After the slew of recent GKer reviews from the outing, not too much to add but like to comment again about the superb greens, fairways and overall condition of the course. Challenge and design of this... Continue »

After the slew of recent GKer reviews from the outing, not too much to add but like to comment again about the superb greens, fairways and overall condition of the course. Challenge and design of this course is just right in my opinion. Mix of very different holes that will make you use every club in the bag. Frequent visits by 2 very friendly cart girls. One blemish-I’m not too keen that as we were starting we were informed that a 4th would be joining our threesome and the starter politely asked us to give up our carts and ride up together as strangers. We were offered a cart that had a divider, but it would be better if they informed us at check in and given the option of paying extra for our own cart-on top of the $153 we already paid to play. I know courses are trying to max revenue, but there’s got to be a better way of handling this.

Played here on Tuesday with the GK Gurus. We were in the second group out as a threesome and enjoyed a nice pace of under 4 hours. Customer service great as always here, and such an excellent practice... Continue »

Played here on Tuesday with the GK Gurus. We were in the second group out as a threesome and enjoyed a nice pace of under 4 hours. Customer service great as always here, and such an excellent practice area to warm up before the round.

Not much to add to the previous reviews. Conditions were fantastic as I've come to expect here in season. Everything lush and green throughout. Greens definitely on the firm side and hard to hold anything without a lot of spin, rolling medium fast and hard to read. I wasn't in any bunkers. Tee boxes, fairways and rough all great.

It's been awhile since I played this side and I enjoy it almost as much as Firecliff. Solid track and great golf facility. Thanks to the staff for having us out and to Johnny for setting up these great deals!!!

Played 1-19-21 with John, Lucas, and Gary, teeing off a little before noon and finishing in a little under 4 hours. Tee boxes were in good shape, level and lush with minimal divot damage on par threes... Continue »

Played 1-19-21 with John, Lucas, and Gary, teeing off a little before noon and finishing in a little under 4 hours. Tee boxes were in good shape, level and lush with minimal divot damage on par threes. Fairways were very nice to hit from, they were very lush with great lies and decent roll out. Rough was in very nice shape, about 2 inches longer than fairways and very playable. Was in one greenside bunker that was a little firm and thin but still playable. Greens were in great shape, semi-firm and rolling pure at medium/fast pace. Very enjoyable course to play in really good shape.

Played the Mountain View track at Desert Willow with some of the GK Guru gentlemen. Had a fun day out in the desert. This was my first time at Desert Willow...very nice facilities. The range, practice... Continue »

Played the Mountain View track at Desert Willow with some of the GK Guru gentlemen. Had a fun day out in the desert. This was my first time at Desert Willow...very nice facilities. The range, practice greens, golf shop and locker rooms were all extremely nice for a public resort course. The only bummer was the weather, made for some tough conditions as the winds were swirling and the ball wasn't traveling as far.

The COURSE: We spoke with the superintendent before we teed off and he explained some of the issues they had with the overseed on Mountain View. The first 5 to 6 holes were a little "banged up" but by no means in bad shape at all. Just let it be know, these first few holes are in better shape than 90% of public courses in So Cal. The rest of the track was in its true desert mint condition! Desert golf in the winter is some of the best golf. The TEE BOXES (9/10) were all level and had minimal divots. The FAIRWAYS (10/10) were some of the best I've played on in recent months. Mowed perfectly, not too tight but not too long. Didn't have a bad lie all day. The ROUGH (10/10) was lush, about 2-3 inches in length, fair but still challenging enough to penalize you on a bad shot. The BUNKERS (7/10) weren't my favorite I've played. Two of the four bunkers I was in were thin underneath which makes it extremely tough to play out of. A little more consistency on the greenside bunkers would be nice. The GREENS (9/10) were smooth and rolled true. Lots of subtle breaks that were tricky to read. Greens are firm but receptive to good wedge/iron shots. Almost hardly any unrepaired ball marks, which is nice to see. I would have like to seen them roll a bit quicker but no real complaints, just personal preference.

CONCLUSION: Great golf resort, hoping I'll get to play the Firecliff course someday. The staff was friendly and very proactive to help out. A big thank you to Desert Willow for having us out, a real treat. Wish the weather would have been better, but that's mother nature for ya. Would highly recommend this track to anyone looking for a solid desert track. Worth the drive from SD, OC or LA.

Rode the purple tees yesterday with John, Ron and Lucas. Very fun group to play with! We had cold and windy weather. Pop was good with just some minor waiting on the last few holes. My first time pla... Continue »

Rode the purple tees yesterday with John, Ron and Lucas. Very fun group to play with! We had cold and windy weather. Pop was good with just some minor waiting on the last few holes. My first time playing this side as I have played Firecliff a couple times. I enjoy the Firecliff layout just a little more but this side was also a blast to play! Enough room off the tee, some risk/reward par 5's and a couple strong par 3's. This side has a little more water in play and also contained enough bunkers like it's sister Firecliff course. Greens putted beautiful! Fast and firm. Thought they held full shots nicely. If you were short sided on chips it was challenging to get them into gimme range. Hardly any ballmarks. Rating 9/10 Fairways full and lush with hardly any divots. Nice sand mix included on carts. Perfect lies. Rating 9/10 Was in 2 greenside bunkers and 3 fairway bunkers. All bunkers I were in were nicely raked and in good shape. Rating 8/10 Rough nice and green and lush 2-3 inches. Perfect shape. Rating 9/10 Tees level, lush and in great shape Rating 9/10 Great practice facility, friendly staff. Really fun layout. Perfect conditions. Would love to come back on a better or regular weather day. Highly recommended.

Out with GK Gurus yesterday on the Mountain View course. Played the FireCliff course last week on Thursday… how quick the weather can change in SoCal in January… 86 that day with sunshine and no wind ... Continue »

Out with GK Gurus yesterday on the Mountain View course. Played the FireCliff course last week on Thursday… how quick the weather can change in SoCal in January… 86 that day with sunshine and no wind to low 60’s yesterday, cloudy, a little rain and windy. Still a great time although! Even got some good photos to post here on GK … check them out.

Had a nice talk with the superintendent about the challenges with overseeding the Mountain View course this Fall, but let me say before I go on, the Mountain View course was still in excellent shape. With 36 holes at Desert Willow Golf Resort, each 18 holes is overseeded approximately 2 months apart. Mountain View happened to be overseeded first beginning in September through October. This Fall we had extreme heat making it very challenging to grow seasonal cool temperature rye grass. Chris the superintendent however managed to do a great job overcoming those challenges. In some areas the bermunda turf in the rough and around the edges of bunkers overtook the rye grass but those are only minor blemishes.

The greens are immaculate. Medium fast, smooth and firm. As good as the greens on the FireCliff course were Thursday these were even better. Besides the first few holes which were in great not immaculate shape, which was explained to me get more play due to the 6 hole loop conducive for late afternoon play, the fairways on the rest of the golf course were immaculate. Firm, lush and green. Tee boxes where in excellent condition, lush, green and well groomed. Bunkers excellent, little firm, quality sand and well groomed. Rough predominately rye, cut just above fairway height, great shape.

Comparing the conditions of FireCliff Course vs. Mountain View Course, the FireCliff Course is currently in better shape due to its late overseeding avoiding the extreme heat challenges mentioned earlier in this review plus it has not had as many round played on it yet. However you can’t go wrong playing one or the other because they are both fabulous layouts. The Mountain View course is not as difficult as the FireCliff Course with less bunkers, more forgiving off the tee and a little less demanding with approach shots. I personally like the FireCliff Course more than the Mountain View Course but I always play better on the Mountain View Course which feels good. A perfect day for me at Desert Willow Golf Resort would be to play 36 since each course compliments the other well with a different golf experience.

Every year we have a summer GK Plays outing at Desert Willow Golf Resort so can’t wait to get back out there. Highly Recommended.

Played a GK Guru round with Itslikeimsayin and sixpez in my group. Thank You John for setting up the outing. Thank You Desert Willow for having us out. The course has an enjoyable layout with several ... Continue »

Played a GK Guru round with Itslikeimsayin and sixpez in my group. Thank You John for setting up the outing. Thank You Desert Willow for having us out. The course has an enjoyable layout with several tees to choose from. Challenging but fair course with nice variety. The overall condition of the course is very good. The greens rolled smooth with medium/fast speed. The greens played on the firm side. The fairways had great coverage, looked good, and played good. The rough had good coverage with enough length to affect the shot but not too penal. The waste areas and fairway bunkers were well groomed. The greenside bunkers were in good condition. Rakes were placed at greenside bunkers. The tee boxes had good coverage.

The carts had divot fill. The GPS worked good with a nice layout picture of the hole with yardages to bunkers, water, etc. The carts had a clear plastic divider between the two riders.
There is a nice grass driving range, large putting green, and a chipping green. The clubhouse is very nice. All the staff I came across were friendly and helpful.

Played here today with the GK Review Gurus. I was in the second group with sixpez and nutnbutcup. POP great at about 3:50. Cool, sometimes cold, windy and overcast day robbed the course of some of its... Continue »

Played here today with the GK Review Gurus. I was in the second group with sixpez and nutnbutcup. POP great at about 3:50. Cool, sometimes cold, windy and overcast day robbed the course of some of its visual punch, but that’s about the only negative I can think of.

Conditions are excellent! Greens are smooth, medium-fast, and mostly firm. Full shots did stop decently quick for me, but not necessarily for everyone. Play a spinning ball and/or hit high approach shots to ensure they stop quickly. Fairways are beautiful, lush overseeded rye, providing perfect lies and cushion all day. Rough was lush overseeded rye just a little deeper, not very penal. Most of the bunkers I was in were good, although one was a little thin. Tee boxes were lush, flat and well maintained with some noticeable divot damage.

Layout-wise, the course offers lots of beautiful views especially from the tee. You can tell a lot of attention was paid to placing trees, bunkers, and mounding in eye-pleasing spots. Maybe the only minor knock on it is I’m not sure this course has a definitive “signature” hole. (I'm not saying every course has to have a signature hole, more of a comment in relation to FireCliff.) Still a really fun play especially when conditions are like they are currently. Highly recommended.

Day Three of my Palm Springs long weekend and played at Desert Willow's Mountain View course on Sunday. If you're wondering what happened to Day Two, unfortunately plans for PGA West (Nicklaus Private... Continue »

Day Three of my Palm Springs long weekend and played at Desert Willow's Mountain View course on Sunday. If you're wondering what happened to Day Two, unfortunately plans for PGA West (Nicklaus Private) were scuppered when our host broke his toe the day before, so we played Shadow Ridge instead on Saturday and will do again later today. But back to Mountain View ... Course looks and plays really great right now. The recent re-seeding has done wonders for the beautiful fairways and nice, thick rough. Not many bad lies anywhere on the course and you'll be enjoying those swings all afternoon. We had some rough weather at points that made shots difficult, but had nothing to do with the course conditions. Tee boxes were all in super shape (we played from the purple tees and rode for $159 for the day) and the bunkers had nice sand in them - not quite super white and fluffy, but extremely playable and well maintained. There were actually rakes in them as well. Greens were looking and rolling very true, while holding shots well also. They were not super fast but that's going to take a few more weeks before they can be pressed so as not to damage them too early ahead of the high season out here. They were still very nice to play from though even though the speeds were not much faster than other Palm Springs area courses at this time. My playing partners had always played the Firecliff 18 before this round and I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun they had on Mountain View in comparison. Even had one very experienced playing partner claim that he felt Mountain View was superior to Firecliff as it was less gimmicky and a more traditional test of good golf. It is a fun layout with no throwaway holes and a little bit of invention required. Risk is there too, so don't get lazy. All in all it was a very fun day at DW and it's always fun to finish on a great 18th hole like Mountain View provides. Great range facilities as well, and the clubhouse to boot. I will say though that $159 still is a tad on the high side, but it's pretty darn close to where it should be.