Had about 2 1/2hrs. of daylight and this was less than 10 min. from Kern River. Course in very good dormant shape. Tee boxes, fairways, and bunkers all very playable. Greens were smooth but I couldn't... Continue »

Had about 2 1/2hrs. of daylight and this was less than 10 min. from Kern River. Course in very good dormant shape. Tee boxes, fairways, and bunkers all very playable. Greens were smooth but I couldn't tell how fast they were, after just playing Kern, I left every putt 5 ft short. Solid layout well worth playing, I had heard it wasn't in good shape, but I would have no problem playing it again or recommending it. Golf Now has some tee times in the $40-50 range, well worth it.

I played Rio Bravo CC for the first time. I had a mid-day “deal” time which fit into my schedule nicely. For a very reasonable fee, I figured there was nothing to lose. Check in was simple and bei... Continue »

I played Rio Bravo CC for the first time. I had a mid-day “deal” time which fit into my schedule nicely. For a very reasonable fee, I figured there was nothing to lose. Check in was simple and being mid day the course was fairly empty with only a handful of players on the back nine. Restaurant was open and I thought about eating first but opted to hit the range for a few minutes and then head out onto the course. I initially was going to play as a single but decided to join another single and we played right in 3 hours.

Layout on the track is fairly entertaining with a few elevation changes throughout the course and a variety of holes. The par 5’s are LONG, topped off by the 600 yard uphill par 5 hole 11. What a beast of a hole. Two of the par 3’s also play over 200 yards each. The tree lined fairways are moderately wide offering you some room for error off the tee, but a number of the holes do have a preferred “miss”. I also like the fact that there were some strategic holes that required less than driver off the tee.

Conditions were average. All of the fairways were about half brown half light green and had some thin areas throughout. Tee boxes were level but a little shaggy with some mixture of various blends of grass. I was in one bunker and it was decent.

Greens were ok for the most part. There were a few greens that had some diseased areas, but the pins had been kept away from those areas. Other than that, the greens rolled fairly smooth at a medium pace. Green complexes were manageable with just about all greens being single tiered with slight sloping.

For the entry price it was definitely an enjoyable day being that I was in the area. Would I make a special trip, just to play the course. More than likely not.

Played 5/29 Busy waited most of the day on a fivesome of very poor players and two kids
who were hitting occasionally. Tees are thin, little muddy and full of all kinds of grasses/weeds. Fairways thi... Continue »

Played 5/29 Busy waited most of the day on a fivesome of very poor players and two kids
who were hitting occasionally. Tees are thin, little muddy and full of all kinds of grasses/weeds. Fairways thin, but very playable. Greens were mostly very good. Some
did have thin and bald spots. Bunkers were fine. Fantastic layout just condition wise slightly better then the county courses. Worth it just to get away from the publics for awhile,

Played 4/3/21 at 2pm as a twosome with wives as moral support. $40 to ride $25 to walk.
Back nine has hills so rode. POP 4 hours caught up several five somes on back nine.
Course is starting to come... Continue »

Played 4/3/21 at 2pm as a twosome with wives as moral support. $40 to ride $25 to walk.
Back nine has hills so rode. POP 4 hours caught up several five somes on back nine.
Course is starting to come out of its dormant state. Tees real good. Fairways cut real low and are just fine. Rough is inch or two high and varies in thickness. The further from the fairways transition into natural state. Most hole are lined by homes, quite a few bunkers
that looked to have sand as my playing partner kept going under the ball. Greens were punched a month ago and have not fully recovered. Fast but bumpy in spots. You can still see the holes on most greens. Would have thought they would have sand or be filled with something by now. They have a lot of break in them too. Worst part for us was the fringes and just short of the greens. They had clumps of grass throughout and some spots that looked almost bare. You could not put from just off the green. It is quite an enjoyable course none the less and a delight to play something more upscale
than the usual spots here in Bakersfield.

Played here last Thursday. Haven't played it in 25 years. Great lay out and fun to play. The greens were great.

The rest of the course was so so because it is not over seeded and the bermuda is ... Continue »

Played here last Thursday. Haven't played it in 25 years. Great lay out and fun to play. The greens were great.

The rest of the course was so so because it is not over seeded and the bermuda is dormant now.

Hole No. 11 is a 600 yard par 5 uphill from the tips. Played it from white tees and it played like 600 yards.

They allow some pubic play. $55.00 last Thursday.

If you are in the area I say go play it.

Ending a fishing trip to Kern River stopped at Rio Bravo CC at mouth of canyon Wednesday late morning. The private gated community allows some public play and friendly staff got me off quickly with ya... Continue »

Ending a fishing trip to Kern River stopped at Rio Bravo CC at mouth of canyon Wednesday late morning. The private gated community allows some public play and friendly staff got me off quickly with yardage book, range balls and cart at 10:40. All grass range had several levels with six stalls on each not busy and well maintained. The two practice putting greens showed what starter assured were near perfect surfaces following mid September punching. Teed off after warmup finding the tee boxes level with good coverage and all divots filled. There were no unrepaired ball marks or divots seen supporting that members care about their course. Wide fairways cut tight mostly green with some dormant areas starting to show. Rough about an inch long with some mixed grasses becoming thin to ragged out along edges but those are far enough away to be mainly outside of play. In two greenside bunkers both light fluffy tan sand flopped 60 wedge to slow rollouts on green. The greens were some of best I've played rolling true lines very smoothly and fast. Glad I'd tried both practice greens to get speed down before hitting the course. Fringe around greens cut low enough to putt from 15'-20' off. Found the white tees quite long at 6521 with one par 5 just under 600 yards. Terrain varied more than area looked with up, down and side hill fairways along with flats. Needed driver into light breeze on two longish uphill par 3s and four or five lakes came into play. A nice cart/walker couple waited to let me pass on a backside par 3 allowing finish just before 2:00. Had fun playing especially putting but sure was a long drive home from there.

Played as a member for the day. $55 for golf, range balls, cart and lunch. $45 without food. Played in 4 1/2 hours which seemed longer as the twosome ahead of our threesome
held us up on almost every... Continue »

Played as a member for the day. $55 for golf, range balls, cart and lunch. $45 without food. Played in 4 1/2 hours which seemed longer as the twosome ahead of our threesome
held us up on almost every shot and had a foursome hitting into us quite often. Tees are good some unlevel areas, but nothing too severe. A little thin, but just find to tee off from. Fairways were similar. Not lush, but never a bad or bare lie. Rough not very long and bare as you get away from the fairway. Not great conditions, but very acceptable. Bunkers had some of the best sand I have played out of in a long time. Deep and fluffy. The course is mostly tree lined and surrounded by large homes. There are some elevation changes on the back side with water sprinkled through out. Greens are heavily bunkered and some fairway bunkers are present also. A great change of place from our normal rotation of county courses. Members were very friendly towards us.
If in the area a very good choice if you want something a step up from the county muni offerings.

Played 8/21 teeing off at 10:50 without a soul on the course all day but my group.

Due to some unfortunate circumstances, I was unable to play at Marine Memorial with the other Guru's on Friday 8/1... Continue »

Played 8/21 teeing off at 10:50 without a soul on the course all day but my group.

Due to some unfortunate circumstances, I was unable to play at Marine Memorial with the other Guru's on Friday 8/18, so the itch to golf was fierce going into the weekend.

Rio Bravo was set to close down this May after not turning a profit for quite some time. In March, some homeowners on the course banded together to purchase the country club in hopes of saving their home value and the course. They have since turned the country club into a semi-private club, where the members get access to the course from daybreak to 10:30 am, and then it's open to the public. Their hope is that it'll drum up interest for people who would want to have a membership there.

Anyways, the heat that Bakersfield has experienced all summer has definitely had an effect on all the courses in the area(we had something like 53 straight days of 100-degree weather). Fairways are drying up, greens are either too watered or not enough, and tee boxes are showing the effects of constant use.

Rio Bravo has always had great greens, and today was no exception. Aside from some minor mold growing on the greens as a result of over watering, they ran smooth and quick.

The tee boxes left a lot to be desired, as they are uneven and don't have much growing on them.

Fairways, like I mentioned, are dry. There are some lush areas near sprinklers, but the majority of them are dry. The rough is spotty at best. 3 yards off the fairway and you're either in hardpan or thick grass.

Bunkers were nice. A little on the hard side but enjoyable to hit out of.

I hope the new owners are able to turn the course around. Maybe once the cooler weather comes they can attempt an overseed in hopes of getting the fairways back to lush, maybe even revamp the tee boxes completely.

Played 10/24 in a scramble tourney with some friends of mine. At one time thought to be one of the best and nicest private courses in Kern County, Rio Bravo kind of fell off. So, when I agreed to play... Continue »

Played 10/24 in a scramble tourney with some friends of mine. At one time thought to be one of the best and nicest private courses in Kern County, Rio Bravo kind of fell off. So, when I agreed to play in this tourney I was skeptical about conditions. While the course wasn't overflowing with green grass and lush lies, the conditions weren't as bad as I thought.

The tee boxes could use some leveling, as well as re-sodding. The fairways were thin in places and wet in others, but not very green. The rough was patchy along the fairways, but thick around the greens. Sand traps were very nice, with plenty of sand. The greens were the highlight of the course. Very receptive of approach shots, and had a lot of subtle breaks to them. Everything breaks towards town, and anything above the hole was only stopping if you made it.

Overall, the course looks like it's making a comeback. Talkws to some members yesterday and they said that over the past month and a half things have started to turn the corner for the club. Hope to get out there again soon to see how everything progresses.