Ridgeview Ranch Golf Club Review

Texas Outside Rating: 8.0

Golf - Public Course · 18 Holes · Par 72
Plano
Website · Locate This Course
Online Specials

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Ridgeview Ranch Golf Club Review

Golf Digest rated Ridgeview Ranch a "Best Place To Play 2006/2007" and we would agree that Ridgeview is a very nice 18 holes. Nestled among the gentle hills of Plano, the course takes advantage of the natural lay of the land offering rolling fairways, waste areas, and plenty of berms. A creek has cut deeply into the terrain as it meanders through the course - enhancing the scenery and presenting challenges with limestone outcropping, waste hazards, and water. This Arnold Palmer managed course was designed in 1996 by Jeffrey D. Brauer (he also designed Cowboys) and it has been described as "the Dallas course with the Texas Hill Country feel" - that may be somewhat of an exaggeration, but it is a very pretty course with the hills, creek, views, homes, and tree-lined fairways.

The fairways were in very good condition and well manicured. The greens are fast and large (average 35 yards deep and 25 yards wide), have lots of slope and undulation, and can be very tough based on pin placement. Be careful on the 15th green - one of the toughest greens with a valley running through one side of the green.

The course has lots of bunkers, some narrow approaches, and a few doglegs to add variety and challenge. The slope and rating are high but if you use some good course management, you can score well. Ridgeview Ranch also has some of the prettiest and best par 3's in the state. This is a great course and you'll enjoy it.

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Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope
Blue 6,529 71.8 125
White 6,135 70.0 120
Gold 7,025 74.1 130
Red 5,335 70.4 117

Course Information

Greens Condition
8.0
Greens Difficulty
8.5
GPS:
No
Walkable:
Hard
Beware of water on 9 holes and the 78 sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:
8.0 out of 10
Beauty:
8.0
Difficulty:
7.0
Variety:
7.5
Fun to Play:
7.5
Value:
8.5
Condition:
8.5
Front Nine Rating:
8.5
Back Nine Rating:
7.5
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FEES & AMENITIES

Approximate Weekend
Rates: $29.00 to $59.00

 

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.