Golf Destinations
Visit La Quinta in the Desert: Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West By Chuck Fox, Owner, Quintessential Golf, Resident since 2012
W
ith 124 golf courses, the Coachella Valley is a forty-mile desert valley in Southern California two hours east of LA bounded on the west by the Santa Rosa Mountains. The village of La Quinta includes PGA West, a semi-private golf club. Known as the Western Home of Golf, PGA West hosts a PGA Tour event each February on the Nicklaus Tournament and Stadium courses. Five Public Access courses La Quinta Resort and PGA West offer a rich set of golfing package options as they have the same owner. Blackstone Group, a private equity firm, purchased the properties from the sovereign fund of Singapore in 2018. Five public golf courses are available for guests of the PGA West club. Three PGA West courses - Norman, Nicklaus Tournament and Stadium course and two LaQuinta Resort courses, the Mountain Course and the Dunes Course. Members of PGA West have access to four private courses. The Citrus course near the resort and the Weiskopf, Nicklaus Private and Palmer courses at PGA West bring the total course collection to nine. PGA West Nicklaus Tournament Course We visit PGA West to play the Nicklaus Tournament and Stadium
Stunning Brown & Green Contrasts
courses. Sharing the same clubhouse, a cold concrete entrance belies the upcoming experience. Inside, cavernous ceilings frame portraits of past winners of the PGA Tournament held each year since 1960. Originally the Bob Hope Desert Classic, the sponsors have changed but the excitement and quality of the field has not. We “play where the pros play”.
Beautiful Santa Rosa Mountain Backdrops
One of our favorite dining views is the patio at Ernie’s Bar & Grill at the clubhouse. Gorgeous views of both the ninth and eighteenth holes of Nicklaus Tournament course are breathtaking on a warm spring day. Both greens wrap around a large water feature with “PGA West” spelled out as a colorful flowerbed across the pond. Both holes are 431-yard par 4’s with water guarding the narrow greens. It’s a great spot to watch golfers struggle.
26
DECEMBER 2019
