Palm Springs early november - got burned by overseed season

[HoleInOne_Holly]

Booked a four day trip out there for the first week of November thinking we'd hit the sweet spot right before peak season rates kicked in. Nope. Half the courses we wanted were fresh out of overseed, the other half were mid-process. Showed up at PGA West and got told cart path only, no walking, and the greens hadn't been cut in about a week. That ball was rolling maybe a 7 on the stimp. Maybe.

Not a total disaster, we still played and the weather was perfect. But paying $180 to stay on the path while the fairways are half dirt and the rye is still filling in is a tough pill. La Quinta Mountain was in better shape, SilverRock looked like a construction site, and Classic Club was actually solid. So if you go that early, book the places that overseeded first and skip the ones that are mid-flip. Nobody at the pro shop will volunteer that info either, you have to ask straight up when they punched and when they reopened.

The thing nobody tells you is that reopening day is not opening day. Rye needs 3 to 4 weeks to knit in and the super is babying it the whole time. Some spots won't let a cart off the path at all for the first two weeks, and a couple won't even allow carts, period.

Next time I think we just push to mid-December and eat the higher rate. Anyone played that November window and actually nailed the timing? Or is the real move to go in June, melt for $60 a round, and call it even?

[tallguy_tx]

June is the sleeper answer and nobody wants to hear it. $50-60 at some genuinely good tracks, 6am tee times, and you're done by 10:30 before the heat really turns on. Yeah it's 108 by noon but you're in the car with the AC blasting by then. I've done PGA West Stadium in June for like $79 and had the whole place to myself.

On the November thing though, the date that matters isn't when they punched, it's when they closed. Ask the shop "what was your last day open before overseed" and "what day did you reopen" and do the math yourself. Anything under 3 weeks from reopen and you're basically playing on dirt with a green topcoat. La Quinta Mountain gets it right because they do the big course first and stagger, so by the time you show up one of the two is always dialed.

Also nobody mentioned the Coachella Valley overseed schedule that the superintendents association posts. It's not perfect but it's way better than calling 9 pro shops and getting 9 different answers. Worth googling before you book.

Mid-December is fine but the rates that week before Christmas are brutal. I'd rather gamble on the second week of November and just have a backup list ready.

[GreenReader]

The reopen math is the right instinct but it's still not enough, in my experience. Tallguy_tx is on it with the 3 week rule but I'd push it to 4 for anything with bentgrass greens. The fairways can look green and still be an unplayable mess because the rye is shallow rooted and the cart traffic just tears it up. That's why you get cart path only for two weeks even after the range opens. Super isn't being difficult, the turf literally won't hold a wheel.

On the June thing, I've done it and I'll be the contrarian here. Yeah the rate is a steal and the courses are empty, but 108 at 10am is a different animal than 108 at 2pm. There's no shade on those desert tracks and by your 7th hole you're not swinging the same. I shot 79 at Classic Club in June and it felt like I'd run a 10k. I'd rather pay the December premium and actually enjoy it.

One thing nobody's mentioned: that Coachella Valley schedule tallguy mentioned goes stale fast. It'll say "SilverRock reopens Oct 28" and then SilverRock pushes it a week because of a cold snap. So use it to build your short list but still call the shop the Thursday before you fly. I've been burned twice by trusting the posted schedule. Ask specifically "are the greens running true" and not "is the course open." Open and playable are two very different things out there.