With more than 90 golf courses in the Coachella Valley, and more already under construction, the desert lives up to its self-proclaimed title of the Golf Capital of the World.

Think of Palm Springs and the surrounding Southern California desert and you'll probably conjure up the postcard images: palm trees, sunshine and, of course, golf courses.

With more than 90 golf courses in the Coachella Valley, and more already under construction, the desert lives up to its self-proclaimed title of the Golf Capital of the World.

While about half of the desert courses are private, any golfer can still find the right course to play in the Coachella Valley. World-renowned layouts like those at PGA West and La Quinta Resort can challenge the best amateur golfers. But those courses may be just a few minutes from a par-3 or executive course perfect for older players or beginners.

What attracts the golfers, both vacationers and part-time residents alike, is the winter weather. While the rest of the country shovels snow or shiver in sub-zero temperatures, the Palm Springs area basks in sunshine and temperatures in the 70s or 80s.

It was that weather that brought the biggest Hollywood stars to the desert in the 1940s and 1950s. Bob Hope, Danny Kaye, the Marx Brothers, Phil Harris and Desi Arnez were among the first desert players. President Eisenhower had a golfing home in the desert, as does legendary Arnold Palmer. The 1950s saw the desert's first golf boom, with legendary names like Thunderbird, Eldorado and Indian Wells country clubs springing from the desert sand.

Professional golfers flock to the Coachella Valley as well. Played at four desert courses, the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic is one of the oldest events on the PGA Tour and will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 1999. The Nabisco Dinah Shore has been the premier event on the LPGA Tour since it debuted in 1972. The high-stakes Skins Game has been an annual Thanksgiving event in the desert since 1986. Other tournaments, like the Senior Match-Play Challenge and the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, rotate through the Coachella Valley every few years.

While the new Canyons at Bighorn is drawing plenty of attention in the last few months, this design by Arthur Hills is still one of the most spectacular and tricky layouts in the Coachella Valley.

Hills' course makes extensive use of the neighboring hills in south Palm Desert for a breathtaking back nine, originally the course's front nine. Starting with the par-4 11th, the mountains provide coves for elevated tees, with tee shots played down to fairways that are more generous than they appear from the tees.

The trademark hole is the par-4 15th, featuring a 176-foot drop from the back tee to the green some 475 yards away. The tee provides a wonderful vista of the eastern half of the desert.

The front nine is not as dramatic, but features some tricky holes, including the hump-backed green on the par-3 eighth and a scary downhill tee shot on the par-3 second. Long hitters will be tempted to go for the greens on the side's two par-5s, the third and sixth, though both greens are well-protected by water.