Desert Falls CC
A view of a green and snowy mountains in background at Desert Falls Country Club.
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Rating Index Rating
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3.9
1442 Reviews (1442)
5 Stars
437
4 Stars
640
3 Stars
234
2 Stars
83
1 Stars
48
Conditions
3.8
Value
3.9
Layout
4.2
Friendliness
3.9
Pace
4.2
Amenities
3.2
78.0%
Recommend this course
1174 out of 1442 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
3.9
83 Reviews (83)
5 Stars
20
4 Stars
39
3 Stars
20
2 Stars
1
1 Stars
3
Conditions
3.9
Value
3.9
Layout
4.2
Pace
4.1
Amenities
2.9
StaffFriendliness
3.4
80.7%
Recommend this course
67 out of 83 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
3.8
143 Reviews (143)
5 Stars
37
4 Stars
60
3 Stars
34
2 Stars
4
1 Stars
8
Conditions
3.8
Value
3.9
Layout
4.2
Pace
4.2
Amenities
3.0
StaffFriendliness
3.7
76.2%
Recommend this course
109 out of 143 reviews
Read Reviews

About

Holes 18
Type Semi-Private
Style Links
Par 72
Length 6686 yards
Slope 143
Rating 79.5

Can bunkers qualify as their own continent? Desert Falls Country Club in Palm Desert seems determined to find out.

This Ron Frehm design boasts bunkers so huge that they look like the inventor of the Big Gulp came up with them. And escape is anything but guaranteed. Sometimes getting out of one bunker, just means landing in another at Desert Falls.

That is just part of the reason this course totes a 128 slope rating - putting it among the five highest slope ratings in the entire Palms Springs area. Remember, this is the golf mecca with Pete Dye's Stadium Course, which was only designed to be "the toughest golf course in the world." Desert Falls is on that list.

There are five sets of tees to take away some of the bite. But the greens are still an obstacle of their own. These are undulating greens that are large enough to offer several varieties of challenges.

Just getting on the green is not enough at Desert Falls. It's important to land on the right part of the green. This is also a course with more hills than you expect to see in the desert.

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Course Details

Year Built 1984
Fairways Bermuda Grass
Greens Tifdwarf Grass
Golf Season Year round
Architect Ron Fream (1984) Chris Pitman (1984)

Rentals/Services

Carts Yes - included in green fees
GPS Yes
Clubs Yes

Practice/Instruction

Driving Range Yes
Bunker Yes
Golf School/Academy Yes
Teaching Pro Yes
Pitching/Chipping Area Yes
Putting Green Yes

Policies

Credit Cards Accepted VISA, MasterCard Welcomed
Metal Spikes Allowed No
Dress code Proper golf attire required.

Food & Beverage

Bar, Grill

Available Facilities

Clubhouse, Meeting Facilities, Banquet Facilities
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$120 in tee time credits
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Reviews

3.9
1442 Reviews (1442)

What Golfers Are Saying

The 19th Hole is Great For:
Drinks 20
19th Hole Scenic Views 15
Patio Dining 12
Course Challenges Include:
Water Hazards 42
Bunkers 39
Undulating Greens 31
This course/club is great for:
Locals 30
Advanced Golfers 29
Seniors 17
This Course's Location is:
Convenient to the City 37
Worth the Drive 14
At a Resort 9

Numbers based on reviews tagged with attribute.

Advanced Filters
Overall Rating
Recommended
Handicap
Age
Type of Golfer
Gender
Played On
Reviews 9
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Good
Value Fair
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Fair
Pace Excellent
Amenities Fair
Played On
Reviews 163
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Top 100 Contributor
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

Nice course interesting greens

As indicated in the title, the greens are interesting. Most are long but narrow with very small target areas. It’s important to know if the green is in the front, middle or back, because it can both make the distance very greatly and determine where the edges of the green are. Definitely your normal round or oval greens. I couldn’t tell where the flag was on the green from where I hit my drives. As a result I was short,or long several times. Use a rangefinder rather than relying on your GPS, ( which the carts don’t have)

Course was in good condition. Some patchy spots in the fairway, but I noticed them when driving by in the cart, they didn’t seem to be near my landing ares.

I posted a couple of pictures that show a few greens.

It was a lot of fun and a good short game test for the time you inevitably miss greens.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 31
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

great course, good value

Desert Falls was recommended to me by another golfer and lived up to his praise. Pretty tough track, fair bit of water that comes into serious play on 3 or 4 holes. Rough was punishing, but wide fairways. Excellent variety of holes. More slope than most PS courses. Greens a tad slow was my only criticism, but fairways and greens in excellent condition.

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 7
Handicap 20-24
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Cold weather
Used cart

Nice Challenging Course

I've played this course a few times from the blue tees. One of the things I like best about it is that the homes in the community are not too close and that the course is in the center, surrounded by the houses. This means the fairways are not too narrow or surrounded by houses on both sides.

It's a good long course with two of the par 3's around 200 yards and all four par 5's running over 500 yards.

The greens are in good shape, fairways better.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Default User Avatar
Commented on 12/20/2023

Your 5 -star rating is greatly appreciated. We would like to express our thanks and look forward to your return.

Played On
Reviews 9
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Not as good as it used to be

New owners a few years back have not been able to make it viable and the course has certainly slipped from years past

Conditions Good
Value Average
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Fair
Pace Excellent
Amenities Fair
Default User Avatar
Commented on 12/20/2023

It is unfortunate to hear that your experience did not meet our standards of excellence. We sincerely hope that you will give us another chance in the near future to provide you with a more pleasant experience that meets your expectations.

Played On
Reviews 7
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Range balls

The course was fine and uncrowded but I was surprised to find that range balls were an extra cost. It shouldn’t be that way.

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 3
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 3
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 22
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Excellent
Value Average
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Fair
Played On
Reviews 9
Handicap 0-4
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
2.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Average
Friendliness Average
Pace Fair
Amenities Poor
Played On
Reviews 5
Handicap 5-9
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Walked

Great hole design and views of the valley

Course has really interesting golf holes and does not play like desert golf. There is extended rough. Greens and tee boxes could use an additional mowing, but compared to other similar priced courses in the area it is good value.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 24
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Good not great…

Overall, a decent value compared to some of the more expensive options in the desert. Just seems like this course is a little bit rundown. A suggestion would be to not overseed every single piece of earth on the property. This requires a ridiculous amount of water and maintenance. I would rather they spent the money on the fairways and the greens. The greens were no better than seven on the stimp. There’s so much grass on this property that will never see a footprint. Seems like a waste of maintenance budget.

Still a fun design, and I had a great time playing it.

Conditions Average
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Played On
Reviews 3
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Play early

Course in good shape, played early so less than 4 hrs

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 8
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser

Very nice course.. not for beginners or hackers. Staff was friendly & worked with the customer..will definitely play it again & again

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Fair
Played On
Reviews 3
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 19
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart

Great day on the course. Pace of play was very good. Course in great shape. Nice course to play. Would play again.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 3
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
4.0
First Time Playing

Staff

Had an early tee time and attendant wouldn’t accommodate with a cart plus we ask for range balls and he also refused. I had to rent a lousy push cart . He made no effort to accommodate. He made us feel like we were bothering him. I’ll never play there again and I’ll let as many people as I know about your staff.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Poor
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 7
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 6
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Not playing again until course gets better

We were a threesome playing on Sunday morning. I was charged $118 per player.

Arrived at 7am for a 7:43 tee time. Nothing was open. No coffee. No snacks. Nothing but pro shop. Staff was nice and they did bring our bags down and loaded carts.

Course was average condition. My complaints are the excessive rough height and the greens being fuzzy and not properly shaved.

Course has been neglected and it shows. Was once a very good course. Appears the current owners are unable to afford the maintenance- or- are just profiteering.

I would still recommend it because the place was pretty empty and round was enjoyable- also the you get usually get a tee time last minute on Golf Now.

Conditions Average
Value Fair
Layout Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Poor
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Unusual greens

The most notable challenge with this course are the lobate shapes of several greens. We played the course twice during our vacation. Both times I had seemingly decent approach shots that ended up as 3 putts because the only way to a line to the cup was putt to a spot further from the hole.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
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