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

If this course was closer to major metropolitan areas it would quickly become a favorite and probably switch back from semi to fully private.

Overall - Very nice and quite challenging. Great locat... Continue »

If this course was closer to major metropolitan areas it would quickly become a favorite and probably switch back from semi to fully private.

Overall - Very nice and quite challenging. Great location in a valley snuggled in the foothills. Views abound and most holes have no houses. Those that have houses are mostly out of play and not visually distracting. The river runs through many holes and is in play on several. The oaks are old and massive. The sycamores, which are uncommon for most of the valley, are also old and mature and give a beautiful framing to many holes.

Pace - We played in just under four and I can not remember non-tournament rounds over five as typically the crowds are small.

Course conditions - In very good shape for February. The early spring like weather is evident and all areas are filling in nicely with only a few dormant areas left. Greens smooth and rolling 10+.

Staff - Very nice and unlike many semi-private courses they showed no difference in service to us as compared to members.

Value - Off the rack average to high for the area (relative cost, in Nor or So Cal it would be a steal) but it is easy to get deals on GN and right now they have reduced rates directly from the course, for how long? IDK

Food - Being a club it has above average food and offerings.

Facilities - Nice old clubhouse with a cozy feel and good views, that is well maintained. Large practice area.

Out of the way for many, but worth the trip.

Got a headstart on the GK Stevinson weekend with a round at River Island this afternoon. A bit out of the way, but seemed like one of the better options in the valley I haven't yet played. I got there... Continue »

Got a headstart on the GK Stevinson weekend with a round at River Island this afternoon. A bit out of the way, but seemed like one of the better options in the valley I haven't yet played. I got there around 2:30 and got right out as a single. $35 with cart for twilight. He told me I could head off right away, but he forgot to mention that there was a sixsome(!) right ahead of me. They let me through on the 3rd tee and I also passed another group on the back nine. Otherwise, followed behind a twosome and threesome most of the day for a solid 3 hour pace.

The course was in decent overall condition. The greens were probably the highlight. They were nice, except for a few that had some minor damaged spots. The tee boxes were mostly good other than the chewed-up par-3s, which is expected late in the day. Fairways and rough a little patchy in places, but mostly playable enough. Bunkers had good sand.

This is a semi-private course in that they allow public play after 10:00. Definitely much more interesting and scenic layout than most courses throughout the Central Valley. Comparable to Horse Thief in many ways. Recommended if in the area.