Gozzer Ranch Golf and Lake Club

15 at Gozzer Ranch

I’m lucky to play more than my fair share of special golf courses, and Gozzer Ranch now sits firmly on that list. The pictures tell much of the story, but a few architectural notes are worth adding:

It’s easy to see beauty in a course, harder to see its substance. One example of substance at Gozzer is in the number of greens that slope away from the line of approach—3, 5, 8, 11, and 15, at least. They're appropriate and challenging uses of mountainous terrain to vary the thought processes and shots required from hole to hole.

Hole 3 is not only stunning but also a serious test. The front-left part of the green is a big false edge, and anything beyond the hole location in this picture falls away from the tee. Throw in the elevation change and it's really tough to get it right!

Here's the side view from the right.

The holes on the least dramatic land—2 and 5—come in the early going. They’re still very good holes, but they don’t “rollick” like most of the course. That feels like a deliberate and reasonable choice to use that land mostly towards the beginning.

Hard to believe this is the "less interesting" land I'm referring to, but it's basically flat, and the wetlands around the green aren't anything exciting.

Gozzer has two drivable par fours, both unusual in their own ways. The 4th is a small-scale hole (270 from the tips) on an otherwise giant-scale course, with a small green tucked between rocks and a hillside. It feels almost separate from the rest of the course for that reason.

A clever place to put a green; it's just a different kind of green complex than most of the rest.

Makes for a pretty great setting, though!

​The 12th, by contrast, is as large-scale a drivable par four as you’ll find and feels like the rest of the course.

12 gives you several options, a ton of room, and a big green with lots of movement. I'm still not clear on the best play here!

Like other mountain courses, Gozzer seems to have generally softer turf. Lies were immaculate, but certain holes—like the long par-four 5th, where shots would stick into the upslope five yards short of the fallaway green—might not play exactly as intended. Between the mountainous terrain and several fallaway greens, I think Gozzer would be an exceptionally fun course to play in firm conditions.

Here's 5, with the little upslope in front of the green.

And 11, where you'd love to play a low bouncer from the right, but it just doesn't quite work that way.

Gozzer has several holes that are as good as it gets, great golf holes that are totally gorgeous. I would include in this list 3, 8, 11, 12, 15, and 18. And several other holes are close including 6, 7, 10, 13, and 17. And the "other" seven holes aren’t bad either! 

8 is just an all-around great golf hole, a 597-yard par 5. The stunning teeshot plays way downhill...

Then, if you've hit a good tee shot, you can try to play over that little left bunker (appears just left of the green in this pic, but actually about 50 yards short), from where the ball should release right towards the green.

18 is a long par 4 with a dramatic clifftop tee shot and then, well, this!

One of my biases is loving anything that makes way-back tees feel special or different—a bridge that goes only to a back tee box, a different cart or walking path than the other tees, stuff like that—and the first hole at Gozzer has maybe my favorite. The regular scorecard includes only the regular tees (numbered I-IV). The tips are called the Bull tees; they’re on their own scorecard; and the only place you can get that card is from this mailbox next the back tee on #1. 

For back-tee-players only!

A final thought is that I think playing Royal Dornoch and Gozzer Ranch in the same summer has mostly rid me of my urge to rank courses. As great golf courses go, Dornoch and Gozzer have essentially nothing in common. I have no idea which one is better, and ultimately I don't really care because it's hard to imagine a scenario where I'd have to choose between them anyway! If I'm on the first tee of either one, it's going to be a peak experience and an unforgettable day.