The Thunderbird Country Club is an 18-hole

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

Rancho Mirage Rancho Mirage is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 17,218 at the 2010 census, up from 13,249 at the 2000 census, but the seasonal (part-time) population can exceed 20,000. Incorporated in 1973 and locate ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Coachella Valley , map_image = Wpdms shdrlfi020l coachella valley.jpg , map_caption = Coachella Valley , location = California, United States , coordinates = , width = , boundaries = Salton Sea (southeast), Santa Rosa Mountains (southwest), San Jacint ...

. It has hosted the

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

and the Palm Springs Golf Classic (now known as the

CareerBuilder Challenge The Desert Classic (currently known as The American Express for sponsorship reasons; previously known as the CareerBuilder Challenge, Palm Springs Golf Classic, the Bob Hope Desert Classic, the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, and the Humana Challen ...

). Opened in 1951, the

country club A country club is a privately owned club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship, that generally offers both a variety of recreational sports and facilities for dining and entertaining. Typical athletic offer ...

has been a favorite of many celebrities including

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

and

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

as well as US Presidents

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

and

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

First known as the Thunderbird Ranch, it was purchased by

Johnny Dawson John W. Dawson (December 20, 1902 – January 6, 1986) was an American amateur golfer and golf course architect. Dawson was born in Chicago, Illinois. Although he was a lifelong amateur golfer, his amateur status was rescinded by the United State ...

who established Coachella Valley's first 18-hole golf course here in 1951. The

golf cart A golf cart (alternatively known as a golf buggy or golf car) is a small motorized vehicle designed originally to carry two golfers and their golf clubs around a golf course with less effort than walking. Over time, variants were introduced t ...

is rumored to have been invented at Thunderbird Country Club.

Ford Thunderbird The Ford Thunderbird (colloquially called the T-Bird) is a personal luxury car produced by Ford from model years 1955 until 1997 and 2002 until 2005 across 11 distinct generations. Introduced as a two-seat convertible, the Thunderbird was pro ...

is named for the club. Lawrence Hughes also designed the

Tomahawk Lake Country Club The Tomahawk Lake Country Club is a country club in Deadwood, South Dakota. Built in 1934, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. It has a nine-hole par-3 golf course designed in the 1930s by Lawrence Hughes in the 19 ...

in South Dakota, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Membership discrimination

In 1957,

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golden ...

and

Desi Arnaz Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986) was a Cuban-born American actor, bandleader, and film and television producer. He played Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, Ricky Ricardo on the American television sitcom ''I Lov ...

bought a nearby home and hoped to join the elite Thunderbird Country Club, but the club prohibited minorities and Jewish people. Arnaz was denied admission to the Thunderbird Country Club because he was

Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a perso ...

. In response to this prejudice, Arnaz bought property in nearby

Indian Wells, California Indian Wells is a city in Riverside County, California, Riverside County, California, in the Coachella Valley. Incorporated in 1967, it lies in between the cities of Palm Desert and La Quinta, California, La Quinta. As of the 2010 Census, the c ...

and opened the Indian Wells Resort Hotel, which did not discriminate against minorities and Jewish people. At one point, Jewish comedian

Jack Benny Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century with ...

was not permitted to join the club. In 1977, Gerald Ford's purchase or property at nearby Thunderbird Heights reawakened local interest in discrimination. TA Jewish community leader reported that there was no evidence of discriminatory practices in Palms Springs, but "that does not mean that Jewish people are welcome everywhere."

References

Golf clubs and courses in California Ryder Cup venues Rancho Mirage, California Sports venues in Riverside County, California {{Golfcourse-stub