Empire Ranch Golf Club

Weather was great…..course good….Cart path only….pace okay could have been swifter….staff in clubhouse fine…no marshal….hey, we’re lucky to play.

Decided to head over last minute on a sunny Sunday in January. Course looks pretty crowded on the first couple of tees when I pulled up as a single. Starter was super friendly. He suggested I go off the back nine cents a shotgun tournament had just finished. Play the back nine in about an hour and 10 minutes then was able to play the whole front nine with very little weight. Really fun course good conditions for winter. Super friendly staff. Birdie on number 18 from the blue tees didn’t hurt…

Although the course was wet it has been in better conditions than other courses in the area with the exception of the pond in the fairway on hole 3.

One of the best courses I’ve played all year. Condition of fairways was exceptional, rough was typically a little tall for winter conditions, but well groomed, greens were fast and challenging and even the fall leaves were well collected preventing the frustration of balls lost in the short rough due to a thick covering of dead leaves. Truly a pleasure to play. I was lucky enough to have a free Tuesday to get out which no doubt helped the pace of play on the day of my round, but I was able to walk 18 holes in a foursome in almost exactly 4 hours.

Empire Ranch has been my home course for the last few years. This is a good track with a variety of holes and it’s in very good condition now except some of the bunkers need more sand. Most of the time the pace of play is pretty good but on this Saturday it was closer to a five hour round. The course is fair; you can score pretty well if you stay in the fairways and are putting well but can also punish you for errant shots.

Course was in great shape, fairways were tight, greens ran smoothly. Matt may very well be the best grill man in Sacramento area.

1:00 tee time and only made it to 13. Waiting on every box after 1. Didn’t see a marshall all afternoon. Must have been 4 groups piled up at 18 still trying to tee off when we drove past to leave. Grounds crew does a stellar job, turf was in great shape. Little soggy in some bunkers but rain will do that.