Rancho Del Rey Golf Club

Greens were heavily sanded and punched. This was not mentioned on the golf now website when I booked the rounds. We paid full price for a less than advertised experience. Poor job by golf now and the golf course.

Had played here a few times about 15 years ago in charity tournaments when we lived nearby, but didn’t really remember the course. It’s an older track, I'm guessing it was built in the era when the military air base at Castle ruled. There were obviously many regulars playing here, so good for them for supporting their local 18. The course was showing its age though, as we experienced both good and not so good things during our round.
The Good : We got a good price with a cart, using hot deals. Pro shop staff was friendly. A mostly fair (more about this later) design Old-school layout, with mature trees, clear sight lines. Busy, but not crowded, good pace of play. Greens mostly ran true.
Not so good : Cart worked ok, but was older & had a torn drivers seat. Virtually all greens had bare spots & diseased patches. Tee boxes were inconsistent in quality & amount of grass. Fairway grass was also not always consistent in quality and/or amount of grass, also with various bare spots. Some yardage markers seemed questionable - I forgot to charge my yardage gizmo, but know how far I hit my irons, and was off way more than usual (+ & - ) on some holes. Bunker sand was much better on the back nine (actual sand), worse on the front side (more like dirt than sand). Restaurant closed, couldn’t get drinks on what was a normal hot summer day in the valley. Ball washers shut down (some courses have opened them back up, so not a complaint, just an observation.) Two of the first three holes are par 5’s ( with a water hazard right in front of the 1st green) - never seen two par 5’s right off the bat (maybe there’s a reason why !).

One big advantage for the course is they no longer have any nearby competition, since Stevenson Ranch and Forebay went out of business - so unless you want to travel up or down Highway 99, this is your only public choice in the Merced area. I do appreciate they are available and nearby, and most likely won’t wait another 15 years before playing here again, but am ok for now with continuing with jumping in the car on 99 to have a more consistent golfing experience.

Course was in pretty good shape, the HOT weather has had an effect on greens, burnt spots, but was in pretty fair shape! greens putted very nicely & true!!!
Will continue to play this track!!!! Good challenger for us! Really like the layout, no gimme holes!

Course conditions was good few greens were soaking wet due to over-watering in the morning and unplayable.
Wish the restaurant was open to grab a drink since it’s so HOT….

Good course, greens weren’t maintained that well. A lot of divots and dead grass on greens. Other than that the layout was nice

The course was a lot of fun and the people were too. It played well with only one spotty green where it seemed like no one had repaired their divots. Other than that the course was a lot of fun and right at my level.

The only hitch was a fivesome who we caught on 15 and got stuck behind who refused to let us play through. They would also park their carts in front of the green and not move until they discussed and recorded their scores. We reported them, though, so I trust the marshalls and rest of the staff will handle it appropriately.

We had to wait on 6 holes because a group of 6 men teamed up to play together.

Very challenging, only a couple pushy golfers. Overall great time and experience.

Greens are molded and pock marked. Fairways spotty. A mower or roller is leaking oil cause you can see it around the greens But the layout is really cool. And the back tees offer a solid challenge. With a little tlc this course would be a solid 4. Currently 2.5-3

I’ve been going to Rancho since High School, I consider it my home course. I started going at least once a week, I really enjoy it, I always see someone I know, and often meet new people there. Staff is very friendly and helpful. Great value for a full round.

Didn't know they allow 5'somes and 6'somes. The 5 in the group ahead of us were 2 holes behind almost the entire round. Had to wait every shot on every hole.

I play this course often mostly due to location and price compared to other courses. Fairways and greens could use more attention as it’s not fun hitting a drive down the middle of the fairway and having your ball rest on a patch of dirt. Or hitting a nice approach shot only to arrive at the green to see that there are more dirt patches in your putting line. The course doesn’t seem to have as many carts as they used to so, unless your tee time is before 1030 or 11, you could be waiting for a cart. Also, multiple times I have had my cart die on me while still on the front 9 as it did again yesterday. Lastly, they need to start regulating the first tee box, especially on busy days. It’s literally first come first serve at the opening tee. I’ve been forced to wait in this line and tee off up to 20 minutes later than my tee time because they don’t call groups to the tee. So I’ve just started taking advantage of this and arriving extra early and teeing off 20 to 30 minutes before my actual tee time. Although this review is mostly negative, I will continue to play here because I’m as amateur as it gets and I just enjoy playing the game.

Been going here since high school, but now I try to go at least once a week. You cannot beat Rancho in respects to Value. Great course, some holes might need a bit better maintenance, but I adapt. Staff is very friendly and helpful, and not uncommon to meet someone new.

Needs improvement! Driving range is a apocalypse now scene. I missed putts from greens being bumpy, someone behind us hit balls at us twice and after telling the marshal the. First time he said if it happens again to tell. So after it happened the second time all he did was put them two holes in front of us. And no he never yelled four . Drive to Modesto if you want to golf or somewhere that’s better

Very fun to play
The blue pestered a good challenge