Indian Springs Golf Club Review

Texas Outside Rating: 8.2

Golf - Public Course · 18 Holes · Par 72
Indio, CA
Website · Book A Tee Time

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Indian Springs Golf Club Review

Indian Springs Golf Club was built in 1962 and completely redone by Dave Ginkel in 2000 and shortly after reopening, Indian Springs Golf Club gained a reputation as a very friendly golf course, with good conditions, some fun holes, scenic mountain views, a good value, and "perfect 10 greens" that are some of the best in the area and consistently rolling around a 10 on the Stimpmeter.  All of that contributed to Indian Springs Golf Course being named "Best Course Under $100" by The Desert Sun and in 2008 - 2009 received Golf Digest's 4 Star Rating. 

During your round you'll encounter 47 bunkers, 8 beautiful lakes, 3 waterfalls, 2 streams, and majestic views of the Santa Rosa and Chocolate Mountain ranges.  Indian Springs is very player friendly with ample fairways, wide roughs that are open and playable, and water hazards that have a bail out or safe approach for the conservative players.  There are four sets of tee boxes with yardages ranging from 5297 to 6794.  The greens are very fair and small to average size.  All of that means that you can have a relaxing and enjoyable round with an opportunity to turn in a great score - the course record from the back tees is 62!  This is a great beginner, family, and couples course but can provide a somewhat challenging round for the better players.

The front nine is pretty traditional and straightforward with water on seven holes, fairly flat and wide fairways, 29 bunkers, and greens ranging from small to average size.  This nine is your opportunity for some birdies and pars. Beware on some of the holes that look easy thanks to short distance or few hazards may still test you with a tough approach to a small green or have a green with some challenging slope and undulations.  On the front nine, #9 is a fun 375 yard dog leg right hole with a good risk reward opportunity off the tee box if you think you can fly the tree and avoid the fairway bunker. 

The back nine seems to get progressively much better, more challenging, and much more interesting as it leads to the clubhouse.  The fun starts with:

  • #13 is a 520 yard par 5 with a blind shot gently uphill and then back down to the green with two bunkers short of the green to catch short shots and then a green with a bunker on the right front and water on the right that continues on around the back of the green
  • #14 is a short 126 yard par three that needs to carry a pretty lake to the green
  • #15 has a cascading creek coming from a pond on the left side that crosses in front of the green and feeds another pond that guards the green on the right and around the back of the green - little room for error on the approach
  • #18 is a good 556 yard par 5 with a gully along the left side of the fairway, then a carry across the rough, and an approach to a green guarded by water encroaching into the fairway and protecting the right side of the green

When we played in February the fairways were in very good condition.  They are ample but if you miss them there is a wide rough that is very playable - you may need to play around a few trees and palms.  All of the fairways are lined by homes set up on a sloping rough.  The rough was dormant and in pretty good shape. 

The Indian Springs Golf Club greens range from small to average sized and most are protected by at least one bunker or water.  The fringe and areas around the fringe were near perfect as were the greens.  The greens range from pretty flat to gentle slope and some undulation.  They run very true and a consistent speed of around 10. 

The bunkers have pretty good sand and range in size and shape with most being pretty large.  The lips are pretty flat and in a lot of cases we hit the bunkers and rolled out! 

When we played the fountains and 3 cascading waterfalls were were not working for some reason, which was disappointing because the sound and beauty would enhance the round.  The mountain ranges are impressive.

Bottom line, Indian Springs Golf Club provides a relaxing, fun, and affordable round and is excellent for families, couples, and new golfers - it won't beat you up but can provide some challenges. 

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Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope
Blue 6,386 70.3 123
White 6,131 68.7 120
Gold 6,794 72.0 127
Red 5,297 70.1 122

Course Information

Course Architect:
Dave Ginkel
Greens Type:
TIF Dwarf
Greens Condition
9.5
Greens Difficulty
7.5
GPS:
Yes
Walkable:
Not allowed
Course Map
Beware of water on 14 holes and the 47 sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:
8.2 out of 10
Beauty:
7.5
Difficulty:
7.5
Variety:
7.5
Fun to Play:
9.0
Value:
9.0
Condition:
8.8
Front Nine Rating:
8.0
Back Nine Rating:
8.5
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FEES & AMENITIES

Approximate Weekend
Rates: $35.00 to $99.00

Service is very good and friendly, the pro shop is well stocked, and the practice area is good. The clubhouse has a bar area, several flat screens to catch the games, and some good food.

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Here's How Texas Outside Determines the Scorecard Rating

The Texas Outside rating scale ranges from 1 to 10 – a perfect 10 course would be something like this:  links along a cliff overlooking the Pacific ocean and bordered by tall trees; lush fairways on rolling hills with lots of natural hazards; water (which is crystal clear) on most of the holes; immaculate greens (but they are undulating and tough); lots of variety and character (each hole is completely different and includes blind shots, elevation changes, doglegs, and significant challenges); perfectly manicured traps with the whitest and prettiest sand you’ve ever seen; a nice club house with great food and a 19th hole; a GPS; plenty of beverage carts or your own cooler and ice; and it only costs $40 bucks! What this means is that you probably won’t find any 10s in Texas – try Cabo San Lucas, Pebble Beach, or some of the Hawaii courses! 
Texas Outside rates courses on the following:

  • Beauty – tall trees, rolling hills, beautiful houses, waterfalls, and similar stuff would score high; a 1 would be flat, bushes or cactus instead of trees, and some grass but mostly weeds
  • Difficulty – a straight, 300 yard par 4 with no traps or hazards, no out of bounds or water would probably get a 1; if it is a 460 yard par 4 over two ravines, with water along one side, natural hazards on the other, strategically placed traps or that dreaded tree right in the middle of the fairway, we are talking a 10. 
  • Variety – what would you give a course where all the holes looked and played exactly the same (“I thought we just played that hole!”); were side-by-side, which is good for finding or dodging other people’s balls, but not much fun; and you can see the flag from every tee box?  That’s right, it gets a 1.
  • Fun Scale – a 10 is where you walk off the course and say “now that was fun” and you can’t wait to get back, or you immediately turn around and play another 18 holes
  • Value – a 5 is $50 to $60, a 10 is $20 to $30, and 1 is $200 or so – of course all of this is dependent upon how you liked the course.  For example, if a run down, boring municipal course, with six players on each hole was only $10; it would still get a value rating of 1.
  • Condition – this one’s pretty easy – what condition are the fairways. A 10 commands very lush perfectly manicured fairways, compared to a 1, which has fire ants, weeds, and more dirt than grass!
  • Condition of Greens and Difficulty – very hard to read greens with lots of undulation and tough pin placement, rate very high on the difficulty scale.  Condition is self-explanatory.  

All of the above determines the overall score for the golf course.  In other words, we like courses that are pretty, fun, very challenging with a lot of variety, and fairways and greens in excellent condition – all for $40.  We also tend to play the courses that are affordable for the masses, which means in the $30 to $80 range. We rate hard and we haven’t found a 10 in Texas yet – don’t worry we haven’t given up and we’re still looking.