I player RR Victoria last Tuesday Aug 6th. I was curious after hearing 'the hated' American Golf has contracted to manage the courses. I really like both courses, especially in summer since I'm a 'val... Continue »

I player RR Victoria last Tuesday Aug 6th. I was curious after hearing 'the hated' American Golf has contracted to manage the courses. I really like both courses, especially in summer since I'm a 'valley boy'. I spoke with an employee, he said that the only changes so far are that they have slowed the Greens down & cut the rough lower to speed up play. My impressions are that so far the fairways are still looking good. The rough was still penal, but not lose your ball high stuff. Now the greens, most were good, slightly slower than I prefer, but not "slow." BUT, there were about 5 or six that looked like maybe a fungus had eaten into them. Sand was filling in the dead turf. I know that it happens, I hope they get it fixed up soon. The only really lame move, was putting the pin on 18 as far back as possible. It is a HUGE green. The only bad area of the green of course was the back. Obviously not a golf professional directing the pin placements. Overall I won't slay Amer Golf for ruining the course, but seems they are not off to the best start. A plus is that they are NOT sending out 5somes. I will play again. NOTE: with the Cowboys in town, last year the Vineyard course had cut down a par 5 to a par 3 & shortened up another hole. I didn't check if this was the case again. Overall still a pleasant experience!

I agree with previous reviewer, less than one month in and American Golf has already screwed up River ridge, greens were bumpy, slow and showing bare spots. Fairways were OK and bunkers were fine. Som... Continue »

I agree with previous reviewer, less than one month in and American Golf has already screwed up River ridge, greens were bumpy, slow and showing bare spots. Fairways were OK and bunkers were fine. Some tee boxes look like they haven't been cut in a week. I am guessing we will be seeing 5 somes out there soon. This is a sad situation, this was the gem of Ventura!

three weeks into a three year contract and American golf has worked their magic. taking a course with great conditions and destroying it. what was once smooth greens running around 11 are now slow, ... Continue »

three weeks into a three year contract and American golf has worked their magic. taking a course with great conditions and destroying it. what was once smooth greens running around 11 are now slow, bumpy and damaged greens. both courses are becoming similar to little saticoy and vista valencia, maybe that's because the new GM ran both of those courses before taking over river ridge. i hope this is not a view of things to come with these courses

Played RR Lakes Course on Monday, 7/15. On a 100 degree day in the San Fernando Valley it was very nice playing in morning overcast and 73 degree sunshine in the early afternoon. The course is in Very... Continue »

Played RR Lakes Course on Monday, 7/15. On a 100 degree day in the San Fernando Valley it was very nice playing in morning overcast and 73 degree sunshine in the early afternoon. The course is in Very Good condition. Fairways, although not completely green, are in great shape. Nice cushion under your ball. Great lies everywhere. The rough ranges from 1 to 3 inches. It can be OK or a little punishing, depending on your lie. Bunkers had plenty of firmly packed sand. No problem hitting out of them. The sign near the starters shed said that the greens were 10.8 on the stimp meter. In the morning when it was damp, it felt a little slower than that. They sped up to medium speed during the afternoon. They rolled fairly well (could be a little bumpy at times), held well struck approach shots nicely, and were on the soft side. It's a nice challenge, and great weather playing this course. Right now, it's in excellent condition. I highly recommend it.

Third week in a row playing the lakes. Played two practice rounds one for $6 which included the cart through tee off. Played today in the SCGA event. Walked using my Costco push cart for the first tim... Continue »

Third week in a row playing the lakes. Played two practice rounds one for $6 which included the cart through tee off. Played today in the SCGA event. Walked using my Costco push cart for the first time, highly recommend for walkers. POP today was 5 hours, expected for a tournament and we never waited so pace wasn’t an issue. In fact it wasn’t an issue the other times either. In July they will be under new management and I hope they keep the staff. Pro shop, starters, restaurant staff all friendly. The place has a nice small town feel, reminds me of Ohio actually, in a good way. Tee boxes all level, no divots, fairways are dormant and have been vericut, we played preferred lies in the fairways and this helped, but the fairways were good. I missed one fairway and the rough was, rough, no bare spots. I was in 2 traps and they were good. The greens are some of my favorite, not too fast, not too slow and they roll true. The one problem I have with this course is Mother Nature. Last week, no wind, perfect conditions. Today, 30 MPH winds and brutal. I rated this course pretty high, but for the price it’s hard to beat. I highly recommend this course and the entire Oxnard area for golf, for price, condition of courses (olivas, River Ridge Courses, Buenaventura) and proximity to each other it’s hard to beat. Just check the weather, specifically the wind........

Was great seeing mpisarski01, kviser, larryq2001, dsal_13 and Mattias. Put this round together on late notice and really appreciate those that could join me. I want to find a way to get together with ... Continue »

Was great seeing mpisarski01, kviser, larryq2001, dsal_13 and Mattias. Put this round together on late notice and really appreciate those that could join me. I want to find a way to get together with GK’ers on just about every weekend. For me, as brutal as the high winds, cold temps, wet conditions, excruciating slow pace (due to a tournament) and very poor play on my part was … awesome time as always with GK’ers! Afterwards kviser, Mattias and I went over to the Ventura Harbor for some clam chowder and beers. Golf is best with friends no matter. Thank You.

The course, greens in very nice condition, running mostly smooth, fast (can only imagine how fast they will be when they dry out more) and holding shots. I found many bunkers and they were all in good shape. Was impressed how well they had drained. No standing water and not that moist. Fairways are bermunda turf with sprinkles of poa dotted only because of the wet winter season, come late spring, summer and fall when they are in season, they should be beautiful. Rough is a mixture of many grasses and varying in length, had many experiences due to being wild off the tee, it’s pretty easy to escape from. Tee boxes thin, level with some divot damage (we played the blue tees).

With the high winds coming off the ocean from the NW holes 1, 2, 6, 8, 13, 15 are super tough into the wind. Holes 7 and 12 have large water hazards on the right so that wind can grab your ball and easily deposit it into the drink. Holes 17 and 18 play straight downwind so that’s a nice almost too little too late breather. I love this layout. It destroys me just about every time. I’ve played it well over 20 times and have only had a couple great performances. I’ll be back for sure to take it on again.

I played with yesterday's GK Meet and Play, grouped with mpisarski01 and larryq2001. Looks like the course is currently in the process of verticutting the fairways with most of the front nine in very ... Continue »

I played with yesterday's GK Meet and Play, grouped with mpisarski01 and larryq2001. Looks like the course is currently in the process of verticutting the fairways with most of the front nine in very rough shape. It has been raining a lot lately and the weather was very cold and windy. We did miss the storm that passed through earlier today, or it just skirted around Oxnard, but we got a lot of strong wind late in the round. We started out as two groups of three, but finished as a fivesome as larryq2001 had enough of the wind and cold by the time we finished Hole 14. Sorry, buddy! You missed Johnny hitting driver on the par 3, 15th hole into a stiff head wind.

The verticut fairways, combined with winter dormancy and lots of poa, seriously detracted from the quality of this course. As one of my favorite tracks, I was personally disappointed for the guys who had long drives to play this course for the first time. I totally understand how discouraging it would be and not want to come back.

Greens were great. Good speed at 11.4 and no bumpiness or weird breaks. The few ball marks I found were easily fixed. The green on 14 had a lot of twigs, leaves, and seeds from the nearby eucalyptus trees, thanks to all that wind. That was rough! There were times your ball would just get blown around as the wind picked up, making lining up your putt a challenge.

Fairways were definitely a mixed bag, as we like to say here (I'm going to tip my hat to sixpez, who I think I first heard the term from). The main grass in the fairways, if I'm not mistaken, is Bermudagrass. However, it could be seashore paspallum or a mixture of the two. Either way, it's dormant and really off-color. There's also quite a bit of wild poa annua that is all over the fairways. It's lighter in color, stands up taller, and makes the course look shabby. There's no good way to get rid of it, so it's something to live with. As the weather warms up, it will be just fine.

Rough was sometimes heavy and also a mixed bag of grasses. You could have your ball sitting up or laying down deep. Hope for a good lie, but take your medicine if you have to. Either way, it wasn't terrible by any means.

Tees were all quite level and had nice coverage. We played the blues and they seemed to be in slightly better condition than the white tees. I think the tournament in front of us played the whites.

Bunker sand was plentiful and nicely raked.

POP was terrible and I can only blame that tournament. This is usually one of the few courses around that strictly enforce POP. However, the 5.5 hours pace was really a bummer. The cold and wind did not help at all.

Overall, I know I will be back. I hope Matt and Larry find their way back here as I think they will find conditions much improved later in the year. This is a great location for summer golf as it's usually around 70 degrees and the course is in better condition.

First time playing River Ridge yesterday with a bunch of Gk'ers. I had some higher hopes from this course as I always see people mentioning it as a decent course. POP was a ridiculous 5.5hr round due ... Continue »

First time playing River Ridge yesterday with a bunch of Gk'ers. I had some higher hopes from this course as I always see people mentioning it as a decent course. POP was a ridiculous 5.5hr round due to a tournament IMO the course is a little rough at the moment. Most Fairways were Verti-cut leaving strange lies all day. Course is a mix of brown and green from the different types of grass throughout the course but as long as you found grass it provided a decent lie. Greens were the highlight of the course as they we running 11.4 and held shots all day. The real story was the weather which was 55° and 25-40 MPH winds. This course does not have a lot of shelter from wind like that and made for a miserable back nine. Having to go Driver, 3wd, 6 iron on a 400 yard par 4 is tough to swallow. Honestly I dont know if Ill make the trek from orange county to play here again due to the conditions and layout but if you are in the area its a nice affordable place to play.

Went out Friday 1/25 just before 11:00 as a threesome with a buddy and his son — foursome if you count my dog — collecting my birthday round. Much to my chagrin, I arrived in a rush right before tee ... Continue »

Went out Friday 1/25 just before 11:00 as a threesome with a buddy and his son — foursome if you count my dog — collecting my birthday round. Much to my chagrin, I arrived in a rush right before tee time so no warmup. I hate starting out that way. That was on me because nothing about River Ridge disappoints me. Service was on point and friendly, The course was in its usual winter state, which is pretty nice. Tee boxes were all level and with good coverage. Fairways were well covered and on the tight side, but there is a nice underlying cushion to the dormant grass so it doesn't feel thin or hard pan firm, and you get some good rollout. Rough was generally not punitive at all and pretty easy to play from. Missed the bunkers, but they looked clean. Greens were in good shape, running at a nice speed, somewhere around 10/11. It was a beautiful, warm day with a consistent, moderate breeze. Just really nice. As someone who takes my small dog out when possible, I feel obliged to mention that the roving marshal told me there have been incidents of coyotes snatching small dogs on the course. Late in the round I had close encounter with one taking a run at my dog. It ended well, but actually seeing them in action for the first time after numerous rounds, it is obvious the coyote was smart, opportunistic, and familiar with the concept of players' dogs on the course. The course welcomes dogs, but keep the dog close and your head on a swivel if yours is a smaller breed.