PGA West Golf Academy

So beautiful, so golf, many Arnold Palmer

Great course!!! Very hard, but very fun. 5^th hardest in the world, so I was a little hesitant to play it, because I had not played in 2 months, but If you give it the respect it deserves, it will reward you, but if you try to get creative. You will pay for it…
It’s not too cheap, but worth it. Legends have played here, so I was happy to be there. Will be back to play it next week again…

Fantastic golf course! Stadium Course is definitely one of the hardest in the world. The course was in perfect shape and its a must play for a low to medium handicap. Challenges your patience and your concentration on every shot because there isn’t an easy shot or hole

WARNING — NO WATER, airhead drink cart driver while members aka «realtors» trying to hustle you during your heat stroke at 120 dollars a round (well you pay Kmart you get Kmart to be fair). Not my idea of fun.
After playing Pasatiempo and Pelican Hill, this joint gets a 1 if that. It is a great course but I nearly died of a heat stroke. On holes 12 and 13 I nearly had to 911 it, still not feeling well and it is Tuesday– played Sunday. There is NO WATER on this course. ONE COMMUNITY JUG of water on 2 and one on 18 (yeah that’s super helpful thanks) — oh and the jug is community– like YMCA style. That is SUPER considering we are in an ISIS crisis and Ebola is impending a west coast strike. I thought on 17 I was getting a beheading.
Cart chick forgot her drinks on 2 — like no booze– doah! and was no where to be seen the rest of the course– we are talking no chards, beers, anything and she was 20 pounds overweight and old and ugly. I am still not well from the heat and lack of water.
Allowing cheezy «realtors» on course to pretend they are there to play just adds insult to injury.
This place blows.

Beautiful course, but too tough for your average golfer. My dad and I teed it up with two other friends last weekend. The rough was exceptionally high and resulted in many lost balls. Keep in mind you are going to lose your fair share of balls anyway, since water hazards factor prominently on about half the holes. But to hit a decent drive two yards off the fairway and be unable to find your ball because of ankle high rough just seems unfair. All in all, the 4 of us shot 97, 100, 106 and 118. Our handicaps were 15, 10, 17 and 18 respectively.
If you are accurate off the tee, you will probably love this course and I have to admit the scenery is quite beautiful. But if you are an average golfer, you will probably spend most of your round in complete misery and your most enjoyable moments will be drinking beer in the restaurant afterwards and joking about how you will never be coming back.

Recently played the course. Not for the average player. We had four foursomes; and everyone came away unhappy. The rough was impossible to play and many of us lost balls literally a foot from the fairway. This is a difficult course to begin with and the uncut rough made for an unhappy round. Cart service ended at 3 on a very hot day and the general staff could have been nicer. Much better options and prices available. Unless you want to play like a pro… go elsewhere.

DATE PLAYED: January 28, 2014
The PGA West Stadium Course is a must play if you are in the Palm Springs/​La Quinta area. After researching where to play golf since I had a free day to play, I decided to play the Stadium Course. I search two discounts websites (GolfNow and Stand By Golf) hoping for a cheap rate since I was a single golfer. Both discount websites had tee times for $ 230 which was way more than I was willing to pay. I decided to call the pro shop and was informed that the course holds morning tee times on all even dates for the members and releases them three days prior to the date. With this in mind, I waited to book my tee time through the PGA West website and got a 7:03 a. m tee time for $ 139.
From the moment you arrive at the course, customer service is a priority. The bag drop off staff were very friendly as well as the pro shop staff. With a 7:03 a.m. tee time, I was also the only golfer on the driving range. The driving range was fully stocked with golfer balls with a grass stations. As I approached the starter, I was notified that I was being paired with one of the PGA West members. The member was very nice and advised me of where to aim on each hole. The greens where pure and running 10 on the stimp meter. Tee boxes and fairways were in excellent shape. Since it was only the member and I with no one in front of us, we finished the round in 2 hours and 45 minutes. I ended up playing the Blue tees and shooting a 79.
Since I was able to finish the round by 10 am and under 3 hours, I took advantage of the replay rate which was $ 79 for Stadium Course and $ 59 for Nicklaus, Norman, La Quinta Dunes or Mountain courses.
Overall, I can’t wait to play the course again.

Overall, I enjoyed the Stadium Course at PGA West. I’m giving it 1 less star than its sister course the Nicklaus Tournament course since the NT was a little more enjoyable (also significantly less $$$). But still, this is a very worthy course, extremely challenging, even for the pros. I feel like this course should have a sign similar to the one on the 1^st hole of Bethpage Black: «WARNING: The Stadium Course is an extremely difficult course, which we recommend only for highly skilled golfers.» It’s right up there with the TPC Sawgrass Stadium course in terms of difficulty, which is also a Pete Dye classic, although I will say that this course is a lot more forgiving off of the tee. Here’s my summary:
Service: 5 stars
No major complaints here, great service. Only minor complaint is the fact that they force everyone to have no more than 2 carts in each group — having 3 carts as we originally planned, probably would have saved us some time and sped up the pace of play — hint, hint to the starter/​marshals. I KNOW you guys aren’t lacking on golf carts, so if a group has 3 carts, it’s probably for a good reason. Like 1 person hits it 150 off the tee, and the other hits it 300. Anyway, I digress.
Facility: 5 stars
Clubhouse is nice, practice facilities are some of the best I’ve seen — there’s a reason why this place is the «home of golf in America on the West Coast»
Course Design: 3 stars
I thought the Nicklaus course layout was a little bit better — a little more fair. Some of the holes here are very tricked out — not a huge fan of that. Probably a little too much water on the course for my taste. Also, i don’t think it’s necessarily playable for folks that are over a 10 handicap, or don’t hit it over 230 – 250. Some of the forced carries are challenging for the pros, let alone amateurs.
Course Condition: 4 stars
For some reason, I felt that the Nicklaus course was in slightly better shape. Probably because it gets slightly less play than the Stadium course does, which doesn’t really make a lot of sense. But it was still in very good shape. Greens were super fast — not much faster than the Nicklaus course though.
If you’re debating which course to play, do yourself a favor and play the Nicklaus course. Your round will probably be 30 minutes less, and you’ll enjoy yourself more, and probably pay less $. However, if you want to be challenged like few other courses, play the Stadium and try your luck. Good luck, since you’ll need it!

Made a tee time here 3 weeks ago for my friend and I to play. We were going to get there 5 minutes beforehand so I figure I should call the pro shop and tell them the situation. He said «if you don’t get there on time you will not be allowed to golf until 1pm (our tee time was a 8.42. «
)» so we hurried and got there 6 minutes before tee time.
I get to the pro shop and the guy with the same voice said «don’t worry there is a frost delay, everything is pushed back by at least 30 minutes .»
Couldn’t believe it.
I had been carrying a sinus infection for 1 week and I really hoped it would be gone but it got worse whilst on the middle part of the front 9. I told my friend that I was done and couldn’t play any longer.
So I thought a partial refund maybe possible as I was really sick and it was Christmas. The time for good will, but not at PGA west. «sorry sir it’s against our policy ». This after waiting in line for 15 minutes.
In total 9 holes cost me $ 400!
Happy Christmas PGA west !! Have a good one.
Oh and the course was nice

Great course, location, etc. But TOUGH!!!

Typical nickaulus designed course. Very fair and can be challenging at times if you hit it to the wrong spot. Not as nice as the stadium course but definitely better than the Norman course. The roughs here are extremely difficult. As in good luck finding your ball it could literally be submerged in the roughs. There’s two great holes here with island greens, That is already hard without wind and very tough when there is. Theres Many holes with water in play which will really make you put your course management to work. Overall it’s worth playing.
Pace even on a busy day is very good. Lots of restrooms throughout the course. And they even have a new gps systems. Each cart has its own water jug. There is a cart girl that goes around. The Marshall also comes around.

World class. Pete Dye’s design speaks for itself. With exception of your tee-​shot, every shot will be on unleveled footing. Carts are equipped with GPS which provide flyover/​approach/​green views and touch screen sensors over any point of the map to gauge risk/​reward down to the yard. Course will test all aspects of your game.
Service was also first class. As soon as I parked a bag attendant pulled up, took our bags and loaded up our carts which included tee-​times and scorecards with all our names printed. Marshalls kept all groups on pace to meet the 4.5hr goal in addition to handing out wet towels soaked in ice water about every 4 holes.
It was a privilege and honor to play here.
hole-​by-​hole flyovers:

I did not play the course. Rating on the practice facility. It is a good as it gets. Grass, sand bunkers, putting green etc. You do have to pay $ 35 just to use it though. My son was able to hit for free at least. Next time will play the course!

Nicklaus shares clubhouse and practice facilities with PGA West Stadium Course. Being the less famous of the two, it can be pretty empty and play can be completed in under 4 hours.
I found this course to be much easier than the Stadium Course. Holes aren’t as long, and par 5s reachable in 2. Greens are guarded, but are pretty reasonable on most.
Did get lost trying to find the 17^th hole. Signs aren’t that obvious how to get there. You are traversing through private streets and in between homes to get from hole to hole at times.
Starter and staff make you feel right at home. Get some bills ready, cause the cart guys are used to being tipped.
Greens — super smooth pro style greens
Fairways — well manicured and narrow — lined with nice homes on most holes
Rough — punishing with plenty of lost balls in the long grass and water
Water — water comes into play on only a handful of holes
Driving range — 1^st rate — balls and tees supplied — hitting off grass to grass landing area.
Clubhouse — 1^st rate, with a great restaurant/​bar and top notch pro shop
Dress Code — country club attire preferred, although walking shorts are permitted

Club fitting with Charlie Rodi and tips from John Battaglia — excellent — expensive but expansive — help with the common goal of golfers — to get just a little bit better —
Lynn M. Myrick
Grants Pass OR

The Jack Nicklaus course was a great round. There was no lack of challenges on this course for sure. This course has a slope rating of 143 and two island greens (one semi-​island). I played it early in the morning around 7:20 am by myself and finished in 3 hrs (playing 2 balls on most holes). After playing the Stadium, I would definitely warm up here first before. It’s very similar in nature and some of the larger traps reminded me of the Stadium without the Pete Dye exclamation marks. Forgiving fairway shots lead into a much more demanding 2^nd and third shot.
Planning on attending Q-​School, well you better start practicing here since it hosts the PGA Tour’s find round of Q-​School on both this course along with the Stadium.
+If you book your tee time through their website, not on the phone, and not through golfnow, but on their reservation system on their website, you’ll find some discounted rates.
+Nice facility and great practice range (big).
+secret locker room in the bathroom (go into the unmarked door, it’s a good place to change your shoes).
+Course is kept in great condition
–Bring your A game if you want a low score.

Great course…
Not as challenging as Stadium… but then again the Stadium is where the pros hate to play. wussies…
Very nice scenic views… along the course… and lots of fun
Accuracy will be rewarded on this Course…

Wow! The Stadium course is on point! Had the pleasure of playing this last month when its was ridiculously hot! But with the heat comes some well priced green fees. Think we paid $ 70 for twilight, compared to $ 250 during prime time I’ll take it and run!
What can i say about this course? Every hole is unique and beautiful! You’ll walk up to some holes just saying «are you serious!?» Course was in great shape, greens were well paced and rolled true. Fairways were like carpet and the rough!!! wow, the starter said «this season has been very humid and the rough was extremely thick.» Didn’t really believe him until hole #1! overcooked a 9 iron out of the fairway bunker long and doubled it due to this lovely humidity rough!
This course is a monster and if you’re not hitting straight just take in the scenery and forget the score cause either way you’re gonna enjoy yourself. Played from the tips and at 7300 yards was no joke! Squeezed out a 78 and def didn’t see that coming after the double on #1. If you have a chance to play this course don’t hesitate, book the tee time and enjoy it!
Clubhouse was also ridiculous! food was good, beer on tap was superb. Had some nice micro brew selections. I recommend the IPA!
All in all the experience of this course was top notch! Highly recommend to any golfer!

Amazing Course, but completely ridiculous if you don’t play often. The first coupe holes had some mysterious rough that if you hit into you’ll never find it. The other 14ish holes had rough that was more manageable.
All the holes have different layouts which makes you use all your clubs, and lots of water lining entire fairways, or surround greens so for your own sake, layup.
I say make sure you have a box of balls, because the rough eats up balls, and if you play in the summer you’ll just be too hot to keep looking.

PGA West Stadium has more sand then the beach. To get our moneys worth I tested nearly everyone of them.
Sad but true. When you come to a course like this you want to be playing your best golf. The week prior they hosted a Q school (PGA Qualifying) event so the greens were fast and pins were placed in a challenging place to say the least. They did roll very true though. But if you get the speed wrong you’re next putt is longer then your first or you just might be chipping which was the case for myself and others in our group.
Beautiful course throughout though… peppered with bunkers in landing areas and no easy approaches to greens so no running up thinned shots. Rough and bunkers guard all shots that are not struck well.
The starter said something that will give you a good idea of how technical the course is… he says…“the only level shots you’ll have today is off the tee boxes.” He was spot on. I believe the course is rated at 140 from the whites and with the green speeds and pin placement that day I would say a bit higher.
Lovely course, but just be ready to hit straight or bring a couple extra balls. Oh yeah hole 16 has a bunker that you will not believe. 40 feet down in the back… insane!
And 17 is a beautiful island green. Too nice!