Stevinson Ranch Golf Course, CLOSED 2015

Stevinson Ranch, is a Public, 18 hole golf course located in Stevinson, California.

The Stevinson Ranch golf course first opened for play in September 1995. The course was designed by John Harbottle III and George H. Kelley. The course is a throwback to the early days of golf architecture in America, importing the character and traditions of the great Scottish Links courses.

Stevinson Ranch was site of the 1996 and 1997 U. S. Open Qualifying. The readers of Golf Digest awarded it 4 1/2 Stars out of a possible five for the overall golf experience. Only Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill of Pebble Beach rated higher in California.

Many acres of existing wetlands have been preserved and utilized as natural hazards, blending the natural terrain and native grasses with a links touch. There are various ways to play each hole in adherence to the risk-reward theory of design. Sand, water, hollows and native grasses securely guard each green. Stevinson Ranch is a par-72 layout that plays to 7,205 yards from the back tees for a course rating of 74.3 and a slope rating of 140.

A state-of-the-art practice area is offered on site.

Stevinson Ranch, once ranked the No. 5 public layout in the U.S. by readers of Golf World magazine closed Saturday, 18 July, 2015. 

Stevinson Ranch’s closure ended a 20-year run as a popular destination golf course. A canal traverses the course and historically provides water for the course and adjacent landowners. For the first time in 125 years there’s no water flowing through the canal.

Stevinson Ranch owner George Kelley used rye-grass when he opened Stevinson Ranch in 1995. That’s a decision he came to regret, because rye-grass requires 40 to 50 percent more water than hybrid Bermuda. “It was a combination of economics and lack of water, basically,” Kelley said of the decision to close. “In retrospect, if I knew then what I know now, I would have planted hybrid Bermuda.”