The Golf Center at Palm Desert and The First Tee

By Apryl DeLancey, on July 27th, 2008

Do you need a place to work on your short game? Have you ever wondered where you could donate clubs you weren’t using? Did you ever feel like you wanted to volunteer your time by getting young people involved in golf? The Golf Center at Palm Desert is the place for all of this and more.

The Course

The track at The Golf Center is a nine hole par 3 that you can get through in about an hour. It’s the perfect spot to practice your short game before a full 18 at one of the bigger courses in the desert. We had the place to ourselves and really enjoyed it. The greens were actually quite challenging as the bright sun and the lay of the grass made you believe they were much faster than they actually played. We navigated the entire course with our 9 irons, pitching wedges, and putters. The 4^th hole had the longest distance of the course at 137 yards from the back of the tee box (Okay, I actually pulled out my 8 iron for this one). The shortest hole is the 9^th at 90 yards from the back of the tee box.

In addition to short game practice, this is an excellent course for beginners and children that are new to the game. The longest distance on the course using the front of the tee box is that 4^th hole at 108 yards. There are short holes at 53 and 68 yards as well.

The green fees are $10 for nine holes or $15 for 18 holes year-round. Seniors are $9 for 9 or $14 for 18 and juniors are $5 and $10. They also have year-round Mens Day every Tuesday and Ladies Day every Thursday where fees are $8 and $12. The facility also offers lessons, a driving range, and a snack bar. Fresh water and shade are strategically located throughout the course as well. You can get all details on their website <a href="http://www.cvrpd.org/programs/golf.htm">here</a>.

The First Tee

The First Tee has been around for ten years and uses the game of golf to teach children and teens life skills. What better sport than golf to learn perseverance, honesty, and integrity? The chapter in the desert just came into existence in January of 2008 with a gala opening that included the likes of entertainer George Lopez. The First Tee Coachella Valley is now well into their program rhythm and is headed by Mr. Jan Hagen, a former San Diego high school principal.

The First Tee focuses on nine core values that participants learn in addition to the game of golf; honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, courtesy, and judgment. They also keep up with how the participants translate these skills from the course to home and school. The program in Palm Desert is open to all children and teens from ages 8-17. This chapter also has a special curriculum for even younger kids that gets them ready for the full program when they are old enough. At most, the cost per child is $100 for one year. In some cases the fees are reduced and Hagen stressed that money will never prevent a child from participation. Each participant has a set of clubs to use at the facility that suits their individual need. In order to accommodate the expenses the chapter has dedicated fundraisers and takes donations of clubs or cash. By giving your old clubs and equipment to the organization they use them in one of three ways. An older child will use the clubs as they are, a clubmaker will cut them down, or they will be liquidated to cash.

There are chapters nationwide and around the world. You can find more information on the Coachella Valley group on their website here. Find a chapter in your area on the main site here.

The back of the tee box for the first hole.