Played here for the first time ever yesterday (6/23) on a 1:10PM tee time with my buddy and his daughter. Reading the last review from just three weeks ago scared me enough to rethink playing here, bu... Continue »

Played here for the first time ever yesterday (6/23) on a 1:10PM tee time with my buddy and his daughter. Reading the last review from just three weeks ago scared me enough to rethink playing here, but as it's a few miles down the road from home and the price seemed fair, I took a risk. Although not nearly as bad as the review made it out to be (I believe the course benefited from a touch more maintenance and some recent morning mist/light rains to green it up), I can see why and were the course is failing. I doubt conditions here will ever be Rams Hill-like, but if they can get back to maintaining it in good shape, this may be on I visit again soon. Tee boxes: Decent is a bit a of a stretch (whites played); often un-level and turf was fairly chewed up. Thankfully no issues driving tee down, but on par 3's where I was hitting off the turf, it was rough. Fairways: Burnt out visually and to some degree, playability affected. Roll was decent, but lies at times were not ideal and since grass wasn't as full as it could be, ball didn't sit up much. Rough: Varied too much in depth and consistency to say definitively, but I would call it decent. On some holes, it was a nice forest green and thick enough to make you play smart (mainly under trees where it hasn't been touched by summer heat). Bunkers: Was only in one thankfully, but at least it had sand in it (unlike Tierra Rejada) just not as much of it as you would like. Even after moving the ball from a footprint, it was hard to find a good touch on sand shot. Greens: The highlight, even though it looks like they were top-dressed perhaps two weeks ago. They ran relatively smooth and some of the break were just insane. ETC: They do have carts but we walked, and as Kassper mentioned in his review, this is not a course someone who doesn't walk regularly should start trying; it is hilly, can play long with two instances of longer walks between holes and getting to the par 3 15th is almost straight uphill. Staff at check-in and starter were friendly. Layout lives up to the "lakes" part of its name so be prepared. My main problem today (and it would be every time) is the course's practice of sending out singles/twosomes back to back causing certain holes to have 4 groups on them at any given time. Not sure if this was a COVID-19 precaution, but I believe it IS possible to safely play foursomes like both Los Robles and Tierra Rejada have last time I played, with appropriately spaced groupings/tee times. We were pushed all day by an older twosome and anyone who has played with me knows, I am a fast player (no practice shots). Thankfully everyone played fast and we finished in less than 4 hours.

Played: 5/27/2020
Ah, American Golf works their magic! This course used to be used by SCGA and CGA for majors qualifiers, but I can't see that happening with present maintenance. There are weeds on... Continue »

Played: 5/27/2020
Ah, American Golf works their magic! This course used to be used by SCGA and CGA for majors qualifiers, but I can't see that happening with present maintenance. There are weeds on teeboxes, thin areas on green aprons, grass in bunkers, and unmaintained rough throughout the course. This is a great track from a design standpoint, but it's clear that it is no longer going to be maintained to adequate standards. There are terrific alternatives to this course that I'll now have to play, I've crossed River Ridge off my list.

Was surprised how easy it was to get tee times here but here is why that is. It's hilly, no carts and it's not in great shape. When I showed up, I was disappointed. My experience at a nearby course... Continue »

Was surprised how easy it was to get tee times here but here is why that is. It's hilly, no carts and it's not in great shape. When I showed up, I was disappointed. My experience at a nearby course was pure greenery - almost too lush. This was not that. By the end, I was less disappointed, since I never really had a lie I could be mad at.

I checked in at the pro shot counter that was encased in a giant "sneeze guard" to find out that I - in fact - had not prepaid on-line as I had imagined. They even made me sign my credit slip (silly) but did have a bunch of pens in a jar labeled "sanitized" so - ok - have it your way.

The course seemed unmaintained during the time off. Bunkers had grass around the edges and grass starting to poke out in spots - they looked like they hadn't been raked in a couple of days. Generally things were attended to but it looked like they needed a couple more weeks to catch up completely. I found the first greens quite slow and bumpy but as the round went on the greens seemed to get better for the most part. Fairways, rough, and tee boxes were fine. I was hoping for more but obviously not every course took the time during the break to make their course even better.

Walking this course is fun but exhausting - I was worried the group ahead of us wasn't going to make it. They obviously were used to driving in carts. This resulted in a 5 hour round. With the added wind that day, I went home exhausted.

Trying to be brief. GK match teeing off at 10:50 as a twosome. Course is in nice shape overall. Teeing grounds all good; fairways nice with some runout to them; rough anything from underbrush to recov... Continue »

Trying to be brief. GK match teeing off at 10:50 as a twosome. Course is in nice shape overall. Teeing grounds all good; fairways nice with some runout to them; rough anything from underbrush to recoverable but overall well grown in; and green surrounds good length for short game. Bunkers were firm-ish and a touch damp to greater or lesser degrees and bit tougher to play, with some dry and more playable. There was grass sprouting in some, so upkeep was a little behind the curve. I'd say the greens were medium quick on average, which wasn't a bad speed but not near the pace customarily found here. Some were a little bumpy early on, but most tracked well enough. Usual precautions, no cart service and no water stations, but course bathrooms were open. About a five hour round, started out grey with an inconsistent one-club breeze most of the time and nice clearing and sun for the last few holes. Not peak RR, but recommended.

Played the Blue tees today with a 7:00 am start. No amenities that I saw. Barricades and barriers, basically pay and get out on the course. The range was open though. Played as a single walking (n... Continue »

Played the Blue tees today with a 7:00 am start. No amenities that I saw. Barricades and barriers, basically pay and get out on the course. The range was open though. Played as a single walking (no carts for anyone), two groups let me through on the front nine, ended up finishing in 3:15. At almost 6900 yards, heavy dew when I started in dissipating fog, it seemed to play long. Not hitting many fairways probably contributed to that feeling.

The fairways were on the shaggy side of lush but a good hitting surface. The rough was cut down but still a factor. I did not notice it anywhere else, but it looked like there was a first cut and a second cut on #14. That was the only area where I had trouble finding my ball.
The sand traps were not very good. The sand was fairly wet and not level. They had not been raked, nor were rakes available, so it was the luck of the draw when landing in them. I was in one footprint but otherwise lucky. The greens looked slower than they were. Maybe they were inconsistent, but I thought they slowed down as the morning progressed. Slow side of medium. They rolled pretty well though. No complaints. They had little surveyor flags in the cups so one could see them, for the most part, in a range finder. I had trouble all day locking in on distance though.

This was only the second or third time I have played this course, always with a cart before. It is not the easiest walk especially the trek up from 14 to 15, then 15 to 16. You go from the lowest part of the course to the highest point, down through a drainage area then straight up with a short par three on the flat about 2/3 of the way up to break the climb. Nice view at the top while resting for a minute (or two).

Walked the Blues Monday morning 11/4/2019 joined by Kyle on a beautiful day with light winds and a POP of 3 hours 20 minutes. Had a super time with Kyle who was a bomber. Fun time with a lot of birdie... Continue »

Walked the Blues Monday morning 11/4/2019 joined by Kyle on a beautiful day with light winds and a POP of 3 hours 20 minutes. Had a super time with Kyle who was a bomber. Fun time with a lot of birdies Fairways here are super dry and get a ton of roll. We both had driver 9 iron in on the par 5 4th hole? Both reached number 9 in two shots and had driver 9 iron into #18. Fairways were that dry, thin and for sure made the course play shorter than the actual 6900 yd scorecard. Had to really compress irons precisely. Fairway rating 5/10 Greens looked like they were just coming off maintenance with some sand and bumps especially on the first 4-5 holes or so. It pains me to rate the greens here a 6/10 as I am used to a 8.5/10 range on this course. Tees were mostly level, semi-dry but they were level so that's mostly all that matters. 6/10 Was in 2 greenside bunkers and 1 fairway bunker that contained more packed like firmer sand but still had enough sand to splash out of easily. Rated 6.5/10. Rough and chipping areas were drier, thin and wispy but not to long. Rated 6/10. I love the bones here and the layout. The staff is very friendly and nice. As the round progressed the greens got better. The course is really not in that great of shape but if they can get the greens close to what they used to be the course layout is so worth it.

Started out at my home course Vista Valencia, but it was a mad house with the high school golfers. Decided on a trip to Ventura to play River Ridge Lakes. I’ve been reading the negative reviews and th... Continue »

Started out at my home course Vista Valencia, but it was a mad house with the high school golfers. Decided on a trip to Ventura to play River Ridge Lakes. I’ve been reading the negative reviews and the lakes is one of my favorite courses due to the greens and the layout. With the players club it was $10 which includes cart and drink. I figured I had nothing to lose so the junior pro and I took the hour drive. American Golf recently took over the course so my expectations were very low.

Upon entering and checkout everything was the same. We drove over to the first hole and I noticed there was no starter and the practice green hadn’t been mowed and it looked like they were letting it go. We played the first hole and as we walked up to the green I noticed the holes, aeration. I thought this can’t be right Johnny always updates. So I checked and he had, “small holes on several green” this was the case for approx 5 holes. Not a big deal, I’m sure a cost cutting measure, but annoying. Spend the money and do the entire course.

I have to say the past reviews are spot on. Sadly this course is a shadow of its former self, just like the guy playin it. The greens are terrible, even the ones that are going thru maintenance. Vista’s are much better right now. Number 5 green had been vandalized, I posted photos on the app. The tee boxes and fairways are brown and thin due to a lack of water. Some traps were ok, with minimal sand. We teed off at 4, rode the blues and made it to 16. Is it worth $10? Yes, if you live out that way, but definitely don’t make a trip. If you do Olivas is a much better option. I took River Ridge off my list. As the junior pro said, “Dad it looks like Vista Valencia’s older brother’” I have to agree.

Played Lakes course Sunday afternoon. Course was in good shape but greens were a bit bumpy. They'll be aerating greens in couple of weeks so maybe that will help the greens. The fairways and tee boxes... Continue »

Played Lakes course Sunday afternoon. Course was in good shape but greens were a bit bumpy. They'll be aerating greens in couple of weeks so maybe that will help the greens. The fairways and tee boxes were good. Pace of play was also good. Took us about 4.5 hours. We had to wait a little on some holes in the beginning of the round.

Played 9-8-19 afternoon as a threesome and finished in about 4 1/2 hours. Tee boxes were okay, decent coverage with some thin areas and mostly level. Fairways were mostly in good shape with some brown... Continue »

Played 9-8-19 afternoon as a threesome and finished in about 4 1/2 hours. Tee boxes were okay, decent coverage with some thin areas and mostly level. Fairways were mostly in good shape with some brown spots but still had decent lies with good roll out. Rough was not that long and mostly in good condition with some small bare spots and brown areas mixed in. Was in one greenside bunker that was a little crusty but still had a decent amount of sand. Greens were the worst part of the course, quit a few had some sanded in areas along the border, and most of them had a few small bare spots here and there. They were a little on the soft side and rolled at a medium fast pace but had a lot of bumps in them. After so many years of close to perfect greens it is a little sad to see them in this condition. Hopefully this is not the new norm for this course.