Sea Ranch Golf Links

This golf course offers a unique experience with its stunning views and links-style layout. The course is beautifully integrated into the natural landscape, featuring rugged terrain, winds, and native grasses that challenge golfers of all levels. While some fairways can be narrow and the wind can play a significant factor, the breathtaking surroundings and the well-maintained greens make it a memorable destination. However, the back nine fairways could use some TLC to match the quality of the rest of the course. Overall, it's perfect for those who appreciate a blend of nature and golf, providing a serene yet challenging round in a picturesque setting.

Dew sweeping this morning at Sea Ranch Golf Links in Sea Ranch. This course flies heavy under the radar for coastal golf in California. Situated just under 2 hours north of San Francisco along Hwy 1, this community course has a lot of good holes, but a lot of blind shots. Again, conditions left a bit to be desired as the rough appeared to not have been mowed in a few weeks, but the greens were fantastic. Despite the name, there is nothing "Links" about this place. The course winds thru the trees and development, although as is all of Sea Ranch, you don't really see or notice the houses at all (only on a handful of holes to begin with). Fun course worth a play if in the area, but I don't if I'd go too far out of my way to play it.

$15 for golf bucket, beautiful range we played while on vacay

First time playing at Sea Ranch and I was blown away at the beauty of the course . I only played a short 9 hole round but some of the holes were just amazing to play through. Some fairways were a little dried but other than that it was a great time! Will be coming back soon!

Had a great experience here - course was in great shape (the rain a few days earlier definitely helped), fantastic views, attractive approaches, and a challenging but fair layout. Got round in 3 hours as a 2-ball mid-day mid-week and anyone we encountered was quick to let us through (priceless in my opinion!). High scores on the front 9 (leave your driver in the bag on 2, 6, and 9 for sure) but under par for the back. Super friendly and helpful staff.

I was really excited to play Sea Ranch. Given the landscape of the area, as well as the price and well designed website, I came with high expectations. The website featured a nice course guide (which you usually find at well maintained and organized courses) so I anticipated the real deal. Unfortunately, I left a bit confused about the experience and very underwhelmed. This place could/should be a gem. With gorgeous views, amazing landscape and layout, you’d expect it on a top 50 list or something. The greens were very nice - soft, receptive, true. The views were stunning as anticipated. The club house is quaint and nice, cool gear, staff was welcoming. You’ll receive a warmup bucket of balls and a nice complimentary course guide which was cool. But unfortunately that was about it for my positives….and the round hadn’t started. The course is quite spread out so not the easiest to walk but the alternative are old, noisy gas carts. Also, “cart paths” are non existent - they’re just matted down grass and dirt paths that were really bumpy - be careful for bumps and pot holes. The tee boxes were in acceptable condition, though a number of holes were hard to tell where you were hitting to, so the course guide came in handy and it’s one of those courses that you’d have an advantage the second time around. Unfortunately, the fairways didn’t exist - this is what really ruined the experience. It wasn’t just fairways that were a bit hairy and hadn’t been mowed for a few days….there were true fairway cuts, everything was all bumpy like a field and the grass was all grown over. It truly felt like I was playing in a random meadow. Attached is a picture of the fairway leading up to the 18 green - no fairway or chipping area at all. For the price, was very let down. Seems like the new ownership (from what I’ve read?) has a lot of course maintenance to do over the coming year, or they can just own the “small course on the bluffs” feel and drop the price for a round in half.

A beautiful golf course next to the ocean. You can expect the mornings to be cold, so bring a jacket with you.

Beautiful, idyllic golf course. Great location, fully loaded pro shop. Reasonable prices. Adam is the man in the pro shop he will take great care of you!

What an absolutely beautiful course. It's so well maintained and each hole provided some challenge and made it so fun! There were 3 of us playing and nobody in front of us or behind so being a slight beginner it was really nice to be able to play fully through and actually enjoy the course in its entirety. For the price and for some of their deals I highly recommend playing this course if you like golf at all. Cannot wait to come back and play again! We'll be stopping by for a round every time we visit Gualala!

Amazing day of golf!! Beautiful course, fantastic greens! Definitely worth the trip. We will be back to golf this amazing course. Love the pro shop and lunch at the turn for the back 9 holes. Incredible Ocean views from most every hole. !!!

It has everything to make one mad! Bliss occurs occasionally. Haven't been to St Andrew's but I suspect that my rounds here are ample preparation.

This was an incredibly fun, challenging, Pebble Beach vibe golf course. $60 for an ocean side course that was every bit of golf if you could ever want. The fairways need a little work, but the greens were spectacular and some of the ocean views were amazing. today was the only nice day that we had while we were here so I took advantage of it went out and played at 8 AM and had the entire course to myself.

All about the sea views. Sea Ranch is already known as an architectural wonder of the west coast, but what I most appreciated about their golf course is the phenomenal coastal views and natural cypress groves. Journeying across 9 holes (I'm not quite skilled enough for the full 18) felt like an adventure to remote coastal oasis. We saw deer, fox, rabbits and even a baby skunk! The winds can pick up in the afternoon, especially during the summer months, so be sure to secure a before-noom tee time! Excited to have such a magical course in my backyard.

Yesterday we played golf with tee time at 9:30am. We checked into the pro shop earlier and was able to go on earlier. There was no one in front of us and no one in back of us for many holes. Then we caught up with a foursome who were pushing. That was a bad idea. The course is spread out west & east of Hwy 1. The course conditions - fast greens. But gravel or dirt cart paths from hole to hole 80% of the time. And not much green fairways. Lots of dirt and barranca as it's a links course. Thank goodness we had a Golf Moose voucher. Reduced green fees. Playing here once was fine. I don't see myself returning.

Went to this place with a group of 7 (split into 3 and 4). Group in front of us was taking a long time so we had our 3 group play into us so the group behind us could tee off, freeing up space for the course and moving things along faster. Marshall came out on his little cart having a full on toddler tantrum screaming and whining at us for "playing as seven." He was swearing at us and hurling insults. It was some of the most inappropriate and unprofessional behavior I've ever seen. I've had more sensible and intelligible interactions with children. We split up and picked up the pace only to wait for 10-15 minutes before we could tee off on each hole so the group ahead of us could finish up, making it clear that the guy's hissy fit was completely pointless. After we finished we brought it up with the guy at the counter in the shop where we got no apology and he basically just condoned the behavior. Super disappointing. I wouldn't recommend golfing here unless you want to be verbally abused for literally no reason. Edit: learned from a local in our group that the guy's name was Jim.

Want to play golf on a Scottish links style course with dramatic ocean views? Skip the uber expensive courses down in Carmel and come up to the Sea Ranch. Dramatic views and abundant wildlife to either distract you and complement your round, depending on how well you play. Is it difficult? The way I play golf every golf course is difficult. But either way you won't be disappointed. Recommds playing early in the day when the wind is not as active as it can get pretty active along this stretch of coast as the day goes on.

Really fun and scenic golf course. Like the rest of Sea Ranch the course blends in perfectly with the vegetation and topography. Maintenance of the course improves every year. The greens are in good shape but a little slow. Speed them up a bit and the Sea Ranch GC will be one of the best on the Northern CA coast!

Fairways are a cow pasture Greens are in pretty good condition Gas powered ancient golf carts will give you a backache Grill has no food to grill No waiting on the course between holes (I wonder why)

What a cliff hanger drive to this beautiful gem of a golf course! It was a rainy day on 12-27-22 but I was able to be the first one off at 8am...constant wet conditions but was able to play amazingly from the white tees ...lots of natures animals like deer, cranes, ducks and other habitats throughout the round. Great staff...was very warm and hospitable to the end. Highly recommend this course and feel privileged to be able to finish 18 in less than three hours on this stormy day......Can't wait to come back next time with the fiancé!

The golf course is so beautiful and a little golf shop has beautiful clothes as well. Most of the golf course has an ocean view. Absolutely stunning.

This is a review about the cafe. We did not golf. We learned that there was going to be a Cuban sandwich pop-up. We enthusiastically went to support the local business. The sandwich was advertised as: "Cuban Pork Sandwich: Pork loin marinated in cuban mojo with a creamy jalapeño cilantro slaw and avo spread on a French roll." Sadly the sandwich was prepared on very stale piece of chewy Dutch crunch bread and was tasteless. Hardly any pork and slaw. All you could taste was the chewy stale hard bread. And the sandwich was expensive. Next time I'll pass on the golf cafe food.

So this review is not to bash Sea Ranch but more of just a warning or heads up for anyone thinking about golfing here in the near future and spending $95 dollars. The people were very nice and we did speak with a very nice guy who said they are working hard to get the course into shape but they are still charging resort type fees and the course is far from being that. There was literally no grass in the fairways, the bunkers were a 3 out of 10 for condition and tee boxes were literally dirt or tall dry grass. Again, for $35 you could say what the heck but for $95 I would advise not to go here until next year at soonest. A buddy and me made the best of it and it was his birthday just feel a bit cheated. Will post pics if I figure out how to do that.

Sea Ranch Golf Links will always hold a special place in my heart as the first place I played nine holes of golf. Was this the best place to learn how to play, yes and no. The positives are it's a hard course so you can't be too hard on yourself because it's hard on everyone. The negatives are its a hard course! The positives are even during peak times it's never too crowded, so you can take your time learning the game and no one is watching you swing. The positives are it's utterly beautiful! The holes back up to many of the architecturally interesting Sea Ranch houses and hole 8 overlooks the ocean. The negatives are roughs are just that, rough. If you come to play here, bring plenty of extra balls. You can find plenty if you look but don't get too attached to yours. I appreciate the layout of the course. Each hole leads into the next which makes walking the front nine really accessible. All and all, this course is exciting, challenging, frustrating, but relaxing all at the same time.

For a first timer like me, who has never walked onto a golf course...hold a golf club, let alone swing one and actually drive a ball... This place is pretty cool and really made me feel comfortable. I visited this golf course with absolutely no expectations seeing that I have never been to one before, but I was worried that they were going to have silly rules, like I can only golf with proper golf shoes or something...This public golf course is far from being the typical private bOoShy facility. The workers here are very nice and even offered me pointers. The driving range section is pretty big. We went during the day when there weren't as many people so it wasn't crowded (between noon-2pm). After hitting a few on the driving range we then found ourselves on the putting green. Again, there weren't many people at this time of day so it felt as if we had the practice area to ourselves. Overall the golf course is very beautiful and has very nice, helpful workers. If you're ever in the Sea Ranch area, I recommend this course! *Awesome views of the Pacific Ocean with a few deers that sometimes roam the course...

Poorly ran facility. Bad management. For the cost of this place weather golfing or the resort side you would expect better.

Well we usually go here when we visit the in-laws and although run down, we always still have a good time. We were just up visiting and when my fiancé went into pay for his round of golf, he was met with a very rude older gentleman, who apparently couldn't figure out how to run our gift card. He threw the card back at my fiancé, and yelled, "do you want to play golf or what".... So he walked out. In addition, he yelled at my fiancé for not making a tee time. Yelled! My fiancé stated we have been here multiple times and have never made a tee time (which obviously wasn't a matter of them being too busy since he was ringing us up anyways). We are just trying to support a local establishment, we would have paid for the round even if the card wasn't functioning as I know it is under new ownership. I hope the new owners know the treatment their customers are getting. This was a very hostile interaction and no way to run a business.

We did not golf here, quite the contrary. We were driving south bound on highway 1 when we broke down with our fifth wheel right at the entrance of the golf course. We were stuck with no help from AAA with our ring (broken hitch). We didn't know what we were gonna do until one of the employees from Sea Ranch came up and offered to see if they had tools that could help us get the hitch off the fifth wheel. Sure enough he had what we needed, but we still were dead with the only option of buying a whole new hitch and waiting for hours for a family member to drive 4 hours to us with a new one. The employee (didn't catch his name) suggested we call a place up the road an hour, got us the number and sure enough they had what we needed. This man from Sea Ranch was our saving grace today. This man was kind, compassionate to our situation and soooo helpful, This is the caliber of people they have working for them. I don't know your name, but you sir were heaven sent. I would love to know your name and send you a little something for helping us in our dire time. Thank you!!!!

Hidden gem along the Sonoma Coast. One of the best designed courses. Amazing views. Fast and true greens. Truly a special place and must play for any avid golfer!

If this course was in great condition it would be a challange. Definitely not a "resort course." Given the lack of watering and lack of maintenance (can't blame it entirely on the drought) this course plays much much harder. I had no less than three decent shots kick off of sloped hardpan into junk and lost. Definitely recommend playing from the white tees your first time out even if you're a single-digit handicap. I am a 15 hdcp and made the mistake of going from the blues and played by myself so no course knowledge other than an iPhone GPS app, which tells nothing about conditions of course. lots of blind teeshots. I shot a 94 with only one three-putt on 18. Greens were in great shape with painted-in white holes like on Tour. Bunkers were packed, wet dirt as far as I could tell. Rest of the course was poor with hardpan and weeds where there should be fairway. I'm not talking about areas they're purposely not watering like the first 100yds or so of a par 4 just past the tee boxes.  We're talking landing areas and 100 in from the green where you'd hit a wedge. The course was nearly empty on a Sunday during summer. So it was very strange for the gentleman in the proshop to tell me I couldn't move my teetime to play a little later in the morning without paying more (I got a discounted web rate). Any other near empty course I've played usually has a "thank you for playing here" attitude and this guy seemed to miss that memo.  If you stay in the Sea Ranch / Gualala area this is the only course. Just beware and pray for rain and perhaps a new irrigation system for the course. Bring lots of extra balls and an attitude to match.

Nice course but fairways are dead grass and dirt. Not worth the high price. Nice views of ocean and nobody on the course.

We booked our tee time two weeks ago directly with the course. Drove two hours to get there. Less than 2 hours prior to our tee time (and just after we had arrived in the area), we got a call saying half the course was closed and the other half had aerated greens. They knew about all this work when we booked. No mention of it on the site. No email to warn us...nothing. Still played but yes, it was miserable. Terrible lack of communication and customer service.

With all its quirks and uneven conditions, this is a course we have loved for 38 years. Why just three stars? The cranky codger in the pro shop is unpleasant, sarcastic and should not be dealing with the public. Both times we played this week he was a pill. Most egregious, he scolded us for not making a tee time. "That's not smart." In actuality, we had called the day before and a more pleasant employee advised us to come early since a large group was going out at 10. He did not suggest making a tee time. Almost laughably, when we asked whether they had hot dogs, Mr. Personality said, "Yes, they're in the refrigerator." I know it's hard to find help, but this guy needs to be axed.

I'm not even going to bother to write a review of this tremendous and beautiful course EXCEPT to assert that when Mark Twain said "Golf is a good walk spoiled", he wasn't talking about The Sea Ranch Golf Links. I'm posting a bunch of photos to prove my point.

I agree with Bob L.'s review relative to the course and staff so much I'll just leave it at that rather than repeat his comments. So why two stars? Please course managers, please read this..... You have a course situated next to the ocean with the purest air available, and you are ruining it with those awful smelly two-stroke oil burning golf carts!! As much as I enjoyed my two rounds there last week, I would not play again (or recommend it) unless you upgrade to electric carts.

Golfing at Sea Ranch is not for the feint of heart. Or is it faint of heart? Oh, well, you get the picture. The course itself has a championship layout and is a so-called "links" design modeled after the style of course commonly found in the British Isles in particular. This is due in large part due to the setting as it was built both along the coastline and up along the land just inland. I have a love-hate relationship with this couse that is 90% love and 10% hate. The course often plays in some extreme conditions. The elements come into play every time, as sometimes it's socked in with heavy marine layer and plays long and heavy and damp, while other times the winds pick up and the yardages then vary widely depending on whether you're playing downwind or upwind. Here are a few tips: * Play early in the morning as the winds do come up later in the day. * RIDE in a cart. I like to be a golf purist and walk, but walking is no bargain, and there are lots of places to lose your ball, so unless you're a top player, do yourself and the folks behind you a favor and ride. * Bring LOTS of balls. As I said, there are many places with tall natural grasses lining the fairway (and plenty of blind shots) so losing balls is part of Sea Ranch. * Expect to shoot at least 6 shots higher than you normally shoot, particularly if you are new to the course. * Don't lose your cool. There are 3 or 4 holes that are pretty hokey (#9 and #18 come to mind) but every hole is unique and different, so just enjoy it. * Look into the 10-play card designed for locals. A round on a weekend is normally like $75 or $90 bucks, but you can buy a 10-play punch card for $450. The cards can also be punched by more than one person at a time, so my buddy who plays there lots has one, and I punch off his card. * Good fish n chips at the 19th hole. Minus 1 star for the hokey holes. This is one of the great unknown coastal golf courses in Northern California, so if you're a golfer, look into renting a place up in Sea Ranch or Gualala and have a blast.

I've seen The Sea Ranch Golf Links advertised on Golfnow and EZLinks. If you've had a chance to read any of my other reviews in The Epic breakdown of NorCal Golf, you know I weight my ratings heavily on bang for the buck. I hate to admit it (I'll explain), but TSRGL is excellent bang for the buck... If you happen to be up on the northern Sonoma County coast or if you've got a day to kill. It's not close - to anything. But that's probably part of the charm. If you hit this place on the shoulder seasons (which probably have the best weather anyway), you'll most likely have the course to yourself. At least that's been my experience today (post Labor Day September). The course itself is probably what I expected. A poor man's Pebble is probably a stretch, but the course does have some great Ocean views. The layout is more challenging than the yardage suggests. You can tell they put a lot of their energy into maintaining the greens and surrounding areas. The fairways and bunkers... Not as much. I haven't played a whole lot of links style golf to benchmark the conditions against, but don't expect crisscrossed now lines or anything. The bunkers were crap... Mostly mud. The greens really were in great shape. I got a Friday afternoon round for $40 and some change. It was definitely worth that. My biggest gripe with the place... I play the first six holes and just had a few really bad bounces... Good shot that just caught the wrong tuft of grass. Seeing as there was nobody else out there, and being the golfing prima Donna that I am, I stopped by the pro shop and politely asked if he had an issue if I started over. Pretty much verbatim, "Actually yeah, I do have an issue with that". Looking back on it, he was probably in the right - even though the parking lot was empty, I was probably the only one on the course, I had only played 6 holes, I had driven 3 hours to get there, etc. It would've been a cool gesture, but instead he came off as a dick and immediately ruined my attitude about the place. I 100% realize that I probably sound like a little bitch right now, but whatever... It's my review dammit :). The course was fun. The views on the front nine were great. The little paths and bridges between the holes on the back nine were cool. The guy in the pro shop rubbed me the wrong way, but I probably didn't get enough sleep last night. It was worth the $40 round.

You can't go wrong playing a golf course next to the rugged and beautiful North Coast. And Sea Ranch Golf is a great venue with amazing greens and great views. I have problems with the design. I played it my first time on Saturday and shot high 90s and lost about 6 balls. Normally, I'm a 13-handicap. On a few holes you can view little wood block directionals but they have to be more visible. The problem is no course markings and no layout, no barber pole, nothing directional to help where you are going. Example is like the 4th or 5th hole, a par 5 that goes over a marsh, twice. You just assume that if you hit it too a certain spot you should be in good shape. Uh, wrong You drop then hit over another narrow strip that you can't see. Hello, ocho! The Sea Ranch has this faux environmental thing, which is odd considering the course has gas carts. Maybe they feel course markers would "blemish" the view. Maybe they just want you to pay to play more so you will figure it out...which I will. This course is not made for the novice. A great hole is the par 3 8th right on the ocean, spectacular. There is not much grip and rip. The wind picks up a lot in the early afternoon. The cart paths are dirt so you can't really use them as visual guidelines. You get on the back nine and it's more scrub and little creeks that you can't see until you are in the crud. A lot of hitting out of chutes over tall, thick native grasses. Line drives will be swallowed off the tee. The greens are amazing, soft surface but true role with pretty good break. Deer everywhere. Great practice range with a short game area and small buckets for $5. I paid $40 for a cart and a round on a Saturday through golf now. The tee boxes need a lot of work though, uneven. I think you have to play the place three or four times to figure it out.

I agree with Brad P. in the previous review. This is a championship course. A challenging course. A course for masochists. Somewhere, Robert Muir Graves, the designer of this course, is laughing hysterically. I cannot believe that people can come out here and par some of these holes. It is insane. Those winds constantly blowing, the "rough" that can be 4 feet tall, and hazards in the form of gorse that's 100 feet deep and 85 feet wide? I LOVED it. The 8th hole is a par 3 that takes you to the edge of the ocean. Maybe it is memorable because it was the only one I parred? The men's tee on the 13th hole requires a minimum 150 yard shot to sail over the deep wetland gorge. Into the wind, I decided to try and be a hot dog and drop a few between the white markers. I was promptly rewarded with 2 lost balls, to add to my 4 other ones, sucked into the hungry thick shrubbery all over this course. Nice. I stuck to the ladies tees after that, and while I was on those I was wishing for junior tees. After we completed our round we went back into the pro shop, and I sarcastically remarked to the man that there was a little bit of wind out there. He said, "Well, it is our wind season." I said, "You have a wind SEASON?" "Yes, it starts in March and ends in July, so we are right in the middle of it." So THAT explains why I shot 112. A most enjoyable experience.

First of, folks go to golfnow.com before you head up here and get yourself a discount tee time. I got a 1:20 tee time for $16 with a cart !!?!! Are you kidding me, that's less than what I usually lose in golf balls or spend on beer at a course. I hooked up with a father and son who made 2 hour drive from Santa Rosa for the same $16 deal. The course does take some local knowledge, lots of blind shots, holes where the fairways run out of room etc. but i had a GPS, and the course was so empty that we would drive up ahead and scout out the holes if we couldn't tell what was going on. There was no one in front of us for at least 5 or 6 holes and no one behind us for about the same.. I guess that's why they have discount tee times. I ended up really liking the course and the experience of having it all to ourselves, not like 6 hour marathon at any bay area muni. PS. Pick the right tees the back tee's are brutal, at least they would have been i still got knocked around from blue tees. PPS, not much amenities in clubhouse, just hot dogs, beer, sodas and chips. but really that's all you need. Go north to Bones Roadhouse afterward, about 5 minute drive or less from golf course.

The course at Sea Ranch is a one hour and 40 minute drive from my house and is well worth it. The staff in the pro shop is very friendly and helpful The course is great, links style, in good shape, challenging, views of the ocean that can't be beat. This is the place to go. Unspoiled, easy pace of play...doesn't matter your handicap, there are tees for all skill levels. Deer all over the place too :) Played a couple days ago and am looking forward to going back They have some specials running too...online and in the Press Democrat. Thumbs Up!!

Really love this course in that it can be challenging, but also a great course for those new to the game. It would be great if they could make a few improvements (eg flatten tee boxes, replace the old gas golf carts) but the natural peaceful beauty of this place, especially the front nine is impressive. Holidays and weekends are expensive, but twilight and super twilight rates are great. Range is also matt free (most often) and nice. If you are in the area go play! If you are new to the game, go up for a weekend and play several rounds. Nice, very peaceful, beautiful area, low pressure,appropriately challenging, course to play.

I'm an 11 Handicap Let's start with the drive up. If you get car sick, sit in the front seat! The course itself is in muni shape. The tee boxes are rough , the fairways are ok, the greens are nice but very slow. Bring a GPS or get the yardage book from the proshop!!! The staff was awesome and gave us 2 books free! The course: If you spray the ball, stay away! The fairways are fairly generous, but if you hook or slice you will lose your ball. There are MANY blind shots, check your yardages! The greens were very very slow, it looks like they had been sanded recently. Played on a Sunday and the pace of play was awesome. Fun course, very tough if you're a hacker, interesting layout, the front 9 is MUCH easier then the back! The staff was very friendly. I would play it again.

I heard a lot of great things for this golf course, but alas, I didn't plan on going to a golf course for my short vacation over Labor day. Rumor has it that it's one of the most challenging course in the west coast and at one point it was in the top five of the country. They've expanded from nine holes to eighteen over the years and every hole requires your skills of handling elevation and getting around hazards. With that all said, I did go to see it and at least try out their range. I didn't have anything with me. I went up to the counter and asked if i could rent some clubs to try out their driving range. The gentleman in the club store just went and asked me what did I want to shoot with and said he'd lend me the clubs. That was so nice of him. He went to the back and brought back a 5, 7, 9, and 3. The 3-iron was a lefty's, but who's complaining? I paid for a bucket of balls for 5 bucks, which were around 50 balls and shot at their range by the sea. You're actually on grass, so you might be scraping up some divids if you're not careful - this is not astro turf. I didn't have time to try out the course, but they seemed to have a 18 hole deal for $50 bucks. I'd like to go back if I had more time.

The course is well worth playing, the yardage markers are non-existent so the play book handed to us as we checked in was extremely useful, with out it we would have been lost The course is totally different from each tee box this coarse plays to the blue tees much better than from white tees unless your iron game is strong. The only thing we missed was being told there was no problem with the coarse when we made our tee time. We traveled up from the Bay Area approx 130 miles only to find out the front nine was closed and we could only play the back nine twice, that was a real bummer. I feel we should have been told this up front, there was no offer to discount golf or even buy us a cup of coffee for the inconvenience of not being able to play the ocean side of the golf course. Be prepared for a long curvy drive on hwy 1 with NO cell service to speak of.

Called to set a tee and prior to setting up asked if all greens wipers open and not sanded or plugged. Was told all was fine and then set up a tee time. Drove up from San Fran and when arrived we were told that the front 9 were closed and we would have to play the back 9 twice. Very, Very disappointed to travel all that way and not to be able the front 9. If we were told this in advance , we would of waited until the whole course was open . I wouldn't be upset if we made a tee time without asking, but we asked and were given false info . A long way to go to be disappointed on April 30 Mike San Bruno

Forget driving to Bandon or flying to Scotland! Less than three hours from San Francisco we have Sea Ranch Golf Links, which provides all the unspoiled beauty and challenges a true golfer could hope for in a course. When calm, it is a lamb, but when the wind is up...it is a lion.

This is as good as it gets. Why you say?? Mainly the new managment that is run by SCOTT RENO!!! My husband traveled over 18K miles from Oklahoma to Sea Ranch Golf Links just to get a lesson in by their HEAD PRO SCOTT RENO who is from Oklahoma. He was the only coach my husband related to when it comes to improving his game. Not only did they (Scott and Ginger-wife) make us feel at home, his love for teaching really shows. It certainly made a huge difference in improving my husbands game. I'd just started golfing and after my 1 hour with Scott Reno, I am hooked! He is very much worth the drive over the Sea Ranch Golf Links and the the scenic view is the most beautiful place even better the Hawaii. Remember, if you want the best golf coach and a golf course with beautiful scenic view, this is the place to go. We follow him anywhere just to get lessons in with him. We will be visiting for some additonal lessons soon!!!

Definitely a fan of Sea Ranch Golf Links. It's not really a links-style course (if you've ever been to Scotland and seen a real links course, then you'll know this isn't one). However, it is a very fun course that plays pretty tough depending on the weather. The course wraps around the ocean and there are a couple of holes that are truly amazing (the par 3 8th hole has a magnificent view of the Pacific). In general, the fairways are very tight, so you must watch your tee shot. Many fairways have OB or trees very close by so you can shoot a high score very easily. Many holes switch between requiring a draw or a fade for the tee shot, so that makes things a little more difficult. The putting greens, when I played, were in great condition -- surprisingly so. There were very few ball marks and the greens rolled incredibly true. It was like putting on a swanky private club's greens. It was super odd to me, because the fairways and tee boxes weren't in nearly as immaculate of condition. At least they put maintenance into the most important aspect of the course, though. If you go in the morning, like I did, this course can be absolutely sublime. I saw wildlife roaming everywhere -- there was a family of deer crossing the driving range and birds of all types chirping about. Also, there isn't heavy traffic during weekday mornings, so you might have the whole course to yourself!

Played on 10-24-17. I have played this course a few times before and I like the Robert Muir Graves design. Very old school. The course is a true links style course. Do not expect lush fairways. If the wind blows it can be very challenging. There is a big difference between the white and blue tee boxes. 6,233 years vs 5,355. If you are about a 18 handicapper I suggest playing a combo of the blue and white tees. Single digit golfers should play the blues and if you are an over 18 handicap I suggest the white tees. Check Golf Now for deals, otherwise it is a bit on the expensive side. When you make a reservation check and see if the greens have been plugged. These greens head slowly so I would wait 3 weeks after they are plugged. I played 2 weeks after they said the greens were plugged and the greens were horrible.

I have played here a handful of times and I really enjoy it. You want to book your tee time as early as you can, it makes a huge difference in regards to the weather. I am glad to see that I am not the only one that brings a lot of extra balls. This course can definitley eat you up, but when you make a great shot it feels all the better! Plus, the staff is great!

We golfed this course last week and it was a very over rated, unfriendly experence. First - Never golfed here before and I think it was Rick that was there and he was arrogant and almost rude. Ed who made our tee times and was there when we golfed the following day was great! Second - They use the term "Links" loosely. This is far from what one would expect on the coast for a "Links" course. Only one hole is close to the ocean. Lots of trees and narrow fairways. Third - Overpriced for what it is. We golfed in Monterry the following day for half the cost on a course that was pristine! Finally - When we finished our round we asked about the Lodge. Was it open, how was the food, was there a bar... we were ready to spend some money and enjoy. Unfortunately, Rick was clueless and again was rude. He didn't know there was a Lodge. Didn't make any effort to check and could have cared less about us and adding to the Sea Ranch experence. For your money, KEEP DRIVING! There are less expensive, friendly courses all up and down the coast to enjoy. Have fun....

I play this course 1 - 2 times a year and have so for about 30 years. The rates have gone up but was worth it for a links style course. However I played the course in early July 2018 and found it to be in terrible condition. The fairways were as hard as concrete and the greens not much better with large brown spots all over. Finally a local golfer came over to me and explained that the irrigation pump had gone out about 3 weeks ago due to it sucking in a large stump/bowl. The weather had been unseasonably warm and dry and resulted in the conditions with no irrigation. While accidents can happen I was not warned of this before hand and charged the normal rates. If I had known the situation I probably would not have played. I consider this a very bad attitude by the owner of the course and not the course staff as they are just following orders. In my opinion I should have been given a discount and told of the playing conditions. But I guess the owner disagree's and does not really care about his customers etc.

The course is challenging, especially on a windy day. They seem to maintain the greens, but this is a true links course. The Asian dude that works in the pro shop is a real dush bag. The rest of the staff was outstanding. I would recommend this course if you are up in the area.

I arrived in town Thursday evening and was able to book an early morning tee time for Friday. I enjoyed playing the course especially since the weather was perfect! I met the resident Pro and found the Yardage Book & Pro Tips to be very helpful with shot placement and navigating the course. The staff was enthusiastic, engaging and friendly. I would definitely golf here again and recommend it to others who plan to visit the area.

Five stars may be a bit generous, but consider the context. I am basically in the middle of nowhere. I haven't had ATT phone service since I left Bodega Bay. So being lucky enough to play golf on a beautiful course where you could see the ocean and hear the surf made my day. The greens were really soft and slow. The tee boxes were public course but, hey, the course is public. I wish had known about the coupons because I paid $40 plus cart for twilight.

The Sea Ranch golf links is a genuine throwback to the romance of golf in the "old days." This course is loaded with deception and requires actually thinking on about every shot (imagine that!). There's little room here for "grip and rip" unless you can live easily with humiation as well as a lost ball. Distances and carrys must take the wind into consideration on many shots and the proliferation of natural hazards comes into play on a majority of holes. No need to load this course with sand bunkers...Mother Nature already does a great job of punishing shots that aren't dead on target. This course is a gem! I'm looking to my next visit so I can play again.

Great course, wonderful venue. I felt the need to write this review after reading some others that had given negative impressions of the place. Course has a mix of somewhat easy holes and some very challenging. First day played was calm, next day windy from the south. Played like two different courses, however, both days were a blast. Rewards those who don't try and over swing like pros they aren't. If you expect Pebble Beach you may be disappointed. If you enjoy a fun yet demanding course at a fair price and friendly staff and players, you'll love the place. Now, if they could only straighten out the roads to get there, I would ply there as often as I could. Don't miss out, put this course on your bucket list.