Course review: Rivers Edge Golf Club offers memorable experience

After you play Rivers Edge Golf Club you are sure to remember two things.

For sure you’ll remember the ninth hole, which is one of the more unique par-5s on the Grand Strand.

You’ll also remember the scenery, as the 6,909-yard Arnold Palmer, Ed Seay and Erik Larson design that opened in 1999 has vistas that rival those on any course in the area.

“The views are awesome,” said Ryan Hazlett of Myrtle Beach, who took part in a review of the course in early September. “It has the best views on a golf course you could ask for. It’s worth playing out here just for the scenery. The location sells this course. It’s a great course.”

Joining me and Ryan, a student and Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse server with a 3 handicap, for the review were Derek Bizier of Myrtle Beach, a Coastal Carolina student with a plus-4 handicap, and Tom Vandeventer of Sunset Beach, N.C., a retired civil engineer with a 12.2 handicap.

Rivers Edge is scenic and strategic, as marsh, the Shallotte River, bunkers and a few blind tee shots combine to require accuracy. Golf Digest named it the No. 7 Best New Upscale course in the U.S. in 2000. “It’s a beautiful layout and overall a great design,” Tom said.

You are introduced to the course’s character quickly, as the first four holes all have wetlands that can come into play off the tee, largely from the left side.

“This golf course is all about placement of your tee shot,” Ryan said. “There are forced carries and the need for placed tee shots. The course was difficult but not a killer.”

The course is one of just two on the Grand Strand – along with Pine Lakes Country Club – to feature SeaDwarf Paspalum grass on greens that is tolerable of brackish water. The greens are not beat up with ball marks but also aren’t overly firm.

“They roll just as true as you’ll find any greens,” Derek said. “If they cut these greens down they would be phenomenal.”

The entire course was in good condition for our round. “I thought the course was in amazing condition and I’ve played all over the East Coast,” Derek said.

Many golfers have a love-hate relationship with the 570-yard ninth hole, which measures 536 yards from the black tee, which is one up from the back gold tee, and 509 from the white.

It has marsh down the entire left side of the fairway and marsh to carry on the approach to the green, which is on a narrow, bulkheaded peninsula into the marsh. The carry is long to the green, and shorter if you play to the fairway over marsh to the right, but bunkers and a side-hill lie await on the safer shot, leaving a tricky approach. The ninth hole can be viewed from the clubhouse.

“No. 9 is probably the coolest par-5 I’ve ever played,” Ryan said. “It’s tough. It’s reachable in two but the green is 20 yards wide and surrounded by water.”

Likes

Ryan found the staff to be friendly and the group liked the greens. “The greens are perfect,” Ryan said. “They held great and rolled true.”

Derek appreciated the scenery as it related to golf shots and otherwise. “I liked the views you had into each green and off tee shots,” he said. “I think the views are huge, and we’re not just talking about golf. You can go fishing or have dinner out on the porch.”

Tom was impressed by the upscale housing around the course. “It would be a great place to live,” Tom said.

Dislikes

The group was disappointed there wasn’t a beverage cart the day we played.

Tom found the condition of some bunkers to be inconsistent, though a bunker renovation project is planned this winter.

The course was without yardage books, which Derek thought made the tee shots particularly difficult. “It’s a quirky course off the tee with a number of blind shots,” Derek said. “I didn’t like a whole lot of blind tee shots from the gold tees without a yardage book. It made it difficult to score well.”

Par-3s

Two par-3s are 200 yards from the back tees – 165 from the white tees – and two are shorter than 180. “The par-3s are not too long but none of them were easy,” Ryan said. “You had to step up and hit a good shot.”

The 143-yard fifth hole is downhill with wetlands fronting a bulkheaded green that slopes to the front with a mild swale separating the left and right sides and tall pines serving as its backdrop. The 200-yard eight is slightly downhill with a vast expanse of marsh behind a green that slopes to the front and left with a large fingered green to its left and front left.

The 178-yard 12th has a slightly uphill tee shot to a green protected by some wetlands and fingered bunkers to the left, front and front right of a benign green. The 200-yard 15th has a long carry over marsh to a circular green that slopes to the front. There is a road to the left and trees to the right of the green. “This is a really cool hole,” Ryan said.

“The par-3s would be tough in a good wind,” Tom said.

Par-4s

Three par-4s are 425 yards or longer, while four are 390 or less. “There was a good variety of long and short par-4s,” Ryan said. “Blind tee shots are kind of nerve-racking from the tee wondering if you’re in play or not.”

The 425-yard first hole has a slightly downhill tee shot with a bunker right and a creek and wetlands to the left, and wetlands cross the fairway beginning 100 yards from a green that slopes right to left with bunkers to the right. “It’s a good golf hole and it’s not real easy,” Tom said. “Once you put the drive in a position you want you have a downhill lie.”

The 410-yard second hole has water to the left of the green that comes into play 280 yards off the tee. The 390-yard fourth hole has wetlands crossing the fairway about 70 yards from a green that slopes to the left

The sixth and seventh holes are the two longest par-4s measuring 460 and 440 yards. The sixth has a tee shot over a ridge and pond to the right that begins 150 yards from the green, and the seventh has wetlands beginning 120 yards from the green on the right.

The 380-yard 10th is slightly downhill with wetlands crossing the fairway inside 100 yards, the 410-yard 13th is straightforward with bunkers on the right that can be carried of the tee, and the 331-yard 14th turns slightly left and is birdieable with a benign green.

The 390-yard 18th turns right around marsh and the green is set in a hollow with marsh to its left.

“The par-4s are very fair,” Derek said. “They’re not long and very open, and you could see the approach shot you need to hit.”

Par-5s

The par-5s measure between 490 and 570 yards and give players some options. “There are tons of risk-reward scenarios,” Derek said.

The 550-yard third hole has an uphill tee shot with wetlands pinching the left side and trees to the right. The second shot can either go down the left fairway or to the green over water to the right with a bailout area to its right that is blind to players hitting their second shot. A second-shot layup leaves a third shot over a creek.

The 530-yard 11th has marsh down the entire left side that juts into the fairway in a couple spots, and a waste bunker buffers it from the fairway on the drive. The green tucked into marsh and is semi-tiered and higher in the back with the Shallotte River as its backdrop.

The 490-yard 17th turns right around marsh with a fairway elevated above the hazard. A downhill second shot must cross a thin area of marsh that continues along the front and right of a wide green that slopes to the right. An oak tree sits in front of the right side of the green and must be carried to get to right pin placements. “Personally I love that right pin position,” Derek said.

The par-5s measure between 352 and 461 yards from the senior green tees. “The par-5s are mostly short but well-designed, requiring accuracy over distance,” Tom said.

Favorite holes

Ryan’s favorite holes were the par-5 ninth and 17th holes, which measured 536 and 450 yards from the black tees. “They are scenic holes and both difficult,” he said. “They’re reachable in two with trouble around the green.”

Tom was also partial to the 17th hole, measuring 352 from the green tee. “It’s a great hole, particularly with the pin on the right side behind the oak tree,” he said.

Derek’s favorite hole was the ninth. “I love the layout and without wind, if you can hit the green in two, it would be a great shot,” he said.

Least favorite holes

Ryan was least fond of the par-4 18th hole, measuring 361 from the black tee. “It’s fairly easy they could have a tougher finishing hole,” Ryan said.

Tom’s least favorite hole was the par-5 ninth, measuring 461 yards from the green tee. “You have to hit accurate shots and precise distances to avoid horrible lies,” Tom said.

Derek’s least favorite hole was the 412-yard par-4 16th hole, a mild dogleg left with bunkers on the inside of the bend but also marsh down the right side angling into the fairway that forces you to hug the left side on a somewhat blind tee shot. “You can hit a perfect drive and not be rewarded due to the hazard cutting close at the corner,” Derek said. “But take into consideration we had no yardage book.”

This story was originally published October 4, 2014 at 6:26 PM with the headline "Course review: Rivers Edge Golf Club offers memorable experience."