By Crystal Harrell / Photos By Kurt Schawacker.
On September 22, the Palm Desert Area Chamber of Commerce held the Palm Desert Business Awards & Installation Dinner, where local businesses and leaders were awarded for their contributions to the community. The prestigious 2022 Business Person of the Year award had three nominees, including Nachhatter Chandi of Chandi Group USA, Patrick Somers of General Air Conditioning and Plumbing, and Lindi Biggi of Shadow Mountain Golf Club.
Biggi was awarded the title of Business Person of the Year at the Palm Desert Business Awards & Installation Dinner for her work as the new owner of the Shadow Mountain Gold Club in Palm Desert. Biggi took ownership of the historic golf course last year, purchasing the 63-acre course and with plans to make the necessary investment to bring it back to its original glory as the hot spot for golf and social activities that are a proud part of Palm Desert.
“When I first heard my name called for the award, I couldn’t believe I won. I knew who else was nominated, and I actually went to the event to prove to everyone that I was a good loser. I didn’t even have a speech prepared. It was overwhelming in a good way,” shared Biggi.
Recognized as the first golf course in the City of Palm Desert, Shadow Mountain Golf Club is a landmark of the Coachella Valley with decades of history. It was incorporated in 1958, and by the end of the year 1960, the Club had over 270 members. In recent times, Shadow Mountain Golf Club has found itself in financial distress with endless looming deferred maintenance issues that caused it to be facing bankruptcy. Biggi has spent the past year revamping the golf course to better reflect its former presence.
“Taking ownership of Shadow Mountain Golf Club has got to be the most fun thing I’ve done in my entire life. I’m 81 years-old, and to buy a defunct golf course at this age has got to be borderline insanity, but it’s been fun. The whole community has been supporting me. They come to meetings and do all kinds of things to help. We haven’t saved the golf course yet, but we will,” stated Biggi.
The Shadow Mountain Golf Club timeline was to close the escrow on August 13, 2021, and do a maintenance list of hundreds of tasks to have the golf course open for play by November 21, 2021. This involved total re-landscaping, new walls, new fences, new pathways, emptying and refilling all the bunkers, rebuilding all the water features, redoing much of the irrigation, and reseeding the whole course.
“I’m really fortunate for all the people who have helped me. I would sink without them. All of the people who live near Shadow Mountain hated to see their backyard go from lush green to a subdivision. All of the people who didn’t live there still enjoyed having that beautiful open space. Shadow Mountain is our clubhouse,” said Biggi.
Lindi Biggi is a prominent animal welfare advocate, having started her own non-profit known as Loving All Animals in 2008. Her love for animals stems from her upbringing being raised on a farm, and the desire to save the ones she can. Biggi houses five dogs, three cats, a large tortoise named Shadow that she rescued from Shadow Mountain Golf Club, over a hundred koi fish, several flamingos, exotic birds, water turtles, and two ducks. There have been more than 30 non-profit organizations over the years that Biggi has hosted at her home.
“One thing I love about animals is that I think they provide a great lesson for humans in cohabitation and living with each other peacefully. The greatest joy I feel is when someone tells me they adopted their pet from Loving All Animals, which happens about three times a week,” shared Biggi.
Lindi names the community of the Coachella Valley as her favorite aspect of her home, and believes there are so many talented business people in the desert.
“There are people from all walks of life here—young and old—who have a sense of pride for what they do. They’re savoring all that the desert has to offer. My tip for anyone wanting to get into business is to just swing your bat. Just give it a try and take some risks. My favorite saying is ‘dogs don’t chase parked cars’,” stated Biggi.
