There’s little more satisfying
than smashing a drive from an elevated tee carved into a rocky mountainside,
watching the ball linger in the air for what seems like minutes against an
impossibly blue sky before landing on a slender emerald ribbon on the desert
floor below. The air is warm and dry, the views are long and the penalties for
wayward shots are severe.
The factors that combine to make
desert golf so uniquely challenging and rewarding—the rugged and dramatic
landforms, the sensational vistas, the climate—likewise test and gratify golf’s
finest course designers.
The following courses illustrate
the quality and variety of golf in the Southwest. They are the creations of some
of golf’s great architects and the design elements and strategies used are as
varied as the courses themselves. Yet they all represent the best in desert
golf.
MICHAEL HURDZAN and DANA FRY
The design team of Michael
Hurdzan and
Dana Fry worked a bit of magic in designing the Firecliff and
Mountain
View courses at Desert Willow Golf Resort (desertwillow.com, 800-320-3323) in
Palm Desert,
Calif. Each routing brilliantly
showcases
unobstructed views of the San Jacinto, Santa Rosa and San
Gorgonio Mountains,
and the strategic (and liberal) use of water
features and indigenous desert
plant life ensures that you’ll enjoy a
spectacular, colorful setting, no matter
what time of year you’re
playing. Even better, the designers have cleverly
utilized elevation
changes to minimize views of the groups ahead and
behind—you’ll feel as
though you have this desert oasis to yourself.
The design features are far more
than
aesthetic, however. Firecliff is a true test, with a number of forced
carries from tee to fairway and no fewer than 106 bunkers on the
course. It can
be a visually intimidating course from the tee, despite
deceptively generous
landing areas. The par-5 13th is a
great example, with a forced carry
off the tee (of 180 yards from the
back tees) and 11 bunkers from tee to green.
Play your second shot with
your approach in mind and take an extra club on your
third when playing
to the elevated green. The 204-yard, par-3 17th is
another
exceptional hole, with water down the right and a waste bunker that
wraps around the green. When it plays into the wind, don’t be shy about
bailing
out short left.
Although Mountain View is a bit
friendlier tee
to green, with more turf between tees and fairways and fewer
bunkers,
it can be an exacting test, too, with smaller, more challenging greens.
Waterfalls and babbling brooks also soften the experience of Mountain View—it is
clearly the better choice for the beginner or higher handicapper.
