What and AWESOME Course!!! thank you to Johnny for putting this together. Probably the nicest course i've played on. I'm wishing this course was closer to home. Customer Service was top notch, the pl... Continue »

What and AWESOME Course!!! thank you to Johnny for putting this together. Probably the nicest course i've played on. I'm wishing this course was closer to home. Customer Service was top notch, the playing conditions could not have been any better. I got plugged in a couple of bunkers but that was probably user error and not the course.
Playing partners, Kevin, Andrew and Invisible Rob were fun and kept the round interesting.

Great course layout, pristine conditions, excellent customer service... what more can you ask for? More pars and birdies..... but again user error

Played in the GK event today after months of pushing this course off my list and boy was i mistaken about that. This course is a beautiful thing. Tee boxes were wide and lush as can be. Fairways were ... Continue »

Played in the GK event today after months of pushing this course off my list and boy was i mistaken about that. This course is a beautiful thing. Tee boxes were wide and lush as can be. Fairways were 99 percent lush except for a little part on hole 18 where to coots have done their damage. dang rats with wings. It is not a overly tough course on average but if the greens keeper was feeling mean he could ruin your day. We had a few instances were the toughness showed with back hole pins and multi teared greens. If you ask my opinion about the drive to get there its tough to do a turn around trip our day was 13 hours 5+ hours of driving is tough. If i lived in temecula or Palm springs this would be a course i would play often but for me living in the OC i need to be in the area or feeling real good about that drive maybe stop at one of the 10 Indian casinos you drive by on the 76, 78 and 79 highways to make it easier. In all great course great staff and another great event

Another awesome GK Plays (#GKPlays) today and it was so great so see such a big, fun group making the journey out to Borrego Springs. It was a real fun event. Thanks to Johnny for setting it up and Ra... Continue »

Another awesome GK Plays (#GKPlays) today and it was so great so see such a big, fun group making the journey out to Borrego Springs. It was a real fun event. Thanks to Johnny for setting it up and Rams Hill for having us and treating us so well. Thanks also to Lee, Ken and Robert for being such a fun group to play with. We sure had a blast through good shots and bad! As for the course, it's hard to add any more superlatives to the experience at Rams Hill. If you make the trek here, you are rewarded with one of SoCal's most exceptional golf experiences. Nearly immaculate conditions, stunning vistas and challenging layout. The biggest difference from last year was the greens in my opinion. They were so firm last year with the brand new surfaces and now they are more mature and playable. They didn't roll as fast as last time and I found myself short many times because I was expecting more speed, but the surfaces were perfectly true. They were softer and more receptive, too. They are still firm, but will hold more shots now and that helps add playability to the course for the more "average" golfer. Otherwise, love this course and will be looking forward to my next visit, hopefully again with more GKers along for the ride!

Played in my first GK Event after ACL surgery just 6 months ago and I chose the absolute best course to play! Rams Hill was an oasis, an absolute gem and every aspect of today was excellent. The detai... Continue »

Played in my first GK Event after ACL surgery just 6 months ago and I chose the absolute best course to play! Rams Hill was an oasis, an absolute gem and every aspect of today was excellent. The details:

Tee-boxes: Green, well cut, and in great shape considering the rains that came through the area earlier in the week. There wasn't one hole that didn't have enough room to tee it up perfectly.

Fairways: Immaculate! Absolutely picturesque and cut perfectly. Not a great deal of roll but anywhere you hit from, a perfect lie.

Rough: Excellent shape. Overall not too penalizing. A greater challenge was hitting from the desert but the rough offered great shots even after missing the fairway.

Sand: Better than expected considering it rained buckets the whole week. This is a true testament to the amazing conditions thanks to the workers here. Lots of good quality rakes at all bunkers.

Greens: Great shape. Speedy for the most parts and breaks were true. Some pin placements seemed hellish but what a surface to putt on.

ETC: Loved the feed mix in the carts. Markers seemed plentiful throughout the course. Clubhouse/restaurant looked amazing. Staff was friendly. Overall a great experience; thank you Johnny for making this happen.

Played Rams Hill today with the GK outing. Wow what can be said. The place was great before and the changes made during the shut down period this past fall were terrific. Natural grasses, manicured de... Continue »

Played Rams Hill today with the GK outing. Wow what can be said. The place was great before and the changes made during the shut down period this past fall were terrific. Natural grasses, manicured desert areas. Everything here is as close to perfect as a course can get. Greens were rolling fast at 11.2 and once you figure out that putts break to the Salton Sea about a cup with the grain, and going back toward San Diego they are against it. My only eye raise was the amount of poorly repaired ball marks. Fairways were fantastic, beautiful, and had great lies. Rough was probably 1-3 inches full and in some cases very difficult to recover from and painful. Found several of the bunkers today, as is with everything else here they provided a fair yet challenging test. Tee boxes were level trim and showed very little wear. Thanks to Johnny for providing another great course for our event. Thanks to the staff for having the course in such great condition, IT NEVER DISSAPOINTS.

Played Rams Hill today with the GK outing. Wow what can be said. The place was great before and the changes made during the shut down period this past fall were terrific. Natural grasses, manicured de... Continue »

Played Rams Hill today with the GK outing. Wow what can be said. The place was great before and the changes made during the shut down period this past fall were terrific. Natural grasses, manicured desert areas. Everything here is as close to perfect as a course can get. Greens were rolling fast at 11.2 and once you figure out that putts break to the Salton Sea about a cup with the grain, and going back toward San Diego they are against it. My only eye raise was the amount of poorly repaired ball marks. Fairways were fantastic, beautiful, and had great lies. Rough was probably 1-3 inches full and in some cases very difficult to recover from and painful. Found several of the bunkers today, as is with everything else here they provided a fair yet challenging test. Tee boxes were level trim and showed very little wear. Thanks to Johnny for providing another great course for our event. Thanks to the staff for having the course in such great condition, IT NEVER DISSAPOINTS.

I purchased the UnderPar deal and took a friend out to Rams Hill for his birthday. This place is as good as everyone has been saying! The customer service, practice areas, views, and golf course itsel... Continue »

I purchased the UnderPar deal and took a friend out to Rams Hill for his birthday. This place is as good as everyone has been saying! The customer service, practice areas, views, and golf course itself are all amazing. Think of your favorite desert course - now make the fairways a little wider, triple the size of the greens (I'm thinking 4 clubs from front to back at times), add in some great elevation changes, and perfectly-placed bunkering - then you have Rams Hill.

Keep in mind, though, that this place is WAY out in the desert. It took a tick over 3 hours to get there with zero traffic from Santa Monica. It took almost 5 hours to get back. This place is absolutely worth that long of a day trip - once. When I go back, I'm bringing the better half and some friends for one of the (great) stay and play deals.

Played Tuesday, 12/1 as a single, waited about 30 minutes due to a frost delay (yes, the desert can get really cold!). Fair warning, this will be a longish review, but the "update at 11" version is a... Continue »

Played Tuesday, 12/1 as a single, waited about 30 minutes due to a frost delay (yes, the desert can get really cold!). Fair warning, this will be a longish review, but the "update at 11" version is as follows: The course is in outstanding shape, has a fantastic design and the hospitality was excellent! Now for details . . .

For those who were here prior to the summer closing there have been number of changes. First thing you'll notice is the entrance/parking area, very nicely done, level entrance to the club with no steps.

Second thing you'll notice is there are a LOT more trees (400+ planted according to Mike Setchell) and even more brush/native growth. The native brush helps frame the course and adds to the visual appeal (though it won't help you find stray shots!).

The course is coming up on its busy season and everything is in excellent shape. Fairways have good coverage with only a few thin or patchy areas which should clear up given another 2-4 weeks of growth and mowing. The lies are excellent and the ground underneath is firm enough to allow great contact but still with enough "give" to feel good (not hard where you feel like you've hit a rock when you take a divot).

Rough is fairly consistent and long enough to affect club choice but not so long to limit your options to pitching out to the fairway. Sand in bunkers was excellent, a little damp but very playable and consistent (also VERY well maintained, did not see a single footprint all day).

The greens - where do I start? In 18 holes I found 2 partially repaired ball marks and 0 (yes, zero!) that were completely unrepaired. They listed the speed at 10 which was probably pretty accurate - unless you were going downhill, then it felt like about a 12! The very back finger on 18 has a small area that still needed to grow out/fill in, but other than that they all had good coverage. Many are quite large and/or deep (#2 has got to be 45-50 yards between the front and back) so pay close attention to the pin placement number. Unfortunately, I checked it when I got there and they changed it before I went out and I didn't discover this until #2 - had a blind shot and played for a front pin when it was in the back! Since there was no one behind me, when I finished I went back out to the same spot and played for a back pin - hit a hard 7-iron instead of a PW and was pin-high off the left side.

The biggest thing about these greens is if you miss a putt you have nothing to blame but your stroke or your read. They rolled as true as any greens I've played. End result is it made ANY putt inside 12-15 feet "makeable", but you could easily miss a 5 footer if you played it wrong (and yes, I did both).

The big debate about this course is the price vs. the travel. As a more budget minded golfer, I probably wouldn't come back out at the rack rate (my wife has this thing about eating and feeding the kids, what's up with that?!?). However, for the GK coupon rate it definitely has my interest as a "once in a while splurge " course - at that price I'd rate it equal to or better than anything I've played in Southern California. If you have a spouse who plays (or can get a buddy to join you) the "stay and play" packages are pretty reasonable and worth checking out.

Hospitality was great - Mike came out of his office and greeted me by name and he and the staff were very good about keeping me up to date regarding the frost delay. Range is smallish but very nice, ProV1 range balls, excellent grass hitting areas and nice target areas. Practice green speed was virtually identical to those on course - something that is far too infrequent at most courses but definitely appreciated.

POP was dictated by the seven ladies I followed - a 3-some and a 4-some. Had I been out first (or gone out an hour or two later) I could have easily finished in about 3-3:15, even with it being my first time and not knowing the layout (be careful coming up to #5, you can end up in the wrong place pretty easily!). As it was I finished in just over 4:15, which is reasonable and only seemed slow because I was by myself.

Highly recommend playing here at least once, and if possible more.

I have not played here since 1998, so this course not resemble that course! The overall condition of the course was as nice as any I have played in some time. The greens were nearly perfect, just ... Continue »

I have not played here since 1998, so this course not resemble that course! The overall condition of the course was as nice as any I have played in some time. The greens were nearly perfect, just not as quick as I would have preferred.

The only complaint I had with the course were the greenside bunkers, which were very "crusty" Otherwise the course was a joy to play, exept for the 107 degree temperature. However it took under three hours to play which helped a lot.

I didn't realize the course is closing for 4 months beginning next week, so I consider myself lucky I decided to get out here before the closing. While not a big fan of desert courses, I found the course fun to play and much easier than I expected.