Posted on April 8, 2019April 5, 2019 by Vic Flores

Round Up: GK Guru Visit Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara California

Rancho San Marcos Golf Course

GK Guru Visit Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara California

Reviewed by: JohnnyGK, Thousand Oaks
Teed it up with 24hourgolf (morning), GDR23, Alex362 and rgm2525 (afternoon) for 36 holes. Awesome time!

[su_row class=””] [su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]

Rancho San Marcos Golf Club Santa Barbara California Driving Range

[/su_column] [su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]

Rancho San Marcos Golf Club Santa Barbara California Hole 1

[/su_column] [/su_row]

Just posted a bunch of high resolution pics here on GK. Check them out.

For years every time it rained in Santa Barbara I thought, good, means Rancho San Marcos will be more green. I know sounds silly but this is one of my favorite golf courses and it was painful seeing it struggle through the drought. In 2017 is was back to being green and now it’s in the best shape I’ve seen in over 10 years.

The ambiance of Rancho San Marcos tucked in a beautiful valley next to Lake Cachuma inside the Los Padres National Forest is tough to beat. Add it the ranch décor theme of the facility and you’ve got quite a stage for your round of golf.

The Review

[su_row class=””] [su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]

Rancho San Marcos Golf Club Santa Barbara California Hole 5

[/su_column] [su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]

Rancho San Marcos Golf Club Santa Barbara California Hole 9

[/su_column] [/su_row]

As far as conditions, excellent. The whole course is very lush, green with full coverage. The greens are smooth, medium/fast and holding shots. The fairways are like carpet (amazing when you think back to the way they were during the drought). Rough, lush, with primary cut low yet secondary rough almost knee high and dense. Miss a fairway badly off the tee and don’t bother looking for your ball. And if you do be careful of snakes as it’s that time of year when they come out from hibernation. The bunkers all contain high quality sand which in some cases could use some raking. The tee boxes are lush and level. The course is a total pleasure to play.

Before your round you want to give yourself time to practice as they have an exceptional all grass driving range, pitching/sand area and putting green. You also might want to give yourself time to grab a bite to eat. Quality food priced right. I had a breakfast sandwich in the morning and delicious tri-tip soft tacos for lunch.

Service is in the clubhouse is great. I did not however see an on course food/beverage service all day. Guessing because it was a Tuesday round.

[su_row class=””] [su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]

Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara Hole 12

[/su_column] [su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]

Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara Hole 14

[/su_column] [/su_row]

Something to note, they do not have GPS on the carts but do have 150 and 200 yards plates in the fairways. Advise to bring your own yardage devices.

Final Thought

I’m already planning to get back up there for another round in May!

Highly Recommended

Posted on April 5, 2019April 5, 2019 by Vic Flores

Round Up: GK Guru Visit Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara California

Rancho San Marcos Golf Course

GK Guru Visit Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara California

Reviewed by: Alex326, Monterey, Ca

[su_row class=””] [su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]

[/su_column] [su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]

Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara Hole 18

[/su_column] [/su_row]

When I got the email to join the others to play Rancho San Marcos, I immediately replied back that I was in. I didn’t even bother to check the date or what else I had going on that day (today). It’s one of those courses that when you get a chance to play, you go play it. In fact I worked the night before, got off in the morning, drove 3 hours to the course, played 27, drove 3 hrs back to go to work. In addition to the great course conditions and super fun layout, it’s all about location location, location!

Background

RSM is located in the Santa Ynez mountain region just east of Solvang and north of Santa Barbara. I used to come to this area a few times a year for cycling both having a national mountain bike race in the Firestone ranch down the road and for road cycling (got admit it was nice when they shut down Hwy 154). The area is a great little wine retreat getaway that has fantastic weather most of the year. Playing here today has rekindled my love for this area. Before, I always enjoyed coming down to play Rancho San Marcos because it was a great track. Today was more about a great setting with a golf course in it. I’ve already started planning on when I can come back down with the wife, bikes and dog for a long weekend.

[su_row class=””] [su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]

[/su_column] [su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]

[/su_column] [/su_row]

If you are a wine connoisseur who like to play golf this place needs to be on your bucket list. Same goes for those cyclists out there (Kevin) who like to tee it up in the afternoon after a morning spin.

The Review

Conditions wise, GDR23 was spot on in that everything is an 8-8.5 right now. Just flat out excellent conditions all around. The greens were stingy with the birdies today but that just adds to the challenge. Almost all breaks were predictable and the greens were rolling true, they just had enough of a challenge that we couldn’t drop the putts. Greens were receptive to approach shots giving all players several looks throughout the day.

Again the course is fantastic shape and well worth a weekend getaway.

Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara Hole 16
Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara Putting Area & Clubhouse
Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara Hole 18
Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara Hole 17
Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara Hole 16
Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara Hole 15
Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara Hole 15
Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara Hole 14
Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara Hole 13
Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara Hole 11
Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara Hole 10
Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara Hole 8
Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara Hole 6
Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara Hole 3
Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara Hole 2
Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara Hole 6
Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara Hole 14
Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara Hole 12
Rancho San Marcos Golf Club Santa Barbara California Hole 9
Rancho San Marcos Golf Club Santa Barbara California Hole 5
Rancho San Marcos Golf Club Santa Barbara California Hole 1
Rancho San Marcos Golf Club Santa Barbara California Driving Range
Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara California GK Guru Visit Hole 1 Par 5

Posted on July 21, 2018July 17, 2018 by Vic Flores

Golf Course Review Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara California

Rancho San Marcos Golf Course

Santa Barbara, CA

Reviewed by: roarksown1, Playa del Rey

Played our GK Cup matches at Rancho San Marcos on Sunday and, after having waited a year to finally come back to this super fun course, it did not disappoint at all. The staff was fantastic all day long and did us a solid by allowing us to play our replay match free after the initial $65 greens fee – what a steal. The drive up is beautiful and when you get the course, it just feels like you get even more of that.

We pretty much had the course to ourselves the entire day and all 36 holes, which was a bit crazy. However, it was over the 100 mark so that may have kept the crowds away. We were not complaining one bit. Kudos again to the staff for taking care of us and having water every four holes or so. It was necessary.

Layout at RsM is one of the most fun you’ll likely ever play, and the setting is terrific. As for the conditions, really good all around for the most part, but there were a few spots that needed some attention, but totally understandable with the heat wave currently. The fairways definitely had plenty of lush, but you could certainly find a dry or thin spot here or there, especially around the greens. The rough is playable but anything just off the fairways is serious trouble. Tee boxes were in good shape for the most part, but the bunkers I found to be a little lacking overall. A lot of thin bunker shots that were played more like chips than sand shots.

Greens were very nice. The held shots well, had plenty of tricks to them (tough to read!), and rolled medium-fast (with a tiny bit of edge on the fast side) and stuck to their lines for the most part. There were a few areas that didn’t have the best coverage though, but for the most part they were solid and fun to play.

Carts are nice but no GPS or USB ports. There are also some 4×4 areas on the course where the cart path just ends and you have to get squirrely, but nothing to worry about for the most part.

In summary, a great deal of thanks to Rancho san Marcos for styling us out and showing how much they appreciate the GK community. I’ll play here any time I can. You should, too.

Posted on July 15, 2018July 13, 2018 by Vic Flores

Recent Golf Course Review Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara Califonria

Rancho San Marcos Golf Course

Santa Barbara, CA

Reviewed by: Alex326, Monterey, Ca

Played Rancho San Marcos on Sunday as part of our GK Cup matches. Had a blast of a time on a course that’s quickly becoming a personal favorite (6 birdies in 3 rounds helps). The layout is super fun and dare I say the perfect mix between challenging yet very scorable. There are some wide open fairways with elevated tees that allow you to grip it and rip it. Yet there are some narrow doglegs with tree trouble that make accuracy with less than driver the ideal choice. Add in a couple of lakes and forced carries over dry (for now ) ravines and you can’t help but come away with a smile after playing this track.

Condition wise we were forwarded that the summer heat has taken a bit of toll on the course. Still it was in nice shape around a 7.5 out of 10 overall. Greens were rolling fast. Again they offer a decent amount of challenge but are very manageable. There were a few unrepaired pitch marks on a few of the greens which must have been brought to their attention because they had a kid out repairing divots. Very cool to see that. There were also a couple of greens that had some small GUR areas. The damage may have been caused my wildlife. Regardless the pins were placed far away from these areas so they were pretty much a non factor.

I seemed to find great lies every time in the fairway (regardless of which fairway I was in).
Some of the bunkers were showing signs of the summer heat with crusty and/or hard packed dirt. Others were fine.

Staff was excellent and POP was whatever we wanted. We practically had the course to ourselves.

I used to always look forward to going to thie Santa Ynez region for cycling and racing. Now I think I’ll start making regular plans to hang out in the area for golf.

Posted on April 26, 2018April 18, 2018 by Vic Flores

Golf Course Review Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara California

Rancho San Marcos Golf Course

Santa Barbara, CA

Reviewed by: kviser, Saugus, CA

Good times today with Ron, Jerry, and the rest of the group. Big thanks to JohnnyGK and RSM for this GK Guru round. The course is currently in great condition overall.

The practice facilities are great here. There is a big putting green and a pitching green with a bunker as well as an all grass driving range.

Greens were putting medium fast. Not many ball marks; maybe a couple that were poorly repaired and a couple small ones that were missed. The greens did hold any well struck shot and it was no problem getting running pitches to stop consistently.

Fairways were nice to look at with the single mow stripe down the middle. Good hitting surfaces overall with only a couple of firm areas.

Rough, well, it’s good to stay out of the rough. It was a mix of deep, thick grass to thin lies. If you go outside that, it’s as good as lost in some knee-high foxtails.

Bunkers seemed mostly consistent. Good white, sparkly sand but a little on the thin side with only about an inch and a half over hard pan in many bunkers. Not terribly shabby and fairly easy to hit from.

Tees were lush but a couple had a lot of divot damage (par threes, so that was predictable) and a few were not too level at the tee markers. It was not bad by any means, though.

POP was about 4 hours with a little waiting on the groups ahead of us. Unfortunately, for the group behind us, the snack shop stopped food service at 2:30 on a Sunday. I was able to get some tri tip and it was good. Maybe not $13 good, but I needed it and it was tasty.

Posted on April 19, 2018April 17, 2018 by Vic Flores

Recent Golf Course Review Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara California

Rancho San Marcos Golf Course

Santa Barbara, CA

Reviewed by: JohnnyGK, Thousand Oaks

Just posted some beautiful photos of our GK Review Guru round at Rancho San Marcos Sunday, April 15th. Was super fun day and I thank everyone that could make it!

Last year was the comeback year for Rancho San Marcos after almost a decade of drought in the region. This year, great conditions remain.

Greens were smooth, holding shots and medium/fast. Fairways lush, firm and providing good lies. Rough, lush with the first cut only a couple inches and not much of a penalty to be in. However hit a shot into the native areas bordering the rough and good luck finding it. Bunkers contains clean white sand, were thin at times yet fairly maintained. Tee boxes were lush with a mix of grasses and in good shape.

What brings me back to Rancho San Marcos is the layout and location above all else. It’s secluded and gorgeous. You’re up in Santa Ynez mountains nestled into a valley next to Lake Cachuma. As you drive up Highway 154 through a small section of the Los Padres National Forest, the views and surrounding beauty really set the stage for your round. The layout features, 7 Par 4’s, 6 Par 3’s and 5 Par 5’s – which I love. Lots of risk/reward strategy.

Before and after the round, the western themed plantation style facilities combined with a super friendly staff complete the day. I just missed the last call for diner on Sunday, which was 2:30pm that day, a bit bummed about that as I love their tri-tip sandwich. Next time!

Give yourself time before your round as the practice facilities are excellent and relaxing.

Highly recommended.

[su_row class=””] [su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]

Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara California Hole 1 Par 5

[/su_column] [su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]

Rancho San Marcos Golf Course Santa Barbara California Hole 12 Par 5

[/su_column] [/su_row]