Ojai Valley Inn
A view from Ojai Valley Inn.
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Rating Index Rating
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4.5
995 Reviews (995)
5 Stars
679
4 Stars
212
3 Stars
68
2 Stars
21
1 Stars
15
Conditions
4.5
Value
4.2
Layout
4.6
Friendliness
4.7
Pace
4.3
Amenities
4.6
88.7%
Recommend this course
918 out of 995 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.4
18 Reviews (18)
5 Stars
10
4 Stars
6
3 Stars
2
2 Stars
0
1 Stars
0
Conditions
4.4
Value
4.3
Layout
4.8
Pace
4.2
Amenities
4.5
StaffFriendliness
4.8
88.9%
Recommend this course
16 out of 18 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.4
44 Reviews (44)
5 Stars
28
4 Stars
10
3 Stars
4
2 Stars
0
1 Stars
2
Conditions
4.4
Value
4.2
Layout
4.7
Pace
4.4
Amenities
4.5
StaffFriendliness
4.7
86.4%
Recommend this course
38 out of 44 reviews
Read Reviews
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AI summaries based on real golfer reviews
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Course Highlights
Ojai Valley Inn's course consistently earns high marks for immaculate conditions, fast sloping greens, and a strategically varied layout that challenges golfers of all levels. Welcoming staff, excellent amenities, and strong value through GolfNow make this resort course a standout booking.

About

Holes 18
Type Resort
Par 70
Length 6252 yards
Slope 131
Rating 71.0

Opened in 1923, Ojai Valley Inn Golf Course is one of California's first great courses. Over the decades that the course has been open, it has hosted a number of professional players and celebrities ranging from Arnold Palmer to Will Smith. George C. Thomas, Jr., who created the Riviera, collaborated with Billy Bell to design the original golf course but Jay Morrish made the layout considerably more challenging with renovations in 1988. Ten years later, two holes from the original Thomas/Bell layout that were lost during a redesign following WWII were completely restored and incorporated into the layout. The challenging golf course is very narrow in some spots and it features undulating greens that putt fast and true. The layout is not particularly long but it requires accuracy and proper club selection in order to score well.

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Course Details

Year Built 1923
Fairways Kikuyu Grass
Greens Kikuyu Grass
Golf Season Year round
Architect George C. Thomas, Jr. (1923) William P. Bell (1923) Jay Morrish (1988)

Rentals/Services

Carts Yes - included in green fees
Pull-carts Yes
Caddies Yes
Clubs Yes

Practice/Instruction

Driving Range Yes
Golf School/Academy Yes
Teaching Pro Yes
Pitching/Chipping Area Yes
Putting Green Yes

Policies

Credit Cards Accepted VISA, MasterCard, Amex, Discover Welcomed
Metal Spikes Allowed No

Available Facilities

Meeting Facilities, Conference Facilities, Banquet Facilities, Spa, Locker Rooms

Available Activities

Swimming, Billiards

Available Sports

Tennis

Accolades

The Best Way To Book Is With GolfPass+ Annual
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Reviews

4.5
995 Reviews (995)

What Golfers Are Saying

The 19th Hole is Great For:
Drinks 51
Patio Dining 44
Brunch 25
Course Challenges Include:
Elevation Changes 66
Bunkers 56
Forced Carries 53
This course/club is great for:
A Weekend Splurge 56
Wildlife/ Scenic Views 56
Advanced Golfers 44
This Course's Location is:
At a Resort 68
Worth the Drive 67
Convenient to the City 12

Numbers based on reviews tagged with attribute.

Reviewer Photos

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Overall Rating
Recommended
Handicap
Age
Type of Golfer
Gender
Played On
Reviews 3
Handicap 10-14
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
1.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Excellent weather
Used cart

worst staff friendliness

Staffs who are working on the course to trim

and cut grass were bother our playing.

It was really terrible . So Do not recommend this course to anyone.

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Poor
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Beautiful scenery

Can't beat the scenic views on almost every hole. Front 9 is tighter than the back but it's all beautiful and well maintained.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Excellent weather
Used cart

OJAI VALLEY INN

Staff fabulous, bend ovar backwards to make a great experience. Chilled apples on course. Weather unbelievable. Played great. Sand perfect. Fun day.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 11
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played

Fabulous.

Great golf course....great amenities.....one of my favorite places to play.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 2
Handicap 25+
Skill Intermediate
Plays Twice a year
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Excellent weather
Used cart

gorgeous.... and difficult

bring your balls. and several sleeves

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Good
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 20-24
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Used cart

great golf

great course

great staff

great day

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Excellent weather
Used cart

One of the most beautiful courses you can ever experience

This is a must play! Enjoyable and relaxing place to play. Amazing scenery throughout the round

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 3
Skill Advanced
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

A great golf experience

Ojai Valley Inn is an exceptional place. It is a beautiful setting with top of the line staff. The course is a great test of golf requiring patience and control. But it is open enough for all levels of play using the three sets of tees. It has a good driving range, and large chipping green, and their putting green is always cut to match the playing conditions. They don't cut corners in any way. So it is especially a special place with the rates on Golfnow. Go enjoy Classic golf at a very classy place.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Excellent weather
Used cart

Beautiful setting, great course!

First time playing Ojai and we were very impressed. Course was challenging but fun. Very fair and rewarded good shots without over-penalizing bad ones. Love the variety of holes, some hilly, others flat, some target golf, others straight away. Definitely keeps your attention and each hole was memorable. There really was only one hole that seemed like it was an add-on. Other than that, great experience and will definitely come back.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 89
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
California Advisor
Top 500 Contributor
Previously Played
Excellent weather
Used cart

Beautiful day

Played the course on a Sunday morning so the breeze was down. This is also my second time playing where I shot 82 on the first go. Although I was familiar with the course layout due to previous play, I also found other parts of the course that makes the course challenging. The fairways are in good shape and the greens role pure. Elevation changes, blind tee shots and undulating greens will keep you alert. I didn't care for the distractions at the 11th and 13th tee boxes (lady walks by chatting on her cell phone loudly while I'm trying to tee off), but overall ambience is pretty cool. Oh, I also liked the elevated driving range giving you false sense of mastery. The staff on the course, club house and restaurant were all courteous and friendly. The regular rate is pretty expensive, but I got lucky with my groupon coupons.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Beyond beautiful

This was my third time and it was just as exciting as my first round! Beautiful vistas from every tee box! Challenging and fair and most of all fun! Worth every dollar! The guys in the bag room are the best!

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1001
Handicap 10-14
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Top 1 Contributor
California Advisor
First Time Playing
Good weather
Used cart

Ojai Valley

Played the Blues (6292/71.0/131) with kviser, JohnnyGK & RGM2525 on a beautiful weekday afternoon with temps well into the 80's. Breezy getting toward windy later in the day, we let a 2some play through and enjoyed a leisurely 4H, 45M POP, just taking in the beautiful surroundings.

The par 70 layout is hilly and fairly tight. Three par 5's and five par 3's. The first few holes are not that taxing, but the layout gets sterner and sterner the farther you progress into the 18. Elevation changes with numerous forced carries and holes with penalty areas down one or both sides. There are few bailouts areas on this course, you have to keep it within the rough lines or it would be a long round. This course would be a beast to walk, not only hilly, buy several tees are a hike from the last green.

They have recently punched the Kikuyu fringes and were punching the Kikuyu rough, but neither affected playability.

The tees were mowed close with good coverage. Only a couple needed divot attention.

The Kikuyu fairways were some of the best non over seeded desert fairways I have played in a good while. Lush and mowed close. How nice did they look? I mistook the small part of #1 fairway you could see from the elevated vantage point of the clubhouse for a sod farm or large chipping green... it looked more like a green than a fairway.

The Kikuyu rough was mostly mowed down fairly close. Sounds non penal unless you missed the "Kikuyu" part. Even mowed down, it is still challenging to attain both length and direction on your shots out of what appears to be lite rough.

The Sand traps were well maintained with nice sand. Thicker and heavier than it 1st appeared until I played a couple of shots out of it.

The greens still showed some visual evidence of their spring aeration, but I thought they putted well. Medium fast, firm with a generous amount of break. With the amount of break I had on numerous putts this round, they would have been treacherous if even a little faster.

I was surprised to learn that while there have been redesigns over the years, that parts of the course date all the way back to 1923. I also did not realize the sheer size of the resort, it is spread out over many acres in a beautiful, rustic setting. Customer Service is definitely emphasized, the sheer amount of employees out and about between different sections of the resort and especially out working on the golf course was impressive. Complimentary chilled Oranges and Apples were provided at comfort stations, another nice touch.

With the greens and the numerous penalty areas, this is not a beginners course. I enjoyed the round and would not hesitate to recommend this course to anyone who is at least an intermediate level golfer.

Conditions Excellent
Value Average
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

The course

First time playing it the course was in great shape the staff was super friendly!!!

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Ojai 's crown jewel

It has been probably 2 weeks since the course was punched and only in certain areas of the fringe or ruff was it visible. The greens are superb, roll true and hold a ball well from 160 in. Staff was great, weather great, and most importantly my round was great! Love this course, will be back in 2 weeks

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Excellent weather
Used cart

Great Course! Alway in great condition.

Always a nice get away. Close to LA. Feels almost like a private club. Good pace of play.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Great Classic golf experience.

Very good discount through Golf Now. Beautiful Setting, staff, pub, and course we're great. One of California's best golf locations.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 20-24
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Good weather
Used cart

Sandy Greens!

I was very disappointed because the just aerated the greens and they were horrible.

They were full of holes and sand and we awful to even try to put on.

I wouldn't have paid the $69 to play if it was disclosed on the web site that this was taking place.

I blame Golfnow.com for not disc;using this fact before I purchased my golf rounds!

Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 3
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Great course with beautiful scenery!

We stay at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa and love the resort and golf course. The staff is beyond friendly! Always helpful and makes the golf even more enjoyable. I would highly recommend spending a few days there and enjoy great golf, food and fun.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 3
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Ojai

Great mountain course, front nine very challenging, first four holes are tough. Beautiful vistas, elevated tees and 16th hole, the lost hole, a par three that requires you hit the green or you will be in the sand.

We love this course because of its setting and first rate accommodations.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Challenging and beautiful

Lived this course. Challenging. Great greens. Great views.

Conditions Average
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
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