DEATH VALLEY, Calif. – As you drive through Death Valley National Park, across the desert west of Las Vegas, just across the border into California, you pass the Devil’s Golf Course sign. Don’t be fooled. It is not a course but a vast, desert-like fabric of eroded rock salt, people say, like a place Lucifer might set it.
For some golfers, there is a better option, another 14 miles up the road. The only real course in Death Valley, the lowest building in the world, in one of the hottest places in the world.
Surrounded by endless acres of salt flats, sand dunes and awe-inspiring rock formations, in the hot heart of the Mojave Desert, Furnace Creek Golf Course could pass for a magical, sparkling green in a Mad Max setting. In fact, it is a literal oasis, fed by ancient underground springs.
The game’s roots in this unlikely place reach back to the late 1920s, when a caretaker of a palm plantation roughed up a three-hole course as an amenity for a newly built hotel. In those days, borax mining drove the local economy. But even so, before their business waned, mining officials realized that Death Valley itself — and the tourism it was meant to draw — represented a better long-term bet.
And that golf could be part of the appeal. Expansion of the course took place in stages: nine holes in the early 1930s, then 18 holes in 1968. About 30 years later, Perry Dye, Pete Dye’s son, fixed the whole shebang, leveled the grounds. -70 which, because of its dead height, plays longer than its 6,236 yards.
“It’s the opposite of mountain golf,” said Furnace Creek head coach Jon Skaggs. “If you think of a 7-iron, you should hit a 6.”
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On April 1, 1907, the following advertisement appeared in Death Valley Chuck-Wallaa small newspaper published by a local mining camp: “Would you be happy to go to hell? You might enjoy a trip to Death Valley. Now! We have all the benefits of hell without the hassle. “
The squib was an April Fool’s squib. But it symbolized the truth. There were plenty of creature comforts to come.
The original hotel, originally known as the Furnace Creek Inn, is now the Inn at Oasis. It’s an upscale resort option that also boasts the family-friendly Oasis Ranch. Combined, the children’s hotels offer a wide menu of amenities and entertainment, including a spring-fed swimming pool, luxury accommodations, horseback riding, bicycle rentals, guided stargazing and more.
Some of these jobs are seasonal. But golf is year-round, with seasonal restrictions focused on safety. In the hottest months, when the mercury often cracks 120 degrees, 18-hole rounds should start before mid-morning. Sunrise is a popular first time. Even then, coyotes often outnumbered the wagons.
The descent into Furnace Creek has more than one meaning. The course record is 61. But anyone can take it deep. The building is located on the 5th green, 214 meters below sea level. Not that you’re seeing any heavy lifting. The grounds are very flat, with a variety of greens, and views that stretch to the Panamint Mountains in the distance. In the winter of 1849, a group of 49 travelers lost in search of a shortcut to the Sierras, looked down from those peaks at the valley that almost killed them when one of them said, “Go well, Death Valley.”
Thus goes the story of how this place was baptized.
As for Furnace Creek, it was heavily used in the 1860s, and it’s not hard to imagine how it came to be. In summer, the temperature rises quickly with the sun and continues to rise until sunset, as the warm air, trapped by the surrounding mountains, circulates back to the valley.
On the track, when the wind picks up, it can hit you like an oven blast. Relief comes in the form of drinking stations, and the shade of tamarisk trees lining the many streets. Yet the greatest comfort may lie in the sense of solitude and the singular beauty of the place. You play courses like no other in the world, and you get the most out of them.
Ignore the temperatures. How cool is that?
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