This was my first time playing Firecliff and my second time to the facility. We played on Saturday May 21st teeing off about 11:00. Joining me was my wife, nephew and a friend of his who just returne... Continue »

This was my first time playing Firecliff and my second time to the facility. We played on Saturday May 21st teeing off about 11:00. Joining me was my wife, nephew and a friend of his who just returned for summer break from college. The wind picked up shortly after noon and was a factor but not unreasonable Play was slow but expected given the nice weather and on the week end but it could have been better if not for a slow group ahead of us. We made the most of it taking advantage of a few shady spots and good company.

We liked how unique a way they chose to disguise the sand rakes until about the fourth hole. It lost its luster about the sixth hole and we were cursing the idea midway through the back nine. I was in the sand on eight of the first nine holes carding a 47. I found only two traps on the back and had a 41 to help save my score from being worse. One thing that we all agreed upon was that the fairway traps seemed to have more sand and with a looser base than the green side bunkers that were firm and in some cases had a muddy base.

I hit a good percentage of some generous fairways and solid iron shots that were off to one side or another finding trouble. The greens were small and tough to hit, for me at least, and once on I found the pins to be in tough spots. With slight undulations and pins sometimes on a spine I found myself missing quite a few short putts that would have helped my recoveries.

We closed on a positive note by all four of us hitting the green on the par 3 17th and two of us walking away with a birdie. We had a bit of a drive there and back so we didn't have much of a chance to enjoy the patio overlooking the course but I'm sure we'll be back. Given my preference, I would take the Mountain over the Firecliff. I found quite a bit more trouble on Firecliff and it's still fresh in my mind so that might have an influence. The most difficult course I've played is Silver Rock, in the desert also, but I would place Firecliff second. Both couses at Desert Willow are beautiful and I would encourage anyone to get out there early and give them a try.

Mark614

We played this course as our 2nd round of the day from another course and got in on a sunset rate and "finished"- Awesome! Company with GK's dconnally who I saw had a solid ball striking played this ... Continue »

We played this course as our 2nd round of the day from another course and got in on a sunset rate and "finished"- Awesome! Company with GK's dconnally who I saw had a solid ball striking played this great, tough but fair course wonderfully... all except for those two greens he missed (lol). I throw that in because every good thing to say about this course has probably already been said, so can I add, "Great Pace Of Play!"

This is a great course for the test. The strategic bunkerings will either amaze you, thrill you, or even get you a little hot under the collar. I've been in a lot of them and although I'm not proud of it, I have to say, the consistencies are pretty evenly good to great. (I got out pretty good on most of them, thank you)

The fairways are more generous to those who reads and maps out the yardages with a yardage book and/or GPS's. Right about now is in its time of year where they can get very lush in deep green color. Plays really well right now!

The greens were in great conditions, too. Rolled pretty quick and also very true (Bermuda true). If you can be patient, the greens may show you more than it hides. I can't say I hadn't been had there-- I was,,, more than a few times. But it's one of those greens that you will like and love right away. Oh, yeah, a couple of the holes may have placed on an unfair location, but then the greens keeper may have been phoned/distracted while he's working or he may just be well inspired by the "Masters" being on over the weekend... so no big deal, I'm sure he's heard from his boss already... could be his boss who put him up to it (lol).

Anyway, this is definitely a must play course for its fun and challenge.

Kudos to Desert Willow for keeping the course in its fantastic shape... and oh, nice restaurant... good food with great service. ...it all adds up!

Played twilight on Friday, 4/8/11, on a sunny breezy day that stayed pretty cool after rain showers the previous couple of days. Enjoyed playing with GKer noeldaof, who know how to work the flatstick!... Continue »

Played twilight on Friday, 4/8/11, on a sunny breezy day that stayed pretty cool after rain showers the previous couple of days. Enjoyed playing with GKer noeldaof, who know how to work the flatstick! Watch out for any side bets you have with this guy!! DW is a very upscale public course, owned by the city of Palm Desert. The course features lush desert foliage – the holes are separated by vegetation and mounding, so you rarely saw other players. Smallish greens were very firm and fast. Fairways, rough, and tees in great shape, good sand in bunkers and waste areas. Fairly simple GPS available on some carts; the remaining carts will be done in the next few months, we were told. Some sprinklers are marked, and a yardage book is available. Carts have a club cleaner/ball washer, and there are water/ice stations spaced throughout the course. Cart girl came by a couple times. Nice practice facility. Friendly starter, with an on time start. No course ranger. Excellent food and service in the clubhouse restaurant – many of the non-golfing public were there for lunch on a Friday. Bathrooms were some of the nicest I’ve ever seen, with tiled floors and walls, stone countertops. Highly recommended.

Teed it up at Desert Willow Firecliff on a Wednesday afternoon on 3/23. Despite the tremendously challenging layout and the course being sold out all the way up to our tee time, we still finished in u... Continue »

Teed it up at Desert Willow Firecliff on a Wednesday afternoon on 3/23. Despite the tremendously challenging layout and the course being sold out all the way up to our tee time, we still finished in under 4 ½ hours. This was my first visit to the course and like my playing partner longball23, you can’t help being a bit awestruck by the immense clubhouse and patio overlooking the finishing holes of both nines of Firecliff. Very beautiful and gives you an entertaining view watching golfers trying to handle two immaculate holes featuring difficult green complexes and forced carries over water.

As far as the course is concerned, I have never played a layout like this. Certainly one of the most beautiful desert courses I’ve ever experienced. All the holes are totally isolated from each other and framed by gorgeous desert foliage. There is natural manicured look to everything. Tee shots are a blast to play as long as you don’t let the narrowness of the course intimidate you too much. They are tucked in the natural landscape and give you a clean open look to the fairway. On the tee you’ve got to contemplate how to avoid the many fairways bunkers (I did not do so well there) and bordering hazards. Never a boring shot. On approach, be prepared for another beautiful shot to a very well protected green complex with mostly sand traps but occasionally a forced carry over water. On the greens (when you hit them because most are small), be ready to put your reading glasses on because there are many undulations to figure out. Now if you happened to find yourself in a sand trap (which you will), hope it’s in one of the shallow faced traps and not steep, it will be a difficult shot to either put it back in the fairway, attack the green or if greenside, get it close to the hole.

Regarding the playing conditions, very LUSH and GREEN. On the day we played, it was grown in bit more for my tastes with somewhat shaggy fairways, long rough and slower than I like in greens. However, it was in immaculate shape and well manicured. I think most golfers given the challenge of the narrow fairways and difficult greens will be very appreciative on the scorecard that Desert Willow does not play as firm as most desert courses. Being March is peak season in Palm Springs, the course has been getting a ton of play (in fact over 6,000 rounds a month) so the tee boxes on the par 3’s did have a lot of old divots but they also had plenty of places to find perfect grass to tee it up on. The sand traps were well kept with exception to the sand being too firm to my liking. I had mixed feeling about the underground rake holder contraptions. I loved how the rakes were not visible when playing but since I found 9 traps, it did become sort of a pain to have to keep putting the rakes back in and my group did wait on me a bit because of it. I probably would not have minded much had I avoided the sand better. As far as the greens, fairways and rough, like I stated above, immaculate. Perfect lies all day long and smooth greens to enjoy.

This is a course that will make a lasting impression on you. As I type this review days later it’s still vividly in my head. I already want to get back on it. When you are in Palms Springs, I suggest you put Desert Willow on in your rotation.

Played Desert Willow Firecliff at 3pm on 3/23. I really enjoyed my experience at this course. Desert Willow has two 18 hole golf courses. Before the round started I looked out and saw how beautiful a... Continue »

Played Desert Willow Firecliff at 3pm on 3/23. I really enjoyed my experience at this course. Desert Willow has two 18 hole golf courses. Before the round started I looked out and saw how beautiful and relaxing the environment was here. This is a great place to not only golf but to take your sweetheart out for drinks or a meal. Desert Willow has a beautiful restaurant/patio seating area overlooking the 9th and 18th greens of the Firecliff course. I could have just sat out and had a drink and been just fine for hours but I was here to golf. My first and only thoughts about Desert Willow was that the course looked and played LUSH. Kudos to the staff here. The fairways were very lush and we had perfect lies all day in the fairways. The rough was very challenging and was up to 3 inches in some places along the fairways creating a nice challenge. The greens were super healthy and were rolling true. These are not the quickest desert greens I have played but were beautiful and held approach shots nicely. The tees were in good shape. I was only in two bunkers all day. They have a feature at Desert Willow where the rakes are underground and I know everyone has a different opinion but this golfer likes the fact that they are out of play as some golfers like to leave them various places during their round. The bunkers I would call in average shape....I felt the greenside bunkers could have used a little more sand. We played the blue tees and I felt the course with its 133 slope was challenging. I was fortunate to have a good ball striking day for the 1st 12 holes or so but there are many tight holes here where you can get in trouble off the tee. The green complexes were small and your iron play had to be precise. My playing partner and I were commenting on how cool some of the tee boxes were. You had to walk through multiple covered trees and bushes to find many tees. You are out on this course away from the hustle and bustle of the world. I hope to come back to play the other 18 holes that they have here at Desert Willow. For the whole package I would recommend this course if you are out in the Desert area.

Played Sat 11/20, 8 am shotgun; course in great shape. nice day. greens a bit slow, but true. fun layout. would play here again anytime.

Played Sat 11/20, 8 am shotgun; course in great shape. nice day. greens a bit slow, but true. fun layout. would play here again anytime.

Nothing short of amazing. Could not have asked for a better experience. From the time you pull up and drop your bags to the time you leave, everyone on the staff is great. This course is a slightly mo... Continue »

Nothing short of amazing. Could not have asked for a better experience. From the time you pull up and drop your bags to the time you leave, everyone on the staff is great. This course is a slightly more appealing and more difficult than Mountain View but both were worth the $$$$. Definetely a must play if in the area.

This course is tough. The conditions were great especially being the middle summer. The fairways are in excellent shape and the greens while very slow, were in good condition. My biggest issue was ... Continue »

This course is tough. The conditions were great especially being the middle summer. The fairways are in excellent shape and the greens while very slow, were in good condition. My biggest issue was that they are not maintaining the sand traps. It seems like they haven't been raked in weeks. I recognize that it's the middle of the summer and the rates are low, but this course has TONS of bunkers and you're bound to be in them at some point. So please maintain the traps on your course guys.

what a great track, played it for $30 after 3pm. This course is just as nice as the PGA tracks.

what a great track, played it for $30 after 3pm. This course is just as nice as the PGA tracks.