Played Sunday, Mother's Day morning, around 7:00 am, foursome walking, three from the blue tees and one from the white. Range open when we got there but that was the only services offered. Played in 3... Continue »

Played Sunday, Mother's Day morning, around 7:00 am, foursome walking, three from the blue tees and one from the white. Range open when we got there but that was the only services offered. Played in 3:50, waiting on some shots but not many. There were two solid holes open behind us the entire back nine and some space behind that group. Shameful that early.

The course is in nearly good shape. Definitely not as much water being put on the grass. The fairways were dry for the most part. The rough was cut down and not as lush as one would like. The sand was beach type, and no issues with amount of it. The greens have not completely healed from aeration, with some bumps. I thought the course greens were not as fast as the practice greens. They were medium speed, although admittedly some downhill putts could get away if the putter was not careful. My experience though was more short putts than long ones.

Overally, enjoyable as usual. No beverage cart out there that I saw, there was no food truck at the driving range and the snack shack was not open. Outside of the lack of amenities, a good time had by all especially considering the pace of play.

Played Sunday, April 12, around 7:00 am, walking from the blue tees. Cudos to the group in front of us, finished in 3.5 hours, rarely waiting after the third hole. Rained most of the front nine, at ti... Continue »

Played Sunday, April 12, around 7:00 am, walking from the blue tees. Cudos to the group in front of us, finished in 3.5 hours, rarely waiting after the third hole. Rained most of the front nine, at times hard, but cleared up for a beautiful day.

I knew before I went but the guy that made the tee time did not. They had aerated last Monday and Tuesday and the sand, especially on the front nine, was heavy. There was a temporary green on #14 on the left side. It was shaggy and very soft but still better than the aerated greens. They were using the right green on the par 3 16th. It was not aerated but it also was soft and shaggy. Weird considering it is a regular green. The greens were glacially slow on the front but much better on the back. Probably aerated them first and the rain compacted down the sand.

The rest of the course was in nice shape. It drained surprisingly well. I'll be back, hopefully after the greens have healed.

Played early on Super Bowl Sunday, second group off. There were four of us, all walking. We played in 3:55 which is pretty good. A beverage cart caught us on the 15th green, the first time I have seen... Continue »

Played early on Super Bowl Sunday, second group off. There were four of us, all walking. We played in 3:55 which is pretty good. A beverage cart caught us on the 15th green, the first time I have seen that at Rancho. Nice feature considering there is usually nothing available for the early morning crowd. The food truck was not at its place behind the driving range when we finished. There were tables set up next to the putting green where they had a bar at one time; maybe they are doing food there.

The course generally is in nice shape.. The warmer weather really has it greening up for a winter morning. The greens were pretty good although there are a few with some of the problems noted by Roarksown1 in his December review. #2 was especially bad. The practice green was also rough. The greens on the course were better.

Just a gorgeous morning at Rancho.

Played in an RPGC tournament yesterday and just want to leave a quick review about the current green conditions - and it's not great. I played here a few weeks back and the greens were in terrific sha... Continue »

Played in an RPGC tournament yesterday and just want to leave a quick review about the current green conditions - and it's not great. I played here a few weeks back and the greens were in terrific shape, but something has gone amiss.

There are patchy dirt sections, something that looks like mold on a lot of them, and far too many ball marks to count. I'm not sure what happened but putting right now is a true adventure, and not the good kind. Speeds are inconsistent, lines are inconsequential and frustrations will be high.

The rest of the course? Not bad at all. Fairways and rough are good for the most part, bunkers had decent sand in them and most of the tee boxes were flat, level and had some coverage, but a few of the par 3s are thin and don't really have grass but moss instead.

POP was great since it was a tournament and we finished in just over four hours. But the overriding message here is that the greens are currently very, very disappointing.

Took advantage of an invite to play an early morning round at Rancho. Despite the early tee time, it took forever to drive there from south OC. I have always felt Rancho was a true barometer of what a... Continue »

Took advantage of an invite to play an early morning round at Rancho. Despite the early tee time, it took forever to drive there from south OC. I have always felt Rancho was a true barometer of what a golfer shoots. It is challenging but fair, and provides a stern test on enough holes to create scoring stress, but a few holes where birdie opportunities are still available.
Conditions were about what I expected based upon the most recent review, although the greens rolled even better than I anticipated. Still some issues with the fairways, but overall, decent shape.

The group I played with wanted to play the blue tees, which at one time was my norm, but as I approach 80, they are simply just too much for me now. Remembering holes I used to reach with middle irons, are now two woods at best. Despite that, enjoyed a great day at one of my favorite old style traditional golf courses. Wish we had some of these in Orange County.

Played last Friday in a Rancho Park Men's Club tournament at the home course and found the course to be in pretty good shape overall on what turned out to be the most perfect golf weather day you coul... Continue »

Played last Friday in a Rancho Park Men's Club tournament at the home course and found the course to be in pretty good shape overall on what turned out to be the most perfect golf weather day you could ever want. It was stunning. The clubhouse situation is still a bit of an embarrassment after so many years now of nothing actually being finished, so you're still limited to a food truck which gets its orders from a snack window near the driving range. It's highly impractical. The range itself is good but over-crowded and the ball quality has gotten pretty poor I've noticed. My group played from the white tees this round which is still plenty of challenge at Rancho. The fairways were in mostly good, not great shape but there were plenty of dead or dry areas just off the main lanes. Bunkers were okay, while the tee boxes were level but not always greatly covered. The greens were definitely the highlight as I found them to be in good shape, rolling true and holding shots well. The were particularly fast on this day as well which befuddled many in my foursome for most of the afternoon. I think Rancho could definitely benefit from some upcoming precipitation but it's still in good enough shape right now that if you get a time, don't hesitate to take it.

Played last Saturday at 6:50 am. The parking lot was crowded when I got there at 6:15. The course moved along okay, with a 4:15 POP. The snack shack was not open when we passed it between the 11th and... Continue »

Played last Saturday at 6:50 am. The parking lot was crowded when I got there at 6:15. The course moved along okay, with a 4:15 POP. The snack shack was not open when we passed it between the 11th and 12th holes but I saw that it was open when we were on the 17th tee. Opening at 10:00 or later, there were no services available, other than the range, for the early morning golfers. Glad I brought my own coffee.

The course was playing firm and fast. The fairways were pretty tight and the rough was generally cut down. It was pretty dry also with some bare spots. The highlight was the greens. They were fast and true. Really nice right now. The best I have seen them here in a while. The sand traps have been pretty bad lately, with little sand. I was in one/two when I went for the green on my second shot on 18. The trap was filled with thick beach sand. I popped it out to the next bunker, where it plugged on my 10' shot. I was able to get up and down for par but the sand made it really tough. I am not a fan of beach sand but it is better than no sand! Glad to see they are working on improvements there.

Overall, a beautiful morning on a muni court in pretty good shape. About as good as it can get while conserving water as they obviously are.

Played in another RPGC men's club tournament at the home course this past weekend and am delighted to report that the greens are in tremendous shape right now. Completely healed, rolling true and fast... Continue »

Played in another RPGC men's club tournament at the home course this past weekend and am delighted to report that the greens are in tremendous shape right now. Completely healed, rolling true and fast and in very optimal condition for one of the busiest courses in Los Angeles.

Unfortunately the opposite is true of the fairways and some other conditions. My flight played from the white tees but those tee boxes were in good condition, while the bunkers were just okay and the rough was thick but playable. Back to the fairways - dry, thin and just not very optically pleasing. The recent heat did a number on them, so hopefully this past week's small rainfall will do the opposite, but I'm not convinced.

POP was okay for the most part but we were the final group for the tournament so it was expectedly a longer round than normal. Once again no cart service but a great little snack shop at the 12th tee box.

Hoping the club can get the fairways in a little better shape and then playing here will once again by a no-brainer.

Played before 7:00 am on Sunday, Mother's Day. Course was surprisingly crowded when we finished in almost exactly 4 hours. I thought Mother's Day was supposed to be the lightest of the year??

Short... Continue »

Played before 7:00 am on Sunday, Mother's Day. Course was surprisingly crowded when we finished in almost exactly 4 hours. I thought Mother's Day was supposed to be the lightest of the year??

Short add to my review last week. They fixed the greens. Quickest turnaround I have ever seen. No evidence of any issue. The greens look great. They are running a little faster than medium speed, so not as fast as usual, but they are much better than last week. They were putting more water on the course likely because of the unseasonable heat.