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 What the pair shot is lost in history’s trash bin of scorecards, but we do know, based on a Los Angeles Times report, that the guest became so frustrated with not being able to accurately strike the ball that he yanked a limb from a nearby tree and played much better with the improvised club. In some fashion, that’s what people have been doing in the Coachella Valley ever since, playing this frustrating game in a spectacular desert setting that also serves as an example of man’s ability to dramatically alter the earth. In the span of 80 years, the greater Palm Springs area has transformed from a sparsely populated desert hideaway for movie stars and the elite to a booming region with nearly 350,000 residents and more than 3 million annual visitors. And golf has been an integral part of that development, both in showcasing the area’s natural amenities to the rest of the world via television exposure and in luring prospective homeowners. “What happened in Palm Springs is that developers found that golf sold real estate,” said Ted Robinson Sr., who has designed 25 of the valley’s 122 courses. “You always had the resort and the movie people coming down, but when it was realized that golf was an important criteria as far as people buying houses, it kind of took over.” For 20 years, the O’Donnell course was the only one in Palm Springs. But beginning in the early 1950s, with the creation of private clubs such as Tamarisk and Thunderbird, golf course development has continued unabated. There were some years where no courses opened and incredible spurts, such as in the mid-’80s, when 20 tracks opened in four years. Currently, there are at least 12 courses under construction, awaiting approval or in the planning stages. New courses recently opened or on the horizon include Escena, the first public golf course to open within the city limits of Palm Springs in 20 years, Toscana Country Club, the Classic Course at NorthStar, SilverRock Resort, and Tuscan Hills, a housing development centerpiece and the first course within the city limits of Desert Hot Springs. “It all goes through cycles, but this one we’re in has been huge because it is so spread out and has taken in so many different kinds of properties all over the valley,” said Ernie Dunlevie, one of the architects of the Palm Springs Invitational, which became the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. But with the growth comes challenges — at least for golf course operators. “A lot of the interesting public courses are suffering and some of the private clubs are having problems selling memberships because there’s so much competition,” Robinson said. “And a lot of the best areas are already built on, which is why you’re seeing more courses going in north of the 10 freeway, which is the windier part of the valley. There is a great demand for real estate in the Coachella Valley so courses will continue to be developed, but I do think there’s a general concern that it’s growing too fast.” Sally Mahoney, general manager of the original O’Donnell track, said golf is a “depressed industry” in the Coachella Valley. “There are too many courses and it’s difficult to get players,” she said. “A lot of courses in the Rancho Mirage area are struggling because they’re older and need refurbishing and can’t compete for the younger people who are moving into La Quinta.” The need to upgrade, however, is essential for older courses to survive in the competitive market. “Things wear out at golf courses,” said Roger Behling, golf resort director for the city of Indian Wells, which is heading a multi-million renovation of its two resort courses, both of which opened in 1986. “Styles and trends of golf courses have changed over the years and the techniques used to build and maintain them have evolved. Styles of grasses are different and surfaces are better at newer clubs. So there is a need to change the product we’ve had so long and that’s why we’re rebuilding. Our partner hotels are in the same situation and they’ve invested a great deal of money upgrading their facilities and we are making the same commitment.” In such a highly competitive market even resorts that opened only a few years ago are cognizant of the importance of evolving. Marriott’s Shadow Ridge opened in 2000 with the country’s first 18-hole Nick Faldo golf course, and one of four Nick Faldo Institutes, a full-service golf academy. The combination of golf, teaching and luxurious Marriott accommodations turned the property into a vacation site for thousands of people across the world. But just five years later, the resort is the middle of a $6 million renovation, changing the name of its restaurant to Nick Faldo’s Bar and Grill (Faldo will be on hand in January to dedicate the new restaurant), adding basketball and volleyball courts, a putting green and pool and basically upgrading landscaping throughout the property. The Marriott Desert Springs Resort and Spa also is considering a renovation project at its two courses, which opened in the late ’80s. But change has to be more than cosmetic, said Tim Skogen, the Marriott’s director of golf. “You have to deliver premier service out here, it’s critical,” he said. “And something that is often overlooked is that you have to have a challenging, but very playable golf course. People’s time is precious and they want to enjoy themselves, so giving them an experience that is enjoyable and unique is important. That’s the beautiful thing about Palm Springs. Each property identifies what its mission is and how it presents itself and that’s one of the strengths of this region.” The best designers in the world have golf courses in the Palm Springs area — from Robert Trent Jones Jr., Desmond Muirhead, Tom Fazio and Pete Dye to top former players such as Johnny Miller, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Weiskopf and Nick Faldo. The world’s most devoted golfers visit the area to play a number of terrific resort-style courses, and the world’s best golfers come here, too, for PGA, LPGA or other off-season events. There are links-style courses that meander through harsh desert conditions, and lush, tree-lined fairways that offer stellar mountain views. “I don’t have the figures handy but there has to be more golf courses in that valley per capita than anywhere else in the world,” Robinson said. “It truly is a world-class golf destination.” No region in the country quite compares with the way the Coachella Valley has evolved. The obvious comparisons are Las Vegas and the Phoenix-Scottsdale area, since both were arid deserts transformed into huge population centers. But the former had gambling and Phoenix is the focal center of Arizona. In the Coachella Valley, golf has fueled development like nothing else. In the early ’20s, Palm Springs was a secret hideaway for the Hollywood glamour set, lured by the gorgeous winter weather and spectacular mountain and desert scenery. As roads made driving from the Los Angeles area easier, a few people began moving to what was then a mostly agricultural area populated by a few Native American tribes. Pete Lynch, a former caddymaster at Hollywood Country Club, reported a hole-in-one on the “sporty nine-hole course” at the Desert Inn in 1927. That course was O’Donnell’s original, which still exists as a private club. Although there wouldn’t be another golf course built until 1947, O’Donnell’s sporty little course had its share of stars and moments. Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Harold Lloyd and W.C. Fields all tested it out. In February 1935, the city’s first professional golf tournament, which included Walter Hagen, Harry Cooper and amateur Johnny Dawson, was played. The next year, the Palm Springs Invitational was launched, with a women’s amateur soon to follow. In the early ’50s, Dawson, looking for a place to retire, bought a dude ranch down the road from Palm Springs, in Cathedral City. He and some friends converted it into a golf course and came up with a novel idea: build cottages along the fairway where people could stay. The concept, which he called “fairway living,” caught on like a brush fire and helped propel the first big boom of golf in the Palm Springs area. Along with Dawson’s Thunderbird Country Club, a spate of new courses opened over the next few years, including Bermuda Dunes, El Dorado, Indian Wells and Tamarisk. As courses began creeping east down Highway 111 and toward the newer communities of La Quinta and Indian Wells, a group of local businessmen started the Palm Springs Desert Classic, a four-day tournament played on four courses that paired professionals with amateurs. The first year was 1960, and Arnold Palmer easily won the $12,000 top prize. In 1965, Milt Hicks and Ernie Dunlevie enticed entertainer Bob Hope, the unofficial mayor of Palm Springs and a golfing fanatic, to lend his name to the tournament. The combination of Hope’s charisma and Hollywood connections turned it into one of the most watched sports programs of the year. “The tournament created a lot of interest in golf in the local area and was very instrumental in why there are more than 120 golf courses in the valley,” Dunlevie said. “I think the tournament would have been a success regardless of Hope’s involvement because the community really supports it, and we have such wonderful weather and so much land that [golf development] was inevitable, but that’s not to say Bob Hope lending his name to the tournament didn’t increase our television exposure and generate a great deal of money.” As demand for housing in the Coachella Valley grew, developers began using courses as centerpieces for real estate, which caught the attention of Robinson, a former land planner. He knew how to work within the confines of development blueprints and he proved to be adept at creating water features. “It was really just trial and error as far as water was concerned,” Robinson said. “But we found that if we built a waterfall next to a green, people would pay more money for those lots. So soon you had lakes all over the courses.” Seventeen courses opened in the ’70s, including Mission Hills, the first mega-golf complex in the Coachella Valley. Its first course, designed by Desmond Muirhead and the future home of the Dinah Shore Nabisco Classic, opened in 1970. The 1980s were boom times for golf development in the area, with two complexes in particular grabbing worldwide attention: the La Quinta Resort and PGA West. La Quinta had been a resort since 1926, but recognition kicked in with the opening of its first course, designed by Dye, who has since built two other tracks as part of the property. The six courses that comprise PGA West are perhaps the greatest variety of top-notch golf in the state, if not the country. Dye’s notorious Stadium Course, Nicklaus’ Tournament Course and Greg Norman’s 1999 track are open to the public, and the private courses designed by Palmer, Nicklaus and Weiskopf are equally impressive. The ’90s continued a hectic pace, with 14 courses either opening or re-opening between 1998 and 2000. Even the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic is evolving, with 2006 signaling the greatest change in the event’s 45-year history. After years of seeing top pros dominate the shorter courses at Indian Wells and Bermuda Dunes country clubs, three new courses are joining the rotation, including two public courses. One of the public tracks is the Palmer-designed Classic Course at NorthStar, which has the distinction of being the first course ever owned by an organization that also runs a PGA Tour event. Last year the Berger Foundation donated the course to the tournament, which immediately named it as the host course. Another Palmer course, SilverRock, a La Quinta course nestled against the mountains, measures more than 7,500 yards from the tips. Other recently opened courses include the Nicklaus-designed Toscana Country Club, a private club in one of the more affluent housing developments in the valley, and Escena, another Nicklaus Design that is open to the public. Landmark Golf, which had a long history of developing courses in the desert, including La Quinta Resort, Mission Hills Country Club and PGA West, opened its last course, Landmark Golf Club (recently re-christened Terra Lago Golf Club) in 1999. Chairman Ernie Vossler, who has worked in the valley since the early ’80s, still has a hard time believing the transformation. “I don’t think anybody could have perceived what was going to happen,” Vossler said. “As close as we were working here we never could have guessed how much golf the area would have. There are still days I come to the office and I’m just astonished at how it’s grown.” |
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