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Course: Celebrity Course at Indian Wells
Designer: Clive Clark, 1973 Ryder Cup member
Slope: 138
Rating: 74.2

The Clive Clark-designed Celebrity Course opened for public play on Nov. 1, 2006. The par-72, 18-hole, championship golf course is the first of two new golf courses to be built at the Indian Wells Golf Resort .

The reachable par-5 14th plays only 519 yards from the tips.

The City of Indian Wells supplied Clark with the original West Course property plus an additional 30 acres, but the Celebrity Course is far from a renovation, as all of the golf holes are completely new with only a couple that could be considered vaguely familiar.

Clark did, however, utilize many mature trees found on the original property to impart the feel of a venerable facility while at the same time delivering a modern approach to golf course design.

"I appreciate the opportunity to design this golf course, and I'm quite pleased with the finished product," said Clark. "From the onset, I was given the liberty to be creative, and that led to 18 truly unique golf holes."

Most of the holes are oriented north/south to take advantage of views of the San Jacinto, Santa Rosa and San Bernardino mountain ranges, and an Indian Wells icon, Eisenhower Mountain, stands sentinel to the south. Wildflowers that cover the out-of-play areas as well as the areas encircling the green complexes create a colorful backdrop.

As a "core golf" layout, roads and homes do not intrude into the playing field, and each hole is designed to be somewhat sheltered from the others to elicit a feeling of solitude. The golf course's seven water features -- waterfalls, creeks and ponds -- come into play, and are designed to have both aesthetic and strategic appeal.

Clark moved nearly 320,000 cubic yards of earth in the process of building the Celebrity. Large mounds that flank many of the golf holes effectively increase the landing areas. Shots slightly off-line tend to kick back into play, while shots well off-line bounce off the backside of the mounds away from the fairway and generally into trouble.

Clark's use of bunkers places a unique stamp on the golf course. Many of the bunkers form the high point of a larger sweeping contour, and they are located in-play for tactical consideration and out-of-play for visual appeal. In many cases the bunkers are pitched towards the golfer exposing the green fingers of grass that jut into them.

The Indian Wells Golf Resort has been a popular golf travel destination for nearly 20 years offering two golf courses and four hotel/resorts. The City of Indian Wells, owner of the golf resort, decided to bolster the golf resort's reputation by embarking on a $55 million project.

The opening of the Celebrity Course marks the first step, and the new John Fought-designed Player's Course -- along with the new 53,000 square foot Douglas Fredrikson-designed clubhouse -- will follow in November 2007.

"We're very pleased to be opening the new Celebrity Course," said Roger Behling, Golf Resort Director for the City of Indian Wells. "The golf course turned out exceptionally well, and we're excited to put it on display."

The Golf Resort at Indian Wells is managed by OB Sports Golf Management which currently manages 29 premier golf facilities throughout the United States and Mexico.

"I've been in the golf business long enough to know that the Celebrity Course is going to be something special," said Orrin Vincent, C.E.O. and founder of OB Sports Golf Management , the management company overseeing the construction management and operations for the Indian Wells Golf Resort. "We are excited to be a part of the transition to the new golf facilities, and personally I'm chomping at the bit to play the golf course."