The Stadium Course at PGA WEST

Great Pete Dye layout where strategy and precise iron play are key to score well. Should be on every golfer’s bucket list...but only recommended IMHO for players with handicap 20 or less. Very few things in golf beat the tee shot on 17th!

Beautiful course. Extremely difficult. Bring your A game. Practice your bunker play well before you get there. You will need it. I am a 15 handicap and shot 97 even after playing from the appropriate tees. Play one more club on every shot and you should score better. Next year I will be better prepared.

Pro shop, restaurant all first class. New golf carts.

Beautiful course! Was very challenging but remained fair.

Played the Blues (6739/73.1/140) with Sean, Mendel and Lamitchw. POP was 4H, 30M in sunny, calm conditions. This was the best I have ever seen Stadium look as they get it ready to host the upcoming Career Builder PGA event next month.

I get more comfortable with the Pete Dye design with each round. There are moguls and bunkers that make for challenging sight lines, many of which the average golfer needs to steer clear of to avoid big numbers. Bad shots are really penalized here. Even relatively good shots barely offline can quickly result in a double or worse.

The tees were lush and well maintained, only some par 3's needed divot attention.

The fairways were lush with most divots already repaired

The over seeded primary rough was thick and lush. The dormant Bermuda secondary rough had not been over seeded and was more hit and miss.

The plentiful sand traps were well maintained with good quality sand that was thick. There are many large traps on this course, a few with 10' to 15' lips to play over. Avoiding the sand here is a higher priority than 98% of the course I have played.

The smooth greens putted nice. Medium speed, very consistent and firm.

The customer service was top notch. Cart gal around numerous times. Challenging layout and the conditions were excellent. Recommended.

You will use every club in your bag , greens are slow but will hold . Beware of the water

Challenging course layout. Good practice area. Friendly pro shop staff. Amicable starter, on course marshalls. Pristine course conditions but greens fresh off over-seeding were a little slow. Pace of play with cart path only in effect was good.

Excellent rate on GolfNow. Great golf experience.

Second time playing this course from the tips. Every hole is visually daunting or stunning, depending on your point of view and the state of your game. As with most Dye courses, there is a decent sized fairway to hit, but he makes you think about all the negative places you musn't go. The par 3's are all long, strong and fun from the tips.

A great track that keeps you focussed and rewards good shots.

Mgmt needs to focus on some little things for sure noone at the bagdrop no rangers out on course so we had sone pace slow downs .... greens were slow for a supposedly top place to play in America but very cool design

Played the Blues (6739/73.1/140) with Sparky14 in 4H. It was 4H because of a slow 4some in front of us the last 1/3 of the round, otherwise we could have finished in slightly more than 3H. Thanks to Steve for a fun round, laid back and easy going. The weather was bright, sunny and slightly below 100, with little breeze.

The tees were lush and mowed high. Only some par 3's needed divot repair.

The fairways were lush, few places with severe divots. Generally good lies in the fairways.

The rough was lush. What a difference a few days make. Last week the rough was lost ball deep and punitive, today it was mowed down a good 1.5 to 2" lower than last week and much easier to play from.

The plentiful sand traps were well maintained with good quality sand. There are many HUGE traps on this course, a few with 10' to 15' banks/lips to hit over. Avoiding the sand here is a MUCH higher priority than almost any other course I have played. An oddity is that the cart path runs the entire length of several waste bunkers. Therefore, you may well be playing off tire tracks if you hit into them.

The Bermuda greens putted consistently & medium speed. Very firm and relatively smooth for Bermuda.

Overall, this is a challenging layout and the conditions were well above average. The customer service was top notch. Cart gal around numerous times. Even playing the appropriate tees, the average golfer is probably going to shoot 3-5 strokes higher on this course than they are accustomed to. Numerous forces carries over or skirting water off fairways that are unlevel due to the mounding is challenging for the average golfer. Definitely recommended with the above in mind.

Played the Blues (6739/73.1/140) with GDR23 and a father/son. POP was 4H, 15M in sunny, muggy conditions with at most a 1 club breeze part of the round.

Played better than my 1st attempt here, but enjoyed the course less. Typical Pete Dye design, numerous mounds and bunkers complete with challenging sight lines on almost every hole. You almost never have a level lie after your tee shot because of all the mounds/moguls. There is nothing about this course easy from tee to green.

The tees were lush and well maintained, only some par 3's had a decent amount of divot damage.

The fairways were lush, few places with severe divots.

The rough was lush. You could lose a ball you dropped if you went to your cart to change clubs and did not mark where you dropped it. Numerous delays looking for balls not that far off fairways for all players in our group on multiple holes. Created a POP issue, it was nasty and penal.

The plentiful sand traps were well maintained with good quality sand. There are many HUGE traps on this course, a few with 10' to 15' banks/lips to hit over. Avoiding the sand here is a MUCH higher priority than almost any other course I have ever played. An odd thing is that the cart path runs the entire length of several waste bunkers. So you may well be playing off tire tracks if you hit into them.

The Bermuda greens putted nice. Medium speed, very consistent, firm and relatively smooth for Bermda.

Overall, this is a challenging layout and the conditions were excellent. The customer service was top notch. Cart gal around numerous times. Even playing the appropriate tees, the average golfer is probably going to shoot 3-5 strokes higher on this course than they are accustomed to. Definitely recommended with the above in mind.

Great conditions, great layout, great corse, tough course! Very enjoyable, nut make sure you bring your A game!

I arrived in Palm Springs in the middle of a massive heat wave across the West Coast. When checking in at PGA West, they told me that the course had taken a little beat of a beating and was not in the best shape (or upto their standards). They were very nice, and offered me a time on the Nicklaus Course. I had flown across the country and decided to stick with the stadium course. While there were some fairways that were beaten up, and the greens were clearly dehydrated, I was happy I decided to stay with the Stadium Course.

Despite the condition on some holes, the course was awesome. This is such a classic Pete Dye course with massive changes in elevation. You are rarely left with a flat lie on any fairway, making for a challenging day. The final stretch of holes is awesome with the 16th having a massive trap, and the famous Alcatraz on the 17th.

The staff was very nice. The starter was more than helpful and everyone who drove by was friendly and willing to offer. We did have an issue with one marshall who told us to speed up our pace of play when we were ahead of pace, but feel as if this was an outlier.

This is the 2nd time I have played the course, I played because my playing partner had not played it before. The course to me is a little bit all the same, the holes are all a bit boring really, water carry par 3's and targeted par 4's but, that's a stadium course for you.

The course was conditioned pretty well although there were quite a few wet spots around in the fairways with little grass growth, summer right !

The thing that stuck out this time was the lack of service one you arrived in the car park, no bag drop, no one to arrange your clubs on carts. As we finished loading up out cart to go into the pro shop a guy drove past in a cart and said the first tee is over there. That was it. Disappointing.

Got a good summertime rate since most of the round was played in the 100's temperature wise.

Played the tips to see where the Pros play and it was long and tough from back there. Makes you appreciate how good the pros really are. If you can stay in the fairways its obviously easier but there is always water or fairway bunkers lurking.

Course seemed burnt out for the most part on most holes during this time. Dont know if they kind of let it go after the tour stop comes through or what but other courses in the area were in a lot better shape. Greens were crusty as well but tee boxes were all in great shape.

Clubhouse has a bunch of apparel and the bar is awesome inside.

Will definitely take a shot again at this course when i make it back to the area.

Started out with a not so friendly Terry in the club house, but the cart guys and the starter Jerry were awesome. Course was amazing, great value for the price. Shot a 78 from the whites so that made my day, greens putted true.

1. Could not see GPS because of the glare. Obviously no one has sat in the seat and tried to see it. It was not just my cart--- both of us said the same thing!

2. NO HELP after our round!!!! Very surprising!

3. "Crusty" sand bunkers

4. SLOW GREENS!!! Played two other courses in the area and they were faster!

5. EXCELLANT DRINKING WATER ONCOURSE! It seemed every other hole there was water!

6. Great layout!

I have played Sawgrass in Florida and we had none of these problems. It was an excellent experience!

I play the Stadium course a few of times throughout the year. Course is exciting usually in very good condition and the weather is perfect. I do however question the management or lack of. Started at 1:03 on a Sunday afternoon. Cart girl sees us on the first hole and tells us she will see us in a few more so we pass on lunch and snacks. Don't See her again until the 9 the green. Snack bar at the 10 th tee is closed . Limited selection of food on the cart. My biggest complaint is the water coolers around the entire back nine were empty. Pretty warn day getting to about 107 having some water every 3 rd hole is important. This is a world class facility even prisoners have access to water. Luckily were are relatively young and able to tough it out . Seems kind of bush leagues that this would happen. Usually rangers are driving around with water did not see one of them either .

Golf should be challenging but it should also be fair. I do not mind obstacles and hazards, but I would like to know they are there before I reach them after what I thought was a good shot. The Stadium Course is designed to make you go back to playing tennis. This is a course that takes the fun out of golf. Again, I value a good challenge, but I not appreciate or value an unfair course. Pete Dye is a masterful designer, but this is a course I would not recommend to the average golfer. You should be rewarded for good play, but you are not. You should be rewarded for hitting a great tee shot, but you are not. There is trouble you cannot see and you are penalized even when you hit the ball right where you meant to. Great staff, great staff. Did not enjoy the course. Unfair design.

Definitely coming back. Great course. Great experience. We'll talk about it for a while. It is a challenge. Bring extra balls. But oh what fun.