The Links At Riverlake Ranch

I played yesterday (Monday) afternoon because I got back early from my travel and I was still on my vacation. I also decided to play here because my home course was closed and I haven’t played here for about three years. In hindsight, I should have done some yard work.
The pace was good since it was Monday afternoon. But, I have heard some horror stories about this place.
The course condition was as bad as I have seen. The fairway was in good shape. The rough hasn’t been cut in what seems like over a month.
Lets talk about the greens. Okay, this is a public course in town with low rates so the course attracts every hacker from at least ten counties around. The greens were patchy and painted green to hide the brown spots. Some of the greens were dead and covered with sand. My biggest complaint is the divot marks left by every golfer that has ever played here since they opened the course. Seriously, you shouldn’t play golf if you don’t fix your own pivots because you’re probably the type to complain about other people’s pivots. I was fixing 3 — 4 pivots on every green just along my putting line.
This course was once the talk of the town when they first opened. Now, it is the joke of the town. The course layout is challenging and interesting. This is an example of how not to run a course. I say tear it down and build houses over the course.
what a shame.

Most of the reviews of this course are pretty spot on. Half of the greens are in horrific shape. Overall it’s a pretty flat straightforward course, but the conditions make it worse. Reviews about the employees are correct too. The starter and pro shop attendant seemed pretty uninterested in being there. We met a local who said that Friday’s are the days that the normal starter is off so they hire uninspired teenagers to take his spot. Starter sent out two-​ball and five-​ball groups so the pace of play really stunk. My group ended up setting off on the back 9 first because the pace was so bad.

This course went to shit years ago. The only time we play here is when there is a tourney there. It’s a let down because I live so close.

This course has potential but the greens are bad. 6 of them are unplayable and the other twelve are fair at best, slow and bumpy. Looks like they are attempting to regrow grass when they need to resod the 6 bad greens. As an agronomist, I suggest that if they don’t have a nursery green, sacrifice one of the 2 practice greens for sod and create playable areas on the 6 bad greens. Also, the bunkers have no sand and are hard packed dirt. They try to market the course as an upscale public course of country club quality, not even close. Many munis have better greens.

The range is ok but they only run half the lights on the range so it us difficult to see shots longer than 75 yards. Also the taco nights have ok chile Verde meat and toppings but the ground beef is a greasy, wet mush that resembles more of a soup. It was also expensive as a family of three which ordered three waters and one mixed drink left with a tab of just under forty bucks. The greens look healthier than last year but were punched last week so hopefully they are back to full health in a month.

Played here with my son in law. Enjoyed it thoroughly. Way above my skill level, but had a good time on this challenging course. My son in law says it is better than some of the country clubs. He also related they had some problems for the greens when they used the water from the lakes (water hazards) to water them after someone had put roundup in the water to kill algae. That will ruin your greens. Any way they have recovered almost completely. Just one bit of advice: this is one course you don’t ever want to walk. Some of the holes are more than a quarter mile apart in this expansive course.

Really nice public course. They do a good job here, and the course is more challenging than I expected it to be. The back 9 greens were a little rough, but I believe they were re-​done recently. It was still a lot of fun. I will come back for sure.

Any golfer should call first and ask about the greens this was the worst greens I have ever paid to play and only after I went to the starter was I informed that they have had this problem for 3 years. the fairways are legit however the grounds crew are not receptive to golf course etiquette. Very poor as they will not wait for a player to hit a shot before driving on a cart past you or stop the weed machine as you are putting or playing a shot. I can not recomend this course.

Great course, but if you plan to tee off later than 7 plan on a five hour round.
Found the Marshall asleep under a tree asleep. No wonder there is 3 groups at a tee box, followed by an empty hole.
This type of course management gives public courses a bad name.

I was able to get 18 holes and after an early day of work here in Bakersfield not many public courses to play here in the area most of are located at the perimeter of the city. This course has a fair amount of sand traps and water. Its in pretty good shape for a public golf course

The course is ok (short but challenging) and the location is so convenient. Food is really good but pricing on weekends to play is a bit too much. My biggest complaint is the range. Never any good grass to hit from, the ball machine is often empty, and prices for buckets is way too high.

course in great shape, hard to get on early in the morning but if you don’t mind waiting until about 11am you can easily get a nice round in.

course was in good shape, I really like the layout and the food in the clubhouse is very good, I would have given 5 stars but kitchen closes at 3pm and the price was a little high

The only reason I give this place a 4 star review is because the back nine isn’t as well taken care of as the front nine. Other than that it’s still one of the top non private course in Kern County

The course is in good shape. It’s not congested so I finished my round in about 2 and a half hour. Not a good course to walk since the distance between each hole can be long.

I played here in June 2010 while visiting a buddy who lives here. There are not many public course options in the area but this one seemed to be one of the nicer options.
The course overall is 3.5 stars. Better than most, and great for the local area… probably the best public course in Bakersfield. Well kept, good condition.

this is probably the best public course in Bakersfield you can play.
it’s a nice, challenging layout, with smaller, multi-​tiered greens, but the course itself is relatively wide open with younger trees and playable terrain past the rough. there aren’t any memorable holes or any aspect of the course that really stands out, it’s just a nice, affordable track that always seems to be in pretty good shape.
you just have to deal with that Bakersfield heat if you play in the summer!

This is the closest course to my house so it’s very convenient to play here. The course is short which I like but can be very difficult. There are a lot of homes so you can go OB very easily on just about every hole. Not to mention the ridiculous amount of water hazards this course throws at you. I guess Riverlake is an appropriate name for this course.
Overall this is one of the nicer public courses in Bakersfield. I little on the spendy side. Plan on paying about $ 50 a round on the weekend. The green fees always include a cart which is nice. There is also a little par 3 course just off the main course which I’ve never played at but have heard good things about.