The Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club restaurant served its last meal before renovation on Christmas Eve 2025. Construction was set to start January 15, 2026, and the grand reopening was planned for August. August has come and gone. As of October 4, the new kitchen had a temporary certificate of occupancy from the county, which lets staff start prepping and training, and the Association still describes the opening as "fall" without naming a date.
Reopening the restaurant will be the first real milestone of the year on the Golf Club campus. It won't be the last. The clubhouse is one of three projects underway side by side on the same campus, and the final one isn't expected to wrap up until early 2027. Expect a few more months of detours, temporary setups and a lot of construction fencing around the course.
Three Projects Sharing One Front Door
Each project has its own budget, its own source of money and its own deadline. In the order they're expected to finish:
- The Ranch Clubhouse and restaurant. The Association's board approved a $9.4 million funding plan on December 4, 2025, with no change to member assessments. About $3.9 million comes from operating cash, investments and future operating profit, and $5.5 million comes from a First Citizens Bank construction loan. The current target is fall 2026.
- The course snack bar. The Association's board approved this $3.3 million renovation on February 5. The golf club is paying for all of it, and Bycor won the bid with the lowest price. Bycor is also the clubhouse contractor. The golf club is aiming to finish by the end of 2026.
- The paver plaza. The board approved this $850,000 project on October 1, also funded entirely by the golf club. Construction is supposed to be done by the first week of February 2027.
Add it up and about $13.5 million in improvements are going into one campus within roughly 13 months. The plaza ties the three projects together. It will be 10 to 12 feet wider than the old entrance and will connect the new clubhouse and restaurant, the players' clubhouse and pro shop, and the larger snack bar. Two new oak trees will frame the view of the course. RSF Association Chief Administrative Officer Dominique Albrecht said much of the plaza work is required by the county's stormwater rules, and that it will also cut down on the clutter of golf carts people see when they first pull in.
Why the Clubhouse and Snack Bar Closed Together
The golf club chose on purpose to remodel the snack bar while the clubhouse was still under construction, and the club's manager said so when the snack bar was approved in February.
"This process is not easy…doing it all at once is a hard decision, but I think it's the right decision…to do it all at once and get it over with." Shanon McCarthy, RSF Golf Club Manager
Doing it all together came with a price. With the restaurant closed, the snack bar took over member food service and started offering to-go orders. The club built a small kitchen in the Players' Clubhouse so Chef Tommy DiMella could keep cooking for members, and it parked a food trailer in the lot while it waited on county permits. Then the snack bar went into its own renovation, so the stopgap needed a stopgap of its own.
The money side was tight too. Association CFO Chris Lake said in February that the golf club would probably have some difficult months without its usual restaurant revenue. The Association puts in $500,000 a year to run the restaurant for all members, and the club covers any losses above that. That's the reason both boards care about a reopening date. Every month the dining room stays closed is a month of revenue the club has to absorb.
A Room Designed for the Whole Ranch
The project started with a 2017 member survey asking for clubhouse improvements. In August 2024, when early estimates were $5 million to $6 million, the Association hired Jones Lang LaSalle as project manager for $216,000. The arguments for doing the work were roof leaks, floor repairs and a restaurant that coverage compared to a banquet hall. In January 2025 the board moved the project forward at $8 million. By December the funded plan was $9.4 million.
Not everyone agreed. In 2025, 206 Covenant members signed a petition asking for a meeting with an advisory vote on the project. The board declined, and Association counsel said members could not legally force that vote.
Goals for the new space were spelled out at the "Vision to Reality" kickoff on December 9, 2025, which drew about 400 members. The plan is for the clubhouse to become "the place to go for everybody in the Ranch," not just golf club members. The renderings show an open floor plan built around a central circular bar, a bigger outdoor patio, a new lobby entrance, and sliding glass walls that open onto the course. The roof is being replaced, but the historic wood beams inside are staying.
The snack bar follows the same thinking on a smaller scale. McCarthy said the old building's kitchen was "tiny" and its restrooms didn't meet ADA requirements. The new version will have a small upper patio deck with what she called "one of the best views of the golf course for everyone to come and enjoy," and the club is hoping to serve breakfast and coffee up there.
Where the Ranch Gathers in October
With the campus's main gathering spaces still closed, this month's community events are happening at other landmarks run by long-standing volunteer groups.
The Rancho Santa Fe Garden Club, founded in 1926, held its centennial party on June 11. On Tuesday, October 13, it will mark the anniversary again with the RSF Association by planting a California oak at North Village Park, next to the Lilian Rice statue at 17025 Avenida de Acacias, between El Tordo and Linea Del Cielo. The ceremony starts at 3 p.m. and is open to everyone. A potluck follows at the Secret Garden at about 3:45 p.m. Guests can drop off a dish there between 2:30 and 2:45 p.m. on the way to the park, and the Garden Club is asking for RSVPs so it knows how many drinks and supplies to bring.
Eleven days later, the Rancho Santa Fe Historical Society holds its Fandango Street Party on Saturday, October 24, from 5 to 8 p.m. at La Flecha House, 6036 La Flecha. There will be a full taco bar, margaritas, wine and beer, and live music from the Harmony Grove Band. Advance tickets cost $35 for members, $45 for nonmembers and $20 for children 12 and under. Tickets at the door are $50, so buying ahead through the Historical Society's Fandango page saves money. Lilian Rice designed La Flecha House in 1923, and it turned 100 in 2023.
The two oaks share a theme. One is going into North Village Park this month. The other two will frame the new plaza at the Golf Club early next year. The Garden Club is marking a century, and the Association is building the campus it hopes will host the next one.
The Winter Timeline
Golf Club director of agronomy Tom Huesgen has said his biggest worry about the plaza schedule is the super El Niño expected this winter, since heavy rain could slow construction. He has also said people should expect some access difficulties at the club entrance during the work. Even if the restaurant opens this fall, getting to it may mean going around active construction through at least early February.
One more project is on a much longer timeline. Osuna Ranch's existing county permit doesn't allow events, so the 2026 Celebrate Osuna was canceled. On June 16, the Association board voted 4–3 to seek a county permit change that would allow up to six large events a year plus smaller gatherings. The process needs a recommendation from the local planning group and approval from the County Planning Commission. It's expected to take 15 to 22 months and cost $151,000 to $251,000, with a worst-case estimate of $826,000. Counting from the June vote, that puts a decision somewhere between fall 2027 and spring 2028. No later status update has been reported.
For now, the Golf Club schedule is the one to watch. The restaurant is expected this fall, the snack bar by the end of the year, and the plaza by the first week of February 2027, if the weather cooperates.
If you're a Covenant homeowner thinking about how the new clubhouse and the busy construction winter could affect a listing or a move next year, Amy Green is happy to talk it through over coffee. Let's Connect.
