Rancho San Marcos Golf Course

Played the blacks (6939/73.9/137) with RGM2525 in beautiful, breezy, mid 70's conditions. POP was excellent, slightly under 4 hours.

Normally, I do not care for par 71 courses. This Robert Trent Jones, Jr. designed layout is really unique in many ways. Five par 5's, six par 3's and only seven par 4's. There are three par 3's in a four hole stretch on the back. Any of the above I would normally view as a negative, but it flows and works well here. There were a couple of holes I thought were tricked up or mediocre, but this course overall is nice hole after nice hole from a design standpoint.

The greens were definitely the best part of the course, very firm and medium fast. They putted well but were challenging to chip on in the wind unless you could put some spin on the ball because of their firmness.

The condition of the rest of the course does not match the layout & greens however.

The fairways were thin, much of the coverage was more weeds than turf. I had many tight lies, which was fine for full iron shots, much less desirable for the many 50-100 yard wedge shots that I had today.

The rough was mostly weeds. Primary cut around the fairways was hit & miss, could range from hardpan to not too penal to having to step on your ball to find it within a few feet. Miss the primary cut and it's likely lost ballville, they do not maintain the native rough here.

The large beautiful traps looked much better than they played. Most had a decent amount of sand, but the outer edges were crusty. Only the inner parts of the traps had been maintained recently.

The tees were about as long as the maintained rough, some kind of rye or poa annua mixture. They were unlevel, had pot holes and were generally poor.

I personally though RSM from the blacks was more difficult than La Purisima from the blues, Ron disagrees. I loved the layout and can see why this was a $$$ course back when they actually had good grass on the fairways and tees. Challenging diverse, fun layout with plenty of elevation changes complete with great mountain and wildlife views. Windy, not overly crowded kinda out in the middle of nowhere 20 miles east of Santa Barbara, but well worth the drive.

Beautiful course, hardly a soul in sight. Like being on your own private golf course

The wild life was worth the price to play coarse, dear,turkey, turtles and they could all be seen from one of the many 500+ yard tees a great place to spend any day of the week. Thanks for a great experience my wife my self a good friend had a great afternoon.

The title should say it all, there was no grass and the rates are way to high for playing in the dirt and rocks

Because of the DROUGHT in this area the fairways are very thin, but the greens are in excellent condition. This is one of the most beautiful courses I've ever played.

Calif. Has been in a drought but Dont they have sprinklers? And it still doesn't account for a six hour golf round. At the prices they charge-hire a Marshall.

The layout is excellent! it is a bit challenging for first timers because the greens are fast and difficult to read. Luckly, I was paired up with local golfers. they gave me a lot of good instructions. Definitely will play this golf course again.

Beautiful day, very good conditions, a great bargain through Golfnow, and I would recommend this cours to all golfers.

Used to play and practice here frequently but
quit when they raised the range fee to $40.00
It seems management's new business model at
that time was to drive people away. I assume
that worked, but mother nature in the form of a
severe drought really made their dream come
true. I gave it a try the other day. The greens
are perfect, tees good, but fairways burned out
and dry. The recent rain helped but can't make grass grow over night. I still enjoyed myself.
The course is playable, one just has to accept
it as it is. What I noticed most though is
how nice the shop personnel are. I had called
a few days before going and spoke to Josh who told me exactly what to expect condition wise
and Andy who checked me in was most pleasent to deal with. A nice change.

Due to lack of water fairways were mostley bare. Greens were nice and holding. Still had fun.

This course has no grass in any of the fairways, just dirt. The greens look great, but the fairways have not been watered for what looks like two years.After driving two hours to get to the course it was extremely disappointing,this course will not be ready for play for some years and Golfnow should remove it from its listings. The staff did recommend a great alternative, La Purisima Golf Course and it was a lot of fun and very challenging

Fairways dead due to no water for the course, but the greens were excellent (smooth and fast), so it was still enjoyable, especially with the deeply discounted green fees. Pray for rain!

First time played, didn't know what to expect from view off highway. Due to the drought and not being able to water as much the fairways have gotten dried out, but are still playable for the ball picker. Greens are in very good shape very receptive, true roll, and fast. This is a well designed Jones course with the white sand traps in all the right places. Playing here made this old Wyoming boy feel at home with all the wild life, mountain setting. to the valley river. Staff, food, and club house are the best I've encountered in all the years of coming to Cali. This is a must for any golfer who likes the challenge and the game of golf. (ANY BODY CAN PLAY FROM LUSH GREEN FAIRWAYS BUT IT TAKES A TRUE GOLFER TO PLAY THE GAME WHEN MOTHER NATURE DOESN'T PROVIDE)

RSM is under the drought laws so the fairways haven't been watered. They hard firm and fast. This leads to some long drives if you have the room, but club selection is key. I had a 3 wood run out of room at 300 yds.!! Greens are in great shape and the staff is very friendly and accomodating.

Although the course is suffering tremendously from the drought, the greens are in excellent shape and challenging. Because the fairways are hard packed, the ball rolls a long way. Sand traps are in excellent shape. The staff is very friendly and accommodating. We enjoy playing this course, and because of the drought conditions, the rates are very good. Very scenic course.

Mother Nature has taken her toll on this course. It hasn't seen water in years and is more like a dirt bowling alley than a golf course. The only grass still living is on the green, which were very nice and challenging. Unfortunately, unless you like golfing on dirt, clay, and hay, this course should be avoided at all costs. That is untill the drought ends. There is great potential there and maybe someday it will be back in shape. Too bad they don't water it more during these down times, but maybe in a few years it will be back in shape once the rain returns.

First of all, The price was great (GolfNow - $59) and the greens were abive average. The couse layout was fine. But, Dry, Brown, desert-like everywhere! We didn't have time to go anywhere nice (1:45 pm) with just enough time to finish 18 holes. If this course was able to receive a lot of rain and "reseeding & TLC" I've heard it's a very nice course! Well, I won't hold my breath and make this a last choice for now. Club house guy was nice and accomodating. . . Yiu can't drive yourcart to the parking lot. . .kinda a pain!

I blame the drought for the dry conditions, but the beauty of the course continues to exist. Great layout, great staff and the course is very challenging. Can't wait to play it again.

The fairways are dead. No green grass any where. Played of dirt a lot. Drove an hour to scratch up two clubs.

It was a great Santa Barbara wether to play golf. Extremly friendly personnel in the club house is the only 5 star.
The green is fair, but the condition based on $100 green fee is not worth it. The fairway is the worst, there is no green color period. According to them, because of extreme drought, but it is the worst fairway condition that I ever saw. They should close the golf course, otherwise the golfer will be upset once they get to the golf course, especially tourist. If you are tourist, please never play here at all. Even though discount green fee is cheap, but it will be much better to play in the different golf course.