Indian Wells Golf Resort

The Coachella Valley setting does most of the aesthetic heavy lifting. The Santa Rosa and San Jacinto mountains frame nearly every hole, rising sharply from the valley floor in a way that makes the desert sky feel enormous. Bermuda fairways give way to manicured desert waste areas, and the light in this part of Southern California — particularly in the early morning and late afternoon — has a quality that photographers and architects both covet.

Indian Wells sits in a valley that draws serious golfers from October through April, when the climate is genuinely ideal. It's a destination layout that rewards players who come prepared but delivers enough spectacle to make the experience worthwhile even on a difficult day.