California's Great Public Golf Courses

California is nothing if not diverse, with climate zones ranging from the arid desert to the snowy alpine - in some parts of the state, all within 100 miles!

The origins of golf are uncertain; it is arguable (particulary by the Scots) that the game originated several hundred years ago in the cool, rainy highlands of Scotland; however, Scandinavians claim that it was introduced to the British Isles by Viking invaders and settlers.

Despite this, you'll find that most public golf courses in the Golden State are located in California's warmer, dryer climates. In fact, the top golf destination is Palm Desert, an oasis amidst the arid wastes between LA and Las Vegas.

However, the majority of California's public golf courses are located in teh densely populated regions of San Diego and the Los Angeles Basin; LA alone has 144 private country clubs and public golf courses.

Overall, the golf aficionado will find more than 1100 public golf courses from which to choose between Sacramento in the north to San Diego in the south and from the coast all the way inland to Indio.

Other popular California golfing havens include La Quinta, Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage and even the raisin capital of the world, Fresno.

Thanks largely to the ingenuity of visionary John Mulholland in the early part of the last century, precious water was brought from the Inyo Valley where it was doing very little good for anyone to the bustling, growing metropolis that needed it the most - and one of the results today is a plethora of public golf courses thoughout Southern California.

Desert Resort Country Club and Resort Course, located only three miles from the center of downtown Palm Desert, is a four-star facility with 18 holes over 6,585 yards with a par of 72. Meanwhile, La Quinta Resort Mountain Course only a few miles away in another four-star facility, offering the same level of play. These are only two of the many fine private golf courses in the area, and public golf courses are comparable in terms of play; while they may not offer quite as many amenities as their private counterparts, the public golf courses have benefitted from the presence of nearby private clubs, and offer the same challenging and enjoyable games at rates that are substantially lower.

In the central San Joaquin Valley, irrigation was not nearly the issue it was for Los Angeles. Thanks to the many rivers fed by the Sierra snowpack, public golf courses are plentiful in the Golden State's heartland. These fine public golf courses can offer 18 holes over more than 5,286 yards with a par of 69, such as Fresno's municipal Airways Golf Course - only one of California's many fine public golf courses.