Course Has Hope Dashed

Desi Arnaz wasn’t only Lucille Ball’s husband and a bandleader, he was also a big golf fan. So in 1960, when he was a member of the board of the Palm Springs Golf Classic, Arnaz helped make sure that Indian Wells Country Club was one of the courses used in the tournament.

The reason was simple: Desi loved Lucy, but he also loved Indian Wells Country Club.

Arnaz was one of the original investors in the club, which nestles snugly against the Santa Rosa Mountains. To this day, you can find Desi Lane right off the second tee at the country club, which has been played each year of the 45-year history of what is now the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

Next year, you can still find Desi Lane at Indian Wells Country Club, but you won’t find the Hope tournament anywhere around.

Last week, tournament officials announced that the course would no longer be used for the Hope.

What this means is that Indian Wells Country Club has seen its last pro tournament birdie.

It has seen its last rounds of 62-63, which is what John Cook did to the place in 1997.

It has seen its last presidential threesome of Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Gerald Ford, who played with Bob Hope in 1995.

It has seen its last playoff, such as the 18-hole doozy that Jack Nicklaus had with Gary Player when they were tied after 90 holes in 1963.

It has seen its last showdown, such as the one in 1966 when Doug Sanders defeated Arnold Palmer, which ultimately prevented Palmer from being a six-time champion.

What happened to Indian Wells is that it got too old, and that’s too bad. Only 6,478 yards long and with no room to get longer unless they start tunneling into rock formations, the course is too short by modern standards.

Players with space-age equipment overpowered the place. Not only is it the shortest course on the PGA Tour by about 350 yards, it also ranked as the easiest course on the PGA Tour the last three years.

The demise of Indian Wells as part of the Hope rotation was not unexpected. Neither was it particularly welcome, because it represented the passing of an era, but it was clearly the proper decision by John Foster and the executive committee of the Hope.

Even without Indian Wells, the Hope wants to maintain its niche and at the same time keep its flavor. That means using the Hope name and clinging to its format as a five-day, four-course event with groups of one pro and three amateurs.

Bermuda Dunes is the only original course that is still around, and it will be played once again next year along with the Palmer private course at PGA West, which serves as the home course; La Quinta, which becomes a regular; and Tamarisk, which is played every third year. Previously, La Quinta was played two of every three years.

Chances are that another course will have to be included in the rotation when Tamarisk isn’t played, and a decision is expected by next month. Speculation already centers on SilverRock Ranch, a Palmer-designed course under construction and owned by the city of La Quinta on a 525-acre plot. It’s supposed to be ready by 2006, which would be a nice fit for the Hope’s time frame.

Whichever way the Hope’s decision makers go, the tournament will go on and there still will be a lot of birdies made on perfect greens at the end of lush fairways. It’s just that Indian Wells Country Club will be missing all the fun.

It’s probably just a rite of passage for the place. We’ve already seen that nothing lasts forever as far as tournament names go (see Dinah Shore and Bing Crosby), although the Hope people say that won’t happen in the desert.

Next year at the Hope, the silence at Indian Wells is going to be deafening. But if you think about it, it has been getting quieter there for a while now. Before the tournament went away, the fabled Indian Wells jam sessions already were long gone. The sessions in the old clubhouse featured players who showed up after their rounds so they could, well, party.

You might stop by and see Ken Venturi on the drums, Lionel Hebert playing trumpet, Palmer leading the band and Player singing. It was what the old tour was all about. It isn’t what this tour is all about. The only time you see a bunch of pros in the same room is when they’re changing shoes.

The golf courses change too. At Indian Wells, the party’s over. The band has broken up, the pros have gone and Desi Lane is a one-way road leading to the front gates. Hey, it was fun while it lasted.