Eight days ago, a PGA professional named Scott Cherry stood on the 17th green of the Jones Course and sank a 20-foot birdie putt that decided a state championship, as KESQ reported. Meanwhile, the Main Clubhouse building 200 yards away is still described on the club's own website as a project awaiting "more information." Together, the championship and the renovation timeline offer a snapshot of Rancho La Quinta this fall.
The Day a State Championship Was Decided on Your Home Courses
On September 16, Scott Cherry, the PGA professional at Mission Hills Country Club, won the 2026 Southern California PGA Professional Championship at Rancho La Quinta, finishing 13-under par (70, 68, 65) across 54 holes on the club's Pate and Jones Courses. He started the final round tied for fourth at 6-under, went bogey-free over his last two rounds on the Jones, then strung together five birdies on the back nine to take his first lead of the tournament, closing it out with that putt on 17.
KESQ quoted Cherry as saying, "It's amazing." The win earned him a $15,000 first-place check and his first SCPGA Section title. Kyle Mendoza of Hacienda Golf Club finished as runner-up and picked up a spot in the Monday qualifier for the World Wide Technology Championship. The tournament also closed out the 2026 SCPGA Player of the Year points race, with the eventual winner earning an exemption into the PGA Tour's Sentry at Torrey Pines in January.
None of that happened at a neutral site. It happened on the two courses that back up to Rancho La Quinta's own homes, the Jerry Pate design and the Robert Trent Jones Jr. layout that opened in 1993 and still plays to a 73.5 rating and 135 slope from the tips. Pate's own description of his work here, that his designs "create beauty on the outside for people to live better on the inside," reads less like marketing copy and more like a statement of fact when a sitting section champion is decided on it.
The Main Clubhouse Renovation Timeline
Now the other half of the story. The Main Clubhouse dining room at Rancho La Quinta was first scheduled for a remodel in the fall of 2023, according to the club's own dining page, which described an expanded patio and a reimagined bar and asked members to "stay tuned for more information about the remodel." That page is still live, largely unchanged in substance, three years later.
In between, the target has moved more than once. A neighborhood guide circulating as recently as last fall listed the clubhouse and fitness center as "due to be completed in 2026." Real estate listings for homes on the Ventanas and Encantos lots this year describe the same project in softer terms still, some framing it as finishing "mid-season," others simply "shortly." The Cantina, the racquet club's own dining spot overlooking the stadium tennis court and Main Club Pool, gets a similar treatment on the club's current site: it's labeled "a soon-to-be renovated masterpiece," with the promise that details will follow "as the improvements project progresses."
As of this month, the club's own pages do not provide a fixed completion date for the renovation.
What's Actually Running This Month
The good news is that these day-to-day amenities remain available. The Turn continues to operate as the casual dining option at the main clubhouse. Tennis, pickleball, and bocce are all active at the Racquet and Sports Club, with eight pickleball courts that have been in place since 2021 and a pickleball professional on-site through the season for lessons and clinics.
A few other things worth putting on the September calendar if you haven't already:
- The kennel club at the racquet complex, with separate fenced areas for large and small dogs, for anyone who wants their afternoon walk to include off-leash time
- Monthly group hikes into the Santa Rosa Mountains, which run November through April specifically to avoid the summer heat
- The club's Welcome Home Cocktail and Dinner Party, the traditional season-opening event held each November at the Main Clubhouse
None of this depends on a ribbon being cut. The activities listed here are part of the club's current offerings alongside the renovation updates.
The Golf Has Already Delivered a Championship
Here's the reframe worth sitting with. The clubhouse renovation is one part of Rancho La Quinta's current story. A renovated clubhouse is visible, photographable, the kind of amenity that shows up in a listing photo. The championship played on its courses is another part of that story.
The golf product here, the actual grass, the routing, the greens that Cherry played bogey-free down the stretch, was good enough to have decided a championship. That's not a small thing for anyone who owns here.
If you're weighing what actually matters about this address this fall, both are worth considering. The clubhouse renovation remains underway. The golf already had its moment, and it happened on your side of the gate.
If you'd like to talk through what any of this means for a property here, whether you're weighing a purchase, a sale, or simply want a clearer read on how Rancho La Quinta compares to other guard-gated clubs in La Quinta this season, Benjamin Melendez is available for a private consultation.
