Westin Mission Hills Gary Player Course Review

Texas Outside Rating: 8.9

Golf - Resort Public Course · 18 Holes · Par 72
Rancho Mirage, CA
Website

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Westin Mission Hills Gary Player Course Review

Reveiw and Rating of The Westin Mission Hills Gary Player Golf Course

The Westin Mission Hills Golf Resort and Spa is home to two very good 18 hole golf courses.  The Pete Dye 18 is a par 70 6706 yard resort course with all of the signature trade marks of Pete Dye - big raised greens, strategically placed bunkers, forced carries, and challenging putting surfaces.  Here is a link to our review of the Westin Mission Hills Pete Dye Course.  The The Gary Player Signature Course is longer from all of the tee boxes, a stroke or two harder, and it's home to huge greens, lots of mounding and bunkers, rolling fairways, and some water features. 

Troon, one of the best golf management companies in the golf industry, manages the courses and common to both courses are:

  • excellent conditions from the tee boxes to the cup
  • first class facilities including a well stocked pro shop
  • excellent service
  • The Westin's reputation for service, good amenities, and a good stay and play package

Some of what makes the Westin Mission Hills Gary Player course both fun and challenging are:

  • 68 bunkers and water on 11 holes
  • medium sized greens with plenty of slope
  • forced carries and tight tree lined landing zones
  • long par fours that require precision and accuracy
  • excellent conditions and first class service
  • spectacular scenery thanks to rugged mountains forming a backdrop to the greens and fairways, sparkling ponds, colorful fauna, and swaying palm trees 
  • and some great holes

Some of the holes that we really liked included:

  • #3 is a beautiful 528 yard par 5 with an easy carry off the tee over a pond to a tight fairway lined with mounds, hills, and trees and another lake at 200 out plus a small 26 yard deep green with a right side bunker
  • #5 is a beautiful 200 yard par 3 with an elevated tee box, cascading creek leading to a pond, and a small 22 yard deep and oblong green with 4 bunkers
  • snow capped mountains form a backdrop for #11 which is a a 558 yard par 5 with a lake from the tee box to the front of a green tucked off to the right side
  • #18 is a great risk reward shot off the tee box to try and carry more of the lake with several cascading waterfalls that runs from in front of the tee box to the right side of the green

When we played the greens on the Gary Player Course were outstanding - fast, smooth, soft, and true.  The greens are smaller on the front and bigger and tougher on the back with tiers, slope, and subtle breaks. 

The sand isn't the prettiest but it's soft, fluffy, and thick.  The bunkers range from small to some huge monsters.  The faces are manageable.

The fairways were also in near perfect condition and range from wide open to a tad tight and the mountains are a beautiful backdrop.

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Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope
Blue 6,643 71.5 126
White 6,044 68.8 117
Gold 7,062 73.6 131
Red 4,907 68.7 122

Course Information

Course Architect:
Gary Player
Greens Type:
Bent
Greens Condition
10.0
Greens Difficulty
7.0
Fairway Condition
10.0
Bunker Condition
9.5
GPS:
No
Walkable:
Yes - check with the pro shop
Beware of water on 11 holes and the 68 sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:
8.9 out of 10
Beauty:
9.5
Difficulty:
8.5
Variety:
8.5
Fun to Play:
9.2
Value:
8.0
Condition:
10.0
Front Nine Rating:
8.7
Back Nine Rating:
9.0
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Service is first class, the pro shop is well stocked, and the practice facilities are excellent.

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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.