PGA West Stadium Course: #17
PGA West Stadium Course #17: Welcome to “Alcatraz.” Home to Lee Trevino’s “Hole in One” – one of the most famous shots in golf history – which gave him the “Skins Game” victory over Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Raymond Floyd.
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Rating Index Rating
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4.5
1196 Reviews (1196)
5 Stars
760
4 Stars
273
3 Stars
96
2 Stars
41
1 Stars
26
Conditions
4.5
Value
4.2
Layout
4.8
Friendliness
4.6
Pace
4.1
Amenities
4.6
91.2%
Recommend this course
1057 out of 1196 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.7
40 Reviews (40)
5 Stars
32
4 Stars
6
3 Stars
1
2 Stars
1
1 Stars
0
Conditions
4.8
Value
4.3
Layout
4.9
Pace
4.1
Amenities
4.6
StaffFriendliness
4.9
95.0%
Recommend this course
38 out of 40 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.5
90 Reviews (90)
5 Stars
61
4 Stars
19
3 Stars
6
2 Stars
3
1 Stars
1
Conditions
4.5
Value
4.3
Layout
4.7
Pace
4.1
Amenities
4.6
StaffFriendliness
4.7
90.0%
Recommend this course
81 out of 90 reviews
Read Reviews
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AI summaries based on real golfer reviews
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Course Highlights
This iconic stadium course delivers a bucket-list layout with stunning mountain views, challenging water hazards, and conditions that consistently impress recent golfers. Welcoming staff from bag drop to pro shop make every visitor feel genuinely excited to play.

About

Holes 18
Type Public/Resort
Par 72
Length 7300 yards
Slope 148
Rating 75.8

This is the monster of all monsters, the one that carries so many folktales of golfer terror with it that it should qualify as its own myth. The developers asked Pete Dye to make this "the toughest golf course in the world" and many argue he succeeded. Too well.

The Stadium Course at PGA WEST in La Quinta is one of those tracks that any self-respecting golf nut has to play once. Just to experience it. Just to say you did. Just to have stories of golf cruelty to tell at the office water cooler. There's a 19-foot deep bunker on the 16th hole. That's right. A 19-foot deep bunker. Your ball won't get out. Heck, you might not get out. From the back tees it measures 7,300 yards with an incredible 148-slope rating.

Every hole is a story waiting to be told. Either in success to be bragged about or failure to be even more bragged about. The PGA players moaned about this course so loud that it's no longer a regular stop on tour. Yet for average hackers, it's often a joy of punishment. Go in with the right attitude and it's liable to be one of your most unforgettable days of golf.

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PGA WEST - Pete Dye Stadium Course
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Course Details

Year Built 1987
Fairways Bermuda Grass
Greens Bermuda Grass
Golf Season Year round
Architect Pete Dye (1987) Alice Dye (1986)

Rentals/Services

Carts Yes - included in green fees
GPS No
Clubs Yes

Practice/Instruction

Driving Range Yes
Golf School/Academy Yes - "PGA WEST Golf Academy"
Teaching Pro Yes
Pitching/Chipping Area Yes
Putting Green Yes
Practice Hole Yes

Policies

Credit Cards Accepted VISA, MasterCard, Amex, Discover Welcomed
Metal Spikes Allowed No
Dress code No denim, collared shirt and bermuda shorts required

Available Facilities

Clubhouse, Banquet Facilities

Available Sports

Fitness, Tennis

Accolades

The Best Way To Book Is With GolfPass+ Annual
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$120 in monthly tee time promo codes
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12 rounds of waived fees
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Tee Time Protection

Reviews

4.5
1196 Reviews (1196)

What Golfers Are Saying

The 19th Hole is Great For:
Drinks 42
Patio Dining 28
19th Hole Scenic Views 26
Course Challenges Include:
Bunkers 70
Water Hazards 67
Forced Carries 49
This course/club is great for:
Advanced Golfers 61
A Bucket list/Top 100 Pick 52
A Weekend Splurge 31
This Course's Location is:
Worth the Drive 42
At a Resort 34
Convenient to the City 18

Numbers based on reviews tagged with attribute.

Reviewer Photos

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Overall Rating
Recommended
Handicap
Age
Type of Golfer
Gender
Played On
Reviews 23
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Default User Avatar
Commented on 01/03/2023

Bearsbestvegas, thank you for the awesome rating! We hope to see you again at the course very soon for another great experience, and thanks for choosing The Stadium Course at PGA West.

Played On
Reviews 8
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

conditions

The course is easy if you stay out of the traps. The sand traps make the course on a level by itself. The fairways are perfect and almost like artificial turf. The rough is not so desired because it is brown and not maintained. Sometimes it is best to take 3 shots to the green instead of risking the alternative.

Conditions Excellent
Value Average
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Average
Pace Average
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Default User Avatar
Commented on 01/03/2023

Thank you for your review, tcolgolfer. We will pass along your positive experience to our team at The Stadium Course at PGA West. We look forward to seeing you again soon.

Played On
Reviews 15
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

1st Stadium course round

Played the Stadium course for the first time with my brother and we both had a fun time playing it. It’s a strong Pete Dye risk reward design, forcing wise decision making and strategies in order to score well and avoid trouble. A cart shortage caused a changed of plan for our wives as we planned to have them ride along, disappointing. And #11 was modified to a 245 yard par 4 with a temp green in prep for the upcoming America Express PGA Tour stop. Otherwise we enjoyed the course and would recommend playing it.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Default User Avatar
Commented on 01/10/2023

Patrick2494966, thanks for the amazing review and for choosing The Stadium Course at PGA West. We hope to see you again soon!

Played On
Reviews 13
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Default User Avatar
Commented on 01/03/2023

Hi, u314160456019. We are so pleased that you enjoyed your time at The Stadium Course at PGA West. We look forward to seeing you on the course soon for another 5-star experience!

Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Average
Value Average
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Amenities Good
Default User Avatar
Commented on 01/10/2023

Thank you for reviewing us, u486418019. We see you rated the course 3-stars and are interested in learning what we can do to improve before your next round. Feel free to comment on this review or reach out to the team in the golf shop. We always appreciate the feedback. Thank you for playing The Stadium Course at PGA West, and we hope to see you again soon.

Played On
Reviews 18
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
2.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Wait a while

Greens are the worst I’ve played in the valley. Also #11 is a temp green in the fairway 240 yds from tee on a normally 550 yd hole. Wait until after the pros get here.

Conditions Fair
Value Poor
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Default User Avatar
Commented on 01/10/2023

Hi, AnnArborAce! Thank you so much for leaving us with your feedback. We value our customer experience, so your review is important to us. Please know the current conditions are by no means the standard we strive to achieve. We will continue to work towards a 2-star experience and we hope to see you back!

Played On
Reviews 6
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Default User Avatar
Commented on 01/03/2023

Hi, ymoon3070. We are so pleased that you enjoyed your time at The Stadium Course at PGA West. We look forward to seeing you on the course soon for another 5-star experience!

Played On
Reviews 76
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Top 1000 Contributor
Previously Played

Excellent course

Stadium course in great shape with tournament approaching. Great layout gps helpful for carry distances and target areas. Short game needs to be top notch since hitting greens from the multitude of fairway bunkers is a challenge. If u have a low handicap play it at least twice. U will lower ur score considerably. From tee to green course is immaculate. Zach says it well worth the greens fee.

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Default User Avatar
Commented on 01/03/2023

Your feedback is important to us, simerm. Thank you for sharing your 5-star experience. We look forward to seeing you again at the course soon! Thanks for choosing The Stadium Course at PGA West.

Played On
Reviews 2
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Default User Avatar
Commented on 01/03/2023

We're glad you enjoyed your 5-star experience with us. Please comment or reach out to our team in the golf shop to let us know more about your round at The Stadium Course at PGA West!

Played On
Reviews 14
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
3.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

PGA West Stadium Course

Not worth the money! Greens spotty at best could not believe how many unrepaired divot holes there were! Yes players should fix but staff should at least roll around and check! I will be amazed if they can get this course in tournament shape for the AMEX!! Just doesn’t feel, look or act as a high end course, just costs like one!!

Conditions Fair
Value Poor
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Average
Pace Fair
Amenities Average
Default User Avatar
Commented on 01/10/2023

Hi, DeFreece19! Thank you so much for leaving us with your feedback. We value our customer experience, so your review is important to us. Please know the current conditions are by no means the standard we strive to achieve. We will continue to work towards a 5-star experience and we hope to see you back!

Played On
Reviews 11
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Default User Avatar
Commented on 01/10/2023

We're glad you enjoyed your 5-star experience with us. Please comment or reach out to our team in the golf shop to let us know more about your round at The Stadium Course at PGA West!

Played On
Reviews 2
Handicap 0-4
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Cold weather
Walked

Excellent fairways

The fairways were incredible. The course just came out of over seed so the greens were a little slow, which is standard in the desert in December. The course is by far the best public track in the valley. They've removed a lot of trees restoring the course to it's original design which I love. It seems like they redid the bunkers over the summer which is nice. They're reinvesting in the course which is awesome.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Default User Avatar
Commented on 12/16/2022

Hello, u6855697. Thanks so much for taking the time to write a review. We're so glad that you enjoyed your round at The Stadium Course at PGA West. Please visit us again soon!

Played On
Reviews 5
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
3.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Too expensive

Too expensive for what you get this time of year. Greens were is bad shape. Fairways, tee boxes and layout are excellent. Look for a hot deal and would be worth it or wait until after Jan PGA event.

Conditions Good
Value Poor
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Excellent
Default User Avatar
Commented on 12/16/2022

Hello, gwseelinger. Thank you for leaving us a review. We are sorry to hear your experience was anything short of 5 stars, but we hope you will give us another try in the future. Thank you for choosing The Stadium Course at PGA West.

Played On
Reviews 11
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Fair
Amenities Excellent
Default User Avatar
Commented on 01/10/2023

Hi, mike1346. We would love to hear more about your positive experience on our course. Please contact us to share with us your favorite part of your experience. Thanks for golfing at The Stadium Course at PGA West!

Played On
Reviews 33
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Great course (;Nick Tournament)

We had booked the Stadium Course but weather conditions fowled up the overseeding so terrific staff managed to switch us over to the NT course. Its as great as it always is but continues to suffer from invasion of flocks of coots and some geese who mess up the course. Despite some very slow players ahead of us we played in about 4 hrs.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Default User Avatar
Commented on 12/06/2022

Wow! We are so happy you enjoyed your round, PBALAW! We look forward to seeing you again soon at The Stadium Course at PGA West.

Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Good
Value Average
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Default User Avatar
Commented on 12/06/2022

Hi, Rocknz01. We appreciate you taking the time to review the course and rate us. Thank you for the 4 stars! We aim for a 5-star experience, so we always welcome feedback for improvement. Thank you for playing The Stadium Course at PGA West.

Played On
Reviews 20
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Poor
Default User Avatar
Commented on 11/22/2022

u314162214346, thank you for the awesome rating! We hope to see you again at the course very soon for another great experience, and thanks for choosing The Stadium Course at PGA West.

Played On
Reviews 15
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
3.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Not open, switched us to Norman

Stadium course was apparently not yet ready to reopen after reseeding. Offered to move us to Norman at same tee time and day. Didn’t realize the Norman fairways were being prepared for overseeding. Scalped the grass, dead brown very short grass left. Very dry fairways. Would have preferred offer of refund over playing a course that should have been closed. At a minimum a discount should have been offered

Conditions Average
Value Average
Default User Avatar
Commented on 11/22/2022

Hi, lawallkt! Thank you so much for leaving us with your feedback. We value our customer experience, so your review is important to us. Please know the current conditions are by no means the standard we strive to achieve. We will continue to work towards a 5-star experience and we hope to see you back!

Played On
Reviews 9
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Default User Avatar
Commented on 11/18/2022

Hi, u000001545303. We would love to hear more about your positive experience on our course. Please contact us to share with us your favorite part of your experience. Thanks for golfing at The Stadium Course at PGA West!

Played On
Reviews 6
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Default User Avatar
Commented on 11/17/2022

We love hearing about our golfers' experiences, 1969chev. Please tell us more about what you enjoyed during your round. Thanks for choosing The Stadium Course at PGA West!

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