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The Celebrity Course is a rising star in Palm Springs.
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There will be 30 new card-carrying members of the PGA Tour by day’s end, so, in honor of the final round of Q-School, the infamous pressure cooker taking place today in idyllic Palm Springs, we thought we’d update you on an exciting new redesign that recently re-opened in the area.
The last time we visited the Indian Wells Golf Resort in Palm Springs, we found ourselves impressed with its hotels but less than jazzed by its two nondescript Ted Robinson courses.
Times have changed. The courses are in the midst of a massive reconstruction project, essentially being transformed into two brand new courses over the sites of the existing East and West layouts.
The first effort, which opened in November, is the Celebrity Course. It was designed by Clive Clark, a Brit who played on the European Tour and in the Ryder Cup and is now an up-and-coming architect whose greatest accomplishment to date is the immensely acclaimed Belgrade Lakes course in Maine.
The City of Indian Wells, which owns the land, gave Clark the West course plus 30 new acres to work with and he delivered a beautiful core course, blissfully free of homes, with the holes oriented to offer continuous mountain views, and seven substantial water features including waterfalls — this is Palm Springs after all.
Since the desert is flat and Clark wanted elevation changes, he moved 320,000 cubic yards of soil. Back to nature, Bandon Dunes-style golf design this is not, but it looks like a promising addition to Southern California’s fantasy land.
The second effort, replacing the East course, is being undertaken by John Fought, an architect who rarely fails to deliver fun, quality golf. Its opening date is projected for November 2007.
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