Marriot Shadowridge, Palm Desert, CA (photos) Schmidt/Curley/Faldo Design

[Peter Ferlicca]

Marriot Shadowridge is a very good golf course in Palm Desert, CA.   IMO, it is one of the top 2 public tracks in the Coachella Valley, with Indian Wells Resort (Players Course) being the other.  To round out the top five would be La Quinta Mountain, PGA West Stadium, and Desert Willow Firecliff.   Shadowridge has tons of strategy off the tee with multiple holes with bunkers in the middle of the fairway.  It also has big wide fairways to provide width and angles into the greens.  Good undulating greens that provide interest throughout the round, and has a lot of sucker pin position.  All the bunkers blend in with the surrounding environment.  It has a great driveable par 4 in #13, and a brute of a par 3 in #7.  It has a very good finishing hole in #18, creek left, bunkers right, and then the creeks cut right up in front of the green.  It has a good set of mid length par 4’s that range in the 330 to 400 yard range.  If you visit the valley I would highly suggest playing Shadowridge.  It is a Schmidt/Curley and Nick Faldo Design.  It also has one of the best practice facilities I have ever seen. 




Hole 1 Par 4



Hole 2 Par 5




Hole 3 Par 4



Hole 4 Par 3




Hole 5 Par 4



Hole 6 Par 4



Hole 7 Par 3



Hole 8 Par 4   Very deceiving off the tee, the bunkers look like they are all together but the first set is 250 yards off the tee and then fairway before you hit the next set of greenside bunkers.  You either have to hit hybrid or bomb a drive. 



Hole 9 Par 4



Hole 10 Par 4



Hole 11 Par 4   Good short par 4, with a view looking down the whole valley



Hole 12 Par 3




Hole 13 Par 4      A very good driveable par 4, you must hit a 295 yard drive over the big sand dune on the left.  If you take it over the bushes on the dune you will hit the down slope onto the green.  If you lay up to the right you will end up in little dips and most likely get an awkward stance for a wedge.




Hole 14 Par 5



Hole 15 Par 4




Hole 16 Par 5




Hole 17 Par 3



Hole 18 Par 4   IMO, one of the better finishing holes in the Valley, of course Stone Eagle #18 is still the best. 

[Jerry Kluger]

I have stayed there quite a few times as I own a Marriott timeshare and always enjoyed the course.  For a resort course I found it very interesting and challenging compared to some others.

[Tom_Doak]

I saw the course years ago and was impressed.

We didn't play, so I don't know if that 18th hole is great or a bit of overkill, but it seems fairly incongruous with the rest of the course ... like it was designed based on what the housing people wanted to overlook.

[Peter Ferlicca]

Well most of the course plays through the somewhat natural sand that is around, but they obviously wanted to build an exciting finish, so they have holes 16, 17, and 18 with rocks and water.  So #18 isn't completely out of character, out here in the desert you almost have to expect water on a finishing hole.  Only a handful of courses don't use water on their finishing hole, and most of them are very good holes that didn't need water. 

[David Kelly]

I don't know if they still advertise it as such but a lot of the early PR material on the course mentioned that S&C and Faldo took their design cues for this project from Royal Melbourne and the Sandbelt courses.

 I like the course a lot for the Palm Springs area as well but wan't real thrilled with the last three holes which I think are definitely out of character.  You can't see it in the pictures but condos creep in on 17 & 18 and basically the entire right side of #18 is flanked with huge two or three story condo buildings.

[John Kirk]

Hi Peter,

I played this course last year.  I thought #18 was a bit out of character because it was significantly narrower than the others.  It's a pretty wide golf course, but #18 is tight, especially the tee shot.

[Tom_Doak]

out here in the desert you almost have to expect water on a finishing hole.

Peter:

I know that is not your idea, but it's still funny / strange to see it in print.

[John Kirk]

There were a few times when I had uphill approach shots, where I could not tell where the pin was located on the green.  I couldn't tell where it was left, right, short or long 3-4 times during the round.  In my opinion, the best courses give the player a bit more information to work with on uphill approaches, a better sense of the green's dimensions.

I especially liked the 15th hole, by the way.

Nice golf course.

[Phil Benedict]

Hi Peter,

I played this course last year.  I thought #18 was a bit out of character because it was significantly narrower than the others.  It's a pretty wide golf course, but #18 is tight, especially the tee shot.

18 is totallly out of character.

My favorite hole is 11, which has about a 100 yard wide fairway with bunkers scattered all over the place.  For some hole locations the extreme right hand side of the fairway provides the best angle.  It's really cool aiming so far from the middle of the fairway.

The par 3 7th is not a very good design for a resort course.  Uphill with bunkers everywhere.  Too much trouble for the occasional golfer, so it slows down play.

[Carl Nichols]

This 18th hole looks about as out of place as the 18th at Vista Verde, another very solid public desert course. 

[Bill_McBride]

There were a few times when I had uphill approach shots, where I could not tell where the pin was located on the green.  I couldn't tell where it was left, right, short or long 3-4 times during the round.  In my opinion, the best courses give the player a bit more information to work with on uphill approaches, a better sense of the green's dimensions.

I especially liked the 15th hole, by the way.

Nice golf course.

John, on 15 is there any advantage to taking on or just skirting that fairway bunker?   The photos make it look like the bunker makes you drive over to the left into the best angle for an approach to that green.

My first thought when I saw the photos of 18 was, "Where the hell do you hit the drive?"

I do like the Schmidt/Curley bunkering look.

[Matthew Petersen]

Thanks for the photos, this is a course I would try to see in the area for sure.

From the pictures, it reminds me of a bit of a cross between two courses here in the Phoenix area: Southern Dunes (S/C with Couples consulting) and Wildfire Faldo (S/C with Faldo consulting). As those are two of my favorite courses in town, I mean it as a compliment.

[John Kirk]

When I played #15, the pin was back left, and it looked like being right off the tee was the best play.  I hit it way right, over well over the right bunker and down into a depression a few yards right of the fairway.  I had a perfect angle at the flag, but had to clear the front right bunker.  I had about 150 yards to the center, and hit a pretty good 7-iron, which I thought was enough to get it on the green.  I ended up 25-30 yards short, in the bunker and made a bogey.  I admired that the hole's uphill nature had fooled me.

I also liked that the left and right bunkers were staggered a bit, with the carry over the left bunker longer than the right side.  I like that feature, as I believe it creates different strategies for players of differing abilities.

[Bill_McBride]

When I played #15, the pin was back left, and it looked like being right off the tee was the best play.  I hit it way right, over well over the right bunker and down into a depression a few yards right of the fairway.  I had a perfect angle at the flag, but had to clear the front right bunker.  I had about 150 yards to the center, and hit a pretty good 7-iron, which I thought was enough to get it on the green.  I ended up 25-30 yards short, in the bunker and made a bogey.  I admired that the hole's uphill nature had fooled me.

I also liked that the left and right bunkers were staggered a bit, with the carry over the left bunker longer than the right side.  I like that feature, as I believe it creates different strategies for players of differing abilities.

Agreed, I was looking at the photo where the pin was way right!