Did not want to drive too far or spend a lot of $$, so there are very few options from where I live which satisfy those criteria. I was hesitant to play RSJ because of the recent reviews. I guess be... Continue »

Did not want to drive too far or spend a lot of $$, so there are very few options from where I live which satisfy those criteria. I was hesitant to play RSJ because of the recent reviews. I guess because my expectations were so low, I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. It was a drizzly morning and only two other people were there at 5:20am, so no issues getting out. The guy in the pro shop was fast/efficient, friendly and accommodating. EVERY blue/black tee box on the front nine is under construction, so unless you want to play from the very front tees, the option is to tee it up behind or next to the tee box. (Being off first alone allows this option ! ) The majority of the fairways actually had decent coverage, although it was a mix of grass types and lengths. But there was grass there. Bunkers had plenty of sand, but not yet raked. ( Again I was ahead of maintenance) The greens were the best part of the course. They had good speed and rolled pretty well. Better than many of the other courses I've played. The course still has a scruffy unkept look/feel to it, but you can see they are really trying and dumping $$ into the course. Great to see. It has a LONG way to go, but you have to start somewhere. I recognize a number of the maintenance workers, who have defected from Coto de Caza. Nice to see them again. While the course is certainly not great, or even good, it appears they have a plan and are under way to accomplish the resurrection of this course. Hope so !

Played 4/16, and again I’m reminded why I avoid this course. I’m frankly not sure they even have sprinklers. In fairways, there is basically no grass except on holes 11 and 12. Tee boxes are dried out... Continue »

Played 4/16, and again I’m reminded why I avoid this course. I’m frankly not sure they even have sprinklers. In fairways, there is basically no grass except on holes 11 and 12. Tee boxes are dried out and chewed up. Greens were just punched so understandably slow and bumpy. But overall I have never played in worse conditions.

I will never understand why this course is such a dog track. It’s in a prime spot in an affluent area with a large golf culture. The layout outside of a couple holes is actually decent. With a little investment, conditions being nice, I’d gladly pay a decent rate. But as is, walking for $39 I feel like I was ripped off.

Would someone PLEASE acquire this course and give it a little TLC?!?!

Played 4/14/21 - morning tee time with random group, POP 4 hours. Greens coming off aeration, fact of life, it's fine.

But my oh my has this course seen better days. Tee boxes and fairways are not ... Continue »

Played 4/14/21 - morning tee time with random group, POP 4 hours. Greens coming off aeration, fact of life, it's fine.

But my oh my has this course seen better days. Tee boxes and fairways are not in good shape at all. I was legitimately aiming for the rough by the end of the round as at least there was some grass there. Large portions of the fairway are just bumpy... nothingness. On the plus side, the one bunker I was in was even and soft and it appeared the groundscrew is getting ready for some major maintenance.

Also they were jackhammering the sidewalk by the restrooms on the course (behind 8 green, 16 tee box). Hopefully that's done soon.

$30 walking on a weekday isn't bad, but if you're a play-it-as-it-lies type of golfer like I am, I would avoid this spot for a bit. I hope they get it in good shape soon.

Long time player of Rancho; hadn't been there in some time now but played on 10/17 at 8:20AM.

Range: Prices went up, large bucket is now $15 dollars which is a fairly large jump from $12. The range... Continue »

Long time player of Rancho; hadn't been there in some time now but played on 10/17 at 8:20AM.

Range: Prices went up, large bucket is now $15 dollars which is a fairly large jump from $12. The range was PACKED and by PACKED I mean it was full at 7:45AM and many people were waiting. I wish the employees would do a better job of policing those people that set their clubs on a stall and walk away for 30+ minutes. Multiple stalls had bags and half buckets of balls, but no one around for the entire time I was there. Frustrating when the range is extremely packed and this range is notorious for that. Its extremely rude to your fellow companions. Balls are nothing great and you hit off of mats.

Course: The price is extremely high these days, $70 dollars on the weekend and I'll say right off of the bat it is not worth that price. It seems with the pandemic and being located in Irvine, gave them the idea they can raise their green fee $15 dollars on the weekend. Pace of play was great, we didn't catch up to anyone until about the 16th hole and still finished in just under 4 hours. The course isn't very challenging, fairly wide open so you can go left and right and still be OK. The greens were rolling nice and seemed to be healed from last months maintenance work. The fairways are pretty good, but some spots are overwatered or a thin whispy grass. The bunkers are nice, I know they redid them all in 2019. There were no geese out there, I was disappointed :(. They are allowing carts to share if you want, otherwise its single rider. They offer a players club, however the club only works at their course and no longer works at other players club courses.

Despite the fact this course is relatively close to my home, I really don't play here all that often. It isn't that I dislike the course, although conditions have been suspect over the past few years,... Continue »

Despite the fact this course is relatively close to my home, I really don't play here all that often. It isn't that I dislike the course, although conditions have been suspect over the past few years, but rather because I always seem to get stuck behind a lot of back nine play, which greatly discourages me from playing more frequently.

The conditions were consistent with the last review. Course is very wet, way over watered, but given the incredible heat wave we recently experienced, that could justify it? Greens rolled well and accepted shots. fairways, although too wet, were decent. Bunkers were like bunkers everywhere, nearly unplayable.

Staff is always friendly here and accommodating. Reasonable pricing for seniors, so all in all, a positive experience on the links.

Played 9/4/20 @ 855 walking. Course was alright for the most part, but any day playing golf is a great day for me... Tee boxes were level with a few having issues- especially the par 3s. Fairways were... Continue »

Played 9/4/20 @ 855 walking. Course was alright for the most part, but any day playing golf is a great day for me... Tee boxes were level with a few having issues- especially the par 3s. Fairways were the worse part of the course- overwatered and soggy. Not sure if they were doing that for the heat wave or not, but everyone was driving through the soggy parts with carts and making a mess. There are many bare spots on the front 9. Rough was not much longer than the fairway and is almost non-existent. Sand traps were mostly hardpan with a lot of pebbles, but you can hit out of them. Greens were the best part of the course, they were medium fast with a few bumps. This course gets a lot of traffic and they do a great job with what they have. I used to be real critical of this course, but it used to be a trash dump so you have to give them some slack...

Played here on Monday, 5/4/20. Since the course just re-opened on 5/2, it is understandably in poor condition. Guy who checked us in was very nice and fast. They are only allowing walkers (not providi... Continue »

Played here on Monday, 5/4/20. Since the course just re-opened on 5/2, it is understandably in poor condition. Guy who checked us in was very nice and fast. They are only allowing walkers (not providing sanitized carts like other courses) and enforcing “normal Covid-19 guidelines”. On the positive-side, the flagsticks are in with shallow cups so you are putting into a hole, not a raised cup like some other courses.

The biggest complaint among the patrons is that American Golf is now charging $40.00 for seniors to walk. The rate before the Covid crisis was $28.00. Basically, they are price gouging during the Covid-19 crisis.

They have cut the salaries of their employees and increased the rates to play a course in poor condition. Thank You American Golf!!

So I am a member at this club and have played it many times. The membership is a great deal but quite frankly they are just benefiting on great location. The driving range is always slammed and the pa... Continue »

So I am a member at this club and have played it many times. The membership is a great deal but quite frankly they are just benefiting on great location. The driving range is always slammed and the pace of play is extremely slow.

However, they know they have a lock down on the Irvine area and see no need to improve things because they are always slammed.

The course conditions are sub par, there are no water stations available at any hole, and they basically don't really care about you because there is so much demand.

They also, have no motivation to improve because they already have so much business already... but beware, if you are a golfer looking for a destination golf outing this is not the place for you.

However, if you are ok with enjoying good Southern California weather with a 5 hour+ wait time per round with a slightly over priced golf round... than enjoy

play this course about once a year because it's close by and i'm either lazy or cheap. every time i regret it hehe. check-in was friendly and was able to get on earlier than scheduled in later morni... Continue »

play this course about once a year because it's close by and i'm either lazy or cheap. every time i regret it hehe. check-in was friendly and was able to get on earlier than scheduled in later morning when i usually play. teeboxes from black in generally awful condition, with plenty of unrepaired divots, uneven lies, multiple types of grass. fairways were similar, with some completely bare spots of dirt, multiple grasses out there so you had no idea what kind of lie you were going to get. rough ranged from fluffy to thick to downright swamp as there were areas with unmown grass up to 5 inches in standing water. greens were sanded and ran inconsistently, there were some remnants of what may have been some punching but minimal holes, it was just mostly slow, bumpy, and sandy. bunkers sometimes had fluffy sand and sometimes wet hard packed sand depending on whether they got water. why did i have to drive the cart through multiple rivers of standing water? POP was slow at 4h45min. no drink cart, pick something up at the turn while you're waiting on the two groups that area already on 10 teebox. yeah, don't really recommend playing here.