TomH--
I'd think your dad would like SE more then most desert courses though. Its been three years since I was there, but I don't remember a bunch of forced carries, not for a desert course anyway. I thought SE was very playable for the site.
Desert golf is generally more of the target type that is hard for golfers who don't carry the ball that far. I think Doak and Co. tried hard (and IMO sucseeded) in breaking the desert course mold at SE. I also think it was geared as a second or thrid club for most of their members so maybe that has something to do with it....