Indian Wells Country Clubs Compared: How Each Club Ties Membership to the House

What are the country clubs in Indian Wells? The City of Indian Wells counts six residential country clubs: Eldorado, The Vintage Club, Indian Wells Country Club, Desert Horizons, The Reserve, and Toscana. All six have golf, but they tie membership to the house in very different ways, and that's the comparison I make before anyone compares fairways.

Most buyers start with the courses. I start with the contracts: does the house carry the membership, what does it cost to keep, and what happens to it when you sell? Two clubs can look the same in a brochure and work completely differently on that last question. I also won't rank them. People ask me which club is the most exclusive, but exclusive can mean an invitation, a membership cap, or a price, and each club defines it its own way. So here's what each club publishes, in its own words.

Can you buy at Eldorado without being a member? Yes. The club's own site says membership is by invitation only and is not tied to real estate in any way whatsoever. It describes itself as member-owned. The club traces its start to 1957, has a clubhouse by William F. Cody, and hosted the 1959 Ryder Cup. The city says Lawrence Hughes designed the course and Tom Fazio later redesigned it. At Eldorado, buying a house gets you a house. Joining starts with a member who knows you, and no price list or real estate agent can shortcut that. My Eldorado guide covers the homes.

Do you have to join if you buy at The Vintage Club? I couldn't confirm the answer either way from the club's public site, which publishes no membership terms. What I did find is the disclosure on the on-site sales website: buying real estate within The Vintage Club doesn't include the cost of membership, and membership is by nomination, subject to an approval process through the club. The club says it has two Tom Fazio 18-hole courses and no tee times, and the city puts the community at 712 acres. Before an offer, I get the membership answer in writing from the club itself. My Vintage Club guide has more.

The Reserve is the clearest example of a house that opens one door but not the only one. The club publishes three categories. The Reserve Membership is an equity membership available only to homeowners inside The Reserve. The Hawk Membership is non-resident and non-equity, with full club privileges. The Social Membership is non-golf and non-equity, for residents or non-residents. The course is a 21-hole Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish design with no tee times. The club says it opened in 1998, covers 700 acres, and sits in both Indian Wells and Palm Desert. My Reserve Club guide covers the setting.

How much does it cost to join Toscana? Toscana is the only one of the six that posts prices on its membership page. When I checked it on Oct 22, 2026, the Resident Golf membership was a $180,000 initiation fee with $3,720 in monthly dues and a limit of 550 memberships, with $36,000 due with the application and the balance within 10 days of approval. Resident Sports was $120,000 to initiate, $1,590 a month, and limited to 175. Golf dues alone come to $44,640 a year. The page doesn't put a date on those figures, so I confirm them with the membership office before writing an offer. My Toscana membership cost post goes deeper.

Here's the Toscana detail I care about most. The club labels both categories resident equity non-refundable, so I don't count the initiation as money that comes back when you sell. The club also says a membership approval process is in place. Toscana's real estate page says 629 of the 631 homes planned there have sold. So from here on, almost every Toscana purchase is a resale, and how a membership moves when a house changes hands matters more than any floor plan.

Is Indian Wells Country Club private? Yes. It's a private club run by Invited Clubs, and its membership page lists golf options with no prices; for initiation and monthly dues, it says to inquire. The Desert Dual membership adds the Dye and Palmer courses at Mission Hills Country Club to the club's own Classic and Cove courses. Premier Golf covers both home courses. The Classic membership gets the Cove course after 2 p.m. from October to May, and all day from June to September. There are also lifestyle memberships, plus an $85-a-month XLife add-on. The Classic course is a Desmond Muirhead par 72 at 6,478 yards, and the Cove is a par 72 at 6,558. Nothing on the page ties a membership to a house, so I treat the house and the card as two separate purchases. My Indian Wells Country Club guide covers the history.

Desert Horizons says membership is about choice, and that you decide how the club fits your life whether you live inside or outside the gates. It's member-owned, with a Ted Robinson 18 the club calls walkable and a strict membership cap. The categories are Full Golf, Associate Golf for golfers 50 and under (with lower initiation and dues), Social, an annual Invitational membership for local residents that skips the initiation fee, and a one-time 60- or 90-day guest privilege. The page doesn't print prices, so I ask the membership office at (760) 340-5501 for the written schedule. My Desert Horizons post covers what to request.

Which Indian Wells clubs allow non-residents? From what each club publishes: The Reserve, through its Hawk and Social categories; Desert Horizons, which says the choice is yours inside or outside the gates; and Eldorado, where membership isn't tied to real estate at all. Indian Wells Country Club's page doesn't limit membership to residents, but I'd confirm that with the club. Toscana's published categories are labeled resident memberships, and I couldn't confirm The Vintage Club's rules from its public site.

What if you only want golf? Then you might not need a club at all. The city's Residence Benefit Card page lists a $45 Golf card that gets qualified residents the discounted rate at the Indian Wells Golf Resort, and a $5 Social card with the other city benefits but no golf discount, with 2027 card details still to come. The resort has 36 holes. For some buyers, a house outside the clubs plus that card beats any initiation fee.

What does it actually cost to own in an Indian Wells club? The membership is one line of the bill. The others are the HOA, any sub-association, a food and beverage minimum if the club has one, capital or reserve charges, and one-time fees at closing. Toscana is the only club here that prints its initiation and dues on its membership page. For the others, I get the club's written schedule and the HOA's resale package and build the full annual bill line by line, the same way my Palm Desert HOA fees post lays it out. My note "Membership is part of the house" explains why I won't skip that step.

Before an offer, I get written answers to five questions. Does a membership come with this house, or is it a separate application? Is there a waitlist or a cap, and where would you be on it? Does the seller's membership transfer, get resold by the club, or end at closing? What does a new member pay up front, and what's refundable? Are there any capital assessments approved but not yet billed? Clubs answer these in their membership documents, not on their websites.

How I tour Indian Wells clubs with a buyer in season: the membership office gets a call before the first showing, not after we fall for a house. If a club requires an invitation or a sponsor, we know that on day one. Then we tour the club and the house the same afternoon, so you see the dining room, the range, and the parking lot at the hours you'd actually use them. If you want two clubs side by side, I put their written terms on one page before we compare a single fairway.

Membership terms checked Oct 22, 2026 on eldoradocc.org, thevintageclub.com and the Vintage's on-site sales site, thereserveclub.com, toscanacc.com, invitedclubs.com (Indian Wells Country Club), deserthorizons.org, cityofindianwells.org, and indianwellsgolfresort.com. Clubs change categories and prices without much notice, so the club's written schedule on the day you apply is the final word.

Norman Williams, Compass. DRE 02051057.