New courses announced for CareerBuilder Challenge

Just a week after getting a title sponsor, the former Humana Challenge announced new courses that will replace the Palmer and Nicklaus Private courses at PGA West.

“I think it’s clear to say we’re on a roll here at the CareerBuilder Challenge,” said Bob Marra, tournament executive director and CEO.

The TPC Stadium Course and Nicklaus Tournament Course will join La Quinta Country Club as the three courses used for the 2016 CareerBuilder Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation.

“We actually thought that our needs and the public’s needs were best served by having them on our public courses,” said Paul Cherrett, managing director at PGA West and La Quinta Resort and Club. “And again, this clubhouse and these courses were built for tournament play.”

TPC Stadium’s history and difficulty made it a no-brainer for the signature Sunday course for the professionals. The golf course played host to the former Bob Hope Desert Classic in 1987 and was criticized by pros at the time for being too difficult. Officials hope that difficulty will provide some potential late-stage dramatics on championship Sunday.

“This is where the Skins game started,” added Cherrett. “It has the island green that is very similar to the one in Sawgrass and has three very difficult finishing holes that are both picturesque but also very challenging.”

Besides the beautiful par-3 island green on 17, on the 16th hole there’s a bunker 20 feet below the leftside green that can cause some major trouble in late-round situations.

Cherrett reaffirmed that residents of PGA West were not bothered by the tournament in the past on the Palmer and Nicklaus Private Courses, but changes had to be made.

“There was absolutely no complaints, it was really more of a conversation about where we think it’s probably best suited for tournament play.”

Last July Marra said PGA West made financial considerations to take the private courses out of play. He believes this new partnership with the Stadium Course and Nicklaus Tournament Course will be a success. The deal is for at least the next two years.

“Tt’s another way to this tournament to expand the economic and social impacts that its had over the years,” Marra said. “And hopefully, we’ll be bringing more people to the Coachella Valley because of the broadcast on television, the fame it brings, and how cool it looks on TV.”