Desert Springs Golf Club in Palm Desert: the JW Marriott's Palm and Valley courses

Desert Springs Golf Club in Palm Desert is the pair of resort courses, the Palm and the Valley, at the JW Marriott Desert Springs. Both are Ted Robinson parkland layouts around lakes and palms, open to outside play on GolfNow. No rate card is published. In fall 2026 the Valley stays open while the Palm overseeds until about November 23.

This guide covers who can book, how the two courses differ, what is known about overseed and price, and the resort and villa stays that come with them. Published detail on these courses is thinner than for most of the valley, and this guide says where a fact is missing. Details were seen November 2, 2026.

Quick facts

• Courses: Palm and Valley, 36 holes, both par 72.
• Design: Ted Robinson Sr., mid-1980s; updated by Ted Robinson Jr. in 2011 (GolfNow).
• Access: resort courses open to outside play, sold on GolfNow.
• Fall 2026: Palm closed about Oct 26 to Nov 22; Valley had tee times on Nov 3.
• Price: no rate card; Greenskeeper band $50 to $100 average weekend peak, undated.
• Golf shop: 760-341-1751. Hotel: 760-341-2211.
• From downtown Palm Springs: about 24 minutes, 14.7 miles.

Palm vs Valley

The Palm Course is flat and water-heavy, built around the resort's lakes. The slopes, 130 from the back and 123 from the White, make it a manageable round for most groups.

The Valley Course is described as parkland golf with palm-framed, multi-tiered greens and water. Only its back-tee yardage, 6,627, is published, with no rating or slope.

Both are resort parkland golf, not desert target golf. If your group wants railroad ties and pot bunkers, that is PGA West or the Westin's Pete Dye course. If you want green, lake-lined holes next to your room, this is it.

Who can play Desert Springs Golf Club in Palm Desert

Both courses are open to outside play and sold on GolfNow. Resort guests are the core market. The JW Marriott Desert Springs describes the courses as public with hotel-guest preference, but guest perks such as priority or special rates were not confirmed. Ask about guest tee times and rates when you book the room. Third-party stay-and-play packages have been sold, for example 4 nights and 2 rounds through Golf Zoo, but the terms seen were from 2023 to 2025, so check what is current.

Desert Springs Golf Club rates

No published rate card was found for either Desert Springs course. Greenskeeper gives an average weekend peak band of $50 to $100, undated. That is a broad, older-looking band, so do not budget off it. For comparison, Desert Willow, 3 minutes away, publishes its own estimates: $125 to $210 for prime times from January to mid-April and $115 to $180 from October to December. Get a quote from GolfNow or the shop for your dates, and see Palm Springs golf rates.

Overseed: book the Valley in early November

The two courses overseed at different times so one stays open.

• Palm: a Greenskeeper alert lists it closed October 26 to November 22, reopening November 23, with likely three weeks of cart path only after. The alert does not show the year, but the same site's Desert Willow alert matched the official 2026 dates. A search snippet of the same page gave October 24 to November 23, reopening November 24.
• Valley: GolfNow showed a next available tee time of Tuesday November 3, 2026.

So in early to mid November 2026, book the Valley. Confirm the Palm's dates with the shop before planning around them. See Palm Springs golf overseed.

Staying at the JW Marriott Desert Springs

It is a large, central conference-style resort on Country Club Dr with two courses out the back door, a lobby lake with boats, multiple pools, the Spa at Desert Springs, tennis and pickleball, and several restaurants. Marriott Bonvoy points apply.

• Resort fee: $51.30 per room per night (resortfeechecker.com, updated February 2026; was $45 in 2025). Some packages, such as Costco Travel's, include it.
• Room rates: not read for this guide; check marriott.com.
• Watch-outs: busy with conference groups, and both courses overseed in fall.

A sample stay around the two courses

A four-night stay at the JW Marriott in mid to late November 2026 shows how the staggered overseed shapes a trip. Early in the stay, play the Valley, which was open in early November, and Desert Willow Mountain View, 3 minutes away and open since October 23. If you are still there after about November 23, add the Palm once it reopens, expecting cart path only for roughly three weeks. Firecliff stays closed until December 26 in 2026, so it is not an option for a November visit. From January to April all four courses should be open, and Desert Springs Golf Club in Palm Desert becomes one of several mid-valley choices rather than the only one open.

Villa stays for a week or more

Marriott's Desert Springs Villas are timeshare villas beside the resort, about a 12-minute walk from the courses, with kitchens and washers. One listing shows golf privileges as an optional add-on, so check that golf access is included before you book. Owner resale rentals usually go by the week:

No monthly or snowbird rate was found, so a month means stacking weeks from owners. That makes the villas better for a one- or two-week stay than a full season. See Palm Springs snowbird rentals and Palm Springs golf resorts.

What else is close

Desert Willow is the obvious pairing. In 2026, Firecliff is closed for overseed from November 9 to December 25 and Mountain View reopened October 23, so a mid-November stay here has the Valley and Mountain View open. Read Desert Willow Golf Resort.

Marriott has a second resort course in Palm Desert: Marriott's Shadow Ridge Golf Club, Nick Faldo's first US design (2002, with Brian Curley), par 71 and 7,006 yards at 73.7/135 from the back. Booking 30 days ahead gets its best available rate. Its 2026 overseed dates were not found.

For dinner, Morton's The Steakhouse is on Country Club Dr close by. For the rest of town, read Palm Desert golf courses and where to stay in Palm Springs for golf. Course pages: Desert Springs Palm course guide and Desert Springs Valley course guide.

Is Desert Springs Golf Club worth it?

For a group staying at the JW Marriott, yes: two courses at the door make the logistics easy, and the slopes suit mixed abilities. For a visitor staying elsewhere, it is harder to judge without published rates. Desert Willow next door publishes its price bands and sells a season card, so compare the two quotes before you book.

Plan it on the map

Open the Palm Springs golf map to see the Palm and Valley courses, Desert Willow and the Palm Desert stays around them. The $30 plan puts each course on a day it is open, around the staggered fall overseed.