Played 5/11/19, 11 am tee time as a three some with a single. $42 thru tee off.com. POP 4 hrs 30 min. Sunny 72° with some wind. Rancho overall condition is not good. Tee's had good coverage, hard to f... Continue »

Played 5/11/19, 11 am tee time as a three some with a single. $42 thru tee off.com. POP 4 hrs 30 min. Sunny 72° with some wind. Rancho overall condition is not good. Tee's had good coverage, hard to find a level lie. Fairways are a mixed bag, had lies on bare spots, hard pan, soft areas. There must be 3-4 different types of grass out there. Should there be rough in the middle of a fairway? Only at Rancho does this happen. Rough was spotty at best. Greens were soft, slow and bouncy. Memo to myself, don't play there again this year.

Course review: Really? You gotta be kidding me...

Played today with my two regular Monday partners and joined by a nice single woman who hit the ball pretty well, but took her sweet time with pract... Continue »

Course review: Really? You gotta be kidding me...

Played today with my two regular Monday partners and joined by a nice single woman who hit the ball pretty well, but took her sweet time with practice swings. POP 4.75 hours, all on us. $35 senior rider fee at 2:22pm.

Tees were either uncut, 2" rough-length and sometimes choppy coverage grass, or very thin, hard-pan with extreme difficulty even getting a tee into the ground. Very ugly to look at.

Fairways were a patch-mix of bare dirt, extremely thin grass lies, some good coverage/lies and/or any combination of thatched-grasses making up the rest. Very, very rare to have a decent lie. With all the rain we've had, I am puzzled as to why the fairways are in such s--t condition.

Rough - more of the same.

Bunkers were actually OK, a decent layer of 1" crispy lighter sand over a firm base.

Greens were punched about 3 weeks earlier. They are about a week away from being fully healed. Oddly, in spite of their very bumpy putting condition, and medium-paced greens, they were the bright spot of the course. Should be good soon. Cannot say the same thing about the rest of the course.

No cart lady. The female 'Ambassador' at the first tee came by and brought a cheery light midway through the round, which was appreciated.

Play elsewhere if you can. Please don't make me play here again for another year.

Played RSJ on 1/30. Tee boxes and greens were heavily sanded, but generally in good playable shape. Otherwise, standard RSJ conditions, very spotty in many areas. Course was packed mid-week, but pace ... Continue »

Played RSJ on 1/30. Tee boxes and greens were heavily sanded, but generally in good playable shape. Otherwise, standard RSJ conditions, very spotty in many areas. Course was packed mid-week, but pace of play was still decent at 4:30.

But still a rare bargain course in OC that is a fun play.

Got out to Rancho San Joaquin after not touching a club for 6 months.... The course was in fair condition. Greens, having been punched about a month ago have healed and are rolling well no bad breaks ... Continue »

Got out to Rancho San Joaquin after not touching a club for 6 months.... The course was in fair condition. Greens, having been punched about a month ago have healed and are rolling well no bad breaks on the greens.

Several spots on the fairway with excess water. It was very muddy in some spots (the golf cart almost getting stuck once) which i couldn't really understand why.

Marshalls were great, had POP in mind and even pushed the group in front of us without us asking. At the end of the day it's Rancho San Joaquin... decent layout, can get boring in some spots, but it's in Orange County 4.5 hour POP on a weekend and I didn't have to drive far or break the bank.

Played Sat 9/29 @ 12pm, $37 w/ cart, our two some joined another two. POP just under 445. Rancho is nothing special, short layout, tons of play and only 6400 yards from the black tees. Here's a typica... Continue »

Played Sat 9/29 @ 12pm, $37 w/ cart, our two some joined another two. POP just under 445. Rancho is nothing special, short layout, tons of play and only 6400 yards from the black tees. Here's a typical hole, hit drive, find ball on fairway, either play it from a good lie or a thin lie that was pretty much void of grass. Greens rolled okay, medium speed with a sandy base, balls would be doing a lot of bouncing while they rolled to the hole. Way to much watering at the entrance to the greens, mudsville. The property is for sale, it wouldn't be much of a lost if the course does close.

First time off at 5:52am Monday. Thanks to the starter, we were able to play as a twosome, so no issues as to pace of play. I had concerns about running into back nine play, but didn't catch anyone ... Continue »

First time off at 5:52am Monday. Thanks to the starter, we were able to play as a twosome, so no issues as to pace of play. I had concerns about running into back nine play, but didn't catch anyone until #17, so we played in just a tick under three hours walking, a nice easy pace.

This course gets a lot of bad reviews, but I must admit that the greens were very good (those which had been mowed), the fairways were green and lush, although there were numerous bare patches, but generally nothing which became an issue. The rough went from bare to thin to US Open thick, depending upon where the ball ended up. Bunkers had plenty of sand and most were raked.

Say what you will about RSJ, but for $27 to play in South Orange County, it's a steal. Perfect morning, warm, overcast, with a nice breeze. The only annoyance was the number of geese - they were everywhere ! (And they left "gifts" wherever they went)

Played on Sunday, 5/27 with a mid morning round. Perfect golf weather with a slight breeze that came around in the afternoon.

The GOOD: Pace of play was at 4 hours with only minor waiting at a co... Continue »

Played on Sunday, 5/27 with a mid morning round. Perfect golf weather with a slight breeze that came around in the afternoon.

The GOOD: Pace of play was at 4 hours with only minor waiting at a couple of par 3s. The cart girl made a couple of visits on both nines, which shows attention to golfers. Bunker sand was adequate. Greens were in good condition and consistent speed. Able to donate to local charity with par 3 tee shot within a circle (I won the free sleeve of balls). Course wasn't that busy for a Sunday morning; business was picking up by the time we left after 1 pm.

The BAD: Tee boxes were mostly chewed up and divot scarred. No golf hole map to give Geese and bird droppings on greens and tee boxes. Two faint chalk circles on par 3 green with charity contest option. Poor signage direction at a couple of crisscrossing holes and coming back across road.

The UGLY: Hit the ball in the middle of the fairway on hole #1; center of the fairway looked more like it should have been circled for GUR. There was hardly any good green grass coverage in the fairway and it was better to hit in the scruffy rough to at least have consistent cushion under the ball. Knowing that the course golf ambassadors are the ones manning the charity hole, either have them have some type of cheat sheet on the charity or at least have the prize redeemed in the pro shop so that the pro shop can give a decent spiel on the charity. Saw two bird carcasses on a couple different fairways.

I know that I played this course several years ago and I should have given it a poor review. It doesn't look any better and it still deserves a STAY AWAY. If it wasn't for the group outing, I would not have played the course. Even if I lived nearby and could play a casual round to practice on my game for $10, it would not be worth it. I would be frustrated and depressed by the poor conditions to feel I could get anything worthwhile out of the play.

Played Friday afternoon, 5/18, teeing off 15mins ahead of our 1:00pm tee time on a cloudy, windy day, paired last-minute with another twosome. POP was 4 3/4 hours, waiting on most shots on each hole, ... Continue »

Played Friday afternoon, 5/18, teeing off 15mins ahead of our 1:00pm tee time on a cloudy, windy day, paired last-minute with another twosome. POP was 4 3/4 hours, waiting on most shots on each hole, but not backing up badly on the par 3s. Sometimes, I'm happy to tee off ahead of schedule. When I checked in at the pro shop immediately upon arriving, 20 minutes ahead of our tee time, I anticipated having a few minutes to practice putting and to warm-up, not being sent straight to the tee. So, be advised, as my playing partner later told me is typical here, to make sure you're 'ready to play' when you/your group pay in the pro shop. I last played here six weeks ago, which was a month after the greens were punched in March, when they were in very good shape. In spite of being 'rolled' earlier in the day, according to staff, they were now showing significant bumpiness. Greens were well-watered and held shots well, so I guess with an abundance of watering the grass growing in the aerated holes is thriving to a fault. Speed of greens were medium-paced. Everything else is about the same from my last visit in early April, representing a hodgepodge of grasses, cut lengths and firmness of turf in fair/good condition. We were nearly hit by errant shots twice. Cart girl was by a several times.

Played 4/26 early afternoon.
Greens were just okay, bumpy and slow. A few greens had what looked like tire tracks running through them. It was odd.
Fairways were pretty crappy. They should have bee... Continue »

Played 4/26 early afternoon.
Greens were just okay, bumpy and slow. A few greens had what looked like tire tracks running through them. It was odd.
Fairways were pretty crappy. They should have been marked as ground under repair on multiple holes.
Tee boxes were decent. Most were fairly level.
Round took over 5 hours