golf and travel
L a  Q u i n t a  R e s o R t  &  C L u b
26       CALIFORNIA GOLF NEWS  •  JUNE 2009
not for the faint of heart. Its signature 
hole is even named Alcatraz – one 
of the toughest par 3s in all of golf 
– and there’s the par five 16th that’s 
aptly named San Andreas Fault. It 
features a greenside bunker that’s 19 
feet deep. Ouch.
The two other PGA West courses 
are the Nicklaus and the Norman, 
which plays at 7156 yards from the 
tips. The PGA West Norman golf 
course is all Norman – a man known 
for his aggressive style of play. The 
risk-reward ratio on the Norman 
course is high, but it is playable for a 
wide variety of skill levels.
One of Jack Nicklaus’s best designs 
can be found at PGA West with visible 
landing areas, elevated greens and 
gnarly bunkers making for an unfor-
gettable round of golf. You will be 
will be hard pressed to find course in 
better condition than these two.
Over at PGA West, things get seri-
ous with the Dye-designed PGA West 
Stadium Course – a true links-type 
course that separates the men from 
the boys in a hurry. The Stadium 
course has received too many acco-
lades to mention, but it remains one 
of the most famous courses in the 
world – and a must for any golfing 
visitor to the West Coast. The Stadium 
course has played host to the Bob 
Hope Classic, PGA Q School Finals, 
the Skins game and the Legends of 
Golf. The course is viewed as the 
sequel to Dye’s TPC at Sawgrass and 
its 7300 yards of trouble – from pot 
bunkers, water, sidehill lies. It’s a thrill 
a minute and you will be tested. Think 
of it as the Magic Mountain of golf – 
The most forgiving of the courses is 
the Pete Dye-designed Dunes course 
that is onsite at La Quinta. The Dunes, 
like the other course, is simply stun-
ning and the views alone are worth 
the price of admission. The Dunes 
plays at 6747 yards from the tips, but 
four sets of tees makes it playable for 
nearly anybody. It’s truly a relaxing 
course to play.
The Mountain Course, on the other 
hand, is a challenge, but is well worth 
the balls you will likely loose as poorly 
hit shots usually find the desert. The 
aptly named Mountain Course (it really 
is carved into the side of a mountain), 
another Dye design, plays at 6756 
yards fro the tips with the “forward” 
tees playing in at 4894 yards. Both 
courses are immaculate and the con-
ditions never vary year round – you 
rewarded for accuracy and penalized 
for wayward shots, but the course 
plays fair. It is one of Golf Magazine’s 
“Top 100 Courses You Can Play” in 
the United States.
You can write about La Quinta 
Resort & Club until your fingers bleed. 
You can oooh and ahhh at photos 
until your eyes blur. But neither can 
do justice to the pure beauty of the 
place … and you won’t find 90 holes 
of better golf than what you will find 
neatly tucked away at the base of the 
Santa Rosa Mountains. Do yourself a 
favor – go there. It’s a bucket-list type 
of place.
Information
LaQuintaResort.com
800.598.3828    
The Mountain Course
The infamous Alcatraz at the Stadium Course 
The Greg Norman Course

View this content as a flipbook by clicking here.