And as the name might suggest, water comes into play on 12 holes. The gently sloping fairway rewards a good drive, leaving you a chance to hit a long-iron second shot into an oblong green guarded by sand and water. This, and many of the holes at Soboba Springs, find their charm through Muirhead's philosophy that players be rewarded for thinking their way around the golf course. Just a few miles north on Highway 79 is the city of Banning, home of Sun Lakes Country Club, a semi-private course and the centerpiece of a retirement community opened in 1987. This is anything but your typical senior layout, however.
Local knowledge can mean at least four or five extra strokes here.
On the par-five 18th, water surrounds the green both left and right, providing an appropriate finish to a challenging track. No golf destination would be complete without an offering from the King, and that's where Arnold Palmer's 1995 creation, Empire Lakes, comes into the fold. Located in Rancho Cucamonga, Palmer followed the lay of the land to create a mostly treeless, relatively flat course which stretches to 6,923 yards. Featuring tall grasses and white sand splash bunkers, this par-72 test is vulnerable to high winds, making the experience as close to a links feel as you can get being nearly 70 miles from the ocean. A fine collection of water hazards do come into play, however, and this is where you'll find the course's most interesting holes.