When longtime Shadow Mountain Golf Club member Lindi Biggi saw the course heading downhill, she sprang into action to preserve the place that held 28 years' worth of her memories.
Biggi, a Coachella Valley philanthropist self-described as a practicing bird-aholic with a passion for serving animals, purchased Shadow Mountain—the oldest golf course in Palm Desert—after she says a series of poor leadership decisions had severely impacted it.
Once a private course, Shadow Mountain boasted 350 members and a waiting list when Biggi first joined. Nearly three decades later, the club's membership had dropped to a meager 38, an alarming trend for a monument that Biggi deemed "the gem of the desert."
"To say the least, it was losing money and facing bankruptcy," Biggi said. After so many years of deferred maintenance, many people felt the best use of the property that once teemed with golfers and socialites was a housing subdivision. "There was a lot of interest in buying the course to make it a subdivision, but all of us that loved the golf course didn't want that. We wanted it to be the great, beautiful, green space that it is."
Biggi's objective since taking ownership of Shadow Mountain on Aug. 13 of this year is to restore the course to its original grandeur. In order to do that, Shadow Mountain was opened up to public membership to welcome more members.
In just a few short months, $1.3 million has been invested into fixing the course's pumps and irrigation, bringing functionality back to the hazards and bunkers and reinvigorating the lakes and greens. This year's budget was focused on the grounds, and Biggi says the course's buildings will be tackled next.
"It'll all be mid-century and be in honor of the history that Shadow Mountain holds," she said. "[...] The people that live around here love it. It's crazy to say we love a piece of dirt, but we love that dirt."
Biggi wants to see a hopping agenda at Shadow Mountain again. She hopes to bring charity work and fundraisers to the clubhouse—a welcomed change from hosting hundreds of people in her in own home.
"It'd be a lot more fun to have 65 acres to party on," Biggi laughed. "People are just shocked at how beautiful it is ... everything is brand new."
A "resurrection party" will be held at Shadow Mountain on Nov. 21. After a members-only welcoming, the party will be opened to the public.
"We are going to welcome [the public] with open arms," Biggi said. "We need people to come here and remember the beauty of Shadow Mountain as the forgotten gem of the valley."
Updates and details on the golf course's second life can be found at www.golfshadowmountain.com.
Outside of saving a beloved desert landmark from cul-de-sacs and spec homes, Biggi is known for the founding of the nonprofit animal rescue group Loving All Animals. Biggi led the organization as founder for a little over a decade before downshifting to a board of directors seat. Her mission was supported by the work of 1000s of others, she said.
Loving all Animals was founded to address the nightmarish state of Coachella Valley shelters. The nonprofit saw the demolition of the desolate shelters and building of state-of-the-art new ones; at the time, Biggi said, the shelters worked as "competitors rather than comrades," despite being good-hearted and caring people in general.
At the time, Loving all Animals was known for taking interested adopters in a limousine to various shelters to find their future pet. The organization also took over Rancho Mirage Whitewater Park—now known as Rancho Mirage Park—and brought in over 500 dogs and cats for an adoption fair. Loving All Animals also brought volunteer veterinarians to Duroville—the infamous Coachella Valley trailer park that was even examined by the New York Times in 2007— to mass-neuter/spay the 200 stray dogs that attacked children walking to school for their lunchboxes.
The nonprofit still runs an animal shelter in Coachella, where they rescue euthanasia-list animals and place them up for adoption.
"Loving all Animals was formed for the purpose of getting everybody to work together," Biggi said. "The goal was to become a no-kill Coachella Valley, which has been reached."
