The hardest test Pete Dye could build, and you can book it.
The Stadium Course is the round most golfers fly into Palm Springs for. Its developers, Ernie Vossler and Joe Walser, asked Pete Dye for the hardest course in the world, and when the PGA Tour first played it in 1987 the professionals petitioned to have it dropped within weeks. It returned to the Tour in 2016 and now hosts the final round of The American Express every January. Unlike most championship venues in the Coachella Valley, which sit behind private gates, the Stadium Course sells tee times to the public. You need a clear plan for the 16th, 17th and 18th before you start.
PGA WEST Pete Dye Stadium Course green fees and tee times.
Public golfers book online through the PGA WEST tee-time site or by calling the Tournament Clubhouse on 760 564 7101. Green fees are demand-priced, so the same day can be several times dearer at 8 am than at twilight, and the site, not a rate sheet, is where you see the price. Fees include a shared cart, taxes and use of the practice ground on the day, except during overseeding. La Quinta Resort’s policy lets you cancel without penalty up to 48 hours before the day of play. Staying at La Quinta Resort & Club opens the resort’s Stay and Play package, which includes one round a night on its five courses; the Stadium carries a US$50 surcharge per round and the arrival-day round is excluded. Peak-season mornings sell first, so book these once your dates are fixed.
The round, in perspective.
Dye built the Stadium Course at PGA WEST in the mid-1980s as a desert sequel to his TPC Sawgrass. The ground is almost entirely man-made: sunken fairways, steep-faced bunkers and lakes, with the Santa Rosa Mountains as the backdrop. The run home is the reason it has a name. The par-five 16th has a greenside bunker on the left that the PGA Tour puts at about 20 feet deep; Dye called it the deepest greenside bunker this side of Mars, and players call it San Andreas Fault. The 17th, Alcatraz, is an island green of about 165 yards, longer than its Sawgrass cousin, with a larger island to match. The 18th is a par four with water down the left. From the back the course is par 72 and roughly 7,300 yards, with a 76.1 rating and a slope of 150, the highest at PGA WEST.
Know before you go.
Carts
Shared cart included in the green fee
Cancellation
Free up to 48 hours before the day of play
Dress
Collared shirt; no denim, T-shirts or cargo shorts
Spikes
Soft spikes only
Food and drink
No personal coolers; buy on site
Make the trip work.
Give the Stadium Course a morning when you are fresh, because the closing three holes punish a tired swing. Choose tees honestly: the back tees play to a 76.1 rating, and the forward sets cut the forced carries a great deal. Bring extra balls for the 17th, and accept that a shot into San Andreas Fault can cost two or three strokes to get out; at the 2025 American Express a Tour rookie made 13 on the 16th. PGA WEST says the course hosts the final stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School every other year, so check the December dates in those years. The Nicklaus Tournament Course is the natural second PGA WEST round on the same trip.
Palm Springs International Airport (PSP) is about 25 miles away, or roughly 35 to 40 minutes by car through Indian Wells and La Quinta. Ontario International (ONT) is nearer two hours west on Interstate 10, and Los Angeles (LAX) close to three hours without traffic. Hire a car: PGA WEST sits at the south-east edge of La Quinta and public transport does not serve it usefully.
La Quinta Resort & Club, which first welcomed guests in 1926, is the obvious base: its casitas are about 15 minutes’ drive from the Tournament Clubhouse and it runs the Stay and Play package. Rental homes and condominiums inside PGA WEST suit groups who want to walk to the clubhouse. Old Town La Quinta has restaurants a few minutes’ drive away, and the larger chain resorts of Indian Wells and Palm Desert lie 15 to 25 minutes west along Highway 111.
Make a trip of it.
The Nicklaus Tournament Course and the Greg Norman Course at PGA WEST are the easy companions. La Quinta Resort’s own Mountain and Dunes courses, both Dye designs, are ten minutes away. SilverRock, the city’s Arnold Palmer course, sits next door to the north-west. Away from golf, the trails at Lake Cahuilla Veterans Regional Park, beside PGA WEST, and the shops and cafés of Old Town La Quinta fill a rest day.
Find your season.
The course closes every autumn for overseeding: in 2026 it shut on 12 October, reopened on 9 November and was cart-path only until 29 November. The American Express is scheduled for 21 to 24 January 2027 across PGA WEST and La Quinta Country Club, with the Stadium Course used most. Summer rounds are cheapest but very hot; dawn tee times are the only comfortable choice.
Yes. It is one of the PGA WEST courses that sell tee times to non-members. You book online through PGA WEST or by phone, and you do not need to be a resort guest, though La Quinta Resort guests can use their Stay and Play package there for a US$50 surcharge.
How much does it cost to play the Stadium Course at PGA WEST?
There is no fixed rate. Prices move with season, day and time of day. In January 2025 The Golf News Net reported fees from about US$112 at twilight to US$399 for an 8 am start, in the weeks after the tournament. Check the booking site for your date.
How deep is the bunker on the 16th at PGA WEST?
About 20 feet, according to the PGA Tour. During construction the bulldozer hit water at 22 feet, so the floor was levelled at 20. It runs along the left side of the par-five green, and many professionals have taken big numbers there during The American Express.
What happened at the 17th hole, Alcatraz?
In the 1987 Skins Game at PGA WEST, Lee Trevino made a hole-in-one on the island green, and PGA WEST says the shot won a carry-over skin worth US$175,000. The Skins Game was held at PGA WEST every year from 1986 to 1991.
Last checked 10 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.
