Indian Wells Golf Resort

Not a lot of room for air but well worth the twilight money

Course was in great shape. A definite 'must play' as I see it. About only drawback I could see was that the people in front of us needed to be pushed and the Marshall didn't.

Joe the director of golf was very responsive to my complaint about the cancellation fee and refunded my money. Good, pleasant guy and very customer service oriented. As such, I am changing my review of this course and will definitely come back. Unfortunately GolfAdvisor doesn't seem to have a way to edit my previous review.

Just be aware that they do have a 72-hour cancellation fee of $45 per golfer. :-)

I've been on many golf trips to the Palm Desert area and have played both courses at the Indian Wells Resort several times. On Thursday January 7th there wasn't much play due to very heavy rains the day before and chilly temperatures. My buddy and I paid the exorbitant $180 greens fee each and teed off on the Player's course around 9:40am (an hour ahead of our scheduled tee time due to the wide open tee sheet) and finished at about 1:15pm. We then decided to do the $49 replay on the Celebrity course and were able to get that 18 holes in before dark. Because we did this replay, we decided to cancel our Saturday January 9th tee time on the Celebrity course as we had just played it and wanted to try another course instead. I knew about their 72-hour cancellation policy, but when I called to cancel and explained that we had already played the Celebrity and asked them to waive the cancellation fee, they gave no indication that this would be a problem.

Well, I got home a couple of days later and discovered that they charged us a $90 cancellation fee! This is after we paid $360 plus $98 total on Thursday to play both courses. Unbelievable and unreasonable!

We played Silver Rock on Saturday which is a better course for less money. You just lost 2 customers forever, Indian Wells Golf Resort. Hope you enjoy that $90 cancellation fee because you are never getting another dime from us to play your overpriced tracks. Disappointing.

If you're wondering if it's worth it, set your mind at ease. The courses are unbelievably good. I can't imagine someone coming here and being disappointed. From the tee boxes to the fairways, to the greens, it's absolutely beautiful. Pick the right tee box for your skill level and you will have a blast. We played the Players course in the morning and Celebrity in the afternoon and could not have had a better day. The practice facility is awesome. No small bucket token here. Go to the range and hit till you're ready to play. They buzz you with a pager when it's time to play.
Pro shop is top shelf.
No, I don't work here. I'm just in awe of such a great golf course. Can't wait to get back.
By the way, others have mentioned the temperature change when the sun goes behind the mountains. Bring a jacket unless its summer. It gets very chilly later in the day.

Played the Orange Tees (6538/71.7/129) using an AD Indian Wells voucher from Under Par. Paired with 3 very nice Canadians, we got around in 4H, 25M, teeing off @ 12:20. The weather was sunny, little wind, high 70's, perfect for golf until the sun went down behind the mountains. Then the temp goes down about 10 degrees almost immediately.

Beautiful layout (37-35) that I played much better the 2nd time through after seeing it on Monday. They have several areas that are native burial grounds that are mandatory free drop areas. I used this to my advantage today, playing much closer to it that I would if it were the probable lost ball area it looks like from the tee. I stayed away from penalty strokes on the other side of the fairway using this strategy.

The tees were lush, nicely maintained.

The fairways were lush.

The rough was also lush. I never really had a bad lie AD on any green grass to be honest.

The traps were excellent, well maintained with nice, fine sand.

The greens were firm and putted medium fast. I like these greens and made some nice putts today after i finally started playing enough break on these greens.

Several fairways appear very narrow, but open up more than you realize from the tee. You will have many unlevel lies on this course. Challenging course to walk since there are numerous tees hundreds of yards from the last green. I was told that they lost hundreds of mature trees this summer due to a freak windstorm. You can still see the cleanup on the outer edges of a few holes.

The conditions and experience were even better than the 1st time here. the customer service was exceptional, definitely recommended.

Played the Blues (6642/72.5/132) with 2 nice guys out here for a sales convention from the midwest in 4 hours, 10 minutes teeing off @ 7am. The weather was excellent, slight breeze, clear and warming up as the round progressed.

Absolutely beautiful course with flower arrangements surrounding many holes that add to the visual effect. Tougher than average layout, up/down hills and the large greens complexes are challenging. The course is just out of over seeding, so CPO for the next few weeks. i actually saw a few walkers today. This course would be a beast to walk as numerous holes are a ways from the last green.

Unique layout in that they have fourteen par 4's and only two par 5's and two par 3's. Seems weird to play seven par 4's on each side. Normally, that would be a detriment, but the par 4's all have a different feel/look, so it works here to keep things fun and interesting.

The tees were lush with most divots already properly repaired.

The fairways were lush and provided good lies. They looked great since they were keeping carts off of them.

The rough was lush. It was tough to locate your ball with the combination of the ball sitting down, the dew and the morning sun. However, I was usually able to get good club on the ball and advance shots from the rough decent distances because it was not super thick after the over seeding.

The sand traps were well maintained with nice, fine sand.

The greens looked and putted great. Medium fast, smooth and firm. More growing, watering and mowing them a little closer = They putted much better than 2 days ago.

With 3 more weeks after over seeding, the conditions should be absolutely fantastic by the time the GK event rolls around next month. The customer service was exceptional. They have a large staff out servicing the golfers and customer service is obviously a high priority here.

Something they do here that I have not seen at other courses is very smart on multiple levels. You get a voucher to purchase specific items in the restaurant at a reduced price if you finish your round in less than 4 1/2 hours. Makes the customer feel special, funnels them into the restaurant and gets their restaurant additional business. However, their $4 nachos were just Okay.

Nice layout in excellent condition, definitely recommended.

Very distinct Nasty holes from back tees. Great views and a very good challenge. If you slice or hook to often...star away!

Played the Orange Tees (6538/71.7/129) with Wangster and a nice couple from Indianapolis in 4H, 15M, teeing off @ 12:50 and basically finishing 18 in the dark. The course was packed. We enjoyed sunny weather that was nice until the sun went down behind the mountains, then the temp goes down about 10 degrees almost immediately and a breeze kicked up.

Beautiful layout (37-35) that I found more challenging than the Celebrity 1st time through even though the USGA ratings were lower on the comparable tees I played. SEVEN sets of well spaced tees, we played the 3rd set from the back, which was plenty.

It was sobering to look @ some of the Cabernet tees where the pro's play when they have PGA events here. Granted, the front has an extra par 5, but @ 3917 yards from the tips, that is a LONG 9 holes of golf!

With the course several weeks out of overseeding and not CPO, I expected lush conditions, and was not disappointed.

The tees were lush, nicely maintained.

Both the fairways and the rough were fairly lush, with occasional places where the overseeding had not taken hold as well. Nice to play out of, I almost always had good lies in both.

The traps were excellent, well maintained with nice, fine sand.

The greens were firm and putted medium fast... but they were not as fast as they looked. Our entire group was giving them too much respect speed wise. Andy had a challenging putting round that could have been a remarkable one "but for" at least a 1/2 dozen putts about 1" short right in the middle of the hole, several literally hanging on the lip. They putted true, I was beginning to get both the line and the speed down by the back 9. For me, it was quite an adjustment after playing on fast greens on Saturday, then very slow greens on Sunday & medium speed greens this morning.

In playing the Celebrity this morning, I had an advantage because I had played it before. However, I thought the Players was less forgiving, with more fairways that were either narrower or required turning the ball to get in prime positions than the Celebrity course. Both have large, challenging green complexes. The Players is probably the flatter of the 2 layouts, but both will produce many unlevel lies. Both would be challenging to walk since there are numerous tees hundreds of yards from the last green. There is nothing even remotely negative that could be said about the conditions and customer service we experienced here today. You would be hard pressed to find a better golf course experience anywhere.

Played the Blues (6642/72.5/132) with Wangster in 4.5 hours teeing off @ 720am. We played behind several 4somes, so we waited from time to time, but the POP was not bad. The weather was excellent, slight breeze, clear and warming up as the round progressed. Thanks to Andy for driving out for a fun round!

The course is just out of overseeding, so CPO. Unique layout in that they have 14 par 4's and only 2 par 5's and 2 par 3's. Normally, this would get a thumbs down from me, but they mix the par 4's up in such a way that it keeps things fun and interesting. Absolutely beautiful course with flower arrangements surrounding many holes that add to the visual effect. Tougher than average layout, up/down hills and the large greens complexes are challenging.

The tees were lush with most divots already properly repaired.

The fairways were lush and provided good lies. They looked great since they were keeping carts off of them.

The rough was fairly penal, tough to locate your ball with the combination of the ball sitting down, the dew and the morning sun. I was usually able to get good club on the ball and advance shots from the rough decent distances.

The sand traps were well maintained with nice, fine sand. Only negative would be that the lining was sticking up through the trap on #4 in the middle of the trap.

The greens looked great. However, they are still cutting them high after over seeding, medium speed at best.

The customer service was exceptional. They have a large staff out servicing the golfers and customer service is obviously a priority here. Nice layout in excellent condition, definitely recommended.

Very nice facility, very busy. Staff was good. Course is challenging but fair with areas to play way from trouble. Finished overseeding process about 3 weeks ago so course was in good shape. A little expensive but in this market, pretty much you get what you play for. Driving range is mats, which I despise and brought my overall impression down. Very pretty course with plenty of generous landing areas. Lots of water and sand but not too difficult. Would definitely play again if I went back.

We play the Players Course every time we come to the area; it is one one our must play courses. The course layout is challenging enough for good players and easy enough for higher handicaps as long as the proper tee is selected. As a 4 handicap who can hit it pretty far, the Blue tee is more than enough of a challenge, especially when on vacation. The course plays fair but will penalize for off line drives and approach shots. Have your camera read as well as the approach shot on 18 is photo worthy.

This course is on our must play list every year. There are three things that I consider that makes a course great: the layout/design, the conditions, the scenery/views. The Celebrity course has all three. It is one of the prettiest courses we have every played and it presents a challenge for all levels of golfer. We love this course and will continue to play it regularly.

I played this course often when Indian Wells city first developed the IW Resort in 1980. After many years absence I returned this week to the new made over golf courses! To say that I am totally blown away by the changes would be a major understatement! Excellent in almost every respect! The staff is superb - especially Kyle at the pro shop checkin and Beth in sales. Bravo for the makeover and for creating excellent golf experiences for ALL levels of golfers who play there. Max McCloud

Can't wait to play again. Gorgeous course friendly helpful staff and great facility I got paired with a friendly guy that was easy to talk to only downside was cart path only on the day I played

This course was everything you might want for a perfect of golf.

We reserved a tee time at 2:30 for $59. As with all courses in the area, you are relying on a good pace of play to complete the round before 6:15, because that is the time the light switch is turn off. We were fortunate to show up early for our tee time and were allowed to go off early by 30 minutes, which allowed us to finish before dark due to some slower players ahead. The course was in great shape despite the high winds. Bunkers were well groomed and fairways/first cut fair. There are a number of changes of elevation, but that is common for the area.

Cart paths only yet we were told several times to speed it up as they expected each hole to take 15 minutes. Hard to do when you can't drive your cart to the ball

First, the particulars. My wife and I were paired with two other singles. It was a very warm (94 degrees), sunny day and we were excited to play a course that has received good reviews from many people. They had recently overseeded, so we all knew it would be cart path only.
I have a mixed review based upon my experience on the Players course at Indian Wells Golf Resort. Why? First, I’ll start with the negative as I think it is huge and depending on your expectation, may cause you to play elsewhere. Or you may not consider it a negative and if so, I highly recommend playing at Indian Wells Golf Courses (Celebrity & Players) as the many positives will be evident.
The pace of play was horrible. There, I said it. How bad? Well, that depends on what you’re used to. I belong to a private club up north and ANYTHING approaching four hours or more is considered bad form. I was taken aback when the very helpful starter informed our group that their pace of play is 4 hours 33 minutes and gave us a reduced drink ticket to use should we “keep pace” and finish in that allotted time. Huh? When you set the bar that low, what do you think the pace of play will be? What incentive is there to exceed it? Regardless, we did finish in 4:30 and were actually congratulated even though on two occasions on the course when the ranger came driving up to us to inquire as to how things were going, all four of us complained about waiting on every single shot. Naturally, since the golf carts said our pace of play was “on time”, he said the groups ahead were also on time and wasn’t that all great? I suppose when playing a resort course, people take their time. I would much prefer to set higher expectations and get everyone through in 3:30-3:45 and then relieve us of some money over drinks with that extra time we saved. Oh well…………….
Positives: Well organized from the bag drop to the starter (what else, Troon golf is good at all that). The driving range was also overseeded, so we hit off fake turf, but that was ok as it is temporary. Many tee options to fit your game from 5100 – 7300  I chose the orange tees at about 6500 yards. The starter was very helpful and inquired if we had played here before and offered a few tips. The back is more picturesque and I think a bit harder than the front even though it is much shorter. Water )Comfort stations) are provided every three holes. A drink cart roams the course. The bunkering has many “pushed Up” features and I liked the sand consistency. Divot repair sand was on each golf cart as well as left in the fairway at about the 150 markers since it was cart path only and many may forget to bring it with them. The greens are fine and were running smooth. Not much contour or slope, but certainly not flat either.
The course routing was decent. Could be better, but with two courses, each probably wasn’t given carte blanche to use whatever they wanted and had to make the best use of what was given. It works, with the exception of holes #17 and #18, which are contrived and require a long drive to circle the Renaissance Indian Wells Resort before getting you back “home”. The fairways are pretty wide on the Players course vs Celebrity, but it’s a longer test of golf, so the wider fairways work.
As for pricing, it was $150 up until 2:00pm and then there was a sunset rate of $50. It goes higher in the Nov-March season. If this course were in Wisconsin, it would command about a $75 green fee, so if you automatically tack on about $50 for being a “resort”, I think the true cost is about $125.

Joe at the Pro Shop was not friendly and posted a very impatient facial expression when we said we wanted to pull the confirmation from Goldnow.com. There were three of them at the counter. Only one other couple of customers being served by another staff. We come here to get away from the hustle hustle city life.