Desert Falls Country Club in Palm Desert is a gated condominium community built around an 18-hole Ron Fream course that has been open since 1984. The homes sit under homeowners associations. The golf belongs to a separately owned club that takes public tee times, sells memberships under its own contracts, and posts those contracts online. The 2026 annual contract prices a single golf membership at $6,996 a year and a couple at $10,200, with a $1,000 or $2,000 initiation for new members.
Key takeaway: at Desert Falls you can buy the condo and never join the club. If you do want to play, read the club's contract as carefully as the HOA resale package, because it is a one-year commitment with no refund.
Where is Desert Falls Country Club, and who owns it?
The club's address is 1111 Desert Falls Parkway, Palm Desert, CA 92211, and its main line is 760.340.5646. Sale cards in the file below list Country Club Drive, Frank Sinatra Drive, and Cook Street as cross streets.
Ownership is harder to pin down. ClubCorp's annual report for 2016 lists Desert Falls among its private country clubs. Invited, where clubcorp.com now redirects, does not list it today. The club's website and 2026 contracts name no owner beyond "Desert Falls Country Club and its owners." The one public record I found naming an entity is a September 2022 Golden State Finance Authority agenda listing commercial PACE bonds of up to $1,999,939.42 for "Desert Falls Country Club, LLC." It does not say what the money was for or who stands behind the LLC, and I could not confirm when ClubCorp sold. Ask the club for the owning entity by name.
What is the Ron Fream course like?
The club's golf page says Desert Falls has offered "18-hole, championship golf" since 1984, "Designed by renowned, international course designer Ron Fream." The membership page calls it a "links-style" course. The club's posted scorecard, marked 1/23, prints a par of 72, 36 out and 36 in. From the blue tees it plays 6,686 yards, rated 72.4 with a slope of 128 for men.
The range tells you how the club runs. The golf page says the public hits off covered synthetic turf while members hit off grass on the other side. The home page cites a Southern California PGA top-ten listing and a four-star Golf Digest "Best Places to Play" rating, undated. If you tour this month, note that the home page says the facility is closed for overseeding through October 31 and reopens Sunday, November 1.
Desert Falls Country Club membership cost: what the 2026 contracts say
The membership page, read October 8, 2026, lists three ways to play: annual membership, seasonal membership, and play passes. It links two contracts, both created August 23, 2026. The annual agreement covers the membership year November 1, 2026 through October 31, 2027:
- Single: $6,996 a year, or $583 a month for 12 months, with a $1,000 initiation fee.
- Couple: $10,200 a year, or $850 a month for 12 months, with a $2,000 initiation fee.
- Young Executive Single: $5,796 a year, or $483 a month. Initiation is "As applicable."
- Young Executive Couple: $8,004 a year, or $667 a month. Young Executive members must be 55 or under.
The same contract lists annual add-ons: cart rental at $845 single or $1,050 couple, a trail fee at $700 or $895, and club storage at $200 or $350. It allows a 3% credit card surcharge. Men's and women's golf association dues are separate.
The seasonal contract is paid in full up front. For November 2026 through April 2027, three months cost $5,000 single or $7,500 couple, and four months cost $6,500 or $9,500. Its summer rows are for May through September 2026, a season already over. The membership page lists play passes at $1,260 for 12 rounds and $2,000 for 20.
Two caveats. First, the annual contract says its rates "are based on the prior Club schedule provided," and its last page carries a note that the form "is intended as a protective membership contract template" that California counsel should review "before final adoption." Get the final version before you budget from it. Second, the club's pages disagree on booking. The membership page promises members 21-day advance tee times, and the annual contract lists 14 days. Ask which one applies.
The annual agreement says monthly billing "is a payment plan only" and that the full year is owed if you resign, move, get hurt, or stop playing.
Is membership tied to the home? No, according to the club's own paper. The annual contract has no resident or non-resident tiers and says membership "confers no ownership, equity, proprietary, voting, or future renewal right in the Club." Listing remarks in the sale file describe golf as pay as you play or optional, and say HOA dues cover fitness, tennis, and pickleball. That comes from listing agents; confirm it in the resale package. The 2026 club documents list no social membership.
How are the homes and HOAs at Desert Falls organized?
As a master association with sub-associations, though I could not read the governing documents. Directories that repeat California corporation filings list a Desert Falls Villas Master Association, incorporated in 1988 at 99 Desert Falls Drive East, plus separate associations for Desert Falls Villas I, The Links, The Courtyards, The Estates, and an earlier Desert Falls Homeowners Association. Sale cards most often name the master as "Desert Falls Master Association."
The home count does not agree across sources. Sale cards print 1,086, 896, and 925, so I won't pick one. Of 254 cards, 234 mark the community gated, and many remarks describe a 24-hour guard gate. Get the resale package for the specific unit and confirm which sub-association collects its dues, what they include, and whether an assessment is pending.
What have homes at Desert Falls closed for?
These are closed sales from one FlexMLS file, not a valuation. Status closed, city Palm Desert, ZIP 92211, subdivision exactly "Desert Falls Country Club": 254 closings from September 15, 2021 through September 14, 2026. The street names and listed tracts all point to the club, so nothing was filtered out. Prices run from $285,000 to $754,000. The median is $450,000, and 15 cards closed at exactly that figure.
This file is a condominium market. 252 cards are coded condominium, one townhouse, and one single-family residence. Year built runs from 1983 to 1995. If single-family sections are marketed under other subdivision names, they are not in this file. The floor, $285,000 on August 25, 2025, is a 1988 one-bedroom condominium whose remarks call it a "villa-style condo." The top, $754,000 on January 24, 2024, is a 1984 four-bedroom condominium on the first hole.
Some cards need a second look:
- The only single-family card, $630,000 on May 21, 2026, is marked attached and sits in a Courtyards tract where its neighbors are coded condominium. Its remarks do not say which it is.
- The townhouse card, $625,000 on May 6, 2025, matches its remarks. The same unit sold in 2022 under a condominium code, with remarks that called it a townhouse.
- Four condominium cards are marked not attached. Their remarks describe condos, including one upper-level and one lower-level unit. Two of them also check "No Common Walls."
How does Desert Falls compare with other Palm Desert clubs?
The useful comparison is how each club relates to the house. At The Lakes Country Club, the club says a social membership comes with the HOA dues, and its history page says the owners took over the club's assets in 1986. At Palm Valley Country Club, the membership page says owning a home inside the gates is not required. Avondale Golf Club was bought by a management company, and its pages disagree on equity. Desert Falls is the plainest on paper: a posted price list and a contract that says you own nothing in the club.
The Desert Falls Country Club developments page is the short note already on this site; where it differs from the club's documents, go by the club. For the wider city, see the Palm Desert neighborhood page, and before you write an offer, read what a buyer's agent should do first.
What should you confirm before you buy at Desert Falls?
How much is a Desert Falls Country Club membership in 2026?
The annual contract for November 2026 through October 2027 lists $6,996 single and $10,200 couple, plus $1,000 or $2,000 initiation for new members. It calls itself a template, so confirm final terms with the club at 760.340.5646.
Does buying a home at Desert Falls include golf?
No. Golf is sold separately, and the contract says membership carries no ownership or equity in the club.
Who designed the course, and how long is it?
Ron Fream, according to the club. The posted scorecard shows par 72 and 6,686 yards from the blue tees.
Who owns Desert Falls Country Club?
ClubCorp did as of its 2016 annual report. A 2022 public finance agenda names Desert Falls Country Club, LLC. I could not confirm who owns that LLC or when the sale happened, so ask the club.
What did homes in this sale file close for?
254 closings from September 15, 2021 through September 14, 2026, from $285,000 to $754,000, with a median of $450,000. The floor and the top are both condominiums. These are closed sales, not an appraisal.
I represent buyers and sellers at Desert Falls who want the club contract, the sub-association, and the sale history read separately before anyone signs. For a purchase or sale here, reach me, Norman Williams, at Stanton Williams Group | Compass. Call 760.464.2190 or email [email protected]. DRE #02051057.
