Riverwood Hole by Hole Review from Rosalind Barnes May 2006

Hole 1
This is a par 4 hole, with a slight bend round to the left and bunkers to the right of the green. The green is quite wide, slightly elevated and undulating with trees on either side and behind it. There are also sloping runoffs from the sand mounds around the green, so an accurate shot onto the green is very helpful! This is a relatively easy hole provided you keep your ball on the fairway.

Hole 2
Another par 4 hole with a large lake and houses on the right at the tee. It is a slight dogleg right with a large bunker in front of the green with trees all around it. The water hazard on the right has an inlet into the fairway and there are trees on the right in front of the bunker. It’s a fairly narrow fairway initially with tall palm trees on either side around the point where your second shot would be played. The long water hazard which continues up the right hand side goes right around the back of the green, with nasty runoffs at the back of the green if you overshoot.

Hole 3
A par 5 hole with a large bunker on the right hand side about 100 yards from the pin and houses down the right hand side too. The green is slightly raised with palm trees around the back of it, trees down the right hand side and a cart path on the left – and the prolific sand mounds around the green with runoffs in all directions.

Hole 4
This is a par 4 hole, with a narrowish initial fairway with trees either side and two bunkers on the left hand side. The fairway widens out as you approach the green with a large lake and some houses on the right hand side behind the trees. Mounds again around the green with sloping runoffs to the left, right and back into trees and palm bushes.

Hole 5
This is a par 3 hole with a long lake on the right hand side. Men have to tee off across the corner of it and there is a large sand trap on the right hand side and the pin was set immediately behind it on the day I played. It’s a fairly open green, with houses behind it, but a long dropoff at the back if you overshoot. A difficult one to get right!

Hole 6
A par 4 hole with a large lake running along the left hand side from the tee with a resident blue heron. A narrow fairway with the water on the left and trees coming in on the right but a straight journey to the pin. The fairway widens out on the approach to the slightly elevated green which has tall trees behind it and a sand trap on the left and the lake on the right hand side continues up to the green with a path between the green and the water. The green is undulating with trees behind it and to the left.

Hole 7
Another par 3 hole with a large lake on the right and houses behind it. There are trees coming in on the left as you tee off on the relatively straight path to the green with a fence behind it and a few large palm trees. If you don’t hit a straight ball you will go into trees on the left or water on the right! The lake runs up to the green on the right and there are the sloping mounds around the green on this hole too.

Hole 8
A par 4 hole with a lake on the right at the tee. The fairway bends to the right and then continues straight ahead. It’s bumpy to begin with and trees coming in on the left and right, quite narrow with water visible on the left about two thirds of the way - down the fairway and runs right down behind the green. There is also another lake on the right hand side about half way down the fairway, a bunker on the left before the water and a long bunker to the right of the green. The green is level and quite open with trees around it, but not too close, and mounds on the right hand side of the green with runoffs onto the path.

Hole 9
A par 5 hole with a long lake down the left hand side from the tee and another long lake midway down the fairway, again on the left with yet another water trap just in front of the green and running past it. There is a bunker left/centre of the green too. The fairway is narrow at the start with trees on the right and water on the left and a strategically placed bunker on the left about where your second shot would be played. The fairway widens out on the approach to the elevated green with the inevitable mounds to left, right and back and a sand bunker on the left.

Hole 10
This is a par 4 dogleg right with a very large lake on the right hand side, bending round to the right which men tee off across. There are two large bunkers to the right of the slightly raised green and trees behind it. An initially narrow fairway with water on the right and trees coming in on the left but the fairway widens out and it’s a nice straight approach to the green. There are bunkers on the right and one immediately in front of the pin on the day I played, making it an awkward shot. There are houses behind the lake on the right hand side, all the way to the green. The sloping mounds are all around the green.

Hole 11
Another par 4 hole with a large bunker and trees going all the way down the left hand side; otherwise a fairly open fairway with a slight dogleg left to the green. Sloping runoffs around the green at the back and right and trees and sand down the left hand side. There is a lake to the right of the green which runs round the back of it.

Hole 12
There is a fairly large lake on the right near the tees on this par 5 hole, running all the way down the right side almost to the green and there is a bunker on the right in front of the green. This is a dogleg right around the lake with the fairway sweeping round the lake to the right. This was quite a difficult hole with houses on the right beyond the water up near the green and a steep faced bunker on the right of the green with trees behind.

Hole 13
This is a short par 3 with a large lake on the left running up to the green with a bunker between the lake and the green too to add to the fun. The green is fairly level but there are large sloping mounds at the back with tall palm trees beyond if you fail to achieve an accurate shot onto the green.

Hole 14
A par 4 hole with a large lake on the right as you tee off and houses running down the right hand side to the green. It’s a dogleg left to the green which is slightly raised with sloping mounds all around it, a bunker on the left in front of it and on the right behind it. There are palm trees dotted around the back of the green, which is on two levels with the pin set on the upper level. A challenging green!

Hole 15
Another par 4 hole, slight dogleg left with water on the left of the green and a bunker on the left too, just inside the water. The green is slightly elevated and there are houses running down the right hand side. There are steep runoffs towards the path on the right side of the green which is sloping upwards.

Hole 16
Par 3. This is a slight dogleg right to the green which has a bunker to the left of it. The tee shot is over a large area of scrub and bushes to reach the level green which has grass all around it but no other particular hazards.

Hole 17
A par 5 hole, dogleg left and with a large sand bunker right across the front of the green and a small bunker on the right about half way down the fairway. A wide open fairway, nice and clear apart from a bunker on the right at the dogleg. Trees to right and left and houses running down the right beyond the path, but no particular problems. There’s a nasty patch of scrub on the approach to the green to play across with trees on either side. It’s an elevated green with long sloping runoffs at the back down into scrub giving lots of potential for losing the ball off the green.

Hole 18
This is a par 4, dogleg to the right and a long bunker about half way up the fairway on the right at the dogleg and another long bunker to the right of the green. Men have to tee off over a large area of scrub and bushes to reach the fairway and there are two large bunkers on the approach to the slightly raised green, with the second one beside it on the right and the ubiquitous sloping mounds to the back of the green with trees behind, but the main hazard is the bunkers on the right on the approach.