Golf Course Reviews
Golf Course Reviews: California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Utah, Florida, Hawaii!
Listing 1 to 7 of 69,394 Course Reviews
Page 1 of 1
The mighty have fallen.
Played Rancho twice this month; it's my regular course. It is a great layout with lots of subtle challenges. The par 3 holes in particular are quite difficult, each for a different reason. The hills throughout the layout really add to the test, and trees come into play on most holes.
People complain about 5-6 hour rounds on weekends, which is the time it will take you if you tee off after about 9 a.m. Early tee times allow you to finish in 4 to 4 1/2 hours. It's hard to play much faster due to the difficulty.
All things being equal, this is the jewel of the Los Angeles city courses.
Unfortunately right now all things are not equal. The course is in an extreme state of disrepair. The tee boxes are a disgrace. They are largely uneven. Unrepaired divots everywhere, it's very hard to find a place to tee up that is level and actually has grass underneath. The fairways are just as bad. If you hit it well and straight, you can't count on a good lie; often as not your ball will be in a divot hole or on some bare turf. Bunkers are another adventure; some have fine sand, some have dirt; some have a mix of the two. At least the greens are in decent shape, although they run pretty slow, especially in the early morning.
L.A. City Golf Division charges a premium to play Rancho [along with Wilson GC]. Golfers aren't getting value now. Obviously the city is not willing to pay for basic maintenance, and it really detracts from the enjoyment of a round here.
While the course is being aerated I am looking forward to playing at other venues that don't abuse the golfing public like the City of L.A. is doing here at Rancho.
7 Likes.
I played the Sun Mountain course at Paiute on August 7, 2012. Like the other two courses on the Paiute reservation, this course was in great condition. Fairways are lush - you rarely will find your ball in a divot. The rough immediately adjacent to the fairway gives an occasional buried lie, but usually the ball can be advanced without too much difficulty. If you stray off line severely, your ball will be in the desert and recovery is unlikely. You might find a jackrabbit or a roadrunner to entertain you, but your lie is going to be on some rocks or under a scrub bush.
Teed off at 7 a.m. which is essential to beat the summer heat, and to avoid the wind, which I understand can be pretty stiff in the afternoons. Playing as a single, the starter was generous in having me start on hole #2 to jump ahead of a foursome, with the promise that I could play #1 at the end. That was the green light for a fast, enjoyable round, done in 2 hours 35 minutes, not being hurried at all along the way.
I do wish that I would have had a yardage book because the tee shots can be deceptive. That's probably something that the course designer - Pete Dye - planned in order to confound and challenge the golfer. I found myself in a few fairway bunkers or off the fairway in the rough when I misjudged distances, and I took the long way to the hole a couple times because I was afraid to cut a dogleg that I should have.
The course is listed at 7112 yards from the black tees and 6631 from the gold tees, but plays shorter because of the altitude and because the fairways are well manicured and shots will run more than a bit. The greens are generally hard and won't hold shots very well, so you have to play for a little run there as well.
The greens themselves have a lot of undulation like many Dye designs. Flags always seem to be placed somewhere near trouble, so the margin of error in approach shots is small. I had a couple of shots that I thought were accurate trickle off the green to collection areas.
The Sun course is pretty much equal to the Snow course in my mind. Wolf is the best course on the property, and the others are a cut below. I like the Wolf's variety of holes and the unusual shots that you see when you play there. That being said I would not hesitate to play the Sun anytime I have the chance. It's a guaranteed fun round.
My favorite hole in the course was #18, a 400 yard par four dogleg left with water left and bunkers on the right near the ideal landing area. #1 is also a good challenge, a long dogleg par four that has the most elevation change (downhill) on the course.
By the way, the course staff is exceptional in their helpfulness and friendliness, as nice as they come.

Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort Review
Las Vegas Golf Course Reviews
1 Like.
Played this course for the first time on 9/13/2011. It is located just north and east of downtown Las Vegas.
The staff was as friendly as could be when I arrived. I was given a card for a bucket of balls before teeing off, even without having prepaid for them. They have a large driving range adjacent to the course surrounded by protective netting on all sides.
The course is called Desert Pines because it is populated with pine trees throughout. It is an enclosed course, no housing adjacent, although you can hear traffic on adjoining streets on a few holes.
The fairways are narrow, and if you stray from them you will most likely end up with a lie on a rocky dirt that will at least be managable, although you will want to be careful to pick out the larger rocks before you swing lest you damage your club head.
The course plays at 6810 yards from the back tees which I played, but it plays shorter because the fairways are very hard and fast. Greens are bent grass and in good shape. They were getting ready to overseed the next day.
This is a Pete Dye design with many of his trademarks - the railroad ties, large mounds in the fairway and near the greens, multi-tiered greens with deceptively small landing areas, water on 10 holes. If you are hitting it straight off the tee it's a real roller-coaster down the super-hard fairway as your ball hops along and among the mounds.
There is a good variety of holes, short and long par fours, short and long par fives, water on the right on some holes on the left on others. The 18th hole, a 466-yard dogleg left par 4, is a classic Dye design with water left. You can bail out right off the tee but that means a longer shot coming in to a green that still has water on the left side. The 15th hole is a short (341 yard) dogleg par four with water right, that invites you to bite off as much of the dogleg as you dare to make your second shot shorter. Even then, with a back-right flag, the approach shot is intimidating, with a large bunker in front of the flag and water right and long. All the holes give you something to think about and force you to choose among the various risk-reward scenarios.
My playing partner and I had some trouble with yardage estimation. There's no GPS in the carts, and there are very few yardage markers in the fairways. It's often better to play bump-and-run shots into the greens because the fairways and greens are so hard that it's easy to end up long if you fly it at the flag. We both got into trouble on a couple of holes by underestimating the yardage to a hazard or having the ball roll farther than expected.
All in all, this was an extremely fun course to play. Great design that makes you think and that rewards good shots. I'll look forward to the next chance I get to play it.
0 Likes.
This is a review of the Par-3 course at Rancho Park, which is situated off to the left side of the second hole on the big course. Lots of golfers who play the big course aren't even aware of the Par-3 course.
I play this course most Saturdays and Sundays around 7 a.m., usually with my brother. It takes about an hour to an hour and a half to get around. The course is 998 yards long, the shortest hole being about 80 yards and the longest 145 yards. The tees are mats, not grass, so if you don't like to hit off mats, go elsewhere. The greens are maintained by the same crew that handles the big course maintenance, they are often in better shape than the regular Rancho greens because the traffic is a little less. There is a good-sized putting green, and a separate chipping area with a sand bunker for practice.
This is a short course, but it's no pushover. The greens are quite small, and some even have a fair amount of undulation to make life more difficult. Two of the shortest holes, nos. 6 and 7, are protected by some pretty tall trees that can grab a wedge shot that's even two or three yards off. The greens on nos. 5 and 6 are effectively postage-stamp sized because of the slope of the green. Kikuyu grass rough throughout can play havoc with chip shots. If you land in one of the three bunkers on the course you can pretty much kiss par goodbye, as you will have an extremely delicate sand shot and no green to work with.
When you tell someone that you play the Par-3 course, they inevitably will make some comment like "That must be a great way to practice your short game." My answer is always yes, it's great, but I never see them out at the Par-3 subsequently.
Another benefit of playing the Par 3 is that it gives you 9 shots at a hole-in-one every round. I've scored 5 aces here over the years, and another hole-out par after a hooked tee shot over the fence. My brother has had two aces in the last year.
The last time I played, which was this past weekend, I managed to shoot my age for the weekend (58 total, 9 holes on Saturday and 9 on Sunday).
So this course has a lot going for it, if you want a fast round with reasonable challenge and especially practicing shots from 140 yards on in.
0 Likes.
Played on 6/28 in the afternoon. The Ike is one of my favorite courses of all time, although it is truly brutal if you are trying to post a low score. I was playing with a visitor from Australia who is a scratch golfer and wanted to play a challenging US course from the tips. He got what he bargained for and was quite pleased despite failing to come close to a par score; his 79 included 3 birdies and 3 double bogeys. This course has it all, and in a beautiful setting as long as the smog hasn't kicked in. I love the fact that every hole has a bit of risk/reward built in. Birdies are available with excellent shots but bogeys are lurking everywhere if you don't execute. I found the greens a bit slower than I expected, although they were true and fair -- little damage from ball marks. My playing partner thought they were a little bumpy. The fairways were in superb condition. There is a string of holes, nos. 4-7, that are crazy tough: a very long par-4 with a tough tee shot downhill that is visually tricky, a monster par-3 (250 yards uphill to the back hole location), and back-to-back par fours of 450-plus yards. Every hole gives you something to think about. The fairway bunkers seem to be in just the right spot to swallow up slightly errant tee shots, the greens are multi-tiered and require accurate distance calibration, the fairways are pinched at likely landing areas on the shorter holes. I used every club in the bag and always do when I play here. On the four par threes I hit four very different clubs -- driver on 4, pitching wedge on 9, hybrid on 13, and seven iron on 15. I could play this course every day and never get tired of it.
0 Likes.
I had been out to this course this past winter, and had a lesson with a young pro Alex Graham who was great. He helped me with a couple of swing flaws in short order, and offered me a discount for a golf round when the lesson was done.
This time I played on 6/20/2011 as a single. Got the tee time online the night before for $75. Teed off at 7:40 a.m., played the blue tees (6405 yards, rated 71.1/120 slope) played with two higher handicappers who played from the white tees. Driving range has mats instead of grass; lots of stalls. Practice putting green is large and the green quality is a good approximation of the greens on the course.
The course was a pleasant enough track, not too difficult. The greens had quite a bit of slope that made it difficult for a first-timer like myself to judge distances. A few bumps on the greens but I won't blame them for my three-putts.
Fairways are generous in most landing areas. I was able to hit 11/14 fairways; by comparison playing the Paiute Wolf course the next day I hit only 7/14 but felt I was driving the ball better on that course.
The course plays pretty short. Don't think I had more than an seven iron into the green on any par fours, and usually no more than a nine iron.
There are a couple of excellent par threes. Third hole is about a 200 yard shot with water guarding the entire right side of the green, and the 16th hole is a beautiful downhill shot over a lake (which shouldn't come into play), with a creek running a bit to the left of the green (which may come into play).
Of the other holes, the par four ninth is the only one of note, with a second shot to an uphill, two-tiered green guarded by a creek on the right side.
While I enjoyed the round, this is not a course I am dying to go back to. For my money, there are quite a few courses that compete favorably with this one in the Las Vegas area. In particular the three Paiute courses are superior tests, more of a challenge, and offer a better visual experience, without any housing adjacent to the holes. If I played Rhodes Ranch again I would probably move back to the black tees to make it a little tougher.
0 Likes.
Played on 6/21, got a tee time online for $82 (non-Nevada resident). Upon arrival was offered the chance to tee off earlier. Nice practice area, with a large putting green and a separate chipping green. Driving range use was part of the green fee.
The golf course is outstanding, one of the best in Nevada. I have played the two other courses at the Paiute reservation, and while the others are very good, this one is a cut above. Superb variety of holes: the par fours include uphill, downhill, long and short, right and left doglegs, over hazard areas, wide and narrow fairways; the par fives have similar variety; the par threes include a Pete Dye signature island green. There are five sets of tees so that any golfer's game can be accommodated. Stray too far from the fairway and you will end up with a tough lie in the desert -- unless you choose to take a lateral hazard penalty per the local rules. I played early morning to beat the heat, and flew around in just under three hours -- playing as a single. Like the other Paiute courses, this one is carved out of the desert with no housing adjacent to the course -- a rarity for Nevada daily fee facilities. The entire experience was first-class, top to bottom.
0 Likes.
Listing 1 to 7 of 69,394 Course Reviews
Page 1 of 1


Filter Reviews
None
Region
Member
Month of
Date Range
to



Greenskeeper.org Assistance
Vivid Golf 50% Off
Thank You ~ JohnnyGK



Our GK Community
Greenskeeper.org
Golf Course Supporters

* Super Supporters:

* Corica Park, Alameda, CA
* Classic Club, Palm Springs, CA
* Desert Willow Golf Resort, Palm Springs, CA
* Goat Hill Park Golf Course, Oceanside, CA
* Goose Creek Golf Club, Mira Loma, CA
* Indian Wells Golf Resort, Palm Springs, CA
* Mt. Woodson Golf Club, San Diego, CA
* Mojave Resort Golf Club, Laughlin, NV
* Oak Creek Golf Club, Irvine, CA
* Oak Quarry Golf Club, Riverside, CA
* Quail Lodge Golf Club, Carmel, CA
* Riverwalk Golf Club, San Diego, CA
* Sandpiper Golf Club, Santa Barbara, CA
* Sterling Hills Golf Club, Camarillo, CA
* Sun City West Golf, Phoenix, AZ

Golf Moose / GK Private Course Outing Hosts:

Bakersfield CC, Bakersfield, CA
Bear Creek Golf Club, Murrieta, CA
Bella Collina CC, San Clemente, CA
Canyon Crest CC, Riverside, CA
Canyon Gate CC, Nevada, NV
Dove Canyon Golf Club, Dove Canyon, CA
Las Posas CC, Camarillo, CA
Kings CC, Hanford, CA
Los Coyotes CC, Buena Park, CA
Palm Valley CC, Palm Desert, CA
San Diego CC, Chula Vista, CA
Spanish Hills CC, Camarillo, CA
Sunset Hills CC, Thousand Oaks, CA
The Huntington Club, Huntington Beach, CA
The Oaks at Valencia, Valencia, CA
The Saticoy Club, Somis, CA
Western Hills CC, Chino Hills, CA
Valencia CC, Valencia, CA
Wood Ranch Golf Club, Simi Valley, CA







-->