The Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club will be under construction for this entire holiday season. The clubhouse renovation is in its finishing stage, but no reopening date has been announced. The snack bar is aiming to finish by the end of the year. Work on a new entrance plaza is set to begin soon, with completion hoped for the first week of February 2027. As a result, almost every dated event between now and Christmas Eve is held in a few blocks of the Village or at The Inn. Thanksgiving at Rancho Valencia is the one exception. Most are on Avenida de Acacias and Paseo Delicias, within easy walking distance of each other.
Below is the club timeline first, since it explains the rest, and then the calendar.
Where the Golf Club campus stands heading into winter
Three projects overlap at the club, and they are on different schedules.
| Project | Status as of early October 2026 | Stated timing |
|---|---|---|
| Clubhouse and restaurant | Wood flooring, wall finishes and restroom tile underway; kitchen holds a temporary certificate of occupancy for prep and staff training | "Fall opening," no date announced |
| Snack bar | Renovation continuing, with an enhanced kitchen, upgraded restrooms and an expanded patio that includes a small upper deck | End of 2026 |
| Entrance "plaza paver" project | $850,000 approved by the RSF Association board on Oct. 1, paid for entirely by the golf club | Hoped-for completion the first week of February 2027 |
In an October San Diego Union-Tribune report, RSF Association Chief Administrative Officer Dominique Albrecht said the clubhouse work had moved past the wood rot and plumbing fixes behind the walls and was getting to the "pretty part." In September, the Union-Tribune described the layout based on an update from Association Director of Planning and Development Maryam Babaki. It includes a new lobby entrance and a more open restaurant built around a central circular bar. Golf Club administration had already moved back into its refreshed offices, and the temporary trailers were expected to leave the site soon.
The Association's Ranch Clubhouse page still lists the clubhouse as closed for renovations and directs members to the snack bar for food service. That arrangement gets more complicated as the snack bar finishes its own rebuild through December.
Then there is the plaza. It will widen the club's entrance by about 10 to 12 feet and connect the new clubhouse and restaurant, the players' clubhouse and pro shop, and the expanded snack bar, with two new oak trees framing the course view. Director of Agronomy Tom Huesgen told the Union-Tribune there will be "some access challenges" during construction, and he named the expected super El Niño as his biggest schedule risk. Albrecht said much of the work is required to meet county stormwater rules.
Taken together, the club campus will not be fully settled before February, even if the clubhouse restaurant opens on schedule this fall. Holiday plans this year depend on the Village.
Why the season's calendar sits on two streets
Most of the dated events below are close together. The Rancho Santa Fe Library is at 17040 Avenida de Acacias. Secret Garden, where the Garden Club holds its holiday brunch, is just across the street at 17025 Avenida de Acacias. The Village Church is at 6225 Paseo Delicias. The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe, at 5951 Linea Del Cielo, covers the rest.
Organizers carry the season too. The Garden Club, the Library and its Art Guild, The Village Church and the Rancho Santa Fe Rotary each have something on the calendar.
The calendar, in order
- Saturday, Nov. 7, 10:30 a.m. The Rancho Santa Fe Library hosts a clay jewelry-making workshop, according to the Union-Tribune's roundup of library programs.
- Thursday, Nov. 12, 5:30 p.m. Reception for the Rancho Santa Fe Art Guild's "Cityscapes" exhibit at the Library. The show runs through Nov. 20.
- Wednesday, Nov. 18, 6 to 8 p.m. The Rancho Santa Fe Rotary Angel Tree Social. The club's calendar does not list a venue yet.
- Thursday, Nov. 19, 10 a.m. The RSF Garden Club Holiday Brunch at Secret Garden, with arborist Wes Marshburn speaking on healthy trees and plants and brunch catered by BelleCal Seasonal.
- Sunday, Nov. 22 through Thursday, Dec. 24. The Village Church's Alternative Christmas Market opens on the church patio. It is built around gifts meant to benefit people in need.
- Thursday, Nov. 26. The Inn lists Thanksgiving at Lilian's on Nov. 26, the date Thanksgiving falls this year, from 1 to 8 p.m. Rancho Valencia serves from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Friday, Dec. 11. The Rotary Holiday Party. The calendar lists only the date.
- Sunday, Dec. 13, 7 p.m. The Village Community Chorale's Christmas Choral Concert at The Village Church, directed by Juan Carlos Acosta, with instrumentalists from ensembles including the San Diego Symphony and the Pacific Symphony. Bach's Magnificat is on the program.
The Garden Club also lists a members-only wreath-making workshop in December but has not posted a day.
The Inn's December runs on eight dates
The longest run of holiday programming is at The Inn. Its Champagne Chalet turns the Croquet Cottage into an après-ski-style retreat in partnership with Perrier-Jouët, with champagne flights, fondue, welcome pours and spa treatments. It runs on two Thursdays, Dec. 3 and 10, plus Dec. 4, Dec. 11 and 12, and Dec. 17 through 19. The Inn says the experience is open to guests and locals, and walk-ins are welcome.
The schedule overlaps the Rotary Holiday Party on Dec. 11, and its last three dates fall the week after the Dec. 13 Chorale concert.
The Inn's Café also carries a curated selection of snacks, sweet treats and wellness supplements through a new partnership with Erewhon, a convenient stop between the Library and the church.
What hasn't been announced yet
The Rancho Santa Fe Stroll and Tree Lighting has no 2026 date so far. Last year's event, the third annual, was held on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, from 4 to 7 p.m., with caroling through the Village and a 5 p.m. tree lighting at The Inn, as the Union-Tribune reported at the time. Last year's announcement came out the week before Thanksgiving. If this year follows the same pattern, it would land in the same Village blocks the rest of the calendar already uses.
The clubhouse opening is the other open date. When it comes, the restaurant will open onto an entrance that is still a construction zone until early February, assuming the winter weather Huesgen is watching doesn't push that back. In the meantime, Huesgen told the Union-Tribune: "Once construction is complete, it's going to be the best it's ever been."
Covenant homeowners thinking about listing in the new year face a similar timing question. The club campus will look its least finished through January and most complete after February, and buyers touring in between will see the work in progress. If you want to talk through how the club's timeline fits your own plans, Lorenzo Sorano is glad to start with a confidential home valuation.
