The GK'er with the previous review, who teed off about an hour before I did, has the course spot on. It's a ways away but in immaculate shape. Everything is perfect except for the landscaping (which t... Continue »

The GK'er with the previous review, who teed off about an hour before I did, has the course spot on. It's a ways away but in immaculate shape. Everything is perfect except for the landscaping (which they are hard a work on) and minimal staff. The staff we did meet was extremely welcoming and everyone went the extra mile for us. It's a Tom Fazio design and you can feel that from the first tee. Generous fairways and interesting green complexes that often offer a variety of shot types to challenge the mind. I loved it. I won't be out very often, but I hope I get to play here again sometime soon.

Thanks to the generosity of GK members, we took advantage of their free green fee offer and paid $40 cart fee for our 2some. Played 12/11 @ 10am and finished in 4 hrs. Never saw anyone in front or b... Continue »

Thanks to the generosity of GK members, we took advantage of their free green fee offer and paid $40 cart fee for our 2some. Played 12/11 @ 10am and finished in 4 hrs. Never saw anyone in front or behind us all day.
Course has been reopen for less than a month so the conditions are great/perfect. It almost feels like they have prepared the course for a pro tourney with the exception of the rough being cut to about 1 to 2 inches. Tee to green, I don't think I have played a course in better condition than RH at this time.

If you approach this course as a golf purist, I'm sure you would love everything about this course as the prior review has noted. For us (me and my wife), we had also expected to be wowed by the facility, views, service, etc. Maybe due to such expectations going in, I felt a little bit let down. Distant desert views were good but looked pretty much the same from any angles, limited number of service personnel so no help in loading or unloading, etc.

Still, it's a course in perfect condition with good enough desert/distant mountain views that is aboutl 70 miles inland from Pechanga resort. I'm thankful and glad that I got to play it almost free. But I would not make the trip if I had to pay $100 per. Even $75 per would be pushing it due to the distance factor. I can't imagine many would go play it at their current prime rate of $150.

While the course is in perfect condition for play, there's still some construction going on outside of the clubhouse and other landscaping areas. If you're a golf purist, go play now but if you are more like us, I would say give them another month or so in order to complete their non course related presentation.

-- Great grass driving range for practice
-- Sand in bunkers looked fluffy but were very dense.
-- Greens were pure and rolled great but on many I read different breaks from behind the hole

I had stopped believing in Santa Claus many years ago but may have to reconsider after playing the rejuvenated Rams Hill Golf Club (formerly Montesoro...formerly Rams Hill) yesterday. It seemed as if... Continue »

I had stopped believing in Santa Claus many years ago but may have to reconsider after playing the rejuvenated Rams Hill Golf Club (formerly Montesoro...formerly Rams Hill) yesterday. It seemed as if my annual wish list was either disregarded or simply tossed aside by the bearded guy in red but he didn't disappoint me this year...and neither did the golf course. It is in incredible condition from tee-to-green...almost too good to be true...which serves as a testament to the amazing job done by Steve Gregory and his staff. To resuscitate this gem of a layout to its' present state, a property that was left for dead after a failed ownership change, simply cannot be overstated. I commend the management staff for not reopening the golf course prematurely in order to recoup costs; they definitely had a game plan and stuck to it: either 100% or nothing. With the exception of a few patches of sod on #3 tee box, I didn't encounter a blade of grass out of place anywhere on the course. Tee boxes, fairways, rough, greens, sand traps...all are in brand spanking new condition...it simply doesn't get any better than this. Unless you've played Rams Hill in its' original Ted Robinson-designed configuration, it's impossible to appreciate the magic Tom Fazio bestowed on this site. Moving 900,000 cubic yards of soil to create elevation changes that didn't exist prior to his arrival, Fazio re-routed many of the holes and turned a fairly good golf course into one of Southern California's best. There's challenge in abundance here but plenty of teeing options to make it playable for just about everyone. Overseeded rye fairways are generous and provide great lies along with a decent amount of rollout despite their plushness; I'm glad to report they are not overwatered and soaking wet. The rough, despite being a couple of inches deep, is thick and the ball has a tendency to nestle into the grass, making clean lies a rarity if you stray offline. Turf just off the putting surfaces is tightly mowed so plenty of club options there but the secondary cut of rough is where choices are narrowed. Sand traps are meticulously maintained and the sand is of the highest quality; no hard-packed lies here. Easy to get the club under the ball with no fear of bouncing the leading edge into its belly. Many of the bunkers are steeped faced so sand of this texture is a necessity if you're going to play fair...another example that a lot of thought went into the details of this project. And now...the greens. Without a doubt, the most pristine putting surfaces I can recall anywhere, although Barona Creek's greens when they opened for business come to mind. Not only do they resemble pool table surfaces...they putt as smooth and true as well with plenty of speed. Greens are very large and deep with plenty of slopes and undulations that must be factored into approach shots. Local knowledge comes in handy here with regards to the false fronts, which are not always visible from the tee/fairway, otherwise you may find a shot that landed 6 feet from the pin has peeled off the green and back into the fairway. Almost absent from any ball damage (the course has been open for play one week), I still found it disconcerting that I had to fix a half dozen or so FRESH ball marks on every single green while playing. I'm at a loss to explain how people can ignore an obvious blemish to a perfectly presented canvas. Yes, the greens are firm so the ball does not "drop and stop", but anyone who is aware of what they're doing should be looking for and repairing their ball mark whether the ball remained on the green or not instead of relying on the maintenance staff to do so. Otherwise, it won't be long before the greens resemble something you'd encounter at a local municipal course and the glitter will be gone. Fazio has provided a nice variety of holes here with a seemingly endless number of hole length and pin position options, primarily due to the depth and width of the greens. In fact, the Par-3 9th hole measures 62 yards from back-to-front! There are a couple of three-shot Par 5s and a couple that are reachable yet with an inherent amount of risk/reward. Short Par4s and long Par 4s...short Par3s and long Par3s...it's all here. Only gripe I have is that there are no GPS systems on the carts and the marked sprinkler heads were no where to be found. I located a total of TWO sprinkler heads during the round...I know they're out there...which had me frustrated for a bit. No yardage books available either; as a result, I was playing "blind" for a good portion of the round...something I haven't had to do since I was a kid, when all you had to judge distance was a 150-yard stake. My only explanation is that the markers have been covered up by the turf and need to be exposed. Customer service was great; checked in with Jim at the front desk @ 10:30 for an 11:10 tee time ($75.00 rate after 11:00). Told I'd be following two groups of two (I was booked a single) but was pleasantly given the okay to head straight to the tee in order to get ahead of them and play alone. Pace of play was very quick (played through a mixed two on #5) until I got to the 14th tee; it slowed to a crawl from that point forward and I putted out @ 2:00. No marshal on duty but the beverage cart made the rounds on two or three occasions; restaurant was open with a decent crowd as well. Wanted to be back home for the Canadiens-Bruins game @ 4:00 (big mistake!) so I opted to hit the road immediately after the round. Not much I can add except to recommend that you play this course NOW! Although I'm hopeful the top-notch playing conditions I experienced will continue to be maintained to the highest standard throughout the year, I can't help but be a bit apprehensive as to whether or not this new operation will succeed where previous ones failed. The current water crisis has to be taken into consideration as well as the willingness of people to pay $150.00 to play here during prime time. The remote location may work against it and the town doesn't offer the amenities/dining options/activities you'll find in the Palm Springs area. I suppose it all depends on the business model but I wouldn't take anything for granted despite their optimism so get out here and show your support as soon as you can. Go to My Profile and click on View My Photos for some visual feedback...