An hour Northwest of Los Angeles is the small town of Fillmore that is home to Elkins Ranch. ER is a rarity in SoCal in that they control their own water supply so conditions are often green where other courses are putting on their brown coats. Having played Mountain View a few months ago, I was eager to try out ER which is right down the road.
ER is set up like your typical parkland course with holes running parallel to each other. The trees, while sparse, are set up to capture stray shots for the most part. What this course lacks in routing prowess, it more than makes up for in elevation changes.
You have holes with elevated greens and holes with crazy elevated tee boxes. While the course is under 6,500 yards and rather boxed in to its surroundings, its amazing to me how many changes to the elevation occur in such a confined space.
Because ER controls its own water, they have some pretty sweet water features including this brute of a hole, the par 4 ninth hole.
The number 1 handicap hole, you have a sliver of fairway to the right as you make your way around the pond. I missed my par putt by inches but it made want to play this hole over and over again. Water is a double edged sword as the course might be a bit overwatered but the water features are pretty sweet.
The course does have some oddities. The few traps that exist on the course are oddly removed from the greens, which is a design feature I have never encountered before. There is at least a good two feet of rough between the trap and green below.
Also, the course is EXTREMELY compressed in certain areas. Right here there are three greens that are within a bump and run from each other.
I am not sure what the solution is to this compressed conundrum, especially since it leads to a lot of fences around the course but if the course ever undergoes a redesign and get rid of this pancaking the course could be really something.
For more info on Elkins Ranch, check out the link! http://www.elkinsranchgc.com/
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