River Ridge Golf Club - Parkland Course

Review of River Ridge Golf Club in Sealy

Unfortunately, River Ridge Golf Club closed in November 2017 due to hurricane Harvey flooding and other flooding over the last two years

River Ridge is located on the Brazos River just west of Katy and offers 27 holes of fantastic golf. The courses have been sculptured into a generous 350 acre Brazos River valley with gently rolling and sloping terrain which is covered with more than 1500 old growth pecan trees and stately oaks, plus sycamore and ash. Each nine is built on more than 120 acres, which is substantially larger than most modern day nines and you'll notice the difference once you get on the second hole.

Each nine is unique and has it's own set of characteristics. The Parkland Course is heavily treed and the most challenging, the River Course is more open and has some really fun holes, and the Ridge Course provides an easier and more relaxing round.

Golf Digest has named River Ridge as one of the "Best Places To Play" for the last four years in a row! In addition, River Ridge go a "Four Star" Rating from the Houston Chronicle (January 1999); a Top 3 winner for "Best New Public Courses" and "Best Public Courses"; #2 "Favorite Public Courses"; "Top 12 Courses in Texas" and #1 "Best Public Course Value" in the Houston Chronicle 2000 Golf Survey. Additionally, River Ridge was the only daily fee course in Texas noted in Dan Jenkin's Golf Digest article, "Best Modern 18 Holes." River Ridge is also home to a number of qualifying rounds and major tournaments like the Ronald McDonald Dave Marr Cup, Texas Golf Mid AM qualifier, USGA Women's Public Links Qualifier, and the Houston Amateur Golf Association tournament.

Although each nine is different, here is what is common to all three:

• the fairways are well groomed and in excellent condition
• the greens seem larger than normal, pretty fast, and very challenging with plenty of slope
• you'll find lots of soft sand in strategically placed bunkers, some of which are steep faced
• each nine is designed to take maximum advantage of the ponds, creeks, rolling hills, trees, and natural landscape
• the 6000 square foot pavilion is excellent for tournaments
• with 4 sets of tee boxes, any of the nines is playable yet challenging for any skill level
• each nine rewards well placed shots and penalizes poor club selection and course management

The Parkland nine is the most challenging and requires very good course management and club selection to score well. You'll find narrow undulating fairways with lots of berms, big dog legs, plenty of traps, lots of trees, and more to keep you challenged. The names of some of the holes (The Wall, Robinhood, Hammer, Trouble, and Bootleg) give you an idea of some of the challenges you'll encounter on this nine. Take #9, The Wall, for example – a beautiful 483 yard dog leg left par 4 that requires two extremely well placed shots to get through the narrow tree lined slot and over the creek and wall in front of the well protected green.

Parkland is the most scenic, narrowest, and most challenging – you'll want to play this nine again if you're up for a test of your shot making skills. Slope and Rating were based on playing the Parkland and Ridge Course.