Finally used up my Golf Moose Certificates and pulled the trigger on Desert Island (previously S at Ranch Mirage). We secured a 7:50 tee time and arrived in time to use the small practice areas. The ... Continue »

Finally used up my Golf Moose Certificates and pulled the trigger on Desert Island (previously S at Ranch Mirage). We secured a 7:50 tee time and arrived in time to use the small practice areas. The driving range was moved up but even if the tee's were at the back its only 250 yards. The lady in the pro shop was very nice and let us know that there was going to be nobody in front of us so we could tee off when ready. With that being said we played in less than 2.5 hours only waiting on 17 when we ran into a single who was fishing golf balls out of the water.

We didnt know what to expect for conditions as the last review was in June but when we arrived we saw immaculate fairways and greens and it stayed that way throughout the day. Tee boxes were flat and had plenty of grass to hit from. They did need to move the par three boxes as they were a little chewed up. Fairways were carpet like cut a little shorter allowing maximum roll. If you have never played here one of the instructions from the course is to pick up all of your divots and put them in the driver side cooler. This gives the fairways a very clean look overall, I think more courses need to do this. Rough was mostly lush with a few areas looking like the overseed didn't take well and the dormant Bermuda poking through but these were few and far between. Sand traps were just ok, two fairway traps were too firm for my liking. The greenside traps were better with soft sand that was easy to plug into them. Greens were fantastic with the exception of one which had some patches that were recently repaired. They were slightly on the soft side yet very quick. I seem to over-read putts all day it just looked like more break than there actually was.

I really enjoyed this course layout. Its very demanding off the tee with either large trees, Water, of OB tightening your tee shots all day. The Par 3's are all unique and run 150-200 yards. Carts are basic with no GPS but they get the job done. Cart girl was around if needed and there was 2 marshals out and about picking up divots that were left behind. Its nice to see the staff really take care of their course. I will definitely be playing here again. Especially with the golf moose deal at $170 for 2 players including free replay.