A quick update on course conditions. Greens are fast and smooth as usual but are starting to show signs of needing aeration. Still, they remain a strong suit of the course. Fairways are dormant bu... Continue »

A quick update on course conditions. Greens are fast and smooth as usual but are starting to show signs of needing aeration. Still, they remain a strong suit of the course. Fairways are dormant but very playable. Sand traps actually have SAND!!!

The Maintenance crew was out today dumping sand in a few of the bunkers so it looks like they are in the process of upgrading the bunkers to quality sand.

After that the only thing the course needs is a lake or two. Clubhouse is the best in the valley with Pheasant Run being a close second. Nothing else even comes close.

Always a decent course on the Central Valley stop. Cencalhack did an excellent job describing conditions and the layout of the course. Greens remain the strong point of the course. They are fairly l... Continue »

Always a decent course on the Central Valley stop. Cencalhack did an excellent job describing conditions and the layout of the course. Greens remain the strong point of the course. They are fairly large with some challenge but predictable breaks. Carts offer pin sheets with greens broken down into thirds so the pin sheet will just give you a front , middle or back location.

Fairways are dormant but still very playable. Tee boxes on the par 3's were all in need of some Maintanence. they were horrible. All of the other tee boxes were decent. I agree, the course plays harder than it suggests. The main thing here is keeping your tee shot in the fairway and out of a fairway bunker. as long as you do that it's a very scoreable course in that there's not much trouble around the greens outside the traditional bunkering

Ridge creek also makes you feel like your actually at a GOLF course and not just a random field with 18 flagsticks. By that, I mean, they have a nice rock waterfall entrance, a great practice area (grass range, multiple chipping and full wedge stations) and the pro shop & restaurant buildings actually have some nice architectural design to them.

Yes, this course is in the middle of nowhere but it doesn't feel like it once you enter the grounds

Went out and played on my birthday (33). It was pink Monday, wear pink and the prices are $29/39 on Mondays. Reserve your tee time early!
Anyways, the greens were mowed that morning and after a shor... Continue »

Went out and played on my birthday (33). It was pink Monday, wear pink and the prices are $29/39 on Mondays. Reserve your tee time early!
Anyways, the greens were mowed that morning and after a short freeze delay we got off the first tee less than 10 minutes after our scheduled tee time.
The greens were soft and receptive but pretty quick despite being soft and moist!
The fairways were dormant like CenCalHack said, but in great shape none the less.
The course is in really good shape despite the cold weather we've been having.
I landed up shooting a 74, which is my best round of my life and gives me high expectations for year 33 in this life!

I've been really using the back range and the short game area a ton. Like I've said before, they have the best range and short game area in the Central Valley!

November 17

Greens are a bit soft but are in very good condition. Lack of play and the perfect fall weather has allowed the course to speed the greens to the point where you really have to pay atte... Continue »

November 17

Greens are a bit soft but are in very good condition. Lack of play and the perfect fall weather has allowed the course to speed the greens to the point where you really have to pay attention. The size, undulations and speed make for a challenging day.
Fairways are dormant and have tight firm lies.
First cut of rough is dormant but has been left alone which is helpful for keeping balls out of the native unplayable grass.
Native grass unfortunately continues to thrive and is green thick and nasty. Any ball hit into these areas (which are everywhere) are almost always lost and result in delays and increased pace of play. I realize that for aesthetics and challenge they are necessary, but it would be ok not to continually water them. Allowing them to thin out would be a huge boost to PoP.
Sand as always is very good and the deep bunkers both in the fairway and greenside are challenging.
Tees are level with dormant or semi-dormant coverage and little to no divot damage.
One of the group members pointed out the absurdly low slope rating from the blue tees (116) and we debated if the system was in need of adjustment to not emphasize length as much or if the reviewer never left his cart lol. This course is definitely more challenging from the blues than several other local tracks with higher slopes.

I played some great golf courses on my trip this month to NorCal, but it was my last stop on Sunday, at Ridge Creek Dinuba Golf Club, just outside Fresno, on 7/23 that proved to be the best playing co... Continue »

I played some great golf courses on my trip this month to NorCal, but it was my last stop on Sunday, at Ridge Creek Dinuba Golf Club, just outside Fresno, on 7/23 that proved to be the best playing conditions by far. It was just me and CenCalHack enjoying a GK Guru round, I invited many others but for different reasons none could make it. We teed it up at 10:30am and finished in under 4 hours. I was 100+ degrees but didn’t feel that hot and consequently the course was pretty wide open.

I’m a big fan of this challenging long yet fair layout and always try to schedule a round here if I’m passing through the area. The course is always in great shape, I mean always. They have plenty of water and with pure bent greens combined with pure berumada fairways, you get the picture. This time around, the course was wall to wall thick lush grass. Greens holding shots, moderately fast and smooth. In past experiences, they did not grow the rough long, consequently very poorly hit drives occasionally ran through the rough and into heavy grass/brush. This resulted in long ball searches and much frustration. So with the longer rough now, I mean a 3 to 4 inches, it’s tougher to hit from but it keeps the ball in play and resulting in a faster pace of play.

Ridge Creek Dinuba Golf Club also has outstanding facilities. An amazing driving range, with multiple dedicated areas for wedge game and short game practice. The clubhouse is clean and well stocked. The restaurant has quality food, beautiful patio onlooking the 9th green and does a great job servicing the surrounding area as well. The enclosed banquet facility is very large to accommodate weddings and golf tournaments. It’s funny, especially the first time, you never expect while driving through the rural area a golf course/facility like this to pop up. I love it. I posted a bunch of photos.

I think of Ridge Creek Dinuba Golf Club as GK’s hub in the Central Valley. I’m going to be coordinating more GK Guru visits and look into a GK Plays there in 2018. Highly Recommended.

GK Guru outing (well there were two of us--come on CenCal guys)
7-23-17

The course is very lush right now. Those of you that have played here before know that the course is normally setup to imita... Continue »

GK Guru outing (well there were two of us--come on CenCal guys)
7-23-17

The course is very lush right now. Those of you that have played here before know that the course is normally setup to imitate a very hard fast links style.

Greens were softer than normal and were holding shots well and allowing for some pull back on well struck shots. They were rolling smooth and slower than normal at medium speed. The speed is actually a good thing because these greens are huge with many slopes and swales. The only damage was from neglectful golfers (how can we educate the non avid players?) and it was only in areas where people tend to hit more shots on the surfaces.

Tees all lush, green, level and very few areas with any divots.

Bunkers unlike most Cen Cal tracks have sand and it is consistent throughout and very playable. The depth of the bunkers is very challenging, anything from chest high to one where I was standing 10' above Johnny. The fairway bunkers are not much shallower and most of the time hitting into one is a blast out with a sw and is equivalent to a penalty with no real chance to advance.

Fairways are very different than in the past. Before they were very firm and fast with lots of rollout. Now they are longer and softer and make the course play much longer but also keep shots from going off into the nasty fescue. Great coverage all around.

Rough in the past was non existent until you reached the heavy fescue areas where even finding the ball is a coin flip. Now there is an intermediate cut that helps keep balls in playable areas.

The longer cut in the fairways combined with the new cut of rough is an excellent move by the course. First- in the past many well hit balls would end up in bad areas because there was nothing to stop them from going off the sloped edges. Second the pace of play has improved noticeably due to far fewer searches for balls because the fairway and first cut of rough keep them out of the nasty stuff, where as previously mentioned, even finding them is luck.

As mentioned by others, Ridge Creek is a solid track and a top course in the area. Greens roll smooth and fast with enough action to make it a challange but not so much you pull your hair out Fair... Continue »

As mentioned by others, Ridge Creek is a solid track and a top course in the area. Greens roll smooth and fast with enough action to make it a challange but not so much you pull your hair out Fairways are lush as noted before. There are no trees on the course so you dont get any shade and lining up your tee shot can be a bit misleading at times as the entire course is open.

The sand traps while consistent with what's in the area, are hard packed dirt for the most part. Also, the fairway bunkers are seriously deep so it's an automatic lay up coming out as you will need a wedge to get up and over the lip.

Course is definitely worth playing if you're anywhere within a couple hours drive. Restaurant is also top quality and a nice setting. Food is nothing spectacular but the ambiance is very nice and what you would expect from a quality course (not just a trailer)

Played 4-24-17 early morning on their pink Monday for $39 including cart. Was sent out as a single and had the course all to my self except for a few of the maintenance crew. Tee boxes were in real go... Continue »

Played 4-24-17 early morning on their pink Monday for $39 including cart. Was sent out as a single and had the course all to my self except for a few of the maintenance crew. Tee boxes were in real good shape, nice coverage and level. Fairways were very lush with some good roll out and nice lies. Rough was not much longer than the fairways and in good shape with some little tufts of grass. Bunkers were in good shape and well groomed. Greens were in really good shape, holding shots real nice and rolling medium/fast. Overall course is in really good shape and well worth playing.

Spring 2017 3-26-17

Layout as always is excellent, top 3 public in the area IMO.
Greens mostly smooth and quick with a few areas where golfers have not fixed their marks.
Tees level and lush.
Fa... Continue »

Spring 2017 3-26-17

Layout as always is excellent, top 3 public in the area IMO.
Greens mostly smooth and quick with a few areas where golfers have not fixed their marks.
Tees level and lush.
Fairways are returning to their normal firm playing conditions and the grass is coming out of dormancy.
Off fairway areas are a coin flip for even finding the ball in the native grass that is deep deep deep after the rains.
Bunkers have good consistent sand.
Practice facilities are best in the area.

The one place things can improve is pace as the multiple searches for balls slows play. I recommend the course implement a local rule to treat the areas as laterals to help speed play. (no one goes back after their 5plus minute searches anyway)

This course is worth a visit regardless of how far you need to drive.