Day two of our impromptu Palm Springs weekend brought us back to the Tahquitz Creek Resort course for the first time in over eight years. At that time we started late in the day and could only finish ... Continue »

Day two of our impromptu Palm Springs weekend brought us back to the Tahquitz Creek Resort course for the first time in over eight years. At that time we started late in the day and could only finish around the first seven holes before having to leave, so I was excited to grab this tee time for Sunday and actually get to finish the entire round.

We had a 10:10am tee time and were paired up with two gals from Seattle down for the weekend. I opted to play from the white tees since my buddy has no business playing from the back tees, but by the 7th hole it was clear we needed to move him up so he joined the ladies at the forward tees and I continued from the whites.

This course rarely gets much attention it seems but I found it to be quite fun and enjoyable. There are a lot of water features to contend with along the way, but also some tricky short dogleg holes with desert defenses between your tee shot and the greens, also some strategically placed bunkers and the latter holes of the course are quite narrow and demanding.

Greens were not running exceptionally fast but held shots very well, rolled very true and were consistent throughout the round. Their appearance actually looked worse than how they played, which is never a bad thing. Fairways were in really great shape though (and rough) with super lies all afternoon. It's amazing how far this quality goes when it comes to hitting good shots. Bunkers were also in good shape with nice sand and the tee boxes were perfect from the whites. Really no on-course complaints whatsoever. Enjoyed it very much.

Cart service came around a few times which was great because they have stopped putting out any water stations due to some homeless encampments near and around the first few holes who were apparently damaging them. They also require a key for any of the bathrooms because of the same reason. It really is a shame to see and I hope the course can manage to sort out this issue because it's not great for the paying customers to have to deal with at this point.

Carts were in really top shape - they're very fast! Unfortunately they don't have any GPS on them which would be really beneifical as there are a few holes out here with some tricky sightlines if you're unfamiliar or don't have your own GPS on your phone or watch. POP was apparently not great but we barely noticed until the marshall came around on the 11th hole and told us that the group in front of us was a hole and a half behind and asked them to pick up the pace. Well done.

I was very glad I had a chance to finally complete this course, played a very solid round and enjoyed the experience wholeheartedly.