Desert Willow cleans out overgrown areas, reduces turf during renovation

The two city-owned golf courses at Desert Willow Golf Resort in Palm Desert opened in 1997, and like most courses of that age, they needed some tender loving care.

“Twenty-eight years of desert vegetation growing, it just got away from us,” said Ryan Szydlowski, director of golf at Desert Willow.

Like other courses in the desert from the 1980s and 1990s, Desert Willow has been engaged in changes and renovations over the last few years. While that started at the Firecliff Course in the summer of 2024 with a switch to MiniVerde grass for its greens , the Fireclliff Course continued to see big changes with both turf reduction and the clearing out of overgrown or dead plants and trees this summer.