Golf course
The Thunderbird Country Club is a
country club in
Rancho Mirage in
California 's
Coachella Valley . Its signature 18-hole
golf course has hosted the
Ryder Cup and the Palm Springs Golf Classic (now known as the
American Express ). Opened in 1951, the
country club has been a favorite of many celebrities, including
Bing Crosby and
Bob Hope ,
[1] as well as US Presidents
Gerald Ford and
Barack Obama .
[2] First known as the Thunderbird Ranch, it was purchased by
Johnny Dawson , who established Coachella Valley's first 18-hole golf course here in 1951.
[3]
[4]
The
golf cart is rumored to have been invented at Thunderbird Country Club.
[5]
[6] By its own account, the
Ford Thunderbird is named for the club.
[7]
[8]
It’s golf course was designed by Lawrence Hughes, also responsible for the 9-hole course at the
Tomahawk Lake Country Club in South Dakota.
=
References
[1]
^
Our History Thunderbird Country Club website, accessed March 28, 2015
^
Obama's visit put spotlight back on Thunderbird by Dominique Fong
The Desert Sun , June 21, 2014
^ Mallette, Leo A. (2011). Rancho Mirage . Arcadia Publishing. Page 9. ISBN 9780738575018.
^ Niemann, Greg (2005). Palm Springs Legends: Creation of a Desert Oasis . Sunbelt Publications. Page 191. ISBN 9780932653741.
^ Mahler, Richard (2005). Hidden Picture-Perfect Escapes Palm Springs . Ulysses Press. Page 125. ISBN 9781569754313.
^ Mallette, Leo A. (2011). Rancho Mirage . Arcadia Publishing. Page 9. ISBN 9780738575018.
^ Mallette, Leo A. (2011). Rancho Mirage . Arcadia Publishing. Page 9. ISBN 9780738575018.
^ Riche, Melissa and Jim (2018). Mod Mirage: The Midcentury Architecture of Rancho Mirage . Gibbs Smith. Page 12. ISBN 9781423648765.
External links
Ryder Cup venues
Worcester Country Club ,
Worcester, Massachusetts (1927)
Moortown Golf Club ,
Leeds (1929)
Scioto Country Club ,
Upper Arlington, Ohio (1931)
Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club ,
Southport (1933, 1937)
Ridgewood Country Club ,
Paramus, New Jersey (1935)
Portland Golf Club ,
Raleigh Hills, Oregon (1947)
Ganton Golf Club ,
Ganton ,
East Riding of Yorkshire (1949)
Pinehurst Resort ,
Pinehurst, North Carolina (1951)
Wentworth Club ,
Virginia Water ,
Surrey (1953)
Thunderbird Country Club ,
Rancho Mirage, California (1955)
Lindrick Golf Club , near
Sheffield ,
West Riding of Yorkshire (1957)
Eldorado Country Club,
Indian Wells, California (1959)
Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club ,
Lytham St Annes ,
Lancashire (1961, 1977)
East Lake Golf Club ,
Atlanta ,
Georgia (1963)
Royal Birkdale Golf Club ,
Southport ,
Merseyside (1965, 1969)
Champions Golf Club ,
Houston, Texas (1967)
Old Warson Country Club ,
St. Louis ,
Missouri (1971)
Muirfield ,
Gullane ,
East Lothian (1973)
Laurel Valley Golf Club ,
Ligonier, Pennsylvania (1975)
The Greenbrier ,
White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia (1979)
Walton Heath Golf Club ,
Walton-on-the-Hill ,
Surrey (1981)
PGA National Golf Club ,
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida (1983)
The Belfry ,
Wishaw, Warwickshire (1985, 1989, 1993, 2002)
Muirfield Village ,
Dublin, Ohio (1987)
Kiawah Island Golf Resort ,
Kiawah Island, South Carolina (1991)
Oak Hill Country Club ,
Pittsford, New York (1995)
Real Club Valderrama ,
Sotogrande ,
Andalusia (1997)
The Country Club ,
Brookline, Massachusetts (1999)
Oakland Hills Country Club ,
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan (2004)
K Club ,
Straffan ,
County Kildare (2006)
Valhalla Golf Club ,
Louisville, Kentucky (2008)
Celtic Manor Resort ,
Newport, Wales (2010)
Medinah Country Club ,
Medinah, Illinois (2012)
Gleneagles ,
Auchterarder ,
Perth and Kinross (2014)
Hazeltine National Golf Club ,
Chaska, Minnesota (2016, 2029)
Le Golf National ,
Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines ,
Île-de-France (2018)
Whistling Straits ,
Haven, Wisconsin (2021)
Marco Simone Golf and Country Club ,
Guidonia ,
Rome (2023)
Bethpage Black Course ,
Farmingdale, New York (2025)
Adare Manor ,
Adare ,
County Limerick (2027)
Olympic Club ,
San Francisco ,
California (2033)
Congressional Country Club ,
Bethesda, Maryland (2037)
versus
33°45′15″N 116°25′34″W / 33.7542°N 116.4261°W / 33.7542; -116.4261
