Played Ojai Valley for the first time on Saturday 11/25 teeing off at 10:30am with my wife and one of her girlfriends. I believe we paid $90 per person through one of the golf site deals, and it's tot... Continue »

Played Ojai Valley for the first time on Saturday 11/25 teeing off at 10:30am with my wife and one of her girlfriends. I believe we paid $90 per person through one of the golf site deals, and it's totally worth that price. The course wasn't extremely busy, and POP ended up being a leisurely 4:15. I'm a walker, and Ojai would be an EXTREMELY difficult walk. We rode :)

The resort itself is spectacular. Finding the pro shop/bag drop proved to be a little difficult as it's all the way around the backside of the resort, but thankfully I had read some previous reviews that mentioned to make sure we dropped our bags at the bag drop due to the huge distance to the parking lot. The attendant suggested my wife jump in a cart and follow me down to the parking lot and just load up there. Great idea! We arrived early and had breakfast at the Oak Grill. The food and service were excellent. It's pricey, just know where you're at. After breakfast we headed down to the range to get warmed up. There's a very nice short game area just to the right of the first tee, so we drove the cart down and started there. The range itself is excellent, providing unlimited Titleist balls. Since there weren't many tips on the GK site about the holes, (I read them religiously before playing a new course!) I asked in the pro shop if they had any course tips they could help me with. He handed me a sheet with tips on how to play each hole, which was great! I'll add all of this info to the TIPS section soon, because it was very helpful. Now, on to the course...

The front 9 is quite demanding, with many blind tee shots, and lots of elevation changes. Even having the info I had, it was still kinda difficult to determine where to hit the ball, and how far to hit it. The carts have excellent GPS systems in them, so that definitely helped. Playing it a second time will be much easier. The back 9 wraps around the front of the resort, and is much more in front of you. You may have an audience on the 10th and 13th tee boxes, because they're right next to the restaurants.

Overall conditions were excellent. Tee boxes were all nice and lush, and very level. The fairways were beautifully green and lush, and a joy to hit from. All of the grass at Ojai is kikuya, so the rough was a bear to play out of. It wasn't overly long, but it was still difficult to advance the ball if you got too deep. The sand traps were excellent. The sand was soft and thick...my ball plugged so deep in the face of the greenside trap on hole 1 I almost didn't find it! The greens were the highlight for me. Running around 10.5 on the stimp and smoooooooth. They were on the soft side, and wedges with too much spin were an issue, because almost all of the greens are severely sloped from back to front. I had multiple great shots spin right off the front of the green. Doh!

Ojai Valley is a challenging course with all of the elevation changes and blind shots, but it's fair. It's definitely a tough course for the ladies, as there are some forced carries into the greens. My wife and her friend had to lay up a couple of times because the diostances were pretty far for them, but they still loved it! The course chewed me up and spit me out, but I'd love to play it again. I'm looking forward to a weekend getaway at the resort someday, with a couple of rounds built in. I definitely recommend!

My group loves this place! We had 36 players here on 9/10-11 and everyone had great things to say about this resort. To start I will say the grounds around the resort are beautifully landscaped and we... Continue »

My group loves this place! We had 36 players here on 9/10-11 and everyone had great things to say about this resort. To start I will say the grounds around the resort are beautifully landscaped and well thought out. Many different seating areas and places to gather. Most of us ate at Jimmies, a great bar and restaurant with outstanding service. The rooms a real nice and comfortable but are hard to find in the dark!
Now for the golf course...this is one of my personal favorites and many in my group concur. The course is such a joy to play and can be very challenging from the right tees. We played the white tees and found them to be fair and enough of a challenge for everyone in my group. Ojai has a great variety of holes and difficult par threes. I would rate all the conditions 8.5 out of 10 and give this place a 10 rating for enjoyment and lay-out. We will always return to this gem of a property!. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Played The Inn this morning and it was beautiful out, greens were
small punched and light sand. Rolling fine, will be great in one more
week. Fairways and rough in great condition and fair. Staff h... Continue »

Played The Inn this morning and it was beautiful out, greens were
small punched and light sand. Rolling fine, will be great in one more
week. Fairways and rough in great condition and fair. Staff helpful
friendly. Recommend people to get out and play. ???????????

Hello fellow golfers. I haven't written one of these in a while because I haven't played a new course in a while. Well, I finally played Ojai Valley because I kept hearing great things about it from p... Continue »

Hello fellow golfers. I haven't written one of these in a while because I haven't played a new course in a while. Well, I finally played Ojai Valley because I kept hearing great things about it from people that played there. Well, like 'House' says, "people lie". Don't get me wrong. It's a nice course and the layout is decent but it's not that outstanding. Like most courses there are places you can't hit the ball. This course is pretty much straight forward. You can hit driver on most holes and 3 wood on a few. The par 3s are fair and the par 5s aren't that long. The tee boxes were in good shape. The fairways were a little too soft for me but had great coverage. The greens were a lil too slow for me as well but they rolled true with few breaks at the hole you really have to look for. If the greens were quick then the challenge of the course would increase. Like my buddy said, this course couldn't charge the price they do if it was a stand alone course. The resort being there is key to keeping the course going. If you can find a deal on line then by all means come and play but don't pay the full rate or you will be a lil upset. Overall, I enjoyed myself. The scenery was nice and the pace of play was good. It's a little tricky finding the 10th hole but I would play it again for the right price. So go give it a shot and tell me what you think. Until the next time.

I played this course on Friday, May 19, 2017 with my pal from Camarillo. Good to great course conditions in general. I would say they are 99.9% healed from greens aeration they did about 6 weeks ago. ... Continue »

I played this course on Friday, May 19, 2017 with my pal from Camarillo. Good to great course conditions in general. I would say they are 99.9% healed from greens aeration they did about 6 weeks ago. Lush grass from tee to green. Only the area of the fairway in front of hole 6 had thin lies and some bare ground. I found out that they have had a problem with that zone since a major flood hit there many years ago. Rough was lush, but not too penal. All the bunkers were groomed and had nice, soft sand. The greens rolled great: fast, but not too fast. I would say they rolled around 10.5. Pace of play was about 4 to 4.5 hours. Great food and atmosphere in the pub. Not cheap, but we got a good deal on Groupon paying $89, which included range, cart, and a beer.

Played on Friday, May 19th. I have always loved playing Ojai and have come to expect exceptional playing conditions and customer service and yesterday was no different. The guys in the proshop and the... Continue »

Played on Friday, May 19th. I have always loved playing Ojai and have come to expect exceptional playing conditions and customer service and yesterday was no different. The guys in the proshop and the starter were awesome. These guys treat you like a member at a private club.

The course was in terrific shape: striped lush fairways, manicured rough and aprons, and near perfect greens rolling about a 11, maybe quicker. The course it's self has a great mix of par 4's and 3's. I would say it's weakpoint may be the par 5's, however, although not overly long the 5's still require accuracy off the tee (only my opinion though). The final 4 holes are quite challenging and require great second shots to score, including hole 16, possibly one of the best par 3's in California.

All in all, I highly recommend getting out here early this summer as the greens and course are playing great. Pace of play during the weekdays can be 3.5 hours which is also a major plus of coming up here!

Today was my first time playing this course, and what a gem. Beautiful 80 degree Santa Ana day with very little wind. Golfnow had a $79 tee time and I called the course, and they matched the rate with... Continue »

Today was my first time playing this course, and what a gem. Beautiful 80 degree Santa Ana day with very little wind. Golfnow had a $79 tee time and I called the course, and they matched the rate with a little earlier time. Played as a twosome with my Golf buddy and they let us out early, starting on hole 10. POP was of no consequence because we never saw anyone in front of us, and finished just under 4 hours. Gorgeous mountain course, with beautiful vistas in all directions. 3D golf, Every shot your going up, or downhill, with every hole different. Lot's of elevated tee shots which I love. Challenging but fair course. Rode in a cart and can't imagine ever walking all those hills. The carts have an ice chest, and GPS. Some soft slightly muddy areas, but handling this winters rains fairly well. The greens were receptive but fast and I had a really hard time reading them. Several times I putted only to watch my ball break in the opposite direction of my read. Course conditions were perfect. Only issue I could come up with was some of the sand traps seemed a little lite on sand, and maintenance was adding sand while we there.This is a full service club, with a very friendly staff. I Highly recommend playing Ojai Valley Inn.

Played today with one of my buddies, Andy, using GN, $55 at 12:10 p.m. It was kind of crowded around the first tee from about 11:30 to about 12:20, when we teed off. Maye a lot of groups with approxim... Continue »

Played today with one of my buddies, Andy, using GN, $55 at 12:10 p.m. It was kind of crowded around the first tee from about 11:30 to about 12:20, when we teed off. Maye a lot of groups with approximately the same times, so we went out a little late. They paired another single with us at the last minute, right after we hit our tee shots. I would say it was a little disorganized around the first tee, but not a real big deal. The course was cart path only due to a good amount of recent rains and wet turf made the course play a little longer. Most of the fairways were in great shape with only a couple of saturated areas and a good amount of turf to hit from. It's dormant, mostly kikuyu and Bermuda grasses. Rough was cut nicely, just at about an inch and a half, with good coverage, so no issues there. Only a couple traps had standing water (12 and 13 greenside bunkers) and other than that, I would say the sand was in great shape. The greens were soft but fast enough that you had to be careful not to run putts way past. We saw the beverage cart about three times in four hours. Everybody from maintenance personnel to the pro shop and starter was very friendly and super considerate when you got over a shot. At $55, it was a super good deal.

Tee it up GK’er Review Gurus abbacat, GDR2323 and Pedro7017 at what is becoming one of my favorite golf courses in Southern California. Ojai Valley Inn is a beautiful golf experience. The surrounds an... Continue »

Tee it up GK’er Review Gurus abbacat, GDR2323 and Pedro7017 at what is becoming one of my favorite golf courses in Southern California. Ojai Valley Inn is a beautiful golf experience. The surrounds and resort grounds are scenic, secluded and tranquil. The place is deep in golf history and majestic with its large mature trees. There are so many gorgeous back drops on virtually every golf shot. The golf course itself is challenging yet fair. You really need to hit the ball straight out there off the tee and then a solid iron shot or deal with the hazards, tough bunkers or when the rough is long, difficult greenside shots.

Ojai Valley Inn is in great shape. Greens running moderately fast, mostly smooth and holding shots well. Fairways lush with some dry areas and cut tight. Rough lush with some dry areas but cut down (the rough is kikuyu so be glad its cut down). Tee boxes has some recent reseeding on some of them but in general no maintenance, level and mostly lush.

As far as service, excellent. Everyone. Bag drop, proshop, attendants assisting with parking lot pick up/drop off, on course beverage (this on a late Monday afternoon). They make you feel special.

They will be aerating the greens starting 10/24 so try to play the course in the near future. However its just small holes.

Looking forward to my next round here already!