Wood Ranch Golf Club

Course History

Wood Ranch Golf Club opened in 1985 in the hills on the south side of Simi Valley, with Ted Robinson — the prolific Southern California architect known for his lavish water features — laying out an 18-hole championship course through the folds of the Santa Susana foothills near what is now the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

The young club quickly landed on the professional golf map: it hosted the Senior PGA Tour's GTE West Classic in its first two editions, with Bob Charles winning the inaugural 1987 tournament and Harold Henning taking the 1988 title before the event moved up the coast to the Ojai Valley Inn. The club has also hosted the Los Angeles Women's Championship. Today Wood Ranch remains Simi Valley's only private golf club, operated within the American Golf family with dual-membership ties to nearby Sunset Hills Country Club.

The Design & Architecture

The club describes Robinson's design as blending "the traditions of Scottish golf with the rugged beauty of Southern California," and his trademark water is everywhere — 14 lakes, ponds, and streams thread through the routing, joined by deep bunkers, rolling fairways, and stands of mature trees. The result is a course that looks lush and parkland-like from the clubhouse but plays firm, exposed, and windswept through its hillside stretches.

Signature Holes

The signature hole is the par-3 13th, 196 yards from the back tees and guarded by water on all sides, plus a deep bunker over the green — a putting surface that tilts hard from back to front. The round opens with a stern test as well: the 1st is a 437-yard par 4 whose landing area is pinched by bunkers. Relief finally arrives at the last, where the 521-yard par-5 18th plays as the easiest hole on the course and offers a genuine birdie chance to close the day.

Playing the Course

At 6,972 yards with a 74.6 rating and 142 slope from the tips, Wood Ranch is one of the sternest examinations in Ventura County — water in play throughout, well-defended greens, and afternoon wind that can turn mid-irons into hybrids. Multiple tee sets scale the course down to about 5,400 yards, so mid- and high-handicappers can pick a sensible fight, but keeping the ball below the hole on Robinson's tilted greens matters from every marker.

Know Before You Go

• Private club at 301 N Wood Ranch Pkwy, Simi Valley, CA 93065; call (805) 527-9663 for tee times and details.

• More info and booking at https://woodranchgc.com.

• Practice facilities include an on-site driving range with six practice tees.

• Tip: on the all-water par-3 13th, take enough club and aim for the middle of the green — anything above the hole leaves a slick downhill putt.