SUITED TO A TEE GOLF IN THE DESERT PRESENTS CHALLENGES, REWARDS.

Byline: Story by Gregory J. Wilcox Staff Writer Photos by Al Cuizon Special to Great Escapes

INDIAN WELLS - Fatal Attraction, the 12th hole at the Nicklaus Tournament Course at the PGA West complex in La Quinta, is a devilish par 3 with a green protected by a wide expanse of water.

During a recent outing, my foursome - a husband and wife and a middle handicapper who's bagged more than 1,000 courses on six continents thanks to a job that requires lots of travel - all hit fine shots that ended up on the green. A couple watching from their veranda and a lone groundskeeper on an adjacent fairway might have thought we could really golf our ball.

That memory? Priceless.

The cost of the dozen Callaways I dumped in other assorted water hazards or sprayed into the desert over four consecutive rounds testing relatively new courses and more established venues? About $25.

It's not just the heat that makes desert golf challenging. Pick the wrong set of tees and your ball supply, handicap and ego will all take a beating.

Then there's deciding where to play, which is almost as tough as the courses.

That's because green abounds in the Coachella Valley, and not just the kind of old money that brought to this strip of desert a high concentration of Rolls-Royces, Bentleys and Hummers.

Golf courses are everywhere. Most are discreetly tucked away to the north and south of Highway 111, which cleaves the valley from Palm Springs to Indio.

A few years ago, when the 100th course opened, the Palm Springs Desert Resorts Convention and Visitors Authority crunched some numbers and figured out that the valley featured a course every 1 1/2 square miles. That distance is shorter today, because the 116th course is scheduled to open early next month.

That makes for the greatest concentration of fairways, greens, bunkers, water hazards and penal rough in California.

Single-digit handicappers, duffers and hackers can play about half of the courses - 54 are either public or resort layouts, 54 are private tracks that require the invitation of a member, and seven are what's known as reciprocal facilities that offer playing privileges to members of other private clubs.

Rates here vary with the season. Golf is most expensive in season - January through about April - and least expensive in the hot summer months. But package deals on room rates and golf and spa packages are available online.

In most cases, it's worth the extra expense to play here, because the courses are well-maintained year-round. Check ahead, however, because this is the time of year a lot of courses are scalped - the Bermuda grass cut down to the roots and overseeded with rye for a winter coat.

Visitors can play courses created by some of the game's best players and designers - Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman all have courses here.

It's possible to play some of the same courses the pros do, because the valley hosts men's and women's professional events, some on public courses. For example, the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, which began in 1960, is moving to a new public course, the Palmer-designed Classic Course at NorthStar, which opens the week of the tournament in January.

The Trilogy Golf Club at La Quinta, another relatively new public course, has hosted the Skins Game, a popular Thanksgiving tradition, for the last several years.

The Palm Springs area is also a good destination if your traveling companion does not golf, since visiting spas, relaxing by a pool with a good book and shopping the huge Cabazon outlet mall off Interstate 10 are inviting diversions.

For a recent visit, we settled on the Hyatt Grand Champions resort in Indian Wells. It was close to the courses I'd booked: The two at the Golf Resort at Indian Wells are adjacent to the property, and the other two, Nicklaus and Trilogy, are in nearby La Quinta.

The Indian Wells courses offers spa-golf package deals at four hotels in the city. Trilogy also offers packages with hotels, as well as an on-site spa.

Grand Champions' spa was a hit with my wife. She was totally relaxed after a warm-stone massage on Friday and a facial on Saturday.

I, meanwhile, was off to Trilogy, one of the newer courses in the valley (designed by Gary Pranks, it opened in 2002).

Since public golf typically costs more in the desert than Los Angeles- area municipal courses, employees do their best to give patrons a private- course feel. That was certainly the case here. Carts and range balls are just about always included in Trilogy's fee.

Though I arrived 90 minutes late (the golf desk at my hotel gave me incorrect driving directions), a Trilogy staffer employee led me out to the second tee and introduced me to the threesome I'd be playing with.

Then the fun began. Without any warm-up, I sent a drive down into the rough along the the right side of the fairway. From there, my long-iron shot headed in the general direction of the green.

Never saw that ball again. Not only is the rough a lush green, it's so long in some places that a wayward ball simply vanishes.

But this course, like the equally demanding Nicklaus venue, offers a fair test for all skill levels. The views of the Santa Rosa Mountains, meanwhile, are spectacular from every Coachella Valley course I've played.

Trilogy, like the Nicklaus course, winds past mostly single-story pastel homes that line the fairways.

Head pro Brandon O'Neill said Trilogy is intended to be a firm test for professionals from the back tees. But it's enjoyable for golfers of all skill levels, too.

``We get so many people that come off the golf course and say, 'I just broke 80,' or, 'I just broke 100 for the first time,' '' he said.

The trick, he said, is to find your comfort level, and the best way to do that is to leave some of the real estate to the big hitters.

For example, Trilogy offers six sets of tees, ranging from the Skins set, which stretches the course to 7,175 yards, to the green tees, which play to 4,998 yards. The former is for pros or single-digit handicaps, the latter for beginners.

The two courses at Indian Wells offer a whole different feel and look. The mountain views are just as spectacular, but there are no houses lining the course.

The Ted Robinson-designed complex that opened in 1986 is getting a $44 million face lift. ``We're going to completely tear it out and rebuild it. That's what it amounts to,'' said Roger Behling, the city's director of golf.

Work has just begun on the West Course. After that is completed, crews will move to the East Course. The renovation is expected to be completed in 2007.

That's why the East Course, a modest 6,232 yards from the white tees, was in so much better shape this fall.

The East Course is one of the few courses around that features an island fairway. The par-3 13th hole, which is 352 yards from the white tee, features a carry-over-water to the fairway. The second shot, if it's dry, is another carry-over-water to the green.

Behling said that the renovation will reroute some of the holes to take better advantage of the mountain views. Also, the greens will be rebuilt. There are about 6,600 trees on the property, and all of the big ones are to be preserved, he said.

One thing that won't change, though, is the vibe of the two courses. You know the desert is close by, you just don't see it from either the East or West courses.

``We will keep the parklike setting for both courses,'' Behling said. ``We're known as an oasis in the desert, and we want to make sure we keep that green-belt setting.''

Gregory J. Wilcox, [phone]

greg.wilcox(at)dailynews.com

IF YOU GO

GOLF RESORT AT INDIAN WELLS: Fees are $100 Friday, through Sunday, $90 Monday through Thursday. Twilight rate is $40 daily at 2 p.m. [phone]; www.indianwells.org.

HYATT GRAND CHAMPIONS: 44-600 Indian Wells Lane, Indian Wells. [phone]; grandchampions.hyatt.com.

PGA WEST: In La Quinta. Fees for the Nicklaus Tournament Course are $175. [phone]; www.laquintaresort.com.

TRILOGY GOLF CLUB: In La Quinta. Fees are $99 Friday through Sunday, $89 Monday through Thursday. Twilight rate is $49 weekdays after 12:40 p.m., $59 weekends after 12:40 p.m. [phone]; www.trilogygolfclub.com.

CAPTION(S):

5 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Darell Choate, left, Floyd Rosson and Diane Choate take on the No. 6 hole at La Quinta's Trilogy Golf Club, one of the newer courses in the Coachella Valley.

(2 -- 3 -- color) Scenic mountain views come with the territory for golfers playing courses such as Trilogy in La Quinta, right. Afterward, your foursome can grab a patio table at Azul, the clubhouse's restaurant, above.

(4) The water looks pretty - but it can be murder on your golf-ball budget - at the 17th hole on the East Course at Indian Wells, where golfers must hit their tee shots over the lake.

(5) The Trilogy Golf Club hosts the annual Skins Game, but there are tees at varying distances from the green to accommodate players of different skill levels.

Box:

IF YOU GO (see text)