Best golf courses: Palm Springs / Palm Desert

Palm Springs / Palm Desert: the table below provides brief details about the top golf courses in this country or region. Each golf club has been visited and/or researched by Where2Golf. Click on the course name below to discover more. The course ratings below range from 5 highest, to 2 lowest. They attempt to provide an indication of the golfing experience you might expect at the course (based on its design, condition and surroundings). Hover your cursor above the Rating Key for the rating definitions.
Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Palm Springs
Hills & Fazio

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Mountains course: Arthur Hills (1991).
Canyons course: Tom Fazio (1998).

3-PLUS: Good course - several memorable features; worthy of 3½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Palm Springs
Fought, John

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

John Fought

5-star: Fabulous – courses don’t get much better than this.
Visitors welcome
Palm Springs
Palmer, Arnold

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Arnold Palmer

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Palm Springs
Panks & Angus

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Gary Panks & Michael Angus

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Palm Springs
Jones II, Robert Trent

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Robert Trent Jones Jr.

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Restricted
Palm Springs
Fream, Ron

Visitors?

Restricted

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Ronald (Ron) Fream

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Palm Springs
Robinson, Ted

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Ted Robinson (Sr).

3-PLUS: Good course - several memorable features; worthy of 3½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Palm Springs
Robinson, Ted

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Ted Robinson (Sr).

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Palm Springs
Hurdzan/Fry & Cook

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Hurdzan/Fry Design (Dr Michael J. Hurdzan & Dana Fry) working with PGA Tour player John Cook.

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Palm Springs
Hurdzan/Fry & Cook

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Hurdzan/Fry Design (Dr Michael J. Hurdzan & Dana Fry) working with PGA Tour player John Cook.

Unrated: Well regarded course not yet visited by the Where2Golf team.
Visitors welcome
Palm Springs
Clark, Clive

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Clive Clark

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Palm Springs
Hughes & Fazio

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Original design by Lawrence "Larry" Hughes (1957); extensive redesign by Tom Fazio (2003).

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Palm Springs
Nicklaus Design

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Nicklaus Design

3-PLUS: Good course - several memorable features; worthy of 3½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Palm Springs
Hills, Arthur

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Arthur Hills

Unrated: Well regarded course not yet visited by the Where2Golf team.
Rsrt guests only
Palm Springs
Susalla & Robinson

Visitors?

Rsrt guests only

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Classic course: designed by co-founder of Indian Wells CC, Eddie Susalla (1956).
Cove course: designed by Eddie Susalla and Ted Robinson Sr (1965).

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Palm Springs
Clark, Clive

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Original layout (known as the West course) designed by Ted Robinson (1986). Substantial redesign by Clive Clark (2006), and renamed as the Celebrity course.

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Palm Springs
Fought, John

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Original layout (known as the East course) designed by Ted Robinson (1986). Substantial redesign by John Fought (2007), and renamed as the Players course.

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Palm Springs
Muirhead, Palmer & Dye

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Dinah Shore Tournament course designed by Desmond Muirhead (1972).
Arnold Palmer Signature course (1979).
Pete Dye Challenge (1988; designed by Pete & Alice Dye).

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Palm Springs
Player, Gary

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Gary Player Signature Course

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Palm Springs
Dye, Pete

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Pete Dye

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Palm Springs
Dye, Pete

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Pete Dye

5-star: Fabulous – courses don’t get much better than this.
Visitors welcome
Palm Springs
Dye, Pete

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Husband & wife team of Pete & Alice Dye

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Palm Springs
Nicklaus, Jack

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Jack Nicklaus

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Palm Springs
Norman, Greg

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Greg Norman

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Palm Springs
Fazio, Tom

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Tom Fazio

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Palm Springs
Dye, Pete

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Pete Dye

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Palm Springs
Faldo & Schmidt-Curley

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Nick Faldo's first design in the U.S., created with Brian Curley (Schmidt-Curley Design).

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Palm Springs
Palmer, Arnold

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

An Arnold Palmer Classic Course.

3-star: Good course – an enjoyable test for your game.
Visitors welcome
Palm Springs
Bell, William F.

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

William Francis "Billy" Bell Jr.

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Palm Springs
Robinson, Ted

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Father/son team of Ted Robinson & Ted Robinson Jr.

4-PLUS: Must play course - excellent standard; worthy of 4½ stars.
Visitors welcome
Palm Springs
Schmidt-Curley Design

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Schmidt-Curley Design (Lee Schmidt & Brian Curley).

4-star: Above average course - well worth a visit.
Visitors welcome
Palm Springs
Schmidt-Curley Design

Visitors?

Visitors welcome

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Schmidt-Curley Design (Lee Schmidt & Brian Curley).

Private: A course for members and their invited guests only.
Private club
Palm Springs
Dawson & Hughes

Visitors?

Private club

Nearest city

Palm Springs

Designer

Original design by owner and accomplished amateur golfer John Dawson and golf course acrhitect Larry Hughes (1951); renovation by Ted Robinson (1980).

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Tournaments

124th US Open: the No.2 Course at Pinehurst once again plays host to this most illustrious championship (June 13-16). Wyndham Clark defends his title, having won at Los Angeles CC in 2023.

79th Women’s US Open: the second women’s major championship of the season gets underway at Lancaster CC in Pennsylvania. It’s the second time the championship has been held here.
(May 30-June 2).

Who's Who

Nelly Korda: won the Mizuho Americas Open (May 16-19) at Liberty National GC, continuing her extraordinary form in LPGA events. This was her sixth win in seven starts in 2024.

Xander Schauffele: recorded his first major championship win, and second record-equalling low score of 62 in a major. Only he, Branden Grace, Rickie Fowler and Shane Lowry have achieved this feat in a men’s major championship.

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club: With a clubhouse that might befit a Roman Emperor, and a golf course to match, you can be sure of a memorable outing at Rome's most talked about golf facility.

Jim Fazio's original layout was much changed to create a modern Ryder Cup course ... now one of the Eternal City's (and Italy's) most revered.

Prince's Golf Club, Kent (UK)

Here at Prince’s Golf Club you'll find 27 excellent holes of links golf. Just over the fence and sharing similar terrain is Royal St George’s; but Prince’s is far from overshadowed by its venerable neighbour. The three nine-hole loops at Prince's, laid out over gently undulating terrain, are sure to bring a smile of satisfaction to all lovers of links golf.

Stay&Play at Prince's: excellent onsite Lodge accommodation available

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Littlestone Golf Club (Kent, UK)