PGA WEST Pete Dye Mountain Course — Attraction in La Quinta

If PGA West Pete Dye mountain course isn't on your bucket list, then it should be. For those familiar with local desert golf, this course has all the things you would expect from a fancy desert course (pristine fresh fairway and greens, fast putts, near-perfect conditions, beautiful clubhouse, great practice amenities).

For the golf nuts out there, let me explain some things I find so interesting about this course.

Distance: from the tips, its "only 6666 yards" - so you should be able to play a 3w off the tee most of the round, right? Sure, if you can carry every shot to maximum distance, then yes. But this course has undulations everywhere - hilly fairways, shapely bunkers everywhere, and some sloped greens. That has the net effect of making the course play longer. There are many occasions where you will hit a ball and get less roll-out than you would on a simpler course.

Greens: the greens tend to be dryer, faster, and longer. When I played them they rolled at about a 10. So, that means on a downhill putt or chip, you need to think carefully about your placement and landing spots and be mindful of your tempo.

Mountain landscape: if you've ever played this course on the Trackman SIM, then you've probably hit a few shots out of the mountain / desert hazards alongside the fairways and gotten away with it. In real life, there are rocks, bushes, boulders, etc. A lot of the time if you put one OB, its GONE. The back nine is all in the mountains, so you will challenged to keep your shots on their intended line.

If you can play around those constraints and avoid taking too many hero shots, you will live to tell the tale and walk away with a good score. :)

When I played here, I was the first out, played solo, just after sunrise, in a gentle breeze on a brisk morning in the beautiful mountain landscape. IMO It doesn't get much closer to heaven,...

This was my 1st time at PGA West Dunes Course and was not disappointed. The range has regular mats surrounded by simulated rough, the grass range appeared to be closed when I was there. No rubber tees were in use, regular tees are placed in a slot and held firmly in place. There is a chipping green and a putting green, both with holes cut. The carts are top notch, have GPS, are very clean, and comfy. During check in, the bag guy took my clubs and put them on my assigned cart, he did inform me as such when he saw my panicked face. Whew. The course was in great condition throughout, there are tees for every ability, and there is plenty of challenge ahead if/when you miss your shot. The greens are receptive and I never saw a pitch mark. Playing on Dye course I was expecting the greens to be lightning, but they seemed reasonable. The "Indio" break thing adds to the mystique and messed with me more than I'd imagined it could. The wind picked up on the back nine (which seemed more of what I'd expect a Dye course to be) and made the sudden abundance of water hazards all the more intimidating, while taking regular length holes and making them brutes. The pace of play was great, 3:40 for 18 holes. That seems amazing considering the humps, mounds, elevated greens, tiers, sand, and all the other design features. It was pretty easy to find all the balls for the foursome, the majority of the time. Great course, definitely...

We played PGA West Mountain course last year as a extra afternoon round and absolutely loved the course. The 16th signature hole was amazing to see and play. My buddies and I come to PGA West every year for a week long golf trip and we rent a home on one of the golf courses. We decided to add the Mountain Course into our tournament rotation. This year driving to La Quinta from the Bay Area our rental SUV was broken into and all our luggage was stolen. It was quite the nightmare and we basically only had the clothes we were wearing. When we checked into the Mountain Course pro shop we mentioned to Tristian our story and was asking where we could buy multiple golf outfits for the week. While we were playing our front nine Andrew a manager came out to us told us he heard our story, wanted to help us, and gave us complimentary beverages from the beverage cart. A few holes later Andrew came back after hearing we had no clothes with seven PGA West golf shirts for us. Later Tristian met us on the 16th signature hole and took selfies with us and upon leaving said when you guys come in lunch is on us in the restaurant! We were blown away with their kindness and generosity! To be treated so well by them when the previous day we had just endured a nightmare restored hope that there’s still a lot of good and kind people in this world! Thank you so much to the PGA West Mountain Course staff especially Andrew...