PGA WEST Pete Dye Dunes Course

There is a moment just before your first tee shot at the Pete Dye Dunes Course at PGA West when the Coachella Valley seems to hold its breath. The Santa Rosa Mountains rise behind you like ancient sentinels wrapped in violet and ochre, their jagged silhouette painted against a California sky so achingly blue it almost seems invented. The air is warm and still. The fescue-covered mounds cascade softly away from you in every direction, rolling and folding like the edges of some sleeping giant’s quilt. And somewhere in that stillness, you can almost hear Pete Dye laughing quietly, cleverly, from somewhere just beyond your line of sight.

The Dunes Course is Dye doing something unusual for Dye, being generous. But do not mistake generosity for mercy. This is a man who built the Stadium Course just next door, a course that once reduced Tour professionals to muttered obscenities. Here, on the Dunes, he exhales. He slows down. He paints with a broader brush. And yet his fingerprints, those masterful, mischievous fingerprints are pressed into every mound, every bunker edge, every false front and tilting green.

To play the Pete Dye Dunes Course is to participate in a conversation with one of the game’s great minds a man who believed the golf course was not merely a venue but a narrative.

And so, I write it as such.

Had a blast, beers with the boys and slammed some birdies.

Somebody needs to be out there monitoring pace of play. The group in front of us was two couples, both of them were teaching their significant other lady friends how to golf… like literally taking three or four balls off the tee, physically assisting with swing practice on the tee box, and generally showing the worst etiquette on any golf courses I’ve ever seen. And this was as the sun was setting, and people were trying to finish their rounds. These people had no etiquette, would not let us play through, and generally should not have been at a golf course anyway. Take your new golfers to the driving range until they’re capable of hitting a golf ball. Sure would’ve been nice to see a ranger or a staff member to inform them of taking over an hour to play three holes.

When u first set on the course, u get a beautiful view of some of the holes and driving range was a bit short which was about 265 to the end. Friendly club house staff, starter and everyone i ran into. Also nice big club house with a couple simulator bays. Course was nice besides the sand on the greens. I booked through golfnow and got a good deal for the course and I'd say it's worth playing one one each course.

The course is in good condition and the staff is friendly and helpful. We finished our round in 3 hours 20 minutes. I look forward to playing this course again.

No notification of aeration in early week at a full charge green fee!

Coarse was nice but not what we expected from a PGA coarse for on coarse amenities. You don't come back to the clubhouse after 9 and there was nothing in the coarse to get food or drinks. Just ice and water. I expected better there but the coarse was good otherwise.

PGA West is a treat, and an iconic golf course in a legendary area that is draped in beauty from start to finish. That being said, you are gonna pay for it. The tee times are only the first hurdle. I was prepared for that, but if you are going to charge the premium+ price you better have the goods. The course itself was nearly flawless. And difficult. Great track. However, we saw the beverage cart 1 time during our over 4 hour round. Clearly the exhorbranent greens fees aren't being used to pay the staff.

A 12oz. Michelob Ultra was $9!! Also, the on cart GPS was not great. After 3 holes I gave up on trying to connect to the in cart speaker and just used my own. Also, all white flags🤔

The cart gave yardage front/back/middle but without a range finder I couldn't tell where the flag was and it was often mislabeled on the GPS. The greens are very challenging and without this precision you can gather a lot of strokes. The GPS often switched holes while I was calculating an approach and couldn't get any useful yardage. After the round...a beautiful sunset. Picturesque mountain views, but no vibe. The clubhouse was basically shut down. Golf simulators were turned off and dark. Outside service guys had one foot out the door. Again it feels like the money isn't getting to the staff and you can feel it. They didn't seem happy to be there.

These days, I'm not returning to a place to pay $200 for a round of golf and not feel the love. Other courses are more than half that price and they feel more welcoming.

Good for a splurge, but my golf dollar goes way further elsewhere.

Pete Dye did it again. He beat me up on the great design greens Fairways were beautiful and the rough was PGA style long Sand really sucked because there was none

This is a go to course in the valley always in good shape and fairly priced definitely recommend 👌 👍.

Layout is generally difficult … but greens are super tough when they’re as firm as they were when we played. Would need to be softened up to make it more enjoyable to play. Pretty standard Pete Dye crazy stuff