Stone Eagle Golf Club

One of more than thirty golf courses located within ten miles of Palm Desert, Stone Eagle Golf Club occupies a spectacular setting above the Palm Springs valley where its construction was one of the toughest projects undertaken by Tom Doak’s Renaissance design company prior to its debut in 2005.

It’s an engaging layout, routed over a steep and rocky landscape with dramatic elevation changes occurring on many of the holes. The terrain is often tortuous, offering golfers plenty of opportunities to take in the wonderful downhill vistas.

Stand out holes include the 418-yard 5th (where the fairway falls away into a ravine on the left), the 386-yard 10th (played uphill into a canyon) and the strong par four 18th (which drops back downhill to the home green).

If you can secure a game here, be sure to play the "settle-the-bet" par three 19th hole, which should be a doddle at a mere 150 yards, but the green is benched into the desert landscape and the sanctuary of this pulpit-like stage is notoriously difficult to find.