For the first full week of January, the weather forecast for Greater Cleveland is grey skies with a high temperature of 34 degrees and snow or freezing rain.
A Greater Cleveland golfer could opt instead for sunny skies with a high of 71 degrees and 0% chance of rain. And this option includes three days of tournament golf on the same world-renowned courses that will host a PGA TOUR event just a few days later.
Hmm, one sounds better than the other.
The 2019 Palm Springs Golf Championships will be played January 7th – 9th in the beautifully-scenic southern California desert. The scratch Gross Division of this tournament is contested at three of the PGA West Tournament Courses (Norman, Nicklaus and TPC Stadium), while the La Quinta and Desert Willow Resorts host the Net Division.
The PGA TOUR will play the 2019 Desert Classic on January 17 – 20th, the week following the PSGC. The TOUR will play the PGA West TPC Stadium Course, the PGA West Nicklaus Course, and the La Quinta Country Club in the 60th edition of that event.
So if you play in the Palm Springs Golf Championships, you’ll play courses that are in PGA TOUR tournament-ready condition, and you’ll do so in front of the grandstands, scoreboards and hospitality tents that are already in place for the following week.
How cool is that.
Even better, the entry fee is super reasonable — especially given that it’s prime-time golf season in the California desert.
The Gross Players Division will play Monday’s first round on PGA West’s Greg Norman Course. On Tuesday, the field moves to the PGA West Jack Nicklaus Course. Then on Wednesday, the final round is played on the iconic PGA West TPC Stadium Course, one of the Top 100 Courses in America.
The Net Players Divisions will play Monday and Tuesday on the Dunes and Mountain courses at La Quinta Resort & Club. Wednesday’s final round is on the Firecliff Course at Desert Willow (pictured below), a top new public course in Palm Springs.
The Net Division is broken down into four flights based on age and gender. There are trophies for the top-three finishers in each flight / division.
Brilliantly, there are also some optional “honey pots” available daily for each flight/division. A $50 entry fee each day allows a player to enter to win a bit of cash or a Visa gift card for that day’s round, player’s choice. It’s all very well thought out and USGA approved.
A Monday Horse Race is a fun side-event of the week, starting at 2p on the Dunes Course at La Quinta. It’s a casual afternoon of 2-player team golf and beverages. The top four teams split the pot 50% / 25% / 15% / 10%, and the entry fee is just $25.00 per player, all of which goes into the prize fund.
There is a hospitality suite that will be open after Monday and Tuesday play with music and drinks, and an awards banquet following play after Wednesday’s final round.
A stay-and-play package is available at Indian Palms condos to make the price of a room very affordable. There are two other nearby hotel options, too.
And if you want to play some discounted practice rounds in advance of the tournament, those rounds are available on Saturday Jan 5 and Sunday Jan 6.
Oh, and everyone in the Gross Division gets a brand-new Titleist Premium Sunday Carry Bag as a tee prize, while the Net Division players get a Fifty Fifty bottle and a package of other great golf products.
The tournament hosts are the father-and-son team of Owen and Eric Hoskinson, who have run tournaments across Palm Springs for 20 years and have hosted thousands of players from across the country. They know Palm Springs golf, they know how to run fun/competitive tournaments, and their goal is to build their Palm Springs Golf Championships into the “West Coast winter version” of the Myrtle Beach World Am.
If you have any questions at all, contact Tournament Director Eric Hoskinson by phone at 206-351-3704 or by email. He’s an easy-going guy and always happy to talk to someone interested in coming out to Palm Springs in January to play a little golf…
Get complete details about each of the Tournament Courses, Pricing, What’s Included, Stay-and-Play Packages, Schedule of Events, Divisions & Flights, Honey Pots, and BOOK YOUR SPOT IN THE TOURNAMENT:
