Empire Ranch Golf Course is located in East Carson City, just off Highway 50. I had not played this course before, and was looking to the challenge of playing all 27 holes this course offers. I was expecting a typical city course with open fairways and large greens. My goal for the day was to keep the ball in the fairways and enjoy all three courses. For the average golfer to enjoy their round, the suggested tees are either the white or blue tees. On this day, we played the Sierra (Blue) Course first, followed by the River (White) Course, and finished with the Comstock (Red) Course.

The first hole on the Sierra Course is a 478 yard par 5, dogleg left. The fairway is open, with a couple of bunkers guarding the left side of the fairway. On this hole, take out your driver and hit to the right of the bunkers towards the middle/left portion of the fairway. This will set up a second shot that is a risk/reward shot if you go for the green. The green is slightly elevated and guarded by bunkers, making for a difficult second shot. The safe shot is to lay up to the right side of the fairway, avoiding the bunkers on the left, leaving an open approach shot into a large green. Keep your approach shot below the hole, as the green slopes from back to front.

Hole 7 on the Sierra Course is a 404 yard par 4, and is the number one handicap on the Sierra Course. The fairway is open, with plenty of room to the right. Hit your tee shot towards the middle/right side of the fairway. The second shot is into a slightly elevated green, guarded by a bunker on the left and right sides. The green is a long bi-level green, so pay close attention to pin placement, as you do not want to find yourself on the wrong level. Accuracy on your second shot will determine if you are able to score on this hole.

The first hole on the River course is a 330 yard par 4. The fairway is open, and you will want to hit your tee shot to the middle/right side of the fairway, leaving a short approach shot to the green. The green is protected by two bunkers on the left side with wetlands on the right. You will want to attack this green from the right, but be careful, as shots too far right will find the water. The green is a large green that slopes from back to front, so keep your approach shot below the hole.

Hole 9 on the River Course is a 444 yard par 4, and is the number one handicap hole on the River Course. The fairway is open for your tee shot, but narrows as you approach the green from approximately 100-175 yards out. You will want to hit your tee shot towards the middle/left side of the fairway, to set up an easier approach shot to the green, as the green is protected by wetlands on the right. In addition, the green is also protected by a bunker on the left. Shots hit too far over the green will find “out of bounds” in the wetlands, so make sure to keep the ball towards the left side. The green is a deep green that slopes from left to right.

Hole 5 on the Comstock Course is a 411 yard par 4, and is the number one handicap hole on this course. The fairway is small and winds through the wetlands. Hitting a driver on this hole is only asking for trouble. The smart shot is to hit a fairway wood, or long iron out to about 200-230 yards. A tee shot hit too far will find the wetlands. The fairway continues to be narrow, but does open up as you approach the green. The green is protected by wetlands on the right, and a bunker on the left. You want to keep the ball to the left side and out of trouble. The green is large, sloping back to front, but the backside does slope off towards the wetlands, so make sure you are not long into this green, or you will find additional trouble. Accuracy is at a high premium in order to score on this hole.

The Comstock Course finishes up with a 337 yard par 4. The tee shot is a blind tee shot with water on the right. Keep the ball left, as shots hit right will find the water. The fairway does open up to a decent size landing area. The green is a long, two-tiered green. Keep your approach shot to the left, as the water runs up the entire side of the fairway through the green. The green is also protected by a bunker on the front left side. Make sure your approach shot is on the correct tier.

Playing from the blue tees made for a fun day of golf. The playing tips we received prior to playing was to keep your ball in the fairway, as the course is built around 220 acres of wetlands. In addition, putts will break towards the river. With this, I decided to play it safe, and hope my iron play would not let me down.

The course was very nice, challenging, and a lot of fun to play. The course required accurate shots. The fairways were more open than I expected considering all of the protected wetlands. The greens were in excellent condition and played on the average to faster side. Pin placements were not difficult, although it seemed most of the greens sloped from back to front, making you want to keep the ball on your approach shot below the hole.

This course has three slightly different and challenging nine holes. The River Course (White) plays the longest of the three courses, while it appears the Comstock Course (Red) requires the more accurate shots. All three Courses are fun to play, and give you a lot of options to mix and match the courses to provide a different golfing experience each time you play. The wetlands make for accurate shots, but are not in play as much as you would expect for the 220 acres of wetlands running through the courses. Empire Ranch Golf Course is a great value course with plenty of challenging and interesting holes that allows you to choose which courses you want to play, giving you plenty of options. What I liked most about the course was the ability to play 27 holes on the same course. The course has a little bit of everything you can ask for. The course requires you to use all of the clubs in your bag and make several challenging shots with each club. This course is very nice and challenging that all levels of golfers will enjoy.

Next week’s featured course is Arrowcreek Country Club located in Reno, NV

If you would like us to feature a course, please send your recommendation to smikkelson@dailysparkstribune.com