The Palms reopens following renovation by Brian Curley and Fred Couples
The Palms Golf Club in La Quinta, California, has reopened its golf course following a renovation by Curley-Wagner Golf Design.
Architect Brian Curley designed the layout in 1999 with professional golfer Fred Couples. The pair reunited – like they have done at The Plantation Club – to complete work that aims to restore the course’s original look, while also refining it for modern play.
Work has included reconstructing creeks, tree removal and clearing vegetation to reveal features that had filled in over time. Fairways have also been widened to improve playability and restore the doglegs that are a hallmark of the design. All this work aims to make the layout feel more open and playable, and more visually connected to its desert surrounds.
Brian Curley and Fred Couples designed the course in 1999 and were brought back to restore the original look and to ensure the layout measures up to modern play (Photo: Curley-Wagner Golf Design)
“Over the past 25-plus years, the course had seen subtle changes that were mostly imposed to cater to the elite player,” said Curley. “These included tighter fairway widths and added trees that took out alternative angles of play. Fred and I feel that this recent effort brought back much of the original width creating more playability for the average player, yet the course certainly remains one of the more challenging layouts in the desert.”
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