The Ranch Golf Club

Great track, unexpected vistas with drives from altitude to trap surrounded greens or driving areas in the fairways. This was the highlight of my vacation.

Please if you are the average golfer like myself bring lots of practice balls cause you will be loosing a lot and if you do a mulligan ( oh you will be doing a lot of those, too ) please do not attempt to retrieve lost balls and upset people behind you.This course is going to test your patience and skill alright. Your irons better be fairly accurate to stand a chance. It is more important that you keep it in the middle than risk going long because it is not as long as it seems but it is pretty narrow for sure.

Very challenging course - bring lots of balls you can lose them without hitting a bad shot. Buy the course guide and bring your patience. Play early becuse if the wind comes up you will really be in trouble.

I have played this course 3 times now. It is the most difficult course I have ever played and I have played golf for 25 years. The shots themselves are the same distance, etc. as any other course but the carries and terrain make them far more difficult.
That is the frustrating part. A 175 yard shot is not difficult until you add a small landing area and all of the yardage a forced carry. Smart golf is at a premium. Don't be a fool and go for every shot. Lay up and save some strokes. That is what I surely will do next time. I will definitely go back. Must figure this place out!!

Course has excellent views of the valley and downtown San Jose. Greens are in very good condition and putt true. Bunkers need some work. Staff is friendly. Bring extra balls.

Beautiful course, facility and views. Would be nice if players were more diligent about fixing ball marks and pace of play. Also, of you don't find your ball after two minutes, drop and move on. Fun course. A little odd lay out due to topography and the fact it looks to have been built to sell homes. Such is the nature of the game.

Some of these holes seem deliberately tight and tricky - almost as though the designer didn't want players to want to come back for more!
Disappointed at the lack of refreshments cart, and the half-mile ride from green to tee became a little exasperating as we entered our fifth hour of play, with 4 holes still to play.
It's a beautiful-looking course, with great, friendly bar staff and a fantastic breakfast burrito. But each player in our four-ball agreed that we would prefer to return to Cinnabar Hills and pay an extra $20 than endure The Ranch again!

While the course was in good shape the layout is terrible. The holes snake up and down (and I mean up and down) around a bunch of ravines. Fairways are like slivers of sidewalks, many holes have massive elevation changes, the par 3s are weak, continuous forced carries and long rough. No need to bring a lot a balls as you will find dozens lost by other golfers. The slope rating isn't high enough. Ps the distance between holes would make walking a real chore and totally distorts the rhythm of the round

A course you need to play a few times to get the right club selection off the tee. Great course conditions, speedy undulating greens. Force carries on most tee shots and second shots makes this a challenging course. Nice elevation changes from tee to green.

Good value, $55 with cart and a sleeve of Titleist golf ball (because you're about to lose them).

Great steak sandwich at the restaurant.

Will play this again when in town.

The course is well worth playing. 360 decree view of the Peninsula from the course and elegant club house and spacious out door covered deck. A very nice well equipped pro-shop. Bring lots of golf balls if your shots are not accurate. 4 stars ****.
Tom

Tough but fair. Fun greens. Bunkers need improvement. Tee boxes not fully level.

Very tough course. Takes a lot of ability to control distance and direction. This course is beyond my abilities. Sand traps need some work. Fun day all in all.

I have been playing the ranch for the past 5 years. It has always been in great condition. This past round, they clearly have let things go. Lots of hackers out playing that don't repair tee boxes and fairways. Greens were not rolling well and the sand was clay. Management needs to reinvest some money to fix this place up.

If you want a real challegne come to the Ranch. Easily the toughest course in the Bayarea. Bring about 2 dozen balls or more. If your game is not on you will loose lots of balls and get your butt kicked really good and we are only thru with the first 5 holes.

The course is cart path only so the fairways are in great condition. The greens are fast.

I played for $25 so it was a great deal...anything more is too expensive cause you have to factor in cost of a box of ball.

Tough course, only got to play the front 9 as they were aerating the back, played the whites first and the blues second time round, blues worked out easier for some reason.
Got to be on target or big trouble awaits. Looking forward to going back and playing all 18.
Bunkers need real sand.

On the front 9, precise placement of shots are the key with almost no margin for error on many holes. The back nine while still challenging seems almost easy after the front. Course was in very good condition on the tees, in the narrow fairways and greens. Bring extra balls if your shots go astray now and then, there is no way to recover an errant ball on most holes since they are carved into the sides of steep hills. The Sunday pace was quite low to start but picked up as the round went on but still took a hair over 5 hours. Amazing views of Silicon Valley from several holes.

Fun Day at a very challenging course and will return
another day

What a setting for a golf course! On a clear day I'm sure you can see SF. I was told the course was hard and it is especially for a beginning golfer. That did not spoil the fun of trying to meet the challenges the course offers. It would be nice if the bunkers contained a different sand. Will definitely go again.

This is a course that will challenge every phase of your golf game. Rarely will you get a level lie. Often you will be required to place shots over hazards. The views are breathtaking. To really enjoy the course you need to play it a number of times and develop a strategy. Expect to score at least ten strokes over your handicap.

If you want a real test, try out the Ranch. Target golf at the extreme with only a few "easy" holes, with huge elevation changes. The greens are big but far from easy. Lots of awkward and poor lies, thick rough...just about as tough a course as you'll find.
But an absolute BARGAIN on Mondays. shhh...