Met up with Mattias out in Palm Springs this weekend and we wanted to try out a new course at the right time and price so we snagged an 8:30am tee time at Desert Island. Just our luck the restaurant s... Continue »

Met up with Mattias out in Palm Springs this weekend and we wanted to try out a new course at the right time and price so we snagged an 8:30am tee time at Desert Island. Just our luck the restaurant shut down the day before for summer, but there were some snacks available in the pro shop to get us going. Grass range is somewhat small but perfectly functional and the first tee box is directly adjacent to it. We opted to ride on a hot early morning and played from the blue tees. Having little knowledge of this course, I assumed it would be one of those tight but relatively short, limited space tracks like Woodhaven or the old Rancho Mirage. I was pleasantly surprised that it was nothing like either of those. Desert Island gives good account of itself in terms of narrow target areas (with lots of trees framing), plenty of dangerous water features on select holes, tough bunkers and actual length, especially with the varied par 3s. It's a lot of fun. Conditions at end of peak season were also quite good. The greens did not necessarily look their very best, and some of the later ones still had some punch damage, but they rolled very true and consistently in terms of speed, and they weren't too tricked out or gimmicky at all. They held shots well and generally rewarded good putts. The fairways were also in very good shape overall with a few dry and thin spots here and there, while the rough was very playable and at a perfect length for the strays. Bunkers had nice sand in them and were always well stocked, while the tee boxes were mostly all flat and level with a few of them showing some wear. There was no cart service which was a bummer on a hot day and a holiday weekend no less, but the real killer is no food/drink services at the turn. I'm not sure if there's an alternative later in the summer, but I would advise stocking up yourself if it remains like that for the coming months. POP was excellent with no waiting on the front nine, but I believe a group started on the back nine just in front of us and unfortunately they really brought the pace down but we still managed to finish in just over four hours. I really enjoyed this course a lot more than I thought I would and would love to come back some time during prime time when it's even in better shape. I think it's a fun challenge as well, especially that crazy 9th hole island fairway that managed to take a big chunk out of what would have been a really good scorecard!