RiverLakes Ranch gets plenty of play from Bakersfield residents because it is the only public course remotely inside the city limits. Luckily, it has been kept in pretty good shape, and it really has been a treat ever since it was built approximately 10 years ago.

Unfortunately, the variety of golfers who play the course has apparently taken its toll. Despite its steep (for Bakersfield standards) greens fees at $60 for weekend mornings and $39 weekend twilight rates, RiverLakes continues to get both the high level golfers as well as the hackers all at once as the hackers would rather pay a bit more than drive the extra distance to the munis just outside of town.

First of all, the pace of play is not good, but that is the layout's fault as much as anything. The first and second holes are extremely short (playing at around 300 and 310 yards from the whites) and many golfers will wait for the green to clear before hitting off the tee. No. 3 is a somewhat simple green to hit, but the severe two-tiered green makes putting a nightmare. And if you miss the green, the wasteland around the green makes for a near impossible up-and-down.

After the typical par-3 slowdown, No. 4 is a par-5 that plays just 500 yards from the whites and is easily reachable in two despite water down the entire left side and greenside right out to about 100 yards. The ability to go for it in two slows the game down again. That then continues into another par-3, which is another simple hole that plays at least one club shorter than the yardage indicates (I don't know if the yardage is just wrong or what, but, there is not a single person who has played RiverLakes who disagrees).

Continuing on the front nine, there is a blind tee shot on the short par-4 No. 6, but since it is a blind shot, golfers usually wait a bit longer than normal to allow the fairway to clear. No. 7 is another par 4 that plays very short as well with trouble everywhere -- thick rough and a street left, water right. The correct play is an iron off the tee to the fattest landing area at about 120-130 yards, then go into the severe two-tier tiny green with massive bunkering. But golfers will many times pull out driver on this blind shot and send it into the water, out of bounds left, etc., which slows down the game.

More water on No. 8 with a narrow fairway leads into a simple par-5 that plays under 500 yards from all tees but the tips.

The back nine plays much the same with short holes and trouble everywhere. It is a great course to play with plenty to think about on every hole, but just know that the pace of play can be, and many times is, very slow.

The greens used to be the pride of RiverLakes, but they are in horrible shape. Apparently no one in Bakersfield knows how to repair a ball mark, because the greens are very bumpy with unfixed ball marks everywhere. When you can find a non-bumpy area, the greens are a treat as they run fairly fast and true, but those lies are few and far between.

With the summer heat in Bakersfield, RiverLakes is forced to water throughout the day to keep the course green. But that has led to soggy conditions which golf carts have ruined. What used to be beautiful and perfect fairways are in many places mud spots where carts have "spun out." The second fairway had an area about 30 yards by 10 yards roped off for ground under repair beause of this.

The soggy conditions also make play much less enjoyable.

Overall, RiverLakes is still a fun place to play, because it is a very interesting course. Despite having played probably 100 rounds on the course, I'm still trying out different club selections on certain holes to see the best way to play each one. The course might not be up to par as far as its conditions go, but hopefully that will change soon.