Rancho Carribe Golf Course Review

Texas Outside Rating: 6.1

Golf - Public Course · 9 Holes · Par 36
Crystal Beach
Website · Locate This Course

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Rancho Carribe Golf Course Review

Review of Rancho Carribe Golf Course in Crystal Beach

Rancho Carribe is the only golf course on Bolivar Peninsula and as such it might be worth your time if you're tired of sitting on the beach.  Its a nine hole course with two sets of tee boxes and a forward set of tees for juniors or seniors.  The course is flat, the holes are straight ahead, and the conditions aren't the best - but we had a good time playing nine holes with grandkids and the fees are low. 

The course, also known as The Ranch at Crystal Beach, has two par 3s, 2 par 5s, and 5 par 4s.  The fairways are a mixture of grass, clover, and dirt but wide and forgiving off the tee box - miss one and you're most likely in a parallel fairway.  What makes this course very challenging (in addition to finding your way to the next hole) is there are lots of carries over wetlands - miss it and you're lost.  And in some cases, you'll have two carries - one off the tee box and one on the approach to the green.  Plus when the fog rolls you won't be able to see the pin or where your ball lands.

The greens are small and mostly oval and most have some back to front slope.  When we played they were slow and bumpy. 

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Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope
White 2,528
Red 2,375

Course Information

Greens Condition
5.0
Greens Difficulty
6.0
Fairway Condition
5.0
GPS:
No
Walkable:
Easy
Beware of water on 5 holes and the sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:
6.1 out of 10
Beauty:
6.0
Difficulty:
8.0
Variety:
6.0
Fun to Play:
6.0
Value:
6.0
Condition:
5.0
Front Nine Rating:
6.1
Back Nine Rating:
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FEES & AMENITIES

Approximate Weekend
Rates: $9.00 to $18.00

There is no phone number, no website, and you need to get lucky to find someone in the garage (pro shop) who can help you. There are carts but no golf gear or equipment or driving range. Most of the time green fees are paid on the honor system.

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Here's How Texas Outside Determines the Scorecard Rating

The Texas Outside rating scale ranges from 1 to 10 – a perfect 10 course would be something like this:  links along a cliff overlooking the Pacific ocean and bordered by tall trees; lush fairways on rolling hills with lots of natural hazards; water (which is crystal clear) on most of the holes; immaculate greens (but they are undulating and tough); lots of variety and character (each hole is completely different and includes blind shots, elevation changes, doglegs, and significant challenges); perfectly manicured traps with the whitest and prettiest sand you’ve ever seen; a nice club house with great food and a 19th hole; a GPS; plenty of beverage carts or your own cooler and ice; and it only costs $40 bucks! What this means is that you probably won’t find any 10s in Texas – try Cabo San Lucas, Pebble Beach, or some of the Hawaii courses! 
Texas Outside rates courses on the following:

  • Beauty – tall trees, rolling hills, beautiful houses, waterfalls, and similar stuff would score high; a 1 would be flat, bushes or cactus instead of trees, and some grass but mostly weeds
  • Difficulty – a straight, 300 yard par 4 with no traps or hazards, no out of bounds or water would probably get a 1; if it is a 460 yard par 4 over two ravines, with water along one side, natural hazards on the other, strategically placed traps or that dreaded tree right in the middle of the fairway, we are talking a 10. 
  • Variety – what would you give a course where all the holes looked and played exactly the same (“I thought we just played that hole!”); were side-by-side, which is good for finding or dodging other people’s balls, but not much fun; and you can see the flag from every tee box?  That’s right, it gets a 1.
  • Fun Scale – a 10 is where you walk off the course and say “now that was fun” and you can’t wait to get back, or you immediately turn around and play another 18 holes
  • Value – a 5 is $50 to $60, a 10 is $20 to $30, and 1 is $200 or so – of course all of this is dependent upon how you liked the course.  For example, if a run down, boring municipal course, with six players on each hole was only $10; it would still get a value rating of 1.
  • Condition – this one’s pretty easy – what condition are the fairways. A 10 commands very lush perfectly manicured fairways, compared to a 1, which has fire ants, weeds, and more dirt than grass!
  • Condition of Greens and Difficulty – very hard to read greens with lots of undulation and tough pin placement, rate very high on the difficulty scale.  Condition is self-explanatory.  

All of the above determines the overall score for the golf course.  In other words, we like courses that are pretty, fun, very challenging with a lot of variety, and fairways and greens in excellent condition – all for $40.  We also tend to play the courses that are affordable for the masses, which means in the $30 to $80 range. We rate hard and we haven’t found a 10 in Texas yet – don’t worry we haven’t given up and we’re still looking.