Page 70 - 2020 Travel Guide to California

GOLF
BY ROBERT KAUFMAN
Tee It Up!
Diverse geography offers spectacular options for swinging away
DESERT COURSES
PGA West—TPC Stadium Course
Since opening in 1986, the TPC Stadium
Course in La Quinta has been rated one of
the “Top 100 Courses in the World” by GOLF
Magazine. This 7,300-yard challenge
designed by Pete Dye hosts The American
Express PGA golf tournament every January
with players having to navigate cavernous
bunkers, an island green (known as “Alca-
traz”) at hole #17 as well as the menacing
water-lined 18th. Named “Stadium” due to
Dye’s ingenious plan to sculpt spectator
seating into the natural terrain, one of the
most memorable events includes Lee
Trevino’s hole-in-one on #17 earning him
$175,000 from a carry-over skin in the 1987
“Skins Game.” pgawest.com
GOLF ACROSS
THE STATE
California is one of the world’s top
golf destinations, and no matter
which region you choose, you’ll find a
course to suit your game, whether it’s
on the coast at Pebble Beach Golf
Links, above, in the desert at TPC
Stadium Course in La Quinta, or in
the mountains at Coyote Moon Golf
Course in Truckee.
Mother Nature has blessed California
with an astonishing array of mountains,
valleys, forests, coastline and desert that
has helped make the Golden State one of
the most attractive golf destinations on
the planet.
Taking advantage of these geological assets,
a who’s-who of golf course architects, from
old-school designers like Alister MacKenzie
and A.W. Tillinghast to modern-day shapers
such as Jack Nicklaus, Robert Trent Jones, Jr.
and Tom Fazio, have crafted challenges to suit
every golfer’s taste and budget.
Today, there are more than 600 public
courses scattered throughout California
ranging from iconic masterpieces like
Pebble Beach Golf Links on the Pacific coast
to hidden gems such as Greenhorn Creek in
the Gold Country. Depending upon skill
level and preferred environment, here are
some notable nuggets that will help create
a golf experience of a lifetime.
Indian Wells Golf Resort
Only 20 minutes from Palm Springs Interna-
tional Airport, golfers have the opportunity to
play the Players Course (John Fought, 2007)
and Celebrity Course (Clive Clark, 2006) at a
property with the distinction of being the
only 36-hole public golf facility with both
courses on Golfweek’s “Best Courses You Can
Play” in California. Combined with a lighted,
9-hole, natural grass putting course and a
53,000-square-foot clubhouse, this “muni”
golf experience in the desert is unparalleled.
indianwellsgolfresort.com
OCEAN COURSES
Pebble Beach Golf Links
Located along the storied Monterey Penin-
sula, there are few golf thrills like teeing-up
for the first time on Pebble Beach Golf
Links, ranked No. 1 on Golf Digest’s
“America’s 100 Greatest Public Golf
68 2020 TRAVEL GUIDE TO CALIFORNIA
PHOTOGOLFER/SHUTTERSTOCK. OPPOSITE: ROBERT KAUFMAN