Palm Springs golf unaffected by California fires

Palm Springs has always been something of its own world. Even though it’s only an hour and 45 minutes from Los Angeles and two hours and 15 minutes from San Diego, it’s as different in vibe from those places as Rush Limbaugh is from Al Franken.

That’s never been more apparent than now. With fires raging across large parts of Southern California, Palm Springs and the greater Coachella Valley remain blissfully unaffected.

“This is the first day I’ve even seen a hint of smoke,” said Tim Hurja, a longtime area PGA pro who runs a golf packaging service for Palm Springs trips.

“It’s like that mountain separates us from everything. You go over the mountain and everything’s fine. Like they say, just another day in paradise.”

Which doesn’t mean people aren’t wondering about their Palm Springs golf trips. Hurja says that he’s received calls from vacationers double checking to make sure there aren’t any problems. Some of the golfers Hurja booked into a Palm Springs and San Diego trip are extending the Palm Springs part of it and canceling the San Diego leg.

People who are dealing with the pain and uncertainty of the fires probably don’t want to hear about how good everything is just a short drive away. But if you’ve planned that precious, too-rare vacation and you’ve been seeing fire nonstop on CNN for days, it’s natural to wonder if it’s going to affect your trip.

Which is better than spending time worrying if Phil Mickelson is OK.