HISTORIC GOLF CLUB - Palm Desert has always been a place of reinvention. Long before the resorts, galleries, golf carts, and signature cocktails by the pool, the city began as a collection of dreams drawn onto an empty canvas of sand and sun. Among the earliest of those dreams was the Shadow Mountain Resort & Club — a destination built on optimism, leisure, and the promise of a new kind of desert lifestyle.
Today, as modern Palm Desert continues to grow in every direction, one historic landmark has been given a second life. Shadow Mountain Golf Club, once nearing extinction, has been restored with care, purpose, and vision — thanks to the leadership of Palm Desert resident Lindi Biggi, whose intervention stands as one of the region’s great preservation stories.
This is the tale of a golf course, a community, and one woman who refused to let history fade away.
Where Palm Desert’s Story Begins
In the 1940s, developer Clifford Henderson, later known as the “father of Palm Desert,” looked across the open desert and imagined a resort community unlike anything in the Coachella Valley. By 1948, Shadow Mountain Resort opened its doors with the iconic figure-eight pool, a wood-and-stone clubhouse, tennis courts, and guest cottages.
For many, this resort was their first introduction to Palm Desert. Los Angeles families drove east to escape fog and crowds. Veterans moved in to build new lives. Travelers discovered a different rhythm of living — unhurried, sun-drenched, and centered around community.
Among the palm trees and breezeways, a new identity began to take shape. Shadow Mountain became not just a place to stay, but a place to belong.
Iconic Figure 8 Pool
The First Golf Course in a Growing City
In 1958, Palm Desert received its first official golf course when Shadow Mountain Golf Club opened. The design came from Gene Sarazen, one of golf’s legendary figures, working alongside George Von Elm. They crafted a par-70 course that was short in distance but enormous in personality: narrow fairways, small greens, and clever angles that rewarded finesse and punished ego.
The course quickly filled with members — more than 270 by 1960. Families bought homes along the fairways. Architects added mid-century designs that still attract admirers today. Weekend players and retirees walked the course with the same sense of ease that defined the early desert lifestyle.
Shadow Mountain wasn’t just a club. It was the heartbeat of a young community.
The Long Decline
But time can be unkind, even to icons.
As the decades passed, Palm Desert grew outward. New resorts and luxury courses appeared, catering to a changing market.
Shadow Mountain:
— intimate, historic, walkable
— struggled to compete against billion-dollar developments and manicured mega-resorts.
By the 2010s, the club had fallen into disrepair. Financial problems mounted. The fairways dried. Membership dropped. Rumors spread that the course might be closed permanently and sold for redevelopment.
For many longtime residents, the idea was heartbreaking. Shadow Mountain wasn’t just a golf course; it was a symbol of Palm Desert’s origins — a reminder of when the town first came alive.
And then, just when it seemed the club might disappear, something remarkable happened.
Enter Lindi Biggi: The Woman Who Would Not Let It Die
In 2021, philanthropist and Palm Desert community leader Lindi Biggi stepped forward to purchase the 63-acre property. She wasn’t a developer. She wasn’t a speculator. She was someone who believed deeply in the community — and in the importance of preserving its history.
Biggi made a promise:
The land would not be turned into housing. The golf course would endure.
Then she set to work. Under her ownership:
• Failing irrigation systems were repaired
• Course drainage and pump stations were restored
• Fairways, greens, and bunkers were brought back to life
• Professional management was brought in to stabilize operations
• The club reopened its arms to the public
• Membership grew again
• Events, tournaments, and gatherings returned
In a region where so many historic sites have been lost, the revival at Shadow Mountain is nothing short of extraordinary.
What was nearly erased has been reborn.
A Club Rooted in Community — Again
Today, Shadow Mountain is one of the Coachella Valley’s most charming and inviting clubs. It’s one of the rare courses you can still walk. It’s not oversized or pretentious. It doesn’t try to compete with the ultra-modern, ultra-luxury courses nearby. Instead, it honors what made Palm Desert special in the first place:
• Human-scale design
• Mid-century character
• Local identity
• A sense of place
• A sense of community
Morning golfers chat on the first tee. Retirees walk the fairways. Visitors from Los Angeles rediscover the club as a reminder of simpler desert days. Shadow Mountain feels like Palm Desert did at the beginning — warm, friendly, and authentically local.
A Place for Community
Why This Story Matters
Shadow Mountain’s revival is more than a renovation project. It is a preservation of heritage and a celebration of community values.
In an era of rapid changes across the Coachella Valley — new developments, changing demographics, shifting priorities — Shadow Mountain stands as proof that historic places still matter.
And without Lindi Biggi, this story would have ended very differently.
Thanks to her leadership, determination, and belief in the club’s future, she has not only saved a golf course — she has restored a piece of Palm Desert’s identity.
A Desert Legacy, Moving Forward
Standing on the 18th fairway at sunset, with the San Jacinto Mountains glowing pink, it’s easy to see why Shadow Mountain mattered then — and why it matters now.
Palm Desert was built on dreams. Shadow Mountain was one of the first.
And thanks to Lindi Biggi, that dream is alive once again.
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