Would You Brave the Desert Heat at PGA West in Palm Springs?
Tam Nguyen breaks down his legendary 19-year-running golf tournament on the TPC Stadium Course at La Quinta Resort in Palm Springs — a post-college guys' getaway that grew into a full annual competition with stroke play, a Ryder Cup-style team event, a 3-foot trophy, and the infamous Nibe Award.
- Guest
- Tam Nguyen
- Destination
- TPC Stadium Course, La Quinta Resort & PGA West, Palm Springs, California
- Location
- CA
The Setup
Tam Nguyen joins the pod to tell the story of a trip that’s been running for 19 straight years. What started as a post-college guys’ getaway to Palm Springs morphed into a full-fledged annual competition built around the TPC Stadium Course at La Quinta Resort — the kind of tradition crews dream about but rarely keep alive this long.
The Format
This isn’t a casual scramble. The crew runs stroke play alongside a Ryder Cup-style team event, plays for a 3-foot trophy, and hands out the infamous “Nibe Award” to keep everyone honest. Tam walks through how the format evolved, the five courses on offer at La Quinta, and the group dynamics that hold a two-decade tradition together.
The Hot Takes
- What it’s really like to play the TPC Stadium Course at La Quinta
- Building a tournament format — stroke play plus a Ryder Cup team event
- The five courses at La Quinta and how the crew works through them
- The “Nibe Award” and the group dynamics behind 19 years of running it back
- Cost breakdown: then vs. now, and how the trip’s economics have shifted
- The summer heat challenge — would you brave the desert in peak season?
The Run-It-Back
We close with the Sick Score and host FOMO ratings — where a 19-year desert tradition lands against the bucket-list one-offs. After two decades, the run-it-back question basically answers itself, but Tam makes the case for why this one keeps earning its spot on the calendar.