Out yesterday, 6/29 with GK Gurus for a review round proceeding the Golf Moose/GK Private Course outing on Monday 7/19. Such a great time. Even though I remembered little from my one and only previous... Continue »

Out yesterday, 6/29 with GK Gurus for a review round proceeding the Golf Moose/GK Private Course outing on Monday 7/19. Such a great time. Even though I remembered little from my one and only previous round at Wood Ranch Golf Club in 2010, I did remember from that previous round what a fun golf course this is…as well as challenging. How challenging? ... well back in 1987 the Senior Tour stopped coming to Wood Ranch because of difficult greens and high winds. Well, as a resident of nearby Thousand Oaks with relatives in Simi Valley, sure it can get windy but most of the time it is simply beautiful. Yesterday teeing off at 3:00pm and finishing around 7:15pm weather was gorgeous as was the golf course. I took so many photos…check them out posted here.

The layout is fantastic. Long, challenging off the tee with many fairway bunkers and hazards, many doglegs (most left-right), interesting and challenging on approach with well bunkered guarded greens, loaded with risk/reward holes, elevation changes and of course challenging undulating greens. Never a dull moment. In fact always an interesting shot requiring accuracy and thought. Above all, like I mentioned already, this is a FUN track.

Playing conditions were great. Greens smooth, moderately fast and holding shots. Fairways lush yet firm bermunda turf with full coverage other than a few ground under repair sections near the greens. Rough mostly lush but spotty thin at times. Thankfully the bermunda/kikuyu rough was cut down and very playable. I can only imagine how much tougher the course would be if the rough was up. Bunkers, all well-groomed with quality sand. The first inch or two of sand is soft but then is very firm. Totally playable and easy to hit out of but at first it took a little getting used too. The great thing is ALL the bunkers are the same sand texture so one you get them dialed your sand game improves. And let me tell you, I was in a ton of them – lol. Tee boxes in super shape. Immaculate and level.

If I was considering joining a Private Course, I would for sure, given how fantastic the golf is, the very polite service/staff, seriously consider Wood Ranch GC. If you are considering a private course, I highly recommend to check this one out, contact Janet Smith, their Membership Director at jsmith@woodranchgc.com. Super nice/professional personal.

Played Wood Ranch yesterday afternoon. We got lucky and temperature and weather was perfect and not too hot as I expected it to be in Simi Valley. I've been waiting a long time for opportunity to play... Continue »

Played Wood Ranch yesterday afternoon. We got lucky and temperature and weather was perfect and not too hot as I expected it to be in Simi Valley. I've been waiting a long time for opportunity to play the course and it was well worth the wait. Beautiful course but fairly difficult for a currently 100+ scoring guy like me these days, to be honest. It's kinda funny I only parred two holes which are two tough par 3's on the course, holes 13 (155 yards over water) and 17 (159 yards up steep hill). The fairways were in pretty good shape but there was a few bare spots and some ground under repair before a couple of greens as well. There was also a few little bare spots on some greens. Overall though the course was in pretty good shape. There are quite a few doglegs and up/down hits, definitely what I like to call a '3-dimensional' course. You need to take your A game. There's pretty good amount of lateral water hazards to avoid as well and rough that will consume your ball to probably not be found; and you might not want to look for a ball either this time of year due to possible rattlesnake hazards we have in Ventura County. There was no cart girl but it was a weekday which might have affected that. All the staff I encountered were very nice and cordial. I would love to play the course again someday - after I try to pull my game together better.

Rode the blues this afternoon 6/29/21 with buddies Johnnygk, Barkydog1 and MrKich under beautiful conditions with a slight breeze and warm Temps that cooled down on the back nine. Pop taking our time ... Continue »

Rode the blues this afternoon 6/29/21 with buddies Johnnygk, Barkydog1 and MrKich under beautiful conditions with a slight breeze and warm Temps that cooled down on the back nine. Pop taking our time around 4 hrs 30 minutes. First time here and I fell in love with back nine like a school boy in love for the first time. Layout was strong with some awesome left to right and right to left doglegs, elevated tee boxes to let the big dog eat and enough lateral hazards, lakes and some boundary fences to keep a player honest. My favorite holes were 15 and 16. 15 being a blind dogleg to the right par 5 that opens up after the tee shot and number 16 where you are literally on top of the world hitting down to the fairway several hundred yards below you. 18 is a stunner as well a beautiful dogleg right with a water feature next to the green. Members here are blessed with a great track. I can see why this was a Senior Tour stop in the mid 1980s. Fairways were like carpet. Basically perfect lies. Rated 9/10. Greens rolled medium to quick speed and rolled true and were in great shape. They were soft on iron approaches and we fixed our extra share of ballmarks on several holes. Rated 8.5/10. Tees lush and level and in great shape. Rated 9/10. Was in a couple greenside bunkers that had rakes and were nicely maintained with just the right amount of sand. Most of the bunkers have bigger lips for those of you that like to use the 60 degree in the bunker. Rated 8/10. The rough was lush and green and in good shape. The course was asking players to keep the carts in the fairways and on the cart paths to maintain the quality of the rough. Rated 8.5/10. I would highly recommend this course if you ever get invited by a member. I'm only 5 minutes away so I hope to be lucky enough to play it many more times. Thanks to Johnny and Wood Ranch golf club for getting us out.

Played today in a Folds Of Honor Tournament. Event sponsored by Tee It Up Golf. It was a long day of fun golf. Course was in decent condition. Fairways have gone dormant and soft. Tee boxes were OK. T... Continue »

Played today in a Folds Of Honor Tournament. Event sponsored by Tee It Up Golf. It was a long day of fun golf. Course was in decent condition. Fairways have gone dormant and soft. Tee boxes were OK. Traps were in good shape. Greens were running @ 11 and chipped/putted extremely well. The staff provided excellent customer service for 120 players. Great day of golf for a great organization.

Played in an SCGA event today. Very nice layout with lots of elevation in the design. Not to mention the water. Plus the very tall rough and OB brush areas. I would say it is a good test of golf. Ted ... Continue »

Played in an SCGA event today. Very nice layout with lots of elevation in the design. Not to mention the water. Plus the very tall rough and OB brush areas. I would say it is a good test of golf. Ted Robinson design. Tee boxes good. Traps very playable and plenty of them. Fairways for some reason were soft? So little roll but good lies. Very good greens with good speed. Play it if you get the chance.

Played here on Monday, 3/27 after an email invitation to a "Member for a Day" event. It was a shotgun start at 12:30pm. Great pace of play at just under 4 hours. The course is in wonderful condition. ... Continue »

Played here on Monday, 3/27 after an email invitation to a "Member for a Day" event. It was a shotgun start at 12:30pm. Great pace of play at just under 4 hours. The course is in wonderful condition. With everything so green in the area, some views were breathtaking. This course is certainly a challenging one. But it is worth playing if you can get on. It has a variety of holes that will challenge your game. Water is in play on numerous holes and there are plenty of bunkers awaiting your errant shots. The tee boxes were immaculate; very green and lush. The fairways were green and firm but with just the right amount of cushion under your ball. Every fairway lie was excellent. The few bunkers I found had plenty of firm sand. Although the greens had been punched and sanded 3 weeks ago, they were very smooth and medium fast. Other than on one particular hole where there was some sand that slightly affected the roll of the ball, the previous maintenance had no negative effect on putting. The rough was perfect; very lush, consistent and about 2 inches or so in length. This is a great course in great condition. Play it if you can.

Wood Ranch is a hidden gem in Simi Valley. Course is very difficult for a novice golfer, however for a golfer shooting with a 20 handicap and under this will be a nice challenging course, that will t... Continue »

Wood Ranch is a hidden gem in Simi Valley. Course is very difficult for a novice golfer, however for a golfer shooting with a 20 handicap and under this will be a nice challenging course, that will throw in a new wrinkle every time you play. Similar in difficulty to Riviera Country Club, with a fraction of the cost. Water on 12 of the 18 holes, with lots of bunkers throughout the course. If you can play well here, you can play well anywhere.

Played Wood Ranch yesterday for $60pp with 12 of us. I have always loved this course and it is always is great shape. The wind was blowing 20mph which makes this place play ALOT tougher. Sign up for e... Continue »

Played Wood Ranch yesterday for $60pp with 12 of us. I have always loved this course and it is always is great shape. The wind was blowing 20mph which makes this place play ALOT tougher. Sign up for emails on American Golf Club and you can get this deal to play here for a great rate. The course needs a bit more water right now and the fairways are still a little brown but the lies were still great.

I signed up for a "member for a day" deal here today. $60 rate was reasonable for a private club. I ended up going off second paired with another single (a super nice 87-year-young member). The twosom... Continue »

I signed up for a "member for a day" deal here today. $60 rate was reasonable for a private club. I ended up going off second paired with another single (a super nice 87-year-young member). The twosome ahead of us played very quickly and we didn't mess around much either, finishing in about 2:40... The last rating feels quite generous. That said, really the only weakness right now is the fairways. I gave the tee boxes a perfect 10. They were exceptional. The greens were also fantastic—firm, smooth and quite fast. I gave them a 9. The fairways right now are dormant brown bermuda, which normally I don't mind playing from. However, lies were not super consistent. There are some areas where it is very fluffy and "thatchy" where rather than a divot, about a yard of turf would puff up and really snag the club. Then there were other areas where the fairways were very thin and firm underneath. The 18th fairway was the most noticeably burned out. Overall, the fairways are still very playable throughout. You just have to pay attention to the top layer of turf as to how it will affect your swing on the followthrough. The rough has a first cut of semi-dormant bermuda that is all matted down, so you don't know what kind of lie you'll get. Sometimes it's teed up with the grain and other times it settles in behind a tuft against the grain. The outer rough and everything around the greens was lush/green rye grass and very good throughout. I was in eight (yes, eight) bunkers and though I would categorize all as in "good" shape with nice sand, they were also a little inconsistent. A few super fluffy and others a bit more firm on top. I might be nitpicking a bit, but I am naturally more critical when it comes to private clubs and I am just trying to provide more specific details than the last review if you are considering playing here as a guest sometime soon. In a nutshell, fairways not pretty but playable enough right now and most everything else very, very good with only minor inconsistencies. As for the course itself, I loved the layout and the setting is beautiful. A ton of water hazards in play and lots of strategic shots required to get safely around this course. Long hitters will find a lot of risk/reward options and accurate hitters will be rewarded with ample scoring opportunities. Bad shots, though, are rightfully punished. Lots of contour throughout fairways and well-protected greens with some significant sloping and undulation. Really, really fun course and hopefully the fairways will only get better as we get closer to summer. At the end of the day, the good aspects of Wood Ranch far outweighed the bad and it was a very enjoyable round. Also, I should mention the staff was very friendly and made everyone feel welcome as guests for the day.