Fairbanks Ranch Country Club's Lakes Course occupies rolling terrain in Rancho Santa Fe, an affluent community in San Diego County's coastal foothills. Ted Robinson Jr. designed the layout, continuing his family's tradition of Southern California golf architecture. The Robinson name appears on numerous courses throughout the region, often characterized by strategic water features and parkland aesthetics suited to the area's Mediterranean climate. The course takes its name from the water elements that figure prominently in the routing. Robinson's design incorporates lakes and streams that come into play on multiple holes, requiring golfers to navigate both lateral and carry hazards. The terrain features moderate elevation changes typical of the inland valleys north of San Diego, with eucalyptus and mature trees framing many holes. The conditioning reflects the club's private membership and the favorable year-round growing conditions of coastal Southern California. Fairbanks Ranch operates as a residential country club community, with the Lakes Course serving as one of two eighteen-hole layouts on the property. The club caters to an established membership drawn from Rancho Santa Fe and surrounding areas of north San Diego County. The setting provides a parkland golf experience removed from the ocean but still influenced by the temperate coastal climate, with fairways and greens playable throughout the calendar year.