A golfer’s life story, told in eighteen holes and a lot of water.
Mission Hills North is the only Gary Player signature course in the Coachella Valley, on Ramon Road in Rancho Mirage. It is open to the public, with its own online tee sheet, and needs no resort stay or membership. The setting is classic desert golf: lakes and waterfalls in the foreground, the San Jacinto Mountains behind. Player named every hole after a moment from his own career, which gives the scorecard a story to read between shots.
Mission Hills North (Gary Player Signature Course) green fees and tee times.
Public tee times are booked through the course’s EZLinks tee sheet, linked from the website, or by calling the shop on 760-699-0111. Coachella Valley residents with the CV discount card use a separate tee sheet, and cards are issued in person at the golf shop on set mornings. No visitor rate card is published online, so the price shows when you pick a date and time. Your green fee covers range balls; a practice-only day pass costs US$40. Golfbreaks sells the course as part of Palm Springs packages, which suits golfers who want hotel and golf priced together.
The round, in perspective.
The course measures 7,062 yards from the black tees, with gold, silver and jade sets below that and two combination routes of 6,393 and 5,525 yards. From the back it is rated 73.4 with a slope of 134. Player fitted greens and tees into ground that was already there where he could, and the club says blind shots and doglegs are almost absent. The fairways are wide. Water is the issue: lakes come into play on ten holes. The par-five 11th, Afrikaan, has water within reach on all three shots, and the 5th, 8th and 12th all bring a lake into play. The front nine closes with Black Knight and the back nine with 59, both par fours with water, and the 18th asks for a drive over a lake to a fairway bending right.
Know before you go.
Season
Reopened for the 2026–27 season on 7 November
Pace
Scorecard target of 4 hours 15 minutes
Range
Balls included with the green fee; practice pass US$40
Local rule
E-5 alternative to stroke and distance in use
Make the trip work.
The scorecard is worth a read before you tee off. The 1st is Johannesburg, the 17th is The Greatest, and the 18th is simply 59. The practice ground has a full grass tee line with several targets, a short-game area with a bunker and two putting greens. Toilets are on the 6th and 15th holes, and water stations sit at every third hole. The clubhouse is a temporary building above the lake shared by the 1st and 10th, with the grill and patio overlooking the course.
Palm Springs International (PSP) is the nearest airport; Rancho Mirage lies between Palm Springs and Palm Desert, and Ramon Road links the course with Interstate 10 to the north. You will want a hire car, as public transport in the valley is thin for golfers carrying clubs.
Rancho Mirage has several large resorts. The Westin Rancho Mirage is the nearest of the hotels Golfbreaks lists with this course; the Hilton Garden Inn Palm Springs/Rancho Mirage is a simpler, cheaper base near The River shopping centre. In Indian Wells, the Renaissance Esmeralda and the JW Marriott Desert Springs in Palm Desert put you central for a week of rounds. Golfers who want nightlife stay in downtown Palm Springs.
Make a trip of it.
Mission Hills North fits a week built around value public golf. Tahquitz Creek in Palm Springs adds two contrasting courses on one site, and Classic Club in Palm Desert has more of a tournament pedigree. If budget stretches, the SilverRock course in La Quinta is a modern public test. Away from golf, the Sunnylands estate in Rancho Mirage, once the Annenberg winter home, has public gardens and tours.
Find your season.
The course shuts for part of the off-season and reopened for the new season on 7 November 2026. Prime months are January to April, with dry air, warm days and cold early mornings. Book early around the big tennis and music weeks in the valley each spring, when hotels fill.
Yes. It takes public tee times online through EZLinks and by phone. A separate tee sheet exists for Coachella Valley residents who hold the club’s discount card, but visitors do not need a membership or a resort booking to play.
How long is the Gary Player course at Mission Hills North?
It plays 7,062 yards from the black tees and 6,643 from the gold. Silver tees measure 6,044 and jade 4,907. Par is 72, with two par fives and two par threes on each nine.
Is Mission Hills North open in summer?
It closes for a period in the off-season. For 2026 the club announced a reopening date of 7 November for the new season, and asks golfers to check the tee sheet for available dates rather than assume summer play.
Last checked 11 November 2026. This is an independent planning guide, not a first-hand review or a booking service. Check live availability, access, fees and travel details with the operator before booking. Airport suggestions are starting points for route planning.
