I've played Madera about 4-5 times in the last couple of months. Course remains in decent overall shape with nice greens. Fairways are a bit thin,... » More

I've played Madera about 4-5 times in the last couple of months. Course remains in decent overall shape with nice greens. Fairways are a bit thin, especially yesterday and last week. They are starting to show sings of the triple digit heat effecting them. But the fairways still present a decent hitting surface and overall not too bad, especially given the tradeoff of extra roll out.

Greens are in really nice shape. Seemed like they rolled a bit slower yesterday, but that could just be because I was coming from the peninsula greens which roll much faster in general. .

We played mid day and naturally the course was fairly quiet. I have a cycling client who is now taking up the sport so it was perfect for him to drop extra balls and hit multiple shots as we didn't have anyone behind us until the 16th.

Good solid customer service. Layout is pretty basic flat parkland setup which is perfect for a beginner.

They have also added some "new" carts. They are still basic carts but in a lot better condition than the old ones!
» Close

Played yesterday and was impressed with the overall conditions given the drought and it’s mid summer. The fairways were just short of perfection. O... » More

Played yesterday and was impressed with the overall conditions given the drought and it’s mid summer. The fairways were just short of perfection. Only a couple of small areas on the entire course where it was a little thin. The hotel is back in full action which helps with the water supply given the course uses reclaimed water from the hotel.

Greens were rolling smooth at a fast pace. Greens were a bit on the firm side so approach shots need to be well struck in order to get them to stick.

Tee boxes were all in excellent shape as was the one sand trap I was in. POP was right at 5 hours which I expected being a weekend with gorgeous weather and we didn’t have a tee time until 11 AM

Customer service is always excellent.

I was curious to see what the course conditions were like in mid summer and I’m pleased to say that the entire course is in excellent shape!
» Close

Course is just in way too nice of shape not to play. Played early morning last week and again in late afternoon yesterday. As mentioned in my last ... » More

Course is just in way too nice of shape not to play. Played early morning last week and again in late afternoon yesterday. As mentioned in my last review, the course is in great shape. The fairways have lost a tiny bit of their perfect emerald green coloring but are still in fantastic shape. Super lush and offer a good balance between carpet like hitting surface and offering a good amount of roll.

I don't think I've mentioned it before, but most fairways have a small crest in them that if you can carry it you'll catch the small but definitive "speed slot" and get an extra 20+ yards on your drive. Being a flat course it was nice for the designer to put these speed slots in to help with roll given the super lush fairways.

Greens are always in top shape at Ridge Creek and the last two weeks were no exception. The late afternoon round will be prone to footprints leaving indentations but that's normal for most courses. I will say that the greens are trickier than they look at Ridge Creek. Initial observations leaving you thinking they are flat and docile, but almost all have subtle multiple tiers. Just enough to make you pay attention and enough to fool you to prevent a sub 80 round :( Needed another birdie on one of the last 3 holes and had 3 chances in the 12'-15' range. I under read the first one, over read the 2nd and left the third short! arrrgggh!

Tee boxes are level and lush with good coverage throughout, even on the short par 3's.

Sand traps are in need of attention. They are thin at best and just short of hardpacked dirt.

Customer service is Excellent. POP- Last week in the morning it was at around 4 hrs and yesterday it was under 3 hrs. as I only encountered one group that took me 1 hole to get around. it also helped that I hit every fairway(ish) and the one that did miss was on the cart path which is about the only place you can find a stray drive at Ridge Creek .

Highly recommended to say the least.
» Close

This is just a quick update on conditions out at Eagle Springs. The summer heat is starting to show it's teeth as most of the fairways now have some... » More

This is just a quick update on conditions out at Eagle Springs. The summer heat is starting to show it's teeth as most of the fairways now have some brown spots. Fairways are still super lush throughout (including the brown areas). Greens rolled nice and smooth at a medium fast pace and easily held well struck shots.

A couple of the tee boxes were a bit lumpy but nothing major. I somehow avoided all traps today. Customer service was fantastic as was the pace of play (I finished in the 3 hr mark).

A highly recommended play when in the Fresno area.
» Close

Needed to challenge my putting skills and there’s no better place like BlackHorse. We had a late morning tee time. We went down to the range and it ... » More

Needed to challenge my putting skills and there’s no better place like BlackHorse. We had a late morning tee time. We went down to the range and it was packed with handful of people waiting for a space to open. When I drove in I noticed the course didn’t look too busy so we ended up jumping out about 20-30 minutes early. We had clear sailing until about the 7th hole when we got up to the twosome in front of us. They weren’t the problem. The problem was the foursome in front of them which we waited on every shot thereafter for the remainder of the day.

Green are always tough at Blackhorse with the numerous undulations. They are also hard so getting shots to stay on the green are difficult. We had more than our share of solid approach shots that landed in the middle of the green but rolled off the back. Greens rolled at a medium-fast pace.

Fairways at Blackhorse will always present a tight lie. Today was no exception. In addition to that there are a few brown areas from cutting back water. Which as we all know will be a common occurrence in California the rest of the summer.

Tee boxes were level with good coverage throughout. Rough was about 2-3 inches thick but not nearly as penal as yesterday at Spyglass Hill. Sand traps were ok. A couple of them were a little thin but all in all decent.

I love the layout at Blackhorse and always will. For the Mon-Wed price it’s a great track, if you’re paying weekend prime rack rate…. It’s 50/50. If you want a tough challenging track with ocean views (assuming the fog doesn’t roll in like it did most of today for us) then yes I suppose it’s worth the price of admission.
» Close