I was in the area again and payed River Island CC mainly because the staff was so great the last time I was here, I wanted to give them the business. Staff was again super friendly and helpful. Due... Continue »

I was in the area again and payed River Island CC mainly because the staff was so great the last time I was here, I wanted to give them the business. Staff was again super friendly and helpful. Due to other commitments I wasn’t sure if I was going to have time to play a full 18 but thankfully all groups (about 4-5) let me play through right away so I zipped around the course in about 2 ¼ hours.

I’m starting to really like the layout of this track. Mainly flat with some minor rolling hills but the course crosses the flowing river/creek a handful of times. There are also a few ponds on the course but they really don’t come into play. At least they didn’t today when I was hitting it decently. The course has a wide variety of holes with dog legs left and right plus sloping fairways on the straight holes. There are also a few straight forward grip it and rip holes with wide landing areas.

Conditions are ok. Nothing special by any means but playable. Greens seemed to be in a bit better shape than the last time I played. Greens were in that nice happy medium range as far as having some undulations to make it a challenge but nothing ridiculous. Greens rolled on a medium-slow pace. They probably weren’t too bad but I just finished playing two days on fast greens so they seemed slow.

airways were part dormant, part dead but playable throughout. Tee boxes weren’t too bad. Easy enough to get a tee in the ground and the par 3’s had enough coverage to find a good hitting surface. You had to look for it, but the grass was there in between all the divots.

I managed to avoid the bunkers all day. I wanted to walk, not only for the exercise as it was perfect weather, but because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to sit in a cart for 3 hours on a sore rear end after the @$$ kicking, I received by team So Cal on Sunday! For time, I opted to take the cart which are normal basic carts.

Again, this course is off the radar and map by all definitions, but with the excellent customer service and fun layout, if you find yourself in the area. Definitely play it!

Since I was in the area, I decided to give River Island CC a shot. It’s a decent layout but the conditions are average to below average. I will say that the staff are super friendly and very accom... Continue »

Since I was in the area, I decided to give River Island CC a shot. It’s a decent layout but the conditions are average to below average. I will say that the staff are super friendly and very accommodating.

The layout is semi-flat but has some minor elevation changes in the 20’ drop range that if your drive hits those areas, you can get some nice extra yardage. Fairways were generous in width but did have some cleverly placed trees if you tried to hug the corner too tight. Most holes are straight forward with only some minor dog legs in them. The track does cross the river a few times with some forced carries off the tee but all were very manageable only being 50-100 yards out.

I did like some of the huge rock formations that lined a couple of the holes.

As for the conditions. The greens were a mixed batch of a decent to poor. Some were nice and smooth and others were beat up with brown spots, disease, and tons of divots. Fairways were ok but all had a lot of brown and hardpan dirt mixed in with the green areas.

Tee boxes were slightly below average on the Par 4-5’s and were pretty chewed up on the par 3’s. The two traps I were in were decent given the overall conditions of the course. Both had a thin layer of sand on top of hardpan dirt.

My central valley partner is on the IR list right now so I couldn’t take advantage of the golf moose special. For the regular rack rate, I’d say pass on this course but with the Golf Moose deal it’s doable. Not the deal of the century but you won’t feel as if you were just sold a used car by an auto thief.

Golfed 6/23/19
Weather touch warm, but a cooling breeze. Our group loves to go here for the views and a challenging golf course. The design requires a fairly straight driver as there are trees, o b o... Continue »

Golfed 6/23/19
Weather touch warm, but a cooling breeze. Our group loves to go here for the views and a challenging golf course. The design requires a fairly straight driver as there are trees, o b or the Tule River (which was really flowing) or all three on every hole. Pace 4 hours some waiting, but I played with real fast golfers as a threesome behind a five some. Condition wise very good, not excellent. Tees a little thin same goes for the fairways, but no bare spots. Found one fairway bunker it was okay. About an inch and a half of dirt. Some small pebbles also. Green side bunkers looked like they had a lot of sand in the. Rough was fine long enough to grab the club. Greens are good. Slow with an occasional thin spot. you cold see aeration holes on a few greens. Few ball marks and a little firm just slow. This is our close by treat course.

Played Sunday after taking a month long break because of back issues. Thankfully it has improved. A light breeze with temps in 80's. Very un-June like. Played as a fivesome in 4 1/2 hours with minimal... Continue »

Played Sunday after taking a month long break because of back issues. Thankfully it has improved. A light breeze with temps in 80's. Very un-June like. Played as a fivesome in 4 1/2 hours with minimal waiting. Tees are a little thin, but fine. The bermuda fairways have grown back and are quite good. Thin lies occasionally. Rough is mainly flowering clover mixed in grass. It can cause some concern on y8our next shot. Ball sits up alot or sinks to the bottom. Greens at some point recently were punched. They are healed, but you can see where the holes were. They were medium slow, pretty firm and at times a little bit bumpy. Did not get in a bunker but they looked pretty good. Great design nice visuals with the mountains and Tule River running throughout. Highly recommended

Neither GN nor the course mentioned the sanded greens nor the tournament. Not good when two players drive an hour and the other two more than an hour and a half.

Another person in my group made the... Continue »

Neither GN nor the course mentioned the sanded greens nor the tournament. Not good when two players drive an hour and the other two more than an hour and a half.

Another person in my group made the reservations so I failed to check here for aeration alert WHEN WILL I LEARN

Pace was close to 5 1/2 hours
Most of course is green with a few patches of brown.
Course has a great layout in a rural location.

Although this is a country club the course and facility is equal to an average muni. Come for the scenery not so much for the golf. Fairways are a mix of every type of grass. Rough is being taken ove... Continue »

Although this is a country club the course and facility is equal to an average muni. Come for the scenery not so much for the golf. Fairways are a mix of every type of grass. Rough is being taken over by clover. Traps have no sand to beach type sand. Several tee boxes are sloped or uneven. Greens were punched over a month ago and have not healed. Very bumpy and slow. Tule river runs through the course and beautiful wood carvings throughout. Look for deals, bring food and drink as they have no cart person.

Played Sunday 5/7/17. POP just under 4 hours. Fairly quiet as it had rained earlier in the morning. Nice to see the Tule River flowing real strong. Course was very green for the first time in years. T... Continue »

Played Sunday 5/7/17. POP just under 4 hours. Fairly quiet as it had rained earlier in the morning. Nice to see the Tule River flowing real strong. Course was very green for the first time in years. Tees are excellent. Fairways are a little thin in places, but there are no bare spots. Rough consists mainly of real thick clover. The ball either sits up or falls to the bottom of this stuff. If it sinks down you're in trouble. The one bunker I hit out of had thick sand about 6 inches deep, just perfect. I did not rank the course as the greens are about a 1 or 2 due to very recently being plugged. They are extremely bouncy and unbelievable slow. Notice I said bouncy not bumpy. Putts were getting airborne, deflected and generally tossed around. It provided some entertainment. With their normal excellent greens the course would be a solid 8 due to design, setting and overall beauty and challenge of the course.

After Bakersfield CC, Eaglee and I ventured up to Porterville. We zipped around the Porterville 9-hole muni first and then had time to try and squeeze in one more round. He hadn't played River Island ... Continue »

After Bakersfield CC, Eaglee and I ventured up to Porterville. We zipped around the Porterville 9-hole muni first and then had time to try and squeeze in one more round. He hadn't played River Island and it is a course I really liked my first time there, so it made sense to play there while in town. I called ahead and the guy said "it's wide open, come on out!" When we checked in and paid our $35 twilight rate, he then proceeded to tell us that there was a small high school girls' tournament on the front nine and we needed to start on the back. Then, he said we may not want to play the front at all because of that group, so he offered to let us play as much as we want (recommending repetition of the back nine, though). Then, we get to the 10th tee and there are several groups stacked ahead of us. Hardly my definition of "wide open." We considered asking for a refund and leaving, but decided to see what we could accomplish. Fortunately, there were a lot of big gaps throughout the course and we were able to get VERY creative in our own routing, so we jumped around and were able to barely finish all 18 holes (both back and front) before it was too dark to see! As for the course, it was in good overall condition, looking fairly lush and green throughout with some brown spots here and there. The tee boxes were good. The fairways were generally very nice to hit from. The rough was more inconsistent throughout, but never too much of a problem. Bunkers on the thin side, but I did notice some new sand they were installing in a few of them. The greens were also good, soft and rolling well at medium speeds. A few of the greens in the more shaded spots had some damage, but again nothing that affected play too much. The hectic start and lack of honesty when I called ahead were unfortunate, so it took awhile to settle in and enjoy ourselves. It was a very frustrating start to our round. However, everything did ultimately work out with some aggressive moves on our part and we still had fun. This is a course I really like and wish were closer to home. The setting out in the is very pretty and peaceful, conditions are above average and the layout offers plenty of challenge with some severe doglegs and plenty of trees/hazards in play. Definitely one of my favorites in the Central Valley.

Played on 1-16-16 This is just a quick winter update for more specifics see older reviews. The course has a great setting, a solid and challenging design and best of all we pulled a hot deal for 20$... Continue »

Played on 1-16-16 This is just a quick winter update for more specifics see older reviews. The course has a great setting, a solid and challenging design and best of all we pulled a hot deal for 20$ including cart. The look of the white trunks of the sycamores is really a nice aesthetic touch with all of the leaves missing this time of year. Typically in above average condition the results of winter and the rains have had an impact. Dormant fairways have been further damaged by the rains and cart users who drive in soggy areas. Greens are still good with only slightly more marks than normal and speeds also slower due to wet conditions. The bunkers were surprisingly good with fluffy consistent play (they must have worked them recently). The tee boxes show the most damage with many bare/torn up areas and a complete lack of grass on a few of the back boxes. These are temporary, not normal, conditions and I still recommend a visit