Rancho del Pueblo
by Tom Huckaby
Rancho del Pueblo GC is a 9-hole, par 28 golf course lying in the heart of the urban blight of San Jose, CA. It sits hard against one of the world’s busiest highways, US 101, on the site of the former ‘Thunderbird GC’, which was an 18-hole executive course, razed for housing in 1998. A portion of the land was left for golf and renovated into what we have today, a tiny gem kept in excellent condition with a range, putting green, small pro shop and restaurant.
RDP is not going to ever appear on any lists, nor does it set any architectural trends. Nevertheless, I am proud of the course and unashamed to call it my home, though I have indeed played many of the world’s traditional great courses. It is a public facility in an urban area, a cart need not ever tread on its turf, it provides a wonderful setting for youngsters and beginners to achieve a love for the game, and it gives a decent challenge and more importantly, a site for a quick, fun golf outing for more experienced players. As cities expand and land gets more and more dear, I see courses like RDP serving an increasingly vital purpose, keeping the game available and alive for many without the means to play the ever-present, overpriced ‘country clubs for a day’, nor the access to private facilities, nor the available time for full-scale 18 hole rounds.
The course goes as follows:
No. 1 “ 100 yards, par3, straightforward with a large, fairly flat bunkerless green. Typically played into the wind, making a back pin somewhat harder to find than you might think. Slight ’shoulders’ deflect wayward shots off the green, but chipping over these is not too difficult. All in all a fine site for what might be for many their first shot ever on a golf course, and more of a challenge than it looks for the experienced.
No. 2 “ 85 yards, par 3, with a reed-filled lake on the right and a smaller, wickedly undulating green. Typically played with left-to-right wind, making for all sorts of shot possibilities. Given the very interesting green, this hole dishes out more 4’s than 2’s, and is joy to play any time.
No. 3 “ 165 yards, par 3. Bunkers left and right are slightly short of the green’s edge, causing a MacKenzian optical illusion re the site of the flagstick. Another severely undulating green makes putting quite interesting, and the bunkers are no easy task to get out of. Plays quite longer than the listed yardage, due to the consistent crosswind left to right and the optical illusion which even though known still traps me all too often.
No. 4 “ 330 yards par 4, the ‘brute’ of RDP. OB left (houses), lake right, somewhat wide fairway encourages one to swing away, but the hazards are found more often than one would like. Large, fairly flat, bunkerless green encourages run-up approach. I have reached the green with a drive downwind, and I’ve played it 5-iron, 7iron as well as with many other combinations just to see what would happen. All in all, just a fine hole for experimentation, as well as an ego-builder for beginners, as many are likely to achieve their first ever par or birdie on this hole. That being said, I have made plenty of 5’s myself.
No. 5 “ 110 yards, par 4, water short and right, large bunker short, ob left and long (but difficult to find given high fence deflects balls from reaching the bordering highway). Winds swirl in the hollows created by the fence and surrounding buildings, making the green a difficult target. More interesting undulations make putting no simple thing either. A fun hole by any account.
No. 6 “ 200 yards, par 3, water right, fence left, almost always played into the wind or in a hurting cross-wind. This is just one tough hole to conquer. Bunkerless green again has small shoulders deflecting off the wild, but a straight run-up will find the green. A par on this hole is well-earned indeed.
No. 7 “ 145 yards, par 3. Bunkers left and right allow for a run-up, but another wicked green with a very defined spine allows for all sorts of strange putts and chips. Take care to drink in the ‘atmosphere’ from the neighboring houses, which nearly always feature some sort of party or contest going on or music blaring. Ahhh, urban golf at it’s finest.
No. 8 “ 170 yards, par 3, water right, another undulating green, one severe bunker to the left, chipping area right. Another tough target to hit given the ever-present right to left crosswind. Green canted to the left allows for a drawn shot to be rewarded nicely.
No. 9 “ 130 yards, par 3, back to the pro shop. The sole tree on the course guards the left side, making a left pin into somewhat of a dogleg hole, with the tree small enough so that a wells-struck shot can fly it, but causing many to overshoot the green. Bunker right punishes the timid. All in all a fine finishing hole in perfect harmony with the rest of the course.
No, this is not a championship course. No, it will never make any lists. But it is damn fun and serves its purpose perfectly. I’ve played it with as few as two clubs, as many as fourteen, in as short as 30 minutes, as long as two hours. I’ve scored as low as “5, as high as god knows what. I’ve played matches here that would make Jones and Sarazen proud. I typically pay around $10, depending on when I play.
It’s a great place, useful, not bad to call home, for us urban-dwellers of lesser means with kids and an anti-golf wife, anyway. I look forward to many rounds there with my own kids, ages 6 and 3 as I write this. My six year old daughter’s first round will occur this summer, and yep, it will be at RDP. I think she’ll have fun. Maybe even more than I will.
The End