In general, public golf in Bend is so so. Yes, I was at River's Edge for a little less than 2 years. Its fun, not great, has some good holes and some really bad ones. But, when compared to the rest of public golf in Bend, it's worth a play.
Bend, OR is a very cool place. But, IMO the golf there is not even close to what you might expect from a strong resort area. It is with out a doubt one of the greatest places I've ever seen to grow golfing turf. With warm summer days and cool nights, next to no humidity, and for the most part great water quality, it's there for the taking if a developer actually wanted to build something great. Most of the golf is real estate driven; throw in some mountain views, decent conditioning, and the courses get a little more credit then I believe they really deserve.
But, Bend is a great place to hang out and maybe golf just not that big of a deal.