One of my good golf friends lives in the Fresno area and is a member here at Ridge Creek Dinuba Golf Club. I’ve played Ridge Creek probably a half dozen times over the years and always enjoyed my round here! My friend set us up with a tee time and I stopped to meet up on my drive to the Bay Area.

Ridge Creek is in Dinuba, which is about 15 to 20 minutes south of Fresno and super convenient to Highway 99. Along with Eagle Springs Golf & Country Club and Dragonfly Golf Club, Ridge Creek is one of the top public courses in the Fresno area (and potentially the entire Central Valley south of Sacramento).

At first glance you might not think Ridge Creek is anything special since it occupies an old orchard and is virtually flat. However, a few things put the course at the top of my personal Fresno list. First, the course is designed by one of my favorite designers and is a lot of fun to play. Second, it has vibes of a links course and there are different ways to play it.

John Fought designed Ridge Creek and as I’ve commented before on my page, I very much enjoy playing his golf courses. They always play fair yet still require good shots to score. And, Ridge Creek is no exception.

For this round we played the blue tees which are 70.0/118/6493, although the course can play up to 7,482 yards if you want! If I have one gripe about Ridge Creek it is that the rating and slope seem too low from all the tees. From the longer tees lengthy holes and the nasty fescue off the fairways will be the main difficulties.

As mentioned, the course has a links look to it and many times plays like a links course. There aren’t any trees in play and depending on the time of year you can play many shots along the ground. The course played firm and fast for this round.

While many holes look similar given the land, the 4th and the 16th are my favorite holes at Ridge Creek. The 4th is a short par-4 that can be driven (depending on the wind) but it has small green. The 16th is a short par-3 with a hazard to the right and a deep bunker to the left. It should be an easy par, with “should” being the key word.

Conditions are normally solid and were this time around. The course was greening up and offered many tight lies – bermuda grass except for the greens I believe. The fairways were full and the greens were pure and slippery. The bunkers were a disappointment as they need more sand.

Ridge Creek can be a bit pricey (~$75), however I’d highly recommend a round here. For those who like to walk it is an easy walk, which can knock a few dollars off the green fee.

Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):