By Jack Kirkwood

It’s a name from Scotland and it’s as much a part of the great game that originated on the coastal links of the old country as the acres of green grass and trees we normally associate with beautiful golf courses everywhere in the California desert communities just east of Palm Springs. 

If Troon conjures up images of misty Scottish moors and links courses carved out of great plains by the sea, don’t be alarmed.  Its supposed to get your attention and get you to the first tee every day you have the opportunity, the same for visitors and for the Scots who love the game just as their thousands of annual visiting golfers do.

So it is that the enterprising folks in Scottsdale, Arizona, planning to build the best golf management team in the American West, came up with just the right name fondly borrowed from those fabled Scottish links and Troon Golf has been a great success ever since. No doubt the thinking at the time was to adopt the Scottish ways and a related identity that had special appeal. 

If Royal Troon near the west coast and one of the British Open’s five links courses in Scotland was the answer then Troon it is and there is none better today. The wise council members of the City of Indian Wells chose Troon Golf to take on the management duties of the city’s golf resort immediately upon the opening of the redesigned and rebuilt Celebrity and Players courses just three years ago.  The success of this partnership continues from its beginning to provide Indian Wells and its many golf visitors with an outstanding golfing day with both courses, though vastly different, hugely successful in the eyes of every player.

The favorite roadside sign in rural Scotland is “Haste ye back”  The Scots always wish the best and how better to urge every visitor to return.