Desert insiders know Palm Desert as the geographic and cultural heart of the Coachella Valley. This resort town with over 30 golf courses started as a barren outpost aptly named Sand Hole. Founder Cliff Henderson envisioned a modern utopia growing from the scrub andaas a centerpieceabuilt the Shadow Mountain Club in 1948. With its glamorous figure-eight swimming pool and high-dive competitions, the club drew celebrities, presidents, and future residents. Cliffas brother Randall Henderson spotlighted another side of desert life when he established the headquarters of Desert Magazine in the new town, luring readers to pack up their jeeps and move to Palm Desert. The brothersa twin vision made Palm Desert the irresistible blend of city and wilderness it is today. Visitors can shop El Paseo, known as the aRodeo Drive of the Desert,a then in 10 minutes embark on a mountainous thrill rideathe Palms to Pines Highway.

Golf Digest's Places to Play is the only guide to the public and resort golf courses of North America and the Islands that you need. Packed with comments and ratings by more than 20,000 avid players, Golf Digest's Places to Play offers complete profiles of 6,000 public and resort courses; addresses, greens fees, pars and yardage; USGA slope and course ratings; caddies, carts, lodging, practice ranges, and course policies, as well as travel tips and candid appraisals by golf experts. Golf Digest's Places to Play makes it easy for you to find what you want, listing courses that offer great value, great service, great pace, and great conditioning, and comes with alphabetical and geographical indexes that make it a cinch to locate courses.

"A volume covering four landforms created by erosion, including Uluru in Australia, Antelope Canyon in the United States, Cappadocia in Turkey, and China's Zhangye Danxia"--

Record-breaking media sensation Tiger Woods has moved beyond the fairway to take the world by storm. After becoming the first golfer in history to win three straight U.S. Amateur titles, his win at the 1997 Masters Tournament gave him a permanent place in the record book: youngest player to win, lowest score ever, and first African-American player to win. In Tiger, John Strege, golf writer and longtime friend with unparalled access to Woods and his family, takes us behind the scenes of this incredible life--from the time Tiger picked up a golf club at age nine months, to his first hole in one at age six, to his unprecedented domination of junior, amateur, and now high-stakes professional golf. Packed with personal anecdotes from family, friends, teammates, and coaches, as well as what it's like to play on a course with Tiger from golf greats such as Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, Tiger provides a riveting shot-by-shot account of Woods's life up through the 1997 season. It details the unshakable relationship with his parents, the racial issues that have surrounded him, and the string of almost mythical successes that have carried him all the way to Niketown. A role model for young and old alike, Tiger Woods and his story will capture the minds and hearts of sports fans everywhere.

Against a dramatic background of desert mountains, the sparkling green fairways of the Coachella Valley have attracted world-class golf tournaments, athletes and dignitaries for decades. In the 1920s, enterprising oil tycoon Tom O'Donnell built one of the first nine-hole courses in Palm Springs, and the area was a hangout for Hollywood's elite by the 1940s and '50s. Bob Hope's namesake PGA Tour event became a mainstay, while Bing Crosby, Dinah Shore, the Marx Brothers, Marilyn Monroe and more frequented over the years. Today, the valley is a renowned perennial golf destination boasting over 120 courses and exceptional resorts. Follow award-winning local golf columnist Larry Bohannan as he recounts the storied history of the game under the desert palms.