Kern County Golf Courses: Public and Private Options in Bakersfield

Kern County golf courses are concentrated almost entirely around Bakersfield, and it splits cleanly into two public courses open to any visitor and a handful of private clubs that require a member or reciprocal arrangement to play. Between them, they have a documented history that includes a PGA Tour stop and two Nike Tour events.

Kern County golf courses open to the public

Kern River Golf Course, inside Kern River County Park just north of downtown Bakersfield, is the county’s most accessible option: an 18-hole public course running 6,458 yards over hilly terrain, set directly alongside the Kern River. It’s part of the same county park complex as Hart Park, the California Living Museum, and Lake Ming (see our fishing guide for more on Lake Ming), and it’s open to the public year-round, owned and operated by Kern County Parks and Recreation.

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Links at RiverLakes Ranch is Kern County’s other public-access course, also in Bakersfield. Like Kern River Golf Course, it doesn’t require membership, and visitors can book a tee time directly.

Private clubs

Beyond the two public Kern County golf courses, three private country clubs round out the county’s golf landscape, all in or near Bakersfield’s northeast foothills:

Bakersfield Country Club dates to 1950 and was designed by William P. Bell. Its 18 holes play to 6,819 yards at a par of 72, and its naturally hilly terrain sets it apart from most other courses in the county. It hosted the PGA Tour’s Bakersfield Open Invitational in 1961 and 1962, and today offers reciprocal privileges with other private clubs in the greater Bakersfield area.

Scarlet & Gray Golf Club, in northeast Bakersfield, was built in 1975 and designed by Robert Muir Graves, originally as a public course before it was purchased and converted to a private country club in 1991. Under its former name, Rio Bravo Country Club, it hosted the Nike Tour’s Bakersfield Open in 1990 and 1991. The course plays to par 72 over roughly 7,000 yards. It was renamed Scarlet & Gray Golf Club in 2026.

Seven Oaks Country Club is the third of the trio, and it picked up hosting duties for the Nike Tour’s Bakersfield Open when the event moved venues in 1992 and 1993.

A real stop on the professional golf circuit

Bakersfield’s golf history isn’t just local club lore: the city has genuinely been a stop for the Ben Hogan Tour and its successor, the Nike Tour, and has also hosted PGA Tour qualifying events and NCAA Division II regional tournaments over the years. The Bakersfield Open Invitational’s run from 1990 through 1993, split between Bakersfield Country Club and Seven Oaks Country Club, is the clearest example: a real developmental-tour event that brought future PGA Tour players through the valley before the tournament was discontinued.

Planning a round

Of these Kern County golf courses, the two public ones (Kern River Golf Course and Links at RiverLakes Ranch) are the practical starting point, and both are worth contacting directly for current tee-time availability and rates, since course operations and pricing change over time. The private clubs are realistic options only through a member, a guest pass, or an established reciprocal agreement with another club.

Beyond the course itself, Kern River Golf Course’s location inside Kern River County Park means a round can easily be paired with a stop at Lake Ming or Hart Park, making it one of the more efficient half-day combinations for visitors splitting time between golf and the rest of the park’s outdoor recreation.