Westin Desert Willow Villas

I love playing at Desert Willow. I’ve played the other course before but it was closed for maintenance so I played fire cliff. It’s hot this time of year and the greens were slow but the facilities and course layout is really nice. I had a great experience overall!

We purposely booked an 1130am tee time to avoid large grouos or slow play and were unfortunately surrounded by groups in front of us that were playing with 3+ people and were playing extremely slowly (15 -20 mins/ hole). Couple this with extreme temps and it was a challenging day.

The course itself is very demanding and unique. The "desert" feel was fun and presented some chuckle worthy moments with roadrunners and white geckos that broke up the frustration from the slow play.

All in all, it was a mediocre day by I definitely recommend more course attendants to help keep the pace reasonable.

Played the Mountain course and Tee boxes, Fairways and Greens were all in great shape considering the summer conditions. Better than my home CC in Central Texas! Beverage cart was very regular, saw her 3 times on 18 holes.

Desert Willow use to be our favorite golf facility. A municipal golf course built for, and supported by the residents of Palm Desert. Residents of Palm Desert have supported the facility in two ways: local tax assessments and course play. Several years ago, the City brought in Kemper Management to run the facility. Kemper has continually raised prices and could give “two cents” about Palm Desert Residents. Since Kemper has stepped in, everything about Desert Willow has declined (except for the pricing). The condition of the course is not even close to what it once was and the pace of play has become excruciatingly slow. Lunches at the restaurant have become overpriced, portions are much smaller, and the food is bland. Hopefully, the City of Palm Desert steps in, removes Kemper, and brings this facility back to its original greatness. If in Palm Desert to play golf choose Desert Springs, Shadow Ridge, or Desert Falls over Desert Willow.

Really loved this course. I had no idea that courses in the desert would have so much green space and so much water! The greens were in great condition. Only suggestion - it's great that the carts have a built-in cooler and are stocked with ice. But how about throwing in a few bottles of water too?

Great course for the value. Beautiful condition. Only complaint was pace of play, just stuck behind a very amateur group that probably wasn’t ready for this type of course. Just unlucky. Marshall’s we’re out pushing them as much as they could. But they also were having a bee infestation happening on a lot of holes. Bees swarming the bunkers and other area. And these bees were massive. Not aggressive, just actives not too bad of a nuisance if you weren’t in the sand lol. And they had bee keepers addressing the problems on some holes they are definitely aware. Overall great course. Will definitely play again!

A super course in fab condition with enough challenges without being impossible for the average club golfer.

This course is outstanding value. Really good condition for summer—probably better than just about any SoCal muni, which is impressive considering that this is the desert. Staff is very courteous and helpful. Low green fees are well worth it if you can stand the midday heat—although they have ice and water every few holes. Pace of pay during midday is blazing fast. I went out solo and finished under 3 hours.

Early morning Saturday, good course conditions. Don’t hit your ball into the desert or you might not find it