Best Palm Springs Courses for Match Play and Side Bets

The best buddies-trip rounds usually do not come down to scorecards alone. They come down to presses on the back nine, a nervy up-and-down to save a skin, or one guy standing on a reachable par 5 trying to win the whole day with a reckless cut over water.

Palm Springs is quietly excellent for that kind of golf. The desert gives you plenty of room off the tee on some courses, but the strongest match-play layouts still know how to create pressure, especially late.

For match play and side bets, you are not necessarily looking for the hardest course in town. You want volatility.

You want holes that can swing fast, options that reward aggression, and enough forgiveness that one bad hole does not ruin the rest of the match. The courses below do that best.

Quick Answer: Best Palm Springs Courses for Match Play and Side Bets

The best Palm Springs golf courses for match play and side bets are Indian Wells Celebrity, Desert Willow Mountain View, Eagle Falls, Escena, and Indian Canyons South. These layouts combine wide enough landing areas for mixed groups with just enough risk-reward architecture, drivable or birdieable stretches, and pressure-filled closing holes to keep matches alive.

Indian Wells Golf Resort notes that its two courses are ranked among Golfweek’s Top 25 Best Municipal Courses in the United States, while local 2026 public-course lists continue to rate Desert Willow, Indian Wells, Eagle Falls, and Escena among the area’s strongest public options.

Indian Wells Golf Resort: Celebrity Course

Celebrity is one of the best all-around betting courses in the valley because it keeps everybody in the game without feeling soft.

• Clive Clark’s design gives you generous landing areas, but the angles into greens and well-placed water still create decision points where matches can flip quickly. The course is part of a resort property that says both tracks are ranked among Golfweek’s Top 25 Best Municipal Courses in the United States, which helps explain why it feels polished without becoming overly punishing.
• The routing has enough scorable holes that birdies actually show up in group play, which matters for skins and Nassau games. A match-play course cannot be all defense. It needs some holes where someone can steal one with a wedge or a hot putter.
• The late-round visuals also help. Water features, desert framing, and resort conditioning make the last four or five holes feel bigger than they are, which is exactly what side-bet golf needs.

Best if your group wants a resort-caliber match-play course that keeps both low and mid handicaps engaged.

• Pros: generous off the tee, polished conditions, strong closing pressure
• Cons: premium pricing, less wild than a true stadium-style test