The Ranch Golf Club Reviews in Northern California, San Jose/South Bay Area - Greenskeeper.org Free Online Golf Community


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The Ranch Golf Club - $$$
4601 Hilltop View Lane • San Jose, CA 95138 • (408) 270-0557
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noggles - Bay Area
Played today in 25 mph winds. Course borders on impossible with this much wind. Much better with calm to light winds. Great conditions and greens will come back for more punishment.

Posted: Saturday, October 11, 2008
Member Since: May 5, 2007
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grravee - Fremont, Ca.
Played this course 07/13/08 - Gorgeous views and very well manicured. As some have said, this course IS difficult. Slopes of 139 & 147 from whites and blues respectively. The course IMHO has taken a bit of a bashing for being different or too hard. Thats a shame,as it was for The Bridges in San Ramon, a bad rep. This is a fun place to play period. No, you cannot take a break from thinking or club selections but that is exactly what i go there for. A bit of focus will get you through the round nicely. The greens are true and truly difficult to read. Just a great selection of shots to be made/attempted here. GO OUT AND SEE FOR YOURSELF! I played on a web special @ 68.00 for 11:00am start on a Sunday- Not bad at all!

Posted: Sunday, July 13, 2008
Member Since: April 14, 2008
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dyama663 - San Francisco
Played this course on 2/18/08. It was my first time playing. Since it was our groups 1st time playing, we decided to play from the White tees. This proved to be enough of a challenge for us, slope rating of 139. The staff is friendly and they have a nice clubhouse. The minus here is that there is no driving range. The course itself is a players/shot makers course with elevated tees, greens, narrow fairways and many blind shots. Many of the greens are tiered to you'll have to play target golf and be on with your putting stroke. Even though this was a very tough course I enjoyed playing it. Great views.

Posted: Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Member Since: July 19, 2005
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parkps - San Jose
I'm not very fond of this course. I've played here approx. 8 times so far, but only because of friends who want to see what all the hype is about. The course itself is in beautiful shape, and the staff is very courteous, but the layout is...unusual. It almost seems like you're playing a video game golf course. If you can't hit it consistenly on target, then you are screwed. If you plan on playing here, the best tip I can give you is to leave your driver at home, it'll do you more harm than good. And bring alot of balls!

PROS:
-great condition
-nice staff
-awesome views

CONS:
-layout
-carts (more than once I've seen carts lose power before reaching the clubhouse)
-price (better options in the area for the price they charge...if they lowered the rates by $20, they'd get alot more play)

Posted: Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Member Since: March 13, 2005
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yuchungcheng - La Jolla, CA
Tee off around noon on 7/6. First time here and didn't study the course beforehand at all. The condition is, simply put, d%mn good. The coure has some RIDICULOUS elevation changes. At least 7 holes are teeing off from 5-6 floors high and require both +180 carry and accuracy. Although the black tee is 67xx but in fact it only plays probably 64xx. I don't think driver is the best choice in many holes. I figure (after the round) my 5-wood would save some troubles and still have <150 approaches. Greens are fast and multi-tiered so study the pin and shape beforehand would definitely help. My three words for this course is "well-cared", "strangely-designed", and "challenging".

Posted: Thursday, July 5, 2007
Member Since: July 14, 2005
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ssclarke44 - san francisco
definitely a well taken care of course. i played only a week after they punched, and the greens had already mostly recovered. it's a tough layout, and a good test of your game. however, i couldn't imagine playing it all that often. it's just a bit too gimmicky for my taste, and i have a very hard time getting any kind of rythm going. that said, i've only played here four times, and i'm a 13 handicap... so maybe it would get easier with more rounds, or maybe better players wouldn't have the same trouble.

Posted: Thursday, April 12, 2007
Member Since: February 10, 2006
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nfarrell1 - Phoenix, AZ
Stop the sniveling! This is a course you ABSOLUTELY have to play if you are in the area! Excellent condition from tee to green except a few spots that were marked for ground under repair. We played on a day that the temp maxed at 55-for about 15 minutes! It got cold and VERY windy which really makes this a tough course. People complain about there being no place to hit the ball and three putting, but everything is relative. I enjoyed the course tremendously and would play it again in a minute. The greens are quite excessive, but it comes down to controlling where you hit the ball. Anyone who's more than a 15 or so will have some trouble, but that could probably be minimized by the tees you play. We could not believe the elevation changes and the beautiful country. #10 and 12 have unreal drops from the tee, we played 10 into a howling wind and I hit two drivers (both in a hazard) because I mi sh$t them slightly and the wind got them-about a 15 second hang time! Number 12 played kind of left to right wind, a long hang time there too. Number 11 and 17 are tremendously uphill and greens you want to make sure you get the ball to the middle of. A really fun course to play if you don't care about your score. Oh yea, bring some balls! I typically use one ball for 18 holes, I played La Purisima on one ball until 17, but I went through 6 or so and found 2 or 3 decent ones! Play it and appreciate it for what it is!

Posted: Monday, January 15, 2007
Member Since: January 3, 2007
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callykid - corona
I'm only going to say one thing about this course.

It's outdoors.

And that's taking the high road. Thanks for reading. Let's move on shall we?

Posted: Thursday, December 28, 2006
Member Since: November 2, 2002
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thomashdcp3 - alameda
Allured by all the usual web site and publicity hype,I decided to try this course when the internet discount came up. I expected this course to be on the high quality resort level of quality,given its hype. Here's what I found. (Coming down from alameda,I was delayed 40 minutes by the bottleneck jam that always happens on 880 in milpitas) so it took me 1 hour and 20 minutes to drive 47 miles// I got there with 2 minutes to spare for my tee time.this course better be worth it.
I was paired up with three non english speaking fellows who were all smoking cigarettes in my face while we waited to tee off. This wasnt going to work for me.... fortunately the pro shop mgr.allowed me to tee off by myself ,and so I did.
the first impression was an overwhelmingly grand view of the huge hilltop tee box looking way down to the fairway which seemed a mile away. it was a great vista and somehow seemed a bit too contrived for a starting hole. how far is it to the fairway,where will my drive go? I'm not even warmed up.at least I wont be breathing smoke all day .how do you say "nice drive" in chinese? I dunno. ok, well my drive went left of center,should be ok, when I got there, I couldnt find the ball anywhere !?I never saw it land from the mountain top tee .ok, I dropped a ball and played out the hole.
next hole was a nice looking layout, ...but... blind view ... no idea how far the fairway ends over slope and the gulch begins. I guessed right with a 3 wood off the tee. so far so good.
third hole,after waiting 8 minutes for the 4-some ahead of me... no idea how far the fairway slope ends...i guessed wrong with 3 wood,could have hit driver.
.....and on it goes....
there are several fairways that narrow to a sliver on approach to the green, so much so that I started to get the impression of a course design that felt......convoluted... too contrived... too tweaked in this way. even worse,were the greens,several throughout the course(one or two wouldnt be too bad,but several) were constructed with huge,let me say that again HUGE bulging ridges in the middle,not 'two-tiered' these were giant mound-ridges,the kind that separate the greens in half but you have to really SLAM your putt in order to hit it 30 feet...This is way too convoluted for a fair putting green. one green, maybe two would be excusable. this course had at least 6 or 7 greens like this. it makes putting an exercise in the ridiculous. it doesnt matter if youre playing well, hit a great drive and a great iron to the green. If youre facing that giant mound to putt over.... its worse than the windmill on miniature golf. theres no need to design a course with 7or 8 greens like this.
. then, the whole layout is convoluted(i kept thinking this word the whole day to describe this course) .... the layout,wheres the next hole,wow, a long,long drive along a sloping hillside (nice view of san jose but who cares) still driving in the cart just to get to the next tee. lots of holes like this.lots of casual driving in the golf carts. no sense of natural continuity to the course itself,from one hole to the next. it was starting to feel not like a golf course but like a stroll through the san jose hillside ....and hit some golf shots along the way. one hole,( from the 11th to the 12th?) was it? was a drive that took at least 2 minutes to get to the next tee. am I golfing? or strolling in the golf cart looking at hillside property. (i wonder)
well, there are some nice holes to enjoy. some scenic views and vistas, but always with that odd sense of convoluted design. something wasnt right about it. then i noticed that several holes were designed with that enormous hilltop tee box driving way down to the bottom of the hill to the fairway. you know that type of hole. every course tries to have one maybe two holes like that, breathtaking vista from the tee box,usually its a par 3,where you hit a wedge 170 yards down the steep hill.... this course seemed to have at least 6 or 7 holes like that..... one is enough.
I got tired of whacking my tee shot a mile in the air downhill ,never seeing the ball land anywhere,hoping to stumble over it when i get to the bottom of the hill. I was starting to be disappointed with this course. i expected a more classically nice ,quality golf course. what I got was a convoluted ,strangely designed,hilltop housing community collection of disconnected golf holes that were very scenic in some places and contrived in other places. ridiculous putting greens that felt like a miniature golf course... it was all too much to be able to call it a great golf course. even at the discount price of $35,I wouldnt be inclined to go back. I wanted to like this course. I cant say that I did. the pace of play was slow.the layout was nice in places and strange in places. spend your money on courses like hiddenbrooke or roddy ranch if you want something more exotic than the norm.

Posted: Monday, September 18, 2006
Member Since: September 8, 2006
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craig1218 - San Jose
If you want to see how good your game is this is the course to give it checkout. Completely a shot makers course, love it.

Posted: Friday, September 15, 2006
Member Since: September 15, 2006
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craig1218 - San Jose
Great track makes you focus on your shots anything other than streight is unplayable. Shots into the greens are critical if you want to score, got to be on the same tier as the pin.

Posted: Friday, September 15, 2006
Member Since: September 15, 2006
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rob4birdy - Redwood City
I have played the course a several times now. Your first time playing it you will swear you will never come back. But once you get to number 12 your thoughts will start to change. Wonderfull views and conditions are par at this couse. Buy the yardage book and make notes! You will need to play the couse several time to be able to score well. Oh and a side note bring LOTS of balls,you'll need them. It almost plays eaiser from the blues because you will be able to hit driver more often,but dont be afraid to change you game plan,anything you hit straight must be at hand at all time here. Good luck and have fun.

Posted: Saturday, August 19, 2006
Member Since: August 19, 2006
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kwikwitd - Los Gatos
Just played the course twice. It is quite an experience.

You absolutely MUST have either a yardage book or a rangefinder as there are many holes that require a tee shot that carries a canyon, and then must stay in the landing areas. This is a shotmakers layout that demands accuracy and good decisions.

Spectacular holes abound - you will remember them. The greens are fast, true, and seriously sloped.

Three negatives:
No driving range - An absolutely TERRIBLE decision by the builder. The highest slope rating in the Bay Area, and you have to drive down 101 to Coyote Creek to warm up?

Two par 3s under 100 yards - Nuff said.

Long LONG drives from green to tee - Never seen anything like it. I thought we were going to end up in Patterson.

But I'll be back anyway.

Posted: Wednesday, June 7, 2006
Member Since: June 7, 2006
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ssclarke44 - S.F.
Course is in great condition. Layout is quirky, but I like it. Distances are a little hard to gauge on your first try. Back nine plays much easier than the front (hang in there!). I got a 30% discount, and would definitely play for that price again.

Posted: Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Member Since: February 10, 2006
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DevLee - Santa Clara
Definitely worth the fees if you can get them discounted online, like I did. If this is your first time at this course, be sure to bring 3 times as many balls as you normally would need per round. Don't attempt to walk, and be sure to stop and look around to enjoy the views. Only major drawback is there isn't a practice range to warm-up.

Posted: Monday, February 27, 2006
Member Since: February 22, 2006
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hlcrow - Los Altos, CA
Super golf experience. Challenging Target Golf at its best, with need to carry 200 yard canyons. New course, in excellent conditons. Friendly and welcoming staff. Highly recommend.

Posted: Saturday, December 24, 2005
Member Since: May 26, 2005
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goftruk - san jose
high fees, played on coupon that made it playable. good layout, need to have all your shots in the bag.

Posted: Tuesday, November 1, 2005
Member Since: April 2, 2005
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edusal13952000 - San Jose, CA
The Ranch Golf Course proved to be one of the most challenging golf courses that I palyed. The slope rating is very high (147 from the blue tees). It is not long, a little bit less than 6000 yards but it certainly requires strategy and smart golfing. The course is in good shape and morning tee time is more preferable.

Ed

Posted: Thursday, September 15, 2005
Member Since: September 15, 2005
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stoveguy - San Jose
Very tough course for the higher handicap player.Course built into the natural layout and as such most balls anywhere off fairway are not going to be found. Lot of OB and "protected endangered" areas. Mostly fair to the player, but pin placement can be nearly impossible.

Posted: Monday, July 4, 2005
Member Since: July 4, 2005
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2greens - Vacaville
No course layout on the card. No pictures of the holes anywhere on the course. The course is very picturesque, but they treat you like the local $40 muni (with the exception of the starter).

Posted: Friday, June 17, 2005
Member Since: April 4, 2005
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chartleyinvest - San Jose, CA
Beautiful views, toughest golf course I have played for the last 20 years

Posted: Sunday, April 24, 2005
Member Since: April 24, 2005
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anthonysam - San Francisco
Very interesting hole designs, difficult but challenging, you need to play it more than once to appreciate the course

Posted: Wednesday, April 6, 2005
Member Since: April 6, 2005
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briankaplan - Burlingame
Very tight golf course.they treat you well from club dropoff to there carts that have a ice chest with ice and bottle water in it to towels,a ball washer and a club cleaner.They no how to take care of the golfer.But you better hit the ball straight or bring a lot of balls.They are a new course,I just played it for the first time and I will go back

Posted: Tuesday, April 5, 2005
Member Since: April 5, 2005
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happycm - Sunnyvale, CA
very challenging course, you must have distance and accuracy as well.

Posted: Thursday, March 31, 2005
Member Since: March 31, 2005
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tcruz - Fremont, CA
Very challenging course from most tee boxes; has many forced carries. Bring alot of balls!

Posted: Tuesday, March 1, 2005
Member Since: February 3, 2005
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