River Ridge Golf Club - River Course

Review of River Ridge Golf Course 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 River course is really a fun 9 – pretty, tough but fair, and some great holes. Number 2 for example is a par 4 dog left 398 yard beauty that requires a very precise tee shot to avoid Lake Victoria and a long trap on the left, bunkers on the right for long hitters, and trees/rough on the right for slicers. If your tee shot is perfect, the second shot needs to carry the water to an oblong green protected by bunkers in the front and trees in the back. This is the kind of hole you want to play again.

What also makes this nine fun and exciting is it's diversity of challenges including water, trees, lots of traps, narrow fairways, elevated well protected greens, and even a tree in the middle of the fairway protecting the green. The variety on this nine is excellent and although it has a number of different challenges, they are avoidable. Great nine holes! The slope and rating are based on playing the River and Parkland course.