The Boulders is a semi-private club that is shared between guests of the resort, members who are mostly homeowners in the housing community that surrounds the courses, and the public on a space available basis. In season, one of the two courses is usually reserved for members. In the off season, they tend to keep only 3 9's open and piece together different combinations of North/South Front/Back.
The original 18 holes at The Boulders was a combination of 9 holes designed in the late 1960's by Red Lawrence, 9 holes designed by Jack Snyder in the early 1970's. In the mid 1980's, Jay Morrish redesigned the existing 18 holes and added a third 9 hole layout (I think there were actually 10 new holes since they did not use one of the previous 18 in the revamped 27 hole layout). In the early 1990's he added another 9 holes to complete the current 36 hole complex that has two distinct 18 hole courses. The piecemeal fashion in which the course was originally designed and built is somewhat evident when you play the course, especially the North course. Some holes run right along streets and are very close to homes while others are out in the open desert.
In general, the Boulders is a Resort style course. On the North course, the driving areas especially on the front 9 are very generous on most holes and the par 3s have lots of bailout areas. The back 9 is certainly more difficult with tighter fairways and less room for error. Many of the greens have collection areas and mounds which makes the course more difficult to score on than the tee to green layout would suggest. Most of the par 5s are reachable so it seems to play easier than its Slope and Rating would suggest ( Blue tees 137 / 72.6 & White tees 131 / 70.1) The North course has some nice views and is an enjoyable experience although the South offers more "Kodak photo ops".
