Marriotts Desert Springs Resort, Palms Course
Marriotts Desert Springs Resort is a Resort 54 hole golf facility located in Palm Desert, California. The facility has two regulation 18-hole courses and a very unique 18 hole, par-54 putting course. The 18-hole courses are The Palm Course and The Valley Course. The putting course is The Greens at Desert Springs Putting Course.
Marriotts Desert Springs Resort Plams Course first opened for play in 1986. The course was designed by Ted Robinson. Both the Palm and Valley courses were designed by acclaimed architect Ted Robinson, "King of Waterscapes."
The Palm Course, like The Valley Course is lined with mature palms, pines and indigenous trees, and features an extremely undulating terrain with frequent elevation changes from tee to green. The green complexes are often raised, with bunkers, grass depressions and slopes protecting putting surfaces that are sloped from back to front or ridged with swales and tiers. Also similar are the short par fours with water hazards that create great risk/reward opportunities.
Par for the Plams Course at Marriotts Desert Springs Resort is 72. From the back tees the course plays to 6,761 yards. From the forward tees the course measures 5,492 yards. The longest hole on the course is # 7, a par-5 that plays to 575 yards. The shortest hole on the course is # 17, a par-3 that plays to 160 yards from the back tees.
Watch out for # 5, a 429 yard par-4 challenge and the #1 handicap hole on the course. The easiest hole at the Plams Course at Marriotts Desert Springs Resort is # 14, a 350 yard par-4.
This course has been reviewed 1 time
Day 1 - 100 days, 100 courses (Thursday, March 14, 2019)
Having to wait until 1:00 was a little painful. (If you don't know me, patience and waiting and two things that I struggle with). The course appeared pretty busy, so we got ready for a slow round with lots of waiting.
Charlie Meister joined me for a quick pre-round lunch and we got to meet our playing partners, Chuck and Jen sitting in their carts by the practice green. At 1:10 our names were called, and the delay did not bode well for the anticipated pace of play.
My nerves were settled after bombing a drive straight down the fairway. This is going to be fun. My big concern was satisfying everyone to whom I had promised something: TeeOff wanted a picture of me with the TeeOff towel, Marriott Golf wanted pictures out on the course, and my big fear was forgetting to play the purple ball on number 3.
It all turned out well. The course was in really nice shape. Playing the blue tees nothing seemed too intimidating on paper. The challenge came from the sloping fairways and the elevated greens. The course was rated 70.5/127, and I shot a 97. Not what I was hoping for, but on the plus side, my drives were generally good. The biggest challenge that I had was my chipping. I was within 50 yards on one hole, and it took me three horrendous chips to get onto the green. It was an elevated green, and if you missed it, the ball rolled back to your feet.
The second challenge was that I lost two balls IN THE FAIRWAY. How does this happen? Everyone agreed that the ball should be right THERE! Oh well, onto PGA West Stadium Course.
So if you are keeping score at home 97 strokes and two lost balls.
