I have played Riverbend a handful of times over the last few years. Most recently, I played here on 05/19/12 from the blue tees at 72.1/135/6844. The course is in Madera, which is maybe 20 minutes north of Fresno and at the edge of where the Central Valley stops and the foothills begin.
I’ve always enjoyed Riverbend as it is not your typical Central Valley golf course, because of its location. The course is not up in the hills, like Saddle Creek, but is not on a farmland piece of property, like Ridge Creek. I am not knocking Ridge Creek as I’ve played there multiple times and really like it! I am just trying to contrast the different terrains. Riverbend has a little scenery, plenty of trees, and even a large earthen mound that adds some interest to the last two holes.
The designer mixed it up with all sorts of challenges here and didn’t overdo it with any one idea. As I describe a few different holes, hopefully the diversity should become apparent. The 1st is a 366 yard par-4 where the difficulty is picking the correct line off the tee. There is a slot in the fairway that will feed the ball for some extra yards and there isn’t much trouble off the tee, besides it being the first shot of the day! I enjoy an easier starting hole and Riverbend offers that.
The 4th is a 515 yard par-5 that moves a little right. The hole has a split fairway with bunkers separating the short grass. It usually is a little early in the round for me to aim for the right fairway, but the option is there to give you a shorter distance to the green. The longer hitters should still be able to get home in two from the left fairway. What is nice is that someone can run the ball up pin high and left of the green to have a shot at a birdie with just a chip.
The 6th and 7th are always two of the toughest holes on the course for me. The 6th needs a laser off the tee to avoid trouble left and right and the 7th is a 172 yard par-3 that is all carry over water. The green angles so it needs an even more precise shot.
Moving onto the back nine, the 12th and 13th are shorter holes but it can be tricky picking the proper lines on these holes. The 12th is a 153 yard par-3 where only the top half of the flag is visible as it plays a bit uphill and over some mounding. The 13th is a 333 yard par-4 that can be played in a couple different ways. Someone can either take an aggressive line up and over the trees, towards the green, or lay up out to the right.
I have always enjoyed the course and find it rewarding to play. Because of all the different options I know that even if I make a mistake or two I can still get a couple of those strokes back. I could see that someone who is playing the course for the first time might not like it, but I’d argue that it would grow on him or her.
The conditioning is typically good and the greens roll well. I normally pay $45 or $50 for a weekend afternoon round, which is in line with some other higher-end Central Valley courses (such as Stevinson Ranch, Ridge Creek, Diablo Grande).
Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):
