf balls to the abudant water on the course but I am proud to have kept the score to a 92. Count them six water penalties and only a 92. I had a lot of fun and I got lots of pictures. The views from here are spectacular. Kudos to Lee Trevino for his ace on 17. I hit it from the spot and my beutifully struck shot landed in the rocks and into the clear blue lake. :) Oh well. Just a fun round in Paradise. I would love to come back again and shoot better now I know not to think here but aim and pull the trigger.

Played 11/11/06 for $85 twilight rate with 12:45pm tee-time. Course was cart-path only as overseeding had occurred about a month prior. Tee'd off 15 minutes late due to volume and only got through 14 ... Continue »

Played 11/11/06 for $85 twilight rate with 12:45pm tee-time. Course was cart-path only as overseeding had occurred about a month prior. Tee'd off 15 minutes late due to volume and only got through 14 holes before pitch darkness. Drove up to #17 with hopes to play it in the dark just for grins but found three groups still waiting so headed into the clubhouse. In the dark, #18 looked tough - probably a great finishing hole. Overall, was very frustrated with Stadium - played front nine in 3 hours! Would play a hole in 12-20 minutes, then wait 20 minutes on the next tee-box, hole after hole after hole - 2 groups waiting on most every tee-box. Course was extremely difficult even from correct tee boxes. Be sure to get a yardage book, otherwise you'll stand on tee box and scratch your head just wondering where to hit it. Fairways were sloped and narrow but in good shape; the rough was brutal - long, grass bunkers everywhere, no even lie anywhere it seemed. Lots of sand and lots of water on the course as well. Fair amount of trees as well, although not typically in play. Greens were a bit slow and tricky. Although the course is routed through housing, the homes are set back enough not to be an issue. What we saw of the back 9 looked much tighter and tougher than the front nine, or maybe we were just whipped by the turn. Would love to play the course again if pace of play was good and rate was right - not $235 primetime. Maybe next summer instead. Overall, I found the course much harder than Wolf Creek in Mesquite despite similar slope rating. Put the driver away unless you hit it dead straight every time. At Stadium, it's fairway or death - no doubt.

Boy this course was my personal kyptonite! I mean not only was it hot but 50 yards in was jail if you didn't hit the green. Course being prepared for overseeding so fairways were burned out. Greens... Continue »

Boy this course was my personal kyptonite! I mean not only was it hot but 50 yards in was jail if you didn't hit the green. Course being prepared for overseeding so fairways were burned out. Greens ran VERY true and amazing how you can stick a shot and not leave a divot. Tee Boxes are flat. Fairway well it's burned out dude to their preparation for overseeding. Looks more like the surface of the moon but all should be good in a few weeks.