This club was referenced in another thread by John Kirk and David Wigler:
From John Kirk:The Madison Club is a new Discovery Land development in La Quinta, CA, which features a Tom Fazio golf course. It is built down in the valley, and millions of cubic yards of sand and dirt were moved to transform the course into a rolling terrain with something like 25-40 feet of elevation change. If I'm not mistaken, a barranca, or large trench, perhaps 20-25 feet deep, was built through the property, and the excess dirt was used to shape the course.
The course has large features. Big fairways, big greens, big bunkers, and lots of water hazards. The bunkering is ornate, with carefully trimmed edges. I don't remember a single blind shot. The course is not quite designed to be walkable, due to two, maybe three long walks and a few medium length walks from green to tee, which will prevent most from doing so.
The service level is already legendary, with stories of over the top service already filtering through the community there.
I didn't play the course, and I tend to like courses on more interesting land, but there is much to admire here. The fairways are really wide, allowing some decision making on approach angles. I did not see any par 4s I felt were driveable, but I don't hit it that far.
Some of the privacy berms were covered with flowers. I'd say I saw a hundred thousand annual flowering plants out there, and I don't think I'm exaggerating. Maybe only fifty thousand.
So the Madison Club is a modern day Shadow Creek type effort, with all the bells and whistles attached. It's really wild, and not really my type of course, but I'm sure it's a gas to play.
From David Wigler:
My guess is that the Madison Club was either not eligible or did not have enough raters to be statistically relevant. It is very rare that a course blows me away and this one did. I am an unabashed Fazio lover and this course instantly was one of my top three Fazio's ever. I believe (Prepare for GCA heresy) that it is better than Bandon Trails and the only Fazio's I have played that are its equals are Victoria National and Shadow Creek. I would be shocked if once it gets some raters out (Should it choose to allow them) it did not end up a bulletproof top 50 course in the country and the #1 rated course in the Palm Springs area - I really think it is that good.
PS - The land is extremely interesting - you are correct that there is elevation all over the property. It was completely man made but no less interesting (Like Whistling Straits).
Here is the website featuring an interview with Fazio and the developer showing some construction and the barranca/creek:
www.madisonclubca.com/the_making_of_madison/