Desert Winds GC Provides the Perfect Gathering Grounds For Active and Retired Military

It’s 8 a.m. at Desert Winds GC, and on any given day, every day, the sprawling military base and the golf course within takes pause. Swings cease, banter abates, hats are removed and “To The Colors” is broadcast over fairways and training grounds alike. On Fridays, “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “The Marines’ Hymn” are played in lieu.

Set amid the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Desert Winds GC is but a geographic speck across a base landmass of nearly 1,200 square miles, a high-desert spread larger than the state of Rhode Island. In concert with serving as the largest Marine installation in the world, the base serves as home to approximately 12,500 active-duty members and trains upwards of 45,000 Marines and U.S. allied forces on an annual basis.

One of over 140 U.S. Armed Forces-operated golf courses across the nation and around the world (14 of which are in California), Desert Winds debuted in 1965 with nine holes before adding nine more in the mid-’90s. Located about 60 miles from the nearest 18-hole golf course, the grounds are open to the Few and the Proud and the Daily Duffer alike, though civilians need a sponsor to get on base (non-military guests can opt for an annual punch pass).

And while the base brass openly court more outside play (see: $28 rate for civilians), the most avid names on the tee sheet are those who earned their rounds by way of service.

ROUND OF BROTHERS

Among the Desert Winds ardent is the Combat Center Golf Association (CCGA), a longstanding SCGA member club that has grown to greater than 70 members. The club hosts monthly events with a roster of both active-duty and retired Marines.

“The course is a place to get together and just talk,” says James Thompson, former Marine Sergeant and president of the CCGA. “Most of these people have had similar experiences. And maybe it wasn’t in the exact same theater, maybe some have experiences going back to Korea or Vietnam, while some were in the first Gulf War or in the current global war on terror — but wherever it may have been, the course is a place where they can get together and relate to one another.”

DISUSED TANKS AND OTHER MILITARY EQUIPMENT ARE SEEN ADJACENT TO SEVERAL HOLES.

One need not know much about rank to grasp the CCGA’s culture of brotherhood.

“Our Marine Corps motto is ‘Semper Fidelis,’ Always Faithful. Once you’re a Marine, you’re always a Marine,” continues Thompson. “Somebody that may have served one recent enlistment is still as much a Marine brother alongside somebody who retired 30 years ago. And that all comes together and culminates in the CCGA. We’ve got people of all ages who get along well because we all have this common bond of the Marine Corps — along with golf.”

With its boundless desert outlining, all-grass bunkering, subtle elevation changes and old school/smallish greens, the character of Desert Winds is seen beyond mere course architecture and routing.

The par-4 second sports an old M60 tank behind the tee box before a 155mm howitzer field artillery comes into view adjacent to the green. In distant view along the fairway of the par-4 eighth hole are MOUT Towns (Military Operations Urban Terrain), used to simulate close-quarter urban training (and which once did so with an abundance of townspeople actors and real donkeys). On occasion, the fairways (and a 20-mile radius) will reverberate with the “Sounds of Freedom” during base bombing drills.

SUPPORT SYSTEM

“It’s been a fun group. Over time, we’ve done a lot of good things to support the base, and a lot of good things to support the course,” says Tim Connolly, Master Sergeant (ret.), and a CCGA member since 1986. “This is a way to reconnect with people we may not have seen for a while, and that rekindles a lot of good feelings.”

For retired Marine Corps veterans, the course provides a correlation between training and tips.

“You find yourself wanting to teach others,” says Thomas Aragon, Gunnery Sergeant (ret.) and a CCGA member since ’84. “In the military, my job was, ‘You can get mad at me if you want, but you’re gonna learn.’ Our training does carry over to the course. Like the military, what we do is when we see things, we like to pass things on; and on the golf course, I mean, you don’t really want to push instruction on ’em, you just want to give these little tips. It’s not so much training, but letting people know their mistakes and how to correct them.”

There’s also the oft-unspoken kinship of scars both visible and unseen, and Desert Winds and the CCGA are as much a support system as they are a venue for avocation.

“For people with PTSD, it can help them to be here,” adds Aragon with pause, “and not everybody realizes that. Golf can help them. It’s like therapy.”

Even considering the base’s full menu of fields and games and amenities (bowling alley included) the course proves a key outlet for those long removed from the days of training.

“For our retired personnel, this is kind of like our only activity; this is my way to get together with the guys, old and young,” Aragon says. “Yeah, there’s softball and basketball, handball; but for older guys like us the course really is the best place. We have a lot of people who retire in their 40s and start playing here as beginners, and they come here and can be surrounded by people they already know from their service.”

SHARING KNOWLEDGE

For active Marines, the course serves as a crucial means of respite. “It’s definitely a way to get out and cut loose a little bit, to come out and relax after a long week,” says Shawn Robinson, active-duty Marine Corps Staff Sergeant. Along with fostering morale, the sharing of knowledge, experience and storytelling proves a CCGA throughline.

“I’ve crossed paths with a lot of these guys, whether in the past with the Marine Corps or here at the golf course,” Robinson says. “Maybe guys will be telling me Desert Storm experiences and I’m telling them my stories about Iraq or Afghanistan. Telling stories and hitting a ball around.”

Such yarn spinning comes with threads of generational wisdom.

“I mean, I’m coming up on about two years and then I’ll be done and retired from the Marine Corps,” Robinson adds. “And I can talk with the older guys here about this, about job opportunities and other things that I can take part in when I’m retired. I mean, these guys are just a wealth of knowledge for us.”

“An important thing about being part of a military installation: We show respect,” concludes Connolly. “And not only to the Colors in the morning, but also to everybody that we associate and come in contact with; that’s all part of the military community. We’re all one big family, regardless of what branch of service you’re in, and whether you’re active duty or retired. We’re close; we protect each other.”

Oorah.▪