Out this morning 9/10/12 for a 9am tee time as a single...paired with three nice beginning players. Weather was hot...slight breeze. Pace of play was 4 hours 15 minutes as we lost two of our players m... Continue »

Out this morning 9/10/12 for a 9am tee time as a single...paired with three nice beginning players. Weather was hot...slight breeze. Pace of play was 4 hours 15 minutes as we lost two of our players mid way through the 2nd nine. Greens were very healthy looking, on the lusher and slower side with little to no ball marks. They looked great but were slow for this golfer's taste...probably rolling around a 8.5 on the stimp. The fringes were green, soft and receptive as well. The fairways really surprised me in a good way. I have not played here during the summer and was surprised to see the fairways green, lush for the most part and in good shape. The areas just off the fairways were really beat up with dead grass and a lot of areas that were thin. The tees were lush and level for the most part and in good shape. Depending on the bunker they were either hardpan or if it was a bunker where they added new sand it was soft. They raised there regular rates 3 dollars I believe. I believe they will be doing maintenance on the greens later this month. Overall I was really pleased with the overall conditions of the course...great job rustic staff considering the 2 months of heat we have had!

Rustic Canyon Golf Course Review
Ventura County California Golf Course Reviews

Played 08/14/12, second group out @ 6:20 am, I was joined by a single. First off, the layout is great, the closest thing to a true links course you'll ever play in SoCal area. Tees great, fairways fas... Continue »

Played 08/14/12, second group out @ 6:20 am, I was joined by a single. First off, the layout is great, the closest thing to a true links course you'll ever play in SoCal area. Tees great, fairways fast and firm with a lot of roll. My major complaint, due to the high heat 94, they never mowed the greens, same hole placements from the previous day. This means your putting through dew for the entire front nine, not good, the greens were extremely slow and bumpy around the cups. I've you plan on playing the course I would wait until fall when the weather cools down and they can firm up and get the speed of the greens the way it should play. Other than that, I'll definitively be back to play this track again.

Rustic Canyon Golf Course Review
Ventura County California Golf Course Reviews

Played 8/2 as a single. $41 to walk before 11am on a weekday, for the money and course conditions a great value No wait, was off immediately upon checking in. Course was in good shape. Fairways wer... Continue »

Played 8/2 as a single. $41 to walk before 11am on a weekday, for the money and course conditions a great value No wait, was off immediately upon checking in. Course was in good shape. Fairways were lush, some brown, a few thin spots but acceptable considering the time of year. Tee boxes were level with minimal divot damage. Greens were running a bit slow, but you definitely get the links feel with the big shaved aprons and the many undulations if you are on the wrong side or wrong level of the green. There were several NEW ballmarks on the greens, but that is the fault of the players in front, not the course mgmt. Play was slow for a Wednesday midday, almost 5 hours. Walked the course, some holes on the back 9 are quite a bit spread out, but only an issue I believe if others in your group take a cart Service at check in was good, saw the cart girl once on each side, which is fine with me.

Rustic Canyon Golf Course Review
Ventura County California Golf Course Reviews

Tee Time- Monday, July 30th, 130
Green Fee- 48$, worth it 100 times over
Tees- Tips
Weather- 85 sunny, little breeze
Pros- This course is in great shape right now. For those who don't know, the r... Continue »

Tee Time- Monday, July 30th, 130
Green Fee- 48$, worth it 100 times over
Tees- Tips
Weather- 85 sunny, little breeze
Pros- This course is in great shape right now. For those who don't know, the rustic nature of this golf course means that the rough isn't going to be uniform, the bunkers and waste areas are going to be remote, and the dry creek beds are going to be fully of scraggly brush, but this is the design. The only perfect lie is going to be smack in the middle of the fairway. The rough is penal because it is blotchy, ball sits down in little rifts between grass clumps and forces interesting swings and attack angles. The course is super green. Fairways and greens are full and rolling hard(summer conditions) but are not crazy like sometimes in the past. Tee boxes are wonderful and I must say I am really excited to see the course is maturing around the bunkers in the long fescue. Not much more to say about pros, this course is reviewed alot.
Cons- Typical Rustic complaints. The few par three's that are easy to fire at, IE #8, are pot marked with repaired marks. Its a shame because there really isn't much that can be done about that green. I would say that the downside to this course is simple. The ball marks make all putts tough. It isn't that they don't get repaired, its that the course gets so much play its tough to avoid them and the nature of the putting surfaces, firm and linksy, make putting a challenge already.
Overall, course is in top 10% of times played conditions wise. Get out there and enjoy a good course, for a great price and fairly straightfoward, but difficult test of links golf.

Rustic Canyon Golf Course Review
Ventura County California Golf Course Reviews

Played 7/22. First time playing here and I will definitely be back. Overall the course conditions are very good for this time of year with the heat. Tee boxes were all in decent shape, some uneven spo... Continue »

Played 7/22. First time playing here and I will definitely be back. Overall the course conditions are very good for this time of year with the heat. Tee boxes were all in decent shape, some uneven spots, but overall very good and flat. Fairways are in good shape - not many brown spots and not many bad lies. Greens are in good shape - 14-15 of them are in great shape. There are a few greens that have a lot of marks and could use some love, but nothing too egregious. For the price, Rustic is tough to beat.

Rustic Canyon Golf Course Review
Ventura County California Golf Course Reviews

My brother and I were paired up with Hackin53 (Steve) and his partner yesterday to walk the course @ 2:30. Steve wrote a fine review earlier in the thread with a very good description of the course nu... Continue »

My brother and I were paired up with Hackin53 (Steve) and his partner yesterday to walk the course @ 2:30. Steve wrote a fine review earlier in the thread with a very good description of the course nuances. I've mentioned it in previous reviews that adequate drinking water is a pet peeve of mine, so I will pile in on that. I didn't see a water can until the 6th hole, and we pretty much polished off what was left in it. I believe there was another one around the 8th hole but we missed it, and if there is another on the front nine, I don't know about it. We ran for water in the clubhouse at the turn. On the back nine there were three cans and the first two were empty which means we got no water refill until the 17th hole. That is pretty much unacceptable, but given that the place is generally well run, I'll assume it was a one-off slip up. However, it obviously made an impact on our experience of the round and if management reads these things, it should be noted. That said,and to give credit, all other aspects of the course were excellent. Greens here are definitely on the quick side and can be devilish to read when the individual contours are compounded by the general slope of the valley. Bad ball striking and poor choices can be severely punished by barrancas, waste areas and the like, but the landing areas and fairway widths are mostly quite fair to the point of generous and reward decently struck balls and/or good course management. Surfaces from tee boxes through the greens were all well covered and played nicely with a lot of roll. The course and most of the holes run North/South and there is a general slope that way down the valley. One trick to learn when approaching greens from the North is to hit it a little shorter than otherwise normal and let the ball run up onto the green. An "accurate" shot will frequently end up well beyond the pin or even off the green. I appreciate and enjoy this course more each time I play it and I highly recommend it. But especially if you are walking, watch those fluid levels.

Rustic Canyon Golf Course Review
Ventura County California Golf Course Reviews

Walked this course yesterday (7/19/12) with a friend and a nice 2-some that joined us. One of the 2 was a greenskeeper.org subscriber, Kevin. Great group to play with. The course is a fun course to pl... Continue »

Walked this course yesterday (7/19/12) with a friend and a nice 2-some that joined us. One of the 2 was a greenskeeper.org subscriber, Kevin. Great group to play with. The course is a fun course to play especially for a 20 or so handicapper like myself. We played white tees and a challenging but fair course. *I will say right here that one issue that marred an otherwise enjoyable round. Most (if not all) of the water containers were empty. It was a 95+ degree day. A couple of us had water bottles in our bag but when they were empty, we could not refill them until the 17th hole!! It seemed that the cans were empty to encourage sales for the cart girl but I hope that wasn't the case.
Overall course in great condition. Wind is a factor especially in the afternoon. Par 3's look benign but tricky greens and hazards in foreground challenge your committment to yardage. Dry riverbeds and desert brush are the penalty for missing somewhat generous fairways. Greens are quick and hidden undulations that will tax your green reading skills.
I tried to do too much (which is why I'm a high handicapper ) but if you take your time hit the safe shot, you can score. Some of the greens have several levels and just hitting the green doesn't mean you won't be punished with a 3putt. Overall, a favorite course to play but PLEASE GUYS, FILL UP THE WATER JUGS !!!

Rustic Canyon Golf Course Review
Ventura County California Golf Course Reviews

Played Rustic on 7/9 as a foursome in the 90 degree heat. Had the 1st twilight time out at 2pm and there was not a group in front of us the whole day. Balls off tee were carrying forever with the heat... Continue »

Played Rustic on 7/9 as a foursome in the 90 degree heat. Had the 1st twilight time out at 2pm and there was not a group in front of us the whole day. Balls off tee were carrying forever with the heat. Fairways were semi-lush, good lies with very few burned out areas...good shape. Tees were semi-lush also and in good shape. Rough was healthy and depending on your lie could cause issues. Greens were very soft putting wise and a bit slow for this golfer. With the heat coming I think the course is growing them out some to save them. There were hardly any ball marks on the greens and they were in good shape. ...great job with the conditions at this time Rustic...I will be looking forward to when the greens firm up again in the fall and winter.

Rustic Canyon Golf Course Review
Ventura County California Golf Course Reviews

played 7-5 early morning as a three in around 3 1/2 hours. course is in great shape. tee boxes lush and level. fairways lush with good roll and ball sitting up nice. rough is about 2 inches off the fa... Continue »

played 7-5 early morning as a three in around 3 1/2 hours. course is in great shape. tee boxes lush and level. fairways lush with good roll and ball sitting up nice. rough is about 2 inches off the fairway but starts to get thin and uneven the closer you get to the waste areas. they have cut the really high rough around bunkers back to about 6 inches. greens are really nice rolling true with good speed. apron around the greens was a little soft this morning so ball was sticking instead of running up like it normally does. didn't find any bunkers but sand looked firm. glad i got out early because this place was packed when we finished at 9:30.

Rustic Canyon Golf Course Review
Ventura County California Golf Course Reviews