The Thunderbird Country Club is a country club in Rancho Mirage in California's Coachella Valley. Its signature 18-hole golf course has hosted the Ryder Cup and the Palm Springs Golf Classic (now known as the American Express). Opened in 1951, the country club has been a favorite of many celebrities, including Bing Crosby and Bob Hope,Our History Thunderbird Country Club website, accessed March 28, 2015 as well as US Presidents Gerald Ford and Barack Obama.Obama's visit put spotlight back on Thunderbird by Dominique Fong The Desert Sun, June 21, 2014 First known as the Thunderbird Ranch, it was purchased by Johnny Dawson, who established Coachella Valley's first 18-hole golf course here in 1951.Mallette, Leo A. (2011). Rancho Mirage. Arcadia Publishing. Page 9. ISBN 9780738575018.Niemann, Greg (2005). Palm Springs Legends: Creation of a Desert Oasis. Sunbelt Publications. Page 191. ISBN 9780932653741.
The golf cart is rumored to have been invented at Thunderbird Country Club.Mahler, Richard (2005). Hidden Picture-Perfect Escapes Palm Springs. Ulysses Press. Page 125. ISBN 9781569754313. By its own account, the Ford Thunderbird is named for the club.Riche, Melissa and Jim (2018). Mod Mirage: The Midcentury Architecture of Rancho Mirage. Gibbs Smith. Page 12. ISBN 9781423648765.
Its golf course was designed by Lawrence Hughes, also responsible for the 9-hole course at the Tomahawk Lake Country Club in South Dakota.
References Thunderbird Ranch
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