TERRA LAGO GOLF CLUB - South Course
(760-775-2000)
Palm Springs Golf Course Review 6/17/05
General info
Terra Lago Golf Club (formerly Landmark Golf Club) features 36 holes of championship golf on tracks that are considered to be among the best in the Palm Springs area - with both earning 4 ½ stars from Golf Digest Places to Play. Situated in the foothills of Indio Hills, this facility offers two challenging and picturesque layouts that utilize the natural high desert terrain through a variety of landforms that includes steep slopes, three lakes, rolling sand dunes and indigenous vegetation. Views of the Coachella Valley and of the San Gorgonio and Chocolate Mountains are stunning. We found our experience on these courses to be exhilarating - true desert golf that combines challenge with playability, while providing upscale amenities and conditioning in a spectacular setting.
The clubhouse at Terra Lago provides a beautiful pro shop with an adjacent restaurant/lounge that can seat up to 172 people in a well appointed, comfortable setting, with picture windows affording gorgeous golf course and mountain vistas. Extensive breakfast and lunch menus are offered. The pavilion next door can facilitate outings, meetings and special events of up to 350 people, and locker rooms with showers are also available for men and women.
Ball and club washers and Pro Shot GPS are standard on all carts, and water coolers as well. Technology meets tradition at Terra Lago, as the new TeePod system is in place, with kiosks stationed near the tee areas. This advanced technology allows golfers to keep score electronically, track handicaps and even keep track of how others are doing during outings or tournaments. This system is especially valuable during tournaments as leader boards provide golfers with vital information. Players can also order beverages and sandwiches from the course! In addition to the electronic systems, pin placement sheets are mounted on the carts, and sprinkler heads on the manicured fairways are measured to the center of the green.
Terra Lago served as host for the SKINS GAME from 1999 through 2002, with players such as Fred Couples, Sergio Garcia, Tiger Woods, Colin Montgomery, Jesper Parnivik and others gracing its playing grounds. In the year 2000, Greg Norman won all the skins, earning him 1 million dollars in prize money. A combination of nines from each course was often used to form the layout for this tournament.
South Course
The South Course at Terra Lago provides 4 sets of tee areas that play to distances and slopes measuring 7044 yards/140 slope, 6401 yards/133 slope, 5838 yards/126 slope for men and 135 for women, and 5045 yards with a slope of 128. After playing our review round in the morning on the North Course, we were able to compare the two layouts and found the South to be more challenging. The afternoon winds we encountered surely had something to do with it, but the challenging green complexes were the real reason. Most of the putting surfaces are mildly sloped or double tiered, but are plateaued or raised with steep slopes, bunkers, mounding and swales framing the complexes. Approaches that hit the front or sides of greens will frequently bounce off and roll down to the collection areas, leaving some difficult recoveries for par. Accurate iron play, and the ability to hit knock down shots into the wind are skills golfers need to score well here. A good lob or wedge game is also vital, to land on and hold the frequently crowned putting surfaces.
Water comes into play on five holes, with Southern California's All American Canal cutting across or winding down the side of holes two, six, nine and twelve. The terrain on the South Course is rolling, but the elevation changes from tee to green are not as pronounced as those on the North Course. It is nevertheless beautiful, and again is to be considered as a "must play" in the Palm Springs area. There are some beautiful golf holes, and some interesting risk/reward opportunities on this layout. For more info, visit our page for the South Course at Terra Lago, with direct link to their website by clicking here.
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