Desert Willow Golf Resort

Desert Willow Golf Resort opened its Firecliff course in 1997, followed a year later by Mountain View, both routed across the Coachella Valley floor by architects Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry with input from PGA Tour player John Cook. Unusually for the desert, the resort is owned by the City of Palm Desert and run as a public-access facility, a civic project meant to showcase environmentally sensitive design. Landscape architect Eric Johnson helped assemble a native, water-wise plant palette, weaving desert willow, mesquite and wildflowers through the corridors. Firecliff, named for a supper club run by early residents Leonard Firestone and Clifford Henderson, is the sterner test, stretching past 7,000 yards with more than a hundred bunkers and waste areas. Mountain View plays shorter and friendlier, with wider fairways framed by the Santa Rosa Mountains.