This past Christmas my family and I headed off to the California desert for a little fun in the sun. My kids took their beach gear to lounge at the pool and I grabbed my golf bag looking to take in one of the hundred or so golf courses that are found in Palm Springs and the desert resort cities of Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, La Quinta, Indian Wells and Indio.
Before I left I searched on-line for some of the top courses and found the Eagle Falls Golf Resort which is part of the Fantasy Spring Casino in Indio. Designed by renown golf architect Clive Clark, the Eagle Falls Golf Resort has carved out of the desert a beautiful golf course that is full of elevations, water features and foliage rarely seen on a golf course that is open to the public.
This 18-hole course has three sets of tees with distances ranging from 5,729 to 6,715 depending upon whether you set up at the Falcon, Hawk or Eagle t – boxes. At par 72 the course is a challenge to the high and low handicap golfer.
The signature hole is the par five 18th which has a working waterfall, hence the name Eagle Falls.
In the distance you can see the twelve story 250 room tower of Fantasy Springs Casino hotel.
All told the course has three par fives and three par threes. According to the golf shop and some of the promotional literature I read Eagle Falls was named the desert’s best value course two years in a row by Greenskeeper.org and is the site of the annual Playboy Golf scramble as well as the Frank Sinatra Celebrity golf event, benefiting the Barbara Sinatra Children’s charities.
The day that I was out the sun was shining bright, but it was a little windy making the course all the more challenging. My playing partner and I got a special rate because he was staying at the casino hotel, but for those not staying at the casino the regular rate that time of year is about $75 dollars, less if you want to try one of the twilight rates.
The pro shop was a little disappointing, nothing more than a box car out in the desert. But it was fully stocked with the latest gear. There is also a snack bar and attractive girls selling food and drink on the course. Our golf cart had a GPS built into it, so I didn’t have to guess how far to the nearest hazard or green.
When we got done, we went over to the casino for a little black jack, poker and roulette.
