Last Christmas my family and I headed out to the California desert for a little fun in the sun. My kids grabbed their beach gear to lounge by the pool and I grabbed my golf bag to hit one of the hundreds of golf courses found in Palm Springs and the desert resort towns of Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, La Quinta , Indian Wells and Indio.
Before I left, I searched online for some of the best courses and found the Eagle Falls Golf Resort, which is part of the Fantasy Spring Casino in Indio. Designed by renowned golf architect Clive Clark, Eagle Falls Golf Resort has carved out of the desert a beautiful golf course that is filled with elevations, fountains and foliage rarely seen on a golf course open to the public.
This 18-hole course has three sets of tees with distances ranging from 5.729 to 6.715 depending on whether you set up in the Falcon, Hawk or Eagle t-boxes. At par 72, the course is a challenge for both high and low handicap golfers.
The signature hole is the par five 18 which has a working waterfall, hence the name Eagle Falls.
In the distance you can see the twelve-story, 250-room tower of the Fantasy Springs Casino hotel.
In total the field has three by five and three by three. According to the pro shop and some of the promotional literature I read, Eagle Falls was named the best value course in the desert two years in a row by Greenskeeper.org and is the site of the annual Playboy Golf competition as well as the event golf course Frank Sinatra Celebrity. , to benefit Barbara Sinatra Children’s Charities.
The day I was out the sun was shining brightly but it was a bit windy which made the tour even more challenging. My gambling partner and I got a special rate because he was staying at the casino hotel, but for those of you not staying at the casino, the regular rate at that time of year is around $75, less if you want to try a of twilight fares.
The pro shop was a bit disappointing, nothing more than a box wagon in the desert. But it was fully stocked with the latest equipment. There is also a snack bar and attractive girls selling food and drink on the pitch. Our golf cart had built-in GPS so I didn’t have to guess how far the nearest green or hazard was.
When we were done, we went to the casino to play some blackjack, poker and roulette.
