Good Muni course in very good muni condition. I had very low expectations for this course but if I lived in the area, I would play it again. Greens all rolled well at med/fast speed. (lots of goose po... Continue »

Good Muni course in very good muni condition. I had very low expectations for this course but if I lived in the area, I would play it again. Greens all rolled well at med/fast speed. (lots of goose poop) Tee boxes, fairways, and sand traps all decent. I was amazed at the course conditioning at all 4 courses I played. I figured after a hot summer all these courses would be trashed. Holes 10-12 are fun and scenic, and the rest of the course is solid enough, nothing spectacular but what you would want out of your local muni. Got there at 4:40 after calling and hearing it wasn't crowded at it was $34. The gal in the pro shop actually made me wait to tee off at 5 or it would have been $40. I had to bounce around and come back and play 1-3 with last light, but it worked out. Pretty sure the course is always crowded and slow. $34 was a decent price for the course but in late September I got lucky to finish. 

I realized I hadn’t done a review of Riverside in a few months. I’ve probably played here about 4-5 times since my last review, as it’s not really one of my “go to” courses in the valley. I mainly do... Continue »

I realized I hadn’t done a review of Riverside in a few months. I’ve probably played here about 4-5 times since my last review, as it’s not really one of my “go to” courses in the valley. I mainly don’t play here due to the slow pace of play. Last outing which was on Friday of Labor Day weekend, was 4.5+ hours for 14-15 holes and then JusGas88 and I left. I played yesterday in the mid afternoon and caught a nice window finishing in a little 2.5 hours playing the front nine as a single and then joining a gentleman on the back nine. Played through 2-3 groups on the front and we had very minimal waiting on the back. Mainly just waiting for greens to clear on the par 5’s.

Greens were in horrible condition. The guy I was paired with said they aerated them a couple weeks ago but that wasn’t the issue. It was the dead spots and diseases along the edges and some deep gouges in the middle. Greenskeeper did do a good job keeping the pins away from the bad areas. In fact I don’t think I had any putts inside of 12-15’ that were affected by the poor greens. There were a couple of times where I was just off the green and had to chip instead of putt in order to avoid some bad areas on the green.

Fairways were decent enough. This is a city run course at the end of summer in the valley that cost $30-$33 with a cart in the afternoon. Given that equation the fairways were fine. They did have some thin brown areas here and there but for the most part I found good lies in the fairways. And I’m happy to report I found a lot of level lies in the fairway yesterday!

Tee boxes were atrocious. The par 3’s especially were horrible. Looked like they hadn’t moved the tee markers in weeks. The par 4 &5 boxes weren’t too bad.

Again, no one seems to be using the rakes in the bunkers. I was in 2 yesterday and the first wasn’t too bad (though the bunker on the other side of the green was horrible) but the second one hadn’t been raked at all and had obviously seen a lot of use throughout the day.

Customer service was better than usual. Kid in the pro shop sent me out in front of the threesome who had the tee time before me. That allowed me to get in 3 holes of uninterrupted play before catching the first group who let me through.

Riverside still isn’t my favorite track in Fresno but it’s not a bad play especially given the price. I will also say that conditions were much better the previous couple of times I played here. Hopefully, this is just temporary for the greens and tee boxes and it returns to "normal" conditions soon.

I was down the street for a business meeting that wrapped up early so I popped across the way to see if they could squeeze me in. Groups were 3 deep waiting on the first tee but the gentleman said ... Continue »

I was down the street for a business meeting that wrapped up early so I popped across the way to see if they could squeeze me in. Groups were 3 deep waiting on the first tee but the gentleman said he had an opening in 25 minutes. I hadn’t played Riverside in a couple of years so I thought what the heck. Knowing it was going to be a loooong day due to the course being crowded helped ease the wait on every shot. As stated before, this place is very reasonable $27 to walk prime time during the week so it’s going to get packed. My last review detailed the course layout so I’ll stick to the conditions on this one. Riverside aerated the greens at the first of the month. I don’t play here often enough to know what their standard is but I’d say they were rolling a bit slower than normal? Greens were in decent shape and rolled true at a medium-slow pace. Greens have modest slope and I got caught out more times than not thinking there was a break when there wasn’t. Fairways are between winter thin and dead. Brown and ugly. Pure and simple. I’d say the tradeoff is extra rollout but the moguls in the middle of the fairway kill any roll out on drives. Bunkers were decent enough. About what you would expect from a valley course. Thin layer but playable. Most of the tee boxes were in nice shape. Only a couple were heavily riddled with divots. The star of the show was the skirt areas around the greens on the back nine. Super lush and green. The front nine wasn’t quite as good but the back nine was super to chip from. I’m still not a fan of this place but that’s just me not liking getting penalized for being in the fairway. Other than that it’s good to go. Conditions are a little off right now because of the fairways but for $27 on a course that’s easy to walk, it's worth putting another notch in the Birdie Belt!

Posted: 5-13-2020
By: CenCalGolfer33

Course is in really good shape. I believe they opened back up last week. Greens were in the best shape I’ve seen them. Even better than when they host the Fres... Continue »

Posted: 5-13-2020
By: CenCalGolfer33

Course is in really good shape. I believe they opened back up last week. Greens were in the best shape I’ve seen them. Even better than when they host the Fresno Am Tournaments. But still people aren’t fixing ball marks. POP was and is always the issue out here. Teeing off early helps but a 8:25 tee time didn’t make things better. Overall, course is in really good shape and had some roll to the fairways even though it was fairly damp on the fairways. Bunkers had adequate sand in nearly all of them and I was in a bunch.

I rarely play Riverside, mainly because it gets super crowded and two because you get punished for being in the fairway. Several of the fairways are a cross between a downhill mogul ski slope and a ... Continue »

I rarely play Riverside, mainly because it gets super crowded and two because you get punished for being in the fairway. Several of the fairways are a cross between a downhill mogul ski slope and a supercross track! Not sure what the thought process is behind punishing a player for being in the fairway, but it's not my cup of tea. Having said that, the course is in very nice shape for the most part. Holes 1-12 are in great shape tee to green. Greens were rolling on the slow side but were very smooth. Fairways and tee boxes are very lush throughout.

Only one tee box was divot ridden. All others were good to go. There were a few areas on holes 13-15 that were thin and brown on the fairways and the green on #14 was riddled with pitch marks. Not sure what happened there but all others were excellent. A couple of the greens on the back nine are tiny. As in living room throw rug tiny. Seriously, they were about half the size of my backyard putting green.

Customer service: Check in at the pro shop was average. I walked on as a single and he wasn't all that accommodating. just said he'll get me out in about 15 minutes or so. Never said anything else until I heard my name called out with another group for next up on the tee box.

However, the marshal was absolutely excellent. I dropped my phone on one of the fairways and the marshal was very friendly and super accommodating in giving me a ride back to look for it. He then offered to give me a ride back to catch up with my group or let me settle in behind a twosome to continue where I left off.

Prices are very reasonable at Riverside ($26 to walk prime time) and with the nice conditions right now, I can see why the place gets so packed. Layout of the track is average. One lake that comes into play on 2 holes (3 if you muff a drive real bad on #17). Most of the course is flat with only a couple of holes having elevation changes. There is a train track that runs directly next to a few of the holes so you do have to deal with a number of trains going by as you play.


Given the price and conditions at Riverside it's a solid option when in the valley or traveling through on Highway 99.

Just a quick update for Riverside. Played yesterday, 3-24-19, tee time was 7:00, second off. Course is in decent shape. Greens were rolling decent, still had the morning dew on them. But the fairways ... Continue »

Just a quick update for Riverside. Played yesterday, 3-24-19, tee time was 7:00, second off. Course is in decent shape. Greens were rolling decent, still had the morning dew on them. But the fairways in spots were tough, not sure if they had a tournament the day before but there was a TON of divots that weren't covered up with sand. I know the big City Am tournament is coming up and the rough is starting to grow in thick in many spots. But overall, typical expectations of Riverside. They get a ton of play, especially on the weekends. If you don't want to fight the crowds and this is the only option, get out there before 8am. Tiny greens, so make sure your wedge game around the greens is up to par!

Winter update

Course is dormant except tees and greens. Tees are good. Greens are firm and quick but have definite areas with issues patchy marked bumpy (the small greens just never get any rest)

Winter update

Course is dormant except tees and greens. Tees are good. Greens are firm and quick but have definite areas with issues patchy marked bumpy (the small greens just never get any rest)

Played on 4-14-17

Course architecture fans rejoice! Fresno has a Billy Bell design that will delight. Those that know the Bells (William P. and William F.) know that their work is prolific and list... Continue »

Played on 4-14-17

Course architecture fans rejoice! Fresno has a Billy Bell design that will delight. Those that know the Bells (William P. and William F.) know that their work is prolific and lists some of the best courses in California. For those that don't, I encourage an internet search on the two of them. Unlike many modern architects whom simply seek to punish and mistakenly equate hard with good, the brilliance in Bell's designs is in the playability for all levels, while still presenting a challenge for better players with angles/small greens/bunkering.

Overall - spring conditions are currently very good. Greens are smooth and firm running at medium speed with only a few areas of ball mark damage (the kind where many people hit that area and either do not fix or fix poorly) Tees, fairways and rough are all lush. Bunkers have consistent conditions.

Pace - the habit of overbooking and squeezing in walk-ups has resulted in consistent backups and even with a morning tee time we were 25 minutes behind schedule to even begin our round. Finished in 5 hours.

I was planning to play Rancho Del Rey for my second round yesterday, but I finished too early up in Manteca and there was still a morning tournament going on there. Riverside was my next option, so I ... Continue »

I was planning to play Rancho Del Rey for my second round yesterday, but I finished too early up in Manteca and there was still a morning tournament going on there. Riverside was my next option, so I called ahead. They told me to come on out any time after 10:00 and it should be pretty easy to get on. I still expected it to be crowded on a Saturday, but this place was packed to the brim. When I checked in the guy said "maybe 10:45" as the worst-case scenario and that the on-course pace was good all day. I had second thoughts, but still plunked down my $44 (with cart) and waited for the call to the tee as group after group went out in assembly-line-like fashion (insert Bugs Bunny factory music here). I finally got the call and teed off at 11:00 with a twosome and another single. After that, it was waiting at least 5 minutes on every shot and all the par-3s had 2-3 groups waiting on the tees. The round took just over 5.5 hours and pretty well broke my spirit.

The brutal pace and questionable information provided by the pro shop kids kind of soured what could have been a pleasant round. The course itself was in good shape. The tee boxes were solid, the fairways were mostly quite good, and the rough was very difficult. It's a mix of different grasses (definitely poa and some kikuyu) and very deep in places. We had a hard time just finding a few balls, and then hitting out was just doing anything you could to advance the ball forward and not hurt yourself. I enjoyed the challenge and punishment of this rough, but it surely cannot be good for the pace of play here. The greens were pretty decent, holding shots well enough and rolling at medium speeds. I was in one bunker and it was fine.

I ended up liking the course more than I expected to. For the most part, it's a pretty straightforward Billy Bell design. Some of the greens are unusually shaped and trickily undulated to add a little something. Then, I really enjoyed the signature stretch of holes 10-12. It's a nice elevated view from the 10th tee overlooking the river with the train bridge (or is it a trestle?) in the background. Then 11 and 12 are both fun holes utilizing the hillside as you work your way back up top. The people I played with told me this place is almost always busy and slow rounds are the norm. I expected that, but still wasn't quite ready for that long of a round. Oh well, I survived and was able to check another one off the list!