Why Trilogy's Golf Cards Got Pricier Faster Than the Premier Pass This Season

"Rates for the Trilogy Residents can only go down, not up." That line is in the FAQ of the new 2026–27 Golf Options sheet from Trilogy Golf Club at La Quinta. It describes the resident rate, which follows the course's dynamic public pricing and is capped at $200 in peak season. The passes and cards on the same sheet tell a different story. Every pass and card that buys rounds costs more than last season, and they didn't rise at the same pace.

The sheet arrives while the course is closed. The golf page lists the course and practice facilities as closed October 12 through November 8 for overseeding. The new prices cover a full playing year, from the end of overseeding in November 2026 to the start of overseeding in October 2027. That leaves four quiet weeks to read it closely, and the main finding is that the 10-round cards took the bigger increase.

Last Season's Sheet Next to This One

The club also posted its 2025–26 Golf Options sheet, so you can compare the two line by line.

The three Advantage Cards went up roughly twice as fast as the Premier Pass and its upgrade, by percentage. The Advantage Cards also climbed in the club's first season. The October 2024 preview listed the Advantage Card at $775, Advantage Plus at $975 and Advantage Nine at $475, while Premier stayed at $3,500 from the preview through 2025–26. Over two seasons, the basic Advantage Card has gone from $77.50 a round to $95. The Premier Pass has risen $150 in total.

The sheet doesn't explain the increases. Its FAQ says only that each package is priced "in line with the market while allowing Trilogy Golf Club at La Quinta to sustain long-term success."

Where the Pass Starts Paying for Itself

The two products charge differently. The Premier Pass is a fixed fee plus a $30 use fee on each round that starts before 2 p.m. The use fee is waived for Premier rounds starting at 2 p.m. or later, Monday through Thursday. Advantage Cards include the use fee in the card price. Both are charged the same club-cart fee, so the cart doesn't change the comparison.

That makes the comparison simple arithmetic. A morning round on an Advantage Card now works out to $95. The same round costs a Premier holder $30 on top of the pass, so each round saves $65 against the card. Dividing the $3,650 pass price by $65 gives about 57 morning rounds, Monday through Thursday, before the pass costs less than buying cards. Under last season's prices, the same math came to about 61 rounds. Because the cards rose faster, the pass now breaks even about four rounds sooner.

The weekend versions move the same way:

1. Premier Plus. The pass plus the upgrade comes to $6,250 for 2026–27. Advantage Plus works out to $125 a round, so the pass breaks even at roughly 66 pre-2 p.m. rounds, down from about 71 last season.
2. Afternoon play. Premier rounds that start at 2 p.m. or later carry no use fee, so a Premier holder who plays mostly afternoons breaks even sooner than either figure above.
3. The club's own benchmark. The FAQ says pass holders average about 100 rounds a year, with some playing 50 times and some more than 200. At 100 rounds, it puts the Premier cost at $66.50 a round.

The resident rate is harder to fit into this math, by design. It's 20% off a public rate that changes "up and down for every hour of every day," so the sheet can't say what a resident round costs until the booking is made. It does guarantee a ceiling of $200 from November through April, $150 in May, June, September and October, and $100 in July and August. Those caps match last season's. The 2024 preview had lower shoulder and off-season caps of $125 and $80.

What the Lower Price Costs in Booking Time

The pass gets cheaper the more you play, but you book later. The booking windows haven't changed since the 2024 preview.

• Trilogy residents booking at the resident rate: 32 days ahead
• General public: 30 days ahead
• Premier, Premier Plus and Advantage holders: 23 days ahead

A homeowner who pays as they go can see the tee sheet nine days before a Premier holder can. Public golfers get a seven-day head start on passholders too. The FAQ presents the resident window as "a two-day preferred booking window over the general public." From November through April, the sheet notes, 9-hole league play will tee off with a 2 p.m. or later shotgun for much of the season, and passes can be used on league days. If you want specific peak-season morning times, the booking window may matter as much as the price per round.

Guests are treated the same way across products. Premier and Advantage holders can bring up to three accompanied guests at the resident rate in the same tee time, but Advantage Card rounds can't be used to pay for guests.

The Fine Print That Moves Your Number

A few rules shift the per-round figures above, depending on how a household plays.

• Carts. Pass and card holders pay $10 per 18 holes or $5 per nine when they use a club-owned cart. Private carts ride free with a yearly Cart Registration Agreement. The resident and public rates include the cart. The 2024 preview had included a cart with passes.
• Walking. The use fee is an access fee, not a cart fee. Premier holders pay it before 2 p.m. whether they walk, ride a club cart or use their own.
• Couples. Passes are sold per person only. Advantage Card rounds can be shared within the same household. You can hold several different Advantage Cards at once, but not two of the same card.
• Holidays. Premier, Premier Plus and Advantage Plus include holidays. The Advantage Card, Advantage Nine and the resident rate don't. The listed holidays include the Friday after Thanksgiving, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.
• Part-year residents and renters. There's no seasonal pass. The sheet points part-year residents to the Advantage Cards and says unused rounds aren't refunded. Seasonal renters can buy any option at full price. Existing residents get no proration, but new owners get a one-time proration matched to their closing date.
• Medical waiver. With a letter from a medical professional, a passholder who can't play gets a one-time prorated discount toward a future pass. Prorated refunds aren't available after March 1.
• Practice only. Without a pass, range balls cost $15 for about 100 or $10 for about 50. The putting and chipping greens are open during business hours to anyone using their own balls. Practice passholders are limited to after 10 a.m. on Fridays through Sundays and holidays from November through April.

The prices and rules above come from the club's published sheets and are general information, not financial advice. The golf shop is the place to confirm how they apply to your household.

Talking It Over While the Fairways Rest

This is only the club's second full season under homeowner ownership. The course closed in September 2022, as The Desert Sun reported, and residents voted in 2024 to buy it along with the restaurant. According to the paper's December 2024 report on the reopening, the Gary Panks layout opened in 2002 and hosted the Skins Game from 2003 to 2006.

The restaurant's name comes from that vote. Kitchen Ten Eleven is named for the 1,011 homes that voted yes, and it won Golf Inc.'s 2026 Golden Fork Award for Best Remodeled Public/Resort Facility. The overseeding notice covers only the course and practice facilities. The restaurant's posted hours are Wednesday and Thursday 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday brunch 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. with the bar open until 3. Kitchen Ten Eleven is closed Monday and Tuesday. On those days, Café Solaz is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., with Happier Hour from 3 to 6 p.m. From Wednesday through Sunday, the café's posted hours are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., with Happier Hour from 1 to 3 p.m. Both are open to the public.

The golf shop takes questions at 760.303.0490. Its posted hours are 6 a.m. to noon daily. The closure ends November 8. The club hasn't posted a specific first tee-time date after that.

If you're new to Trilogy, or about to be, the closing-date proration is one of the details worth timing with care. I'm glad to walk through how the golf options fit into a move here. Donna Ambrose works with Trilogy homeowners on the fine print of community life as well as the purchase. Let's Connect.