Desert Willow (Firecliff) - California - USA

Honestly found this course, as much of the golf in the Coachella Valley, forgettable. A 5+ hour round, unwalkable, and, with the exception of the great conditioning, not enough interest to hold my attention.

I'd rather have played a cheap muni or payed the extra $20 to traverse one of the excellent Indian Wells tracks.

One of the real virtues when Desert Willow opened in 1997 is that it provided a legitimate quality daily fee option for those in the greater Coachella Valley to enjoy. Sadly, much of the quality golf -- then and even now -- lies within gated communities.

When I first played the course -- not long after it opened -- I was blown away by the clear connection to the desert landscape. Unlike, so many other courses in the immediate area, which were, and remain, vastly over-watered and clearly manufactured to the point of absurdity -- Firecliff embraced more of a feel found at layouts in the Scottsdale / Phoenix area.

Credit Dr. Michael Hurdzan and his then partner Dana Fry, with a consulting effort from John Cook, in providing for a quality mixture of holes.

In returning to the course in the years since I've been bewildered that so much plant life has been allowed to grow. The authentic desert "look" I first encountered has been choked back with native areas that are overgrown and likely tied to excessive usage of man-applied water. The original vistas are now hemmed in with corridor landing areas similar to what many of the classic courses did years ago when planting an inordinate number of trees.

The layout is still quite good -- one needs to work the ball at different times in the round and the greens are varied in terms of configuration and internal contours. Credit the design team for a solid mixture of hole types so that no discernible pattern is provided.

Is Firecliff at the six (6) golf balls level? Not from the collection of courses I have played globally and from the sheer array of various courses I've played throughout the Coachella Valley. Cannot stress it enough but the overall golf experience would be enhanced dramatically if the encroachment is pulled back showcasing what made the course so special initially.

M. James Ward

The golfing experience is amazing. The course layout is excellent, the views are spectacular, course conditioning superb, and plenty of beautiful plants with so different animals to see and come across, e.g. humming birds, roadrunners, foxes, diverse colorful birds, etc. Just a must play in the Palm Desert area. Non-resident golf rates go lower after noon.