Palm Springs Golf Packages 2026-2027 - Desert Resort Golf Vacations

With nearly 1,000 exquisite golf courses across the state, it's extremely difficult to choose just five, but according to most golfers, the following are the most popular in California and offer the most exciting and enticing playing experiences:

• Cypress Point Club: Designed by Alister MacKenzie, this golf course is very challenging. Unless you're in the know, only a lucky few will get the chance to tee it up on the first. The golf course is set at the foothills of the Santa Lucia Mountains on the tip of the Monterey Peninsula, and the cliff top terrain is thrilling. The Pacific is the ultimate water hazard on the 16th one-shot hole. Cypress Point Club is located in Pebble Beach, California. Finally, playing just 135 yards, the stunning 15th hole is surrounded by bunkers, ocean rocks, and cypress trees, offering the best chance for birdie.
• Riviera: The 18-hole layout at Riviera Country Club is undoubtedly a very impressive course, not only because of its magnificent appeal to many famous members, including Glen Campbell, Dean Martin, and Gregory Peck but also because this is a masterpiece in architectural design. The Riviera was designed by George C. Thomas Jr., and the golf course opened in 1926. Riviera is one of the most internationally revered golf courses. The 6th hole is one of the most famous golf holes worldwide due to a single feature – a bunker square in the middle of the green.
• Pebble Beach Golf Links: This golf course is a solid challenge – particularly for your irons – that will create a lifetime of memories. It's routinely rated the number one public course in the country and has hosted numerous prestigious championships. This is a course that every golfer wants to check off their bucket list. Pictures fail to convey the beautiful rhythm of a golf round at Pebble Beach. The first three holes are inland and build your anticipation. After your drive on four, you dive headlong into coastal views for the next five holes. If you decide to play the Pebble Beach Golf Links, your primary objective off the tee should be staying out of the hazards.
• The PGA WEST Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course: With a dramatic setting enhanced by distant mountains, this superb golf course provides a fun round that is significantly less penal than the adjacent PGA WEST Pete Dye Stadium Course. Even though mounding mimicking the surrounding mountains serves both a strategic and aesthetic purpose, the main design feature of this course is its elevated, plateau-like fairways. These swathes of green turf sit above patches of rough, deep waste bunkers, and desert scrub that loom wide of the tabletop landing areas. The fairways constrict precipitously en route to the greens. Although the greens themselves are a good size, they may appear to be small targets due to all the surrounding trouble.
• The Gary Player Signature Course: This has been one of the finest golf courses in Palm Springs ever since it opened in the 1990s. Wide fairways with slopes and mounding at the landing's boundaries help keep errant shots in play. If your ball drifts beyond the short grass, you will most likely be left with a sidehill lie and stance in noticeable rough. Lagoons and lakes run the length of several holes, and these hazards sometimes require forced carries. The greens on the Gary Player Signature Course are usually at the same level as the fairway. Many are small with intriguing shapes. Plenty of challenges await skilled players.

California is home to 921 golf courses, each with unique features, layouts, and designs. Perhaps the most famous golf course in the state is the Stadium Course at PGA West, which can be found at La Quinta Resort & Club. Pete Dye was given simple instructions when put in charge of building the Stadium Course at PGA West – "Build the hardest damn golf course in the world!" And he did. The golf course is renowned for its dramatic features, including steep slopes and penal hazards. Water comes into play on nearly half the holes, and there's more square footage of sand than putting surface.

The Stadium Course at PGA West was rated one of the "Top 100 Courses to play" by GOLF Magazine and the fourth toughest course in America in Golf Digest's "Top 50 Toughest Courses in America". It delivers multiple adrenaline rushes throughout the round, no matter how experienced the golfer is. Despite being one of the most challenging courses to play in the world, golf aficionados should add it to their bucket list, as they will be in for a memorable experience. The golf course was inspired by the Scottish links-style courses.

Yes, absolutely. Every group is different, and a custom package means your trip is built around your crew rather than a pre-set itinerary that may or may not fit.

You pick the courses, the accommodation, and the pace. Want to mix a round on the Stadium Course at PGA WEST with something a little more relaxed? Done. Prefer a private villa over a resort? No problem. With the sheer variety of world-class courses across the Coachella Valley, there's plenty to work with, and we know all of them well.

Custom packages work especially well for buddy trips, golf societies, corporate groups, and special occasions where getting the details right really matters. Some guys want to splurge on a championship layout, others are happy to save a bit and play something equally enjoyable, and a custom build handles all of that within the same trip, seamlessly.

Palm Springs has a serious PGA Tour pedigree, and a big part of that comes down to PGA WEST in La Quinta. Pete Dye's Stadium Course and the Nicklaus Tournament Course play host to The American Express each January, one of golf's most unique events, where players rotate through three courses before the cut rather than playing the same layout four times. La Quinta Country Club completes the rotation and has been part of the tournament's DNA since 1964; that's decades of history you can feel when you play there.

Beyond The American Express, PGA WEST has hosted multiple PGA Tour, Senior PGA Tour, and LPGA events over the years, cementing its reputation as one of the most storied tournament venues in the American West.

For recreational golfers, playing these courses is a genuine bucket-list experience; you're teeing it up on the same layouts that have tested the best players in the world. And given the variety across the Coachella Valley, it's easy to mix a round on a tournament track with some of the area's more under-the-radar gems for a well-rounded trip.

January through April is the sweet spot. The weather is mild and sunny, course conditions are at their best, and you're not dealing with the intense desert heat that summer brings. March and April in particular tend to be a favorite, warm enough to walk the back nine in shirtsleeves, cool enough to stay comfortable all day.

Winter months are hugely popular too, and for obvious reasons. When courses back home are frozen solid or closed for the season, Palm Springs is sitting under blue skies with 70 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures and perfectly manicured fairways. It's one of the main reasons the area draws so many groups from Canada and the northern US every year.

The flip side of peak season is that prices and demand are higher, so planning ahead matters. If your group has some flexibility, the shoulder months, late October, November, and even early May, can offer excellent value without a dramatic drop in conditions. Either way, getting in touch early means more choices on courses, accommodation, and tee times.

The Coachella Valley is home to more than 120 golf courses spread across cities like Palm Springs, Palm Desert, La Quinta, Indian Wells, and Rancho Mirage, making it one of the greatest concentrations of golf anywhere in the world.

That number means real variety. Championship layouts, resort courses, private clubs, beginner-friendly tracks, desert classics, and everything in between, a group could easily spend a full week here and play a different course every day without scraping the bottom of the barrel.

The courses were also designed by some of the biggest names in golf architecture, Pete Dye, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Greg Norman, so the quality backs up the quantity. Whether your group wants to tick off a bucket-list tournament venue, find something visually stunning, or just play great golf at a fair price, the options are there. That's a big part of why Palm Springs keeps drawing golfers back year after year.

For most golfers, absolutely! The Stadium Course alone is reason enough to make the trip. Rated one of Golf Magazine's Top 100 Courses and the 4th toughest course in America by Golf Digest, it's a Pete Dye masterpiece that throws everything at you: cavernous bunkers, water on half the holes, and a finish that's as nerve-shredding as anything in golf. The closing three holes, a gambling par-5 16th, the iconic par-3 17th to an island green, and a water-lined 18th are genuinely unforgettable. The 17th, known as Alcatraz, is one of the most photographed holes in the world and a bucket-list moment for any serious golfer.

That said, PGA West isn't a one-course destination. The complex features five courses available for resort play, designed by the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman, and Pete Dye, so groups with mixed abilities can mix and match; not everyone needs to take on the Stadium from the tips.

If you're coming to Palm Springs for a serious golf trip, PGA West is essentially non-negotiable. It's the course most golfers have seen on TV and always wanted to play. It lives up to the billing.

It depends on what your group is looking for, but a few names come up consistently. La Quinta Resort & Club is the go-to for golf-focused trips, sitting right next to PGA West and giving guests access to some of the best courses in the valley. It's a historic property with real character, casitas, mountain views, world-class dining, and the golf access is hard to beat.

JW Marriott Desert Springs is the safest all-around choice if your group wants the full resort experience, two on-site championship courses, pools, spa, restaurants, and a big resort feel without having to go anywhere. The Westin Rancho Mirage is another strong option for groups wanting luxury with a more relaxed pace.

The honest answer is that the best resort is the one that matches your group's priorities. Some groups build their whole trip around one flagship property; others prefer to stay somewhere central and play a different course each day. Either approach works brilliantly in Palm Springs; the variety is there. That's exactly why custom trip planning tends to get better results than picking off-the-shelf packages.