By Richard Humphreys |
David McLay Kidd has developed a masterplan for Coral Mountain Desert Club, a new 400-acre private club in La Quinta, California.
Meriwether Companies, a private resort real estate developer, is leading the development of the new club, which is being built on an undeveloped parcel in Greater Palm Springs. The project represents the area’s first large-scale private club in more than 20 years.
“Coral Mountain Desert Club represents something entirely new for the region and a bold evolution of desert living,” said Noah Hahn, managing partner at Meriwether Companies. “We are excited to offer a modern club where active families can connect through fitness, wellness and adventure, with direct access to one of the most inspiring landscapes in the West.”
Coral Mountain represents Kidd’s first course in the Coachella Valley, with the architect planning a layout that flows on the natural terrain. It will also have long-range views of Coral Mountain.
“My passion for golf is about creating special experiences in compelling landscapes,” said Kidd.“I’vespent a lifetime doing just that at Bandon Dunes in Oregon and the Castle course in St Andrews, Scotland, where I was born and raised. At Coral Mountain Desert Club, I have the opportunity to create my first original work in Southern California. On my very first visit I revelled in the light cast across the valley, shadows in the mountains and the colours in the rocks. I knew I had found another compelling landscape to do my best work, and where my team and I could craft a course unlike anything nearby. A course that enthrals with intrigue, adventure, whimsy and playfulness, while exciting and perplexing golfers over and over again. We can’t wait to start creating something fresh and new, yet so steeped in the roots of the Scottish game I grew up around.”
Coral Mountain will include a driving range, a clubhouse by design firm Hart Howerton, racquet courts, fitness and wellness facilities, a pump track, a recreational lake, resort-style pools, dining areas and an expansive trail network connecting members to more than 20,000 acres of adjacent public land. It will also partner with Thermal Beach Club to deliver a 48-chamber surf lagoon, which would make it one of the largest pneumatic wave basins in the country.
The first phase of work is underway, with completion of the golf course, wave basin and first set of amenities expected to be in 2028.