Alisal Guest Ranch and Resort

Course was dead which led to a multitudes of struggles, the sand traps were nothing but dirt and rocks, and there was a lack of amenities throughout the course

So. Sent my son and his best that just graduated from UCSB. They have played all of the courses there and his response 10 mins ago…Better than Sandpiper. There u go

we quit after 9 holes 3 hours; greens were terrible very slow. Layout was ok but nothing special. Wide open easy layout. My kid was 3 or 4 under but he is a pro. The slow play made it unplayable for us. Never saw a marshal.

Mid July and greens are terrible! Bare spots that have been treated looks very much like the greens have something really bad going on. Fairways were not terrible but at that price should be alot better condition, some puddles on fairways must be having draining issues since it hasn't rained in months the rough around greens are starting to get burned out do chipping through bare crispy yellow grass. Definitely not worth the money.

We played this course twice in one week. The course was in great shape, the staff was friendly and the hot dog at the turn tasted great!

When you think of Alisal Ranch, you think of an unforgettable experience, and I was hoping that this course was going to continue that experience. Unfortunately, the Ranch course and the Alisal Ranch experience is much different on the River course, and maybe it was just my wrong expectations that detracted from the round. Overall the course was "fine" - but in a world where we have many courses at our disposal, I don't think I have to come back here - but I really wanted to play here! My review stars with an unmanned or unmarked bag drop, which is fine, but I expected a bit more. Check-in was fine, but the staff there was apparently "inattentive" per my easy going wife. We were assigned a cart and went back out to grab our clubs from the bag drop and carried them around the clubhouse / restaurant and into our assigned cart. We then drove down to the ~10 person range where you have to pay for range balls in S/M/L sizes at the clubhouse. Again, fine, with the right expectations. We proceeded to hit a few balls and rolled a few putts before heading off to the first hole. We couldn't get any food or drink at the restaurant and they told us to get something at the half-way house separating 9 green and 10 tee. It was a little bit out of the way, but the woman who was working there was the highlight of the day! She was super sweet and helpful, and just a delight. The golf course was relatively full of Father's Day groups, and everyone was very nice. We were a fast-moving foursome, and two of the foursomes out there let us play through and we ultimately ended our round in about 3.5 hours, even in the wind. Not much to complain about there! I would just say that the course was just "average" as far as course conditions, dead grass spots, very beat-up cart paths, poorly healing greens from punching (or something!?), and uneven tee boxes. It would be a course I would pay $50 for, not $112. Finally, be careful if you're using the electronic scorecard! We were coming off 18 green and getting ready to take a photo of the screen and we noticed that all of our scores were erased from the touchscreen! We did go into the clubhouse and they were able to pull it up on their software up to the 17th hole using our cart number, but beware if you're trying to keep your score on the GPS touchscreen system! Overall, I am glad that we were able to play on Father's at the River Course, and appreciative of the foursomes that let this twosome play through - but there just wasn't much there that would bring me back at that price.

It was a first and won’t be the last. Great course and pace. I will be back.

The addition of the color screen, GPS golf carts is a fabulous addition to a well taken care of course.

This course has its challenges! From tight fairways to reachable water and sand hazards. If you're a straight shooter, this is the course for you. I have Golf just about every course on the central coast of California and consider this by far the best course I've ever played and will continue to come back because of this gem of a course I challenge any golfer to come check this place out because I will guarantee a day of satisfaction when it comes to Golf.

My group had an outstanding time as usual. This course is in tremendous shape, and the employees were friendly and courteous the entire time.

It’s a better course when the greens are not perforated.

Temporary condition which means all of my ratings go up a notch when the greens are in better shape

Beautiful course. Challenging holes and course layout. Staff were amazing and kind in the clubhouse. Excellent customer service and care