Carmel Mountain Ranch Country Club

If my partner and I had not joined up with an experienced player of this golf course, there is no way we could have made it around the course without losing a zillion golf balls.

I would guess that 2/3s of the holes have blind tee shots due to elevation changes, hills, etc. In addition, even if you look at the course maps, there is no way to see whats on the other side regaring the slope of the fairway - you could hit what you think is a perfectly straight, centered shot and find yourself OB once you get to your landing spot and find the slope took you out of play.

It is really target golf for the most part - even if you can see your target off the tee, almost all the fairways are very tight. Additionally, there is no real way to know what club to hit off the tee since you can't see the landing areas.

Don't play this course unless you use a knowledgeable caddy or play along with someone who is a golfer in a similar class as you re length - we played with an experienced guy, but all his knowledge/advice was based upon his game which was about 2/3s our club length, so the only good it did was to provide an vague sense of what to expect off the tee.

Nary a flat spot on any of the greens.

Course was in better condition that we expected, except the bunkers were like concrete.

staff very friendly.will play again.nice elevation changes.

The renovation is better than I expected. Made the course more challenging. Eye catching beauty!

I hadn't played this course in over a year before they did millions of dollars in landscape and turf renovation. It was in amazing condition and we were very impressed with the changes. The only thing that could use updating now is the clubhouse and bathrooms but who cares cause the course is all that really matters and for a good golfnow deal we will be playing this course frequently now!

It's been a few years since playing here last, so it was a nice surprise to see the renovations! Course was fun and seemed like I was up in the mountains with the pine trees and elevation changes. Will play here again :-)

Very nice clubhouse, a ton of options in the pro shop, I even bought a hat and a Travis Mathew logo shirt. Didn't get a chance to eat anything and they didn't have a beverage service going, but we teed off at 6:27, so probably a little early. It was a 4 Hr 30 Min round, we got behind a tourney, really slowed us down. Course was very nice, lots of up hill holes, which I don't nexessarily enjoy. Also a lot of blind landing areas off of the tee, I lost 2-3 balls on good tee shots, or what I thought were good, due to not being able to see where it landed. First hole being one of them! I'd play again, but do want to try a course with some ocean views. Lots of traffic nearby on some holes near the hwy. not bad for the money here.

It looks like they purchased all the green belts in the neighborhood and decided to call it a golf course. Don't get me wrong I think they did an excellent with what they have and the greens have some great character to them. Overall a well kept course without that true course feel.

I haven't played the course in a while, was impressed with the changes to the golf course. Tee boxes and greens were in great condition. Looks like some work still needs to be done on some of the fairways.

The only real negative is the price of a round of golf, its a bit expensive to play.

Having played Carm Mtn Ranch dozens and dozens of times in the past, I was looking forward to the recent conversion to a desert-style course. I applaud removal of useless turf and replacement with bark and native grasses (pampus or similar). The fairways and rough conditions are indeed much improved. However, some very bad decisions were made that unfortunately made the conversion a big miss. Some of these could be fixed, but others are permanent. (1) The biggest and saddest mistake was the removal of probably 50-100 large trees, which destroyed the look of the neighborhood, and took away any remaining shade. I understand the need to removed a few trees that prevented grass growth near greens and to bring wind into play more. However, the trees on the fairways were an important challenge for the game, and the ones near the tee boxes provided critical shade to players waiting during a slow round. Note that most good desert courses have trees near tee boxes. Sadly, even the beautiful trees in front of the clubhouse are gone. I know that lowering water use was a goal, but too many critical trees were removed. Unfortunately, this would take many years to remedy. (2) The native plantings in the decorative bark ground cover are oddly distributed and somewhat poorly chosen. Fortunately, with a lot of work, this could be fixed. Some large, impressive pampas-style grasses with different colors would be fantastic. Many of the current plants appear ready to die and are unlikely to add much visual appeal. For an example of nice plantings on converted golf turf, see Eastlake #6 with the reddish pampas plantings, which look amazing! (3) Why was at least one thermos removed at hole #3??? - This can be fixed however.
(4) The new "desert" waste areas that flank the fairways on almost every hold need to be re-done. On real desert courses, there are rocks, sandy soil, and often desert plants that resist erosion. This has none of the above and will suffer greatly upon every rain. The recent downpour made HUGE ditches that make it extremely bumpy to enter the fairway. Carts or players will end up getting injured. The light sprinkling of DG is not going to work. (5) The cart paths are apparently in the process of being relocated??? or something. It is confusing where to drive, and at least one hole has no cart path. This needs to be completed ASAP before major rains this winter. #15 and #16 are good examples.
I'm bummed to see an excellent opportunity be missed. The excessive tree removal cant be reversed, but with a major effort, the other missteps can be addressed to make this a great course.

This was a moderately challengin course in great condition. Great pace lots of fun. On this particular day it was unusally hot there was not beverage cart not water on the course. Brutal!

overall the course is in good conditions, greens true and fast. some areas that has had grass removed is washed out from last rain need to work on ground cover to make these areas playable.

...but not great overall. Course in good condition, just not a huge fan of the overall layout. Good value for the $ though

Everything was great will be back next time when I am in town

Overall nice course. Greens were in good shape. Tee boxes are hard as a rock so bring a hammer to get your tee in the ground. Usually pace of play is pretty good however this it was extremely slow. There was a ranger on the course but all he said is there is nothing he could do. My buddy and I left after 4 1/2 hours. We were on number 15.

Need to play couple more times to familiarize with the layout. It was fun to play this course!

since JC has taken over, I have seen many improvements. The desert course design can be challenging and rewarding. I do recommend to bring an old iron or 2 in case you have to play off the d.g. areas, you won't want to scratch up a newer club.

New look, great and smart design to save water.
Course in great shape!!

The gorilla hair instead of rough is a bad look and have horrible lies.Greens were slow just overall shoddiness.

i like the new desert set up and new tees boxes! nice change

I want play again the course and tell other friend