If you're a music nerd who also loves playing golf, cruise on down the I-10 towards Irving Azoff and Apple SVP of Services Eddy Cue's Ladera Golf Club in Thermal, California, which was just named Best New Private Course of 2023 by Golf Digest.

Bring a few extra sleeves of Top Flites when you tee off, because Ladera eschews the usual palm tree-heavy decor and artificial water features found at most desert courses in favor of a naturalistic design built on land that formerly featured mango farms and lemon groves. Designed by Hanse Golf Course Design's Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, the course also affords golfers spectacular views of the Santa Rosa Mountains 40 minutes southeast of Palm Springs.

"Ladera Golf Club represents a departure from the ordinary, offering a unique and magical golfing experience that is visually stunning, strategically engaging and incredibly fun," says mega-mogul and Full Stop honcho Azoff. Adds Cue, "Ladera's unique design underscores our commitment to pushing boundaries and creating exceptional experiences. We gave Gil and Jim a clean canvas on which to create something special and incredibly memorable."

When it opened in early 2023, Ladera was described by Sports Illustrated as "perhaps the most exclusive, mysterious American golf course project since Steve Wynn and Tom Fazio created Shadow Creek in 1989. Ladera flies so far under the radar that even with a search engine, it’s hard to find any references."

In a related story, Lenny Beer remains stuck in a water hazard at Laguna. While he didn't decline to comment, what he furnished is unprintable.