Golf Club Atlas
GolfClubAtlas.com => Golf Course Architecture Discussion Group => Topic started by: Kyle Christensen on July 14, 2008, 07:45:51 PM
-
Hello everyone, I have enjoyed this site for the past few years and finally decided to email Ran about becoming a member. This site has really opened my eyes to great architecture, and because of this I have been fortunate enough to play some wonderful courses that go under the radar by most. if it wasn't for this site I would have never heard of some of my favorite course in the country; Camargo, Yale, Yeamans, Cheechesse Creek, Lost Dunes, and the list goes on and on. Rivermont Country Club also fits the bill. Chris Cupit's course is amazing from the 1st tee to the 18th green. It also helps that Chris might be one of the most sincere and generous men I have met in golf. From the limited time I have seen Rivermont I have been overly impressed with how Chris and his crew run the course and it is great pleasure to play Rivermont. The course plays fast and firm, and the greens are a blast to play. Defiantly some of the most unique contours I have seen in the Southeast.
Here are some pictures taken from about three weeks ago with on and off rain clouds throughout the day. Hopefully I will get back out to Rivermont before I head back to South Carolina for school, and will try to get some better pictures if the weather cooperates. I don't have the scorecard in front of me so I am trying to remember the yardage's for each hole from the red tees.
1st hole. Par 4. 442 yards. This is a great opening hole in my eyes. Straight away but still a challenge if the player isn't warmed up.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3181/2669462412_b5911003fa_b.jpg)
Approach to the 1st. Notice the yellow wicker basket pins. Just one of the little touches that make Rivermont special
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2235/2668678011_2ea8bf14ca_b.jpg)
2nd hole. Par 5. 540 yards. Dogleg left but anything straight off the tee is fine. Notice the gaudy hole markers next to the path.....
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0270-1.jpg)
Fairway approach from about 175 yards. The picture really doesn't show much but behind the bunker there is a ridge that will either feed the ball into the green or kick down into the collection area on the left. Great design feature for a risk reward par 5. (http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0274.jpg)
2nd green from 3rd hole white tee box. Just a taste of the great contours in these greens.
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0279.jpg)
3rd hole. Par 4. 440 yards. This might be one of my favorites on the course. The predominant slope in the fairway is left to right and the green is heavily contoured. This hole might not have the wow factor but is just a great hole with many options on how to play it. (http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0278.jpg)
Approach to the 3rd green. with the firm conditions it is very easy to run the ball to the green or carry it in.
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0284.jpg)
4th hole. Par 3. 195 yards. I have been fortunate to play a lot of the great redan holes in the U.S. and I put this one up there with the best. Both times I have played this hole I have had the great fortune of putting it in the front bunker. I don't have any shots around the green but I could easily spend all day messing around on this hole from 10 yards and in.
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0285.jpg)
5th hole. Par 4. 450 yards. Pretty straight away with a creek running just shy of the green. The green is huge and very well contoured. No solid pictures of the green though.
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0288.jpg)
fairway bunkering on the 5th. The rectangular bunkering is not seen to often around Atlanta (http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0292.jpg)
6th hole. Par 3. 170 yards. Great par three in my eyes. The green makes it pretty special. Half pipe on the back of the green. Bring a skateboard next time out. One thing I enjoy about Rivermont is that the par threes from the tips aren't overly long, but the course still stretches out to over 7000. It gets tiring playing 200+ par threes all day that are all the same.
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0295.jpg)
Picture of the 6th green. Couldn't get a great picture of the contours but this will do. Picture taken from the 7th tee. (http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0300.jpg)
7th hole. Par 5. 580 yards. This is one tough par 5. Can't see to many people reaching this in two. second shot is difficult as well, tight shot with sand around the landing area. Probably the tightest feeling hole on the course.(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0301.jpg)
this shot is taken from about 170 yards out or so. Fairly skinny green with an L shape bunker surrounding the left and backside of the green. The back part of the green is very unique, almost like a tee box was cut right into the back of the green.(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0303.jpg)
8th hole. Par 4. 420 yards. good hole after the challenging par 5. Straight away slightly uphill to the green. Green is extremely fast but doesn't look it.
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0309.jpg)
Fairway on 8. Many different playing options going into this green. Three small bunkers guard the left side of the green.(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0313.jpg)
9th hole. Par 4 380 yards. One thing I enjoy about Rivermont is that none of the holes feel gimmicky where you only can hit a certain club off the tee. On every par 4/5 you can hit just about anything in your bag and be in play. The ninth is probably the only hole on the course where driver isn't the best play for a longer hitter. the ball will just fall back into the flat part of the fairway about 125 to the green. And hitting the fairway is a good idea on this hole with the very elevated punchbowl green.
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0319.jpg)
Picture taken from about 130 yards out. Probably my favorite second shot on the course. great blind shot into a massive punchbowl green. (http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0320.jpg)
Best attempt at getting a good shot of this green. (http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0326.jpg)
Alright time for the back nine.
10th hole. Par 5 530. The day I took the pictures we played through a group on 10 so I was unable to get any pictures of the hole. But in essence it doglegs right with a bunker at the dogleg which is right around landing area for your drive. After the corner it kicks back to the left. With a good drive you can easily get to the green in two. Hopefully in the future I can take some pictures of this hole.
11th hole. Par 4 315 yards. Great drivable par 4, seems like the green might be the smallest on the property and is quite undulating so Par isn't the easiest task.
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0332.jpg)
Picture of the tiny bunker just off the green on 11. Needs to be a little hairier and deeper, right Chris? (http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0340.jpg)
12th hole. Par 5 545 yards. Tough driving hole if you don't play a draw. If you are a longer hitter you need to hug the tree line on the left, and if you go right you might be down in the creek.
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0341.jpg)
From about 200 or so out on 12. green sits above the bunker. Very tricky green just like the rest, but was deceptively fast and I could see many people putting off the front of the green if you are above the hole.
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0344.jpg)
13th hole. Par 4 380. Very cool hole with a pretty special green.
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0352.jpg)
3 little bunkers about 30 yards from the green on 12. Notice the huge false front on the green. Had about 90 yards into the green and landed at the peak of the false front, hung up for a second at the top and quickly fell to about 10 yards off the green and you end up with a knee knocker pitch shot.
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0358.jpg)
Looking back on 13 from the top of the green.
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0359.jpg)
14th hole. Par 3 150. Little par three that has a tough green to put some teeth into the hole. Go a touch right and good luck, wind adjustment is important on this one.
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0361.jpg)
15 hole. 420 par 4. So far this hole has ate my lunch. I love the look of the blind tee shot, but I love hitting snap hooks into the trees. The right play is down the right side and will feed to the fairway
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0363.jpg)
about 80 yard to the hole. Unique front bunker guarding the hole.
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0366.jpg)
Example of the old CB McDonald and Raynor lines on the greens. Just nothing like it Atlanta and is a great change of pace. Don't really have any other pictures, but a lot of the edges on the greens have the round squared edge look.
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0367.jpg)
16th hole. Par 4 thinking around 440. Really strong hole where two good shots are needed. Tee balls really fall to the left towards the bunker.
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0370.jpg)
Approach to the 16th. Long is not the play. really need to hit a solid 2nd shot or your in trouble. There are bunkers on the right side that will catch some wayward shots.
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0373.jpg)
17th hole. Par 3 195 yards. Very picturesque hole. Seems like a 2 club difference in distance, but still a challenge to hit that giant green.
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0376.jpg)
18th hole. 480 yard par 4. This is one serious finishing hole. Beautiful hole that is a bear. One of the strongest finishing holes that I have played and if a match is coming down to this best of luck. (http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0380.jpg)
Approach to the 18th. Pond on the left side that ramps up the intimidating second shot.
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0384.jpg)
Looking back on 18.
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/specialk12155/CIMG0386.jpg)
So there it is. Hope you see the excellence of this course in the pictures. Such a special course among the elite in Atlanta. Rivermont to me is one of the few courses I think I could play every time out and never tire of the course. With the great green contours and how large the greens are you can play a completely different course every time out. Thank you Chris for taking that big step and renovating the course, you really have something special. I hope to call Rivermont home in the near future.
-
Kyle,
Welcome!
Great pictures, but what's with the Merion-style flagsticks? :)
Seriously, keep posting, or even better, build a quick and dirty website and point us all to it.
Will you be playing in the Dixie Cup? Ever get up North of the Mason-Dixon line? I've heard that we have pretty good golf up here!
Are those fans on the 2nd green? Have you guys thought of tree management in lieu of fans?
-
Thanks for the welcoming. I am actually a northerner. I am from Michigan, and moved to South Carolina to go to Clemson University. One semester left and I cry every night thinking it will be over in December. And I have had the good fortune of playing some fine courses north of the Mason-Dixon.
-
The pictures look great and the course looks to be balanced and not overdone.
Only critique might be the proximity of the fans on #2. Those look awfully close to the green.
-
Kyle,
Congrats on your upcoming graduation from a very fine university. Enjoy your semester - it's pretty much work, work, work from then on :)
Seriously, look up the Dixie Cup. It might be tough considering school, but the one I attended in SC was FANTASTIC
-
Kyle,
Congrats on your upcoming graduation from a very fine university. Enjoy your semester - it's pretty much work, work, work from then on :)
Seriously, look up the Dixie Cup. It might be tough considering school, but the one I attended in SC was FANTASTIC
Kyle, Michael Whitaker who lives in Greenville is one of the organizers of the Dixie Cup which will be played down in Florida at World Woods (Pine Barrens). He might be able to get you a ride with one of the Greenville guys, I think a couple are headed down in October.
-
Kyle, Welcome! Nice pictures-they evoke fond memories of my trip to Rivermont last October. I agree that Chris Cupit is not only a great host but also a hell of a golfer. The green complexes at RCC are excellent. I also really enjoyed the bunkering. Very old school look . Great place to play in Atlanta. Good luck at school, Jack
-
Hi Kyle, welcome aboard! I just started a thread to keep track of these "photo tours" and have added yours to the list. By all means, keep 'em coming (your 50 will get us to 200). Please reply to my "Photo Tour" directory thread when you've posted a new thread so I can get it added to the list. Thanks!
Add reply to this thread: http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,35524.0.html (http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,35524.0.html)
-
Dan Herrmann beat me to it. I like the look of the course but why all the trees????
-
I bet the pics make it look a lot more narrow than it is in terms of trees..
-
Sean,
You're probably correct (other than the fans on #2).
But Kyle - you've gotta tell us about those flagsticks. Why were the Merion-esque flagsticks used at Rivermont?
-
Chris Cupit probably won some amateur event at Merion ;)
-
Why were the Merion-esque flagsticks used at Rivermont?
From Chris' mouth, er, keyboard:
Explanation (http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,32034.msg630157.html#msg630157)
-
I'm not a fan of how the baskets look but I do like the idea of eliminating pin splat on the greens.
-
Updated pics of the front nine. Also the camera is really making the course seem more enclosed than it really is. The course is built inside of a residential community and with the trees you don't even feel like you are in a community. None of the holes feel tight to me.
Back nine coming.
-
Hello everyone and thanks Kyle for the pics.
Trees--Since 2006 when we began this renovation process we have removed well over 400 trees. In fact the first thing I bought my super, Mark Hoban, was the book, Scotland's Gift, Golf where I flagged the page stating that the ideal course has no trees. The second item purchased for him was a commercial sized Vermeer chipper.
Prior to the deforestation, the areas behind the greens on holes 1, 2, 3 and 4 were a forest. It is a little hard to see but at least 10-30 trees were removed behind each green.
Fans--yes they are ugly but necessary. Removing trees certainly helps with airflow (and sunlight) but at times in GA you need some help cooling the surface of the greens and getting some very warm, humid, air moving around! Last summer we had record days in July over 100 degrees and no rain for 28 days! The fans were key to keeping the greens alive that first year.
All the fans are removed as soon as possible and even the bases come out. We use the fans from the middle of June to the middle of September. We use 2 fans on the practice putting green, 2 fans on #2, 2 fans on #4, 2 fans 0n #6, 2 fans on #7, 1 turbo fan on holes 8 and 9, 2 fans on #11, 13, 14, 15 and 16. we paint them black as that seems to hide them best but they are a necessary evil. When they are in the ground we have a local rule that plays them as TIOs.
Baskets--when I decided to re-do I was trying to position my private course uniquely in a very competitive Atlanta market. The last thing Atlanta needed was another lush green course with tiered greens and bright white bunker sand. I decided to go "retro" with brown sand, native vegetation, scraggly bunkers, textures and shades of greens and browns not flowers or colors. I wanted very boldly rolling and heavily contoured greens that could be interesting at a 9.0 up to a 10.5, NOT trying to have greens screaming at 11.5 just to give them some interest. Also at club with a lot of play it is nice to be able to mow greens a little higher (.120-.130) and still have challenging putting.
I lost some battles (I still have to make money and I couldn't alienate my member too much :D) but my next course will have no yardages anywhere and un-raked bunkers that are truly hazards.
I was looking at an old 1931 turf catelogue when I saw an ad for a "wicker balloon basket". I wanted something unique for the club and had read where flags had strips of cloth, pennants, all sorts and sizes of flags streamers and banners on top of them. Some flagsticks had balls or spheres and of course baskets.
On an inland course some of my reading suggested that the baskets had little to do with deceiving a player regarding the wind;rather, on still days when flags lie limp, the basket is much more visible. Our baskets are about 20% larger than those at Merion (I had not played Merion when I decided to do this and had seen baskets only at Sea Island) and are very easy to see and hit with a Bushnell rangefinder >:(
Combined with our "old school" look and feel, that baskets are something unique to my club in our area. Our colors are black and yellow and the baskets are easy to see and have come to be associated with our club. I have had several other clubs call and ask about doing baskets as well. Originally we had a couple in Charleston, SC hand weave our baskets but this winter after some trial and error and some practice, we now weave our own and they have held up great.
While Merion certainly was the inspiration and the most famous course to use the baskets I was surprised at how many clubs used to also use them and how many different things once adorned flagsticks across the country. Honestly, if I could have come up with a more unique design I would have used it, but I couldn't.
-
Kyle, welcome, and thanks for the pictures. Rivermont always looks interesting.
Pity you couldn't attend the real school in Greenville ;)
-
Here are a couple of pics front the front nine:
#2 green from behind--as Kyle mentioned, carrying the ball over the cross bunker and onto the "ramp" will funnel the ball onto the roller coaster green:
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm66/chriscupit/greenslope58.jpg)
#6 A view of the half pipe from behind:
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm66/chriscupit/G7LS638352.jpg)
AHughes--Don't be too tough on those ClemPson boys--that's also where Mike Riley got his degree in flowers or something like that ;D
-
AHughes are you talking about Greenville Tech? if so then I agree, but if you mean Furman I would have to say Green Tech gets the nod in my book, but I do love Furman's golf course.
-
Kyle,
Rivermont looks like a course you could play every day and never tire of the fun.
I'm very impressed. Thanks for the pictures!
-
Dan that is exactly how I feel. The greens out there are really special and everyday the course could play completely different because of the greens. I am fairly positive this is one of the best values of any club in a metro area.
I will try to get the back nine pictures up tomorrow.
Kyle
-
some good looking stuff in those pictures Chip
Kyle K raved about the course to me...I hope I can make it down someday soon
-
AHughes are you talking about Greenville Tech? if so then I agree, but if you mean Furman I would have to say Green Tech gets the nod in my book, but I do love Furman's golf course
;D ;D Hey Kyle, sorry, I bleed purple! I miss the FU course, haven't played it in years, long before irrigation was installed. Hope to see it again next year.
Thanks again for the pictures/comments on Chris's course.
-
some good looking stuff in those pictures Chip
Kyle K raved about the course to me...I hope I can make it down someday soon
Rivermont is hands down one of the coolest places that I have visited in a long time. I wonder if the membership knows what an great setup they have there (I hope they do).
-
I've played Rivermont, and it is a very fun course....the re-do is excellent. However, it is not the best
course for walking....it has a number of a housing holes spread out in some spots on very hilly
ground around a stream valley. That isn't Chris' fault. The 9th green is about 300 yards (a guess)
from the clubhouse and the 10th tee. The stretch from 13 green to 17 green is spread out and on
the hilliest portion of the property.
The re-do turned what I'm guessing was an average course into a course filled with interest.
-
Chris - I know you own the course but could you provide some background on how that came to being? Did you do the redesign or did you hire an architect? You mentioned some battles with members. I'd be interested to hear more about those. If you don't want to answer I'll wait to hear about it at Camargo.
-
Steve,
Here's a Cliff Notes version:
My dad was one of five brothers who were golf pros from Texas (8 brothers 5 pros). After a spell in West Memphis Arkansas he came to Atlanta CC where he was the asst. pro under Davis Love Jr. He then took the head pro job at Ansley Golf Club (the 9 hole course in downtown Atlanta). Ansley in 1966 or so bought property in Dunwoody and built an 18 hole golf course and my dad was pro at both courses. He would open Ansley in the AM, my mom (with me in a baby basket in the office) would come around 11:00 to stay and close the downtown course and my dad would head north to open the new 18 hole course at lunch time.
Dunwoody was so far out in "the boonies" then that no one had any interest in being that far out before then ;D At some point the new course on the northside became a source of tension as the older in town members had no idea why in the world their money should be wasted on an 18 hole course so far out of town and the club allowed a small group to split off and create their own seperate entity--Dunwoody CC. At that point my dad decided to move north and be the first golf pro of Dunwoody CC.
A few years later in 1973 Equitable Life Insurance Company was developing a huge golf and country club community even farther out in the boonies in Alpharetta, GA and needed a golf guy with a good reputation to run the place. With barely two nickels to rub together my dad and a partner agreed to a 7 year lease from Equitable to run the golf course, country club, pool and tennis courts while the development was being built out.
Joe Lee was the architect and the course was built in 1973 and opened in 1974 with bermuda greens for the summer. The opening was rushed since they needed some $$$ fast. In the fall tupersan was applied to kill the bermuda and bent grass was planted.
Early on the course struggled a lot. By 1980 my daad and his partner managed to buy out Equitable and in 1988 my dad bought out his partner. There have been many ups and downs but the course struggled through and recent development and northside Atlanta growth have allowed the club to suceed. We had a nice members course, a great location (by 1988) and a lot of luck.
My dad was injured while I was in college and died in 2003 the last 17 years of his life as a quadrapalegic :-[ When he passed my mother, sister and I had to either sell out or make a commitment/investment that would bring our course up to "snuff" so to speak with the competition around us.
Mike Riley was hired and we decided to try and build a unique look for Atlanta. Influenced by my golf experiences and yes--this website--(I also always loved course architecture and had read everything Doak, Dye, Thomas and Darwin wrote and I loved the older courses) I asked Mike to not worry about making something that we traditionally think of as "commercially appealing".
I believed there was/is a market for interesting golf architecture at a low price in a real private club setting. If we focus on the golf and keep the course in good shape the rest will take care of itself.
Honestly, we did a good job of communicating with the membership and they really just trusted us. It was as simple as a matter of faith in what Mike and I were doing from my mother as well as the members. While we have an advisory board I did not create a renovation committee.
I was not the architect by any stretch as that was Mike Riley although the way the process went was that Mike and I were on site every day (except 5 days)!! so it was extremely hands on. We had an arrangement with Medalist Golf that after shaping bunkers or greens they would give us a couple of days to look at it, sleep on it and make any changes if we felt like it. That process worked very well and I can not say enough good things about Mike Riley or Medalist Golf. My club was certainly "small time" but both Mike and Medalist treated us like we were one of the "big boys" they often work for.
Of course some members wished for bright white sand and manicured bunker edges, wish we had spent money on fancy stone bridges and fountains in the lakes but quite honestly Mike and I were shocked at how 99% of the membership "bought in" to what we are doing. My superintendent is shocked to this day about the lack of complaints when I add more fescue or more love grass on bunker edges! So far we have been able to capitalize on our golf first focus and the interest of the golf course is truly unique for Atlanta.
On a very shameless note when Mike and I first spoke and he was getting a feel for what I was looking for and one thing I said was:
My dream is that when a golfer comes into town they will of course want to play AAC, Peachtree, ACC--all the "names" but I would love it if golfers "in the know" also would say something like this--you know, those courses are great and all but for a hidden gem that you've never heard of, try Rivermont. It's certainly not fancy and the clubhouse needs some work, but for really cool golf, you ought to check it out."
I am not sure but early reports have been very positive about the course and Mike's green complexes are as good as any.
I know this a long post and I'm sorry but it really has been an amazing ride in the golf business. ;D
See you at Camargo.
-
Chris,
Great post that describes great passion. Congratulations!
I may look you up the next time I get down to our Atlanta office :)
-
Chris that was a great post and not nearly long enough imo. That's a great family business story - which I love to hear as I work for my family's business which started in 1928. Now I'm really disappointed we couldn't play together last month, but I look forward to hearing more about it at Camargo.
Your club sounds like the kind of place I would love to be a member of, but there is nothing like that in Cincinnati that I can find.
The course looks really interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing Kyle's back nine pictures.
-
Ok -I'll challenge Chris and Kyle to see who can submit a "My Home Course" to Ran first - you or me. Wayne's been (correctly) busting on me for 3 years to do a writeup of French Creek. And I think Rivermont certainly also deserves such a writeup.
What do you think, guys?
-
My dream is that when a golfer comes into town they will of course want to play AAC, Peachtree, ACC--
all the "names" but I would love it if golfers "in the know" also would say something like this--you
know, those courses are great and all but for a hidden gem that you've never heard of, try Rivermont.
It's certainly not fancy and the clubhouse needs some work, but for really cool golf, you ought to check
it out."
I think you're on your way.
Here are the pics I took of Rivermont (some of which I've already shown before), taken in Winter:
In front of the bunker/ramp complex on #2:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/foodstat/Rivermont/r005.jpg)
Redan #4:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/foodstat/Rivermont/r006.jpg)
green
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/foodstat/Rivermont/r007.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/foodstat/Rivermont/r008.jpg)
cool green on #6 (supposedly idea came from Winged Foot - East #9):
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/foodstat/Rivermont/r009.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/foodstat/Rivermont/r010.jpg)
Punchbowl green on #9:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/foodstat/Rivermont/r011.jpg)
Huge false front on #13:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/foodstat/Rivermont/r001.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/foodstat/Rivermont/r002.jpg)
Uphill drive over bunker Benched into hillside #15 (kinda like Stonewall #16):
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/foodstat/Rivermont/r003.jpg)
Dropshot par 3 #17:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/foodstat/Rivermont/r004.jpg)
-
Another great thing about Rivermont is that it will get better as the renovation continues to mature. I had the pleasure last week of playing both Rivermont and the course known as "Augusta with hardwoods." Rivermont won, no question.
The brownish sand, which is interesting visually, has a more interesting playability component; the ball won't spin, so that bunker is really a hazard.
A lot of courses seem to think that if they move a pin around it makes a huge difference, but at Rivermont that is truly so. I'd like to play the course the day they set up the 18 toughest.
The real marvel is how Mike and Chris were able to incorporate Golden Age features so seamlessly. In the wrong hands such an idea could have turned out ugly. At Rivermont it works remarkably well.
Everything you see, especially little things, tells you the golf course is in great hands.
-
All 18 holes are now posted. Thanks Chris for adding additional insight to the thread.
-
I was finally able to get out to Rivermont today, and what a great experience, including finally meeting Chris Cupit. I've liked everything of Mike Riley's that I've seen (including one of the courses that the club I belong to owns), but Rivermont is a really bold piece of work. Chris and Mike are to be congratulated for taking a risk in the first place, but even more for pulling it off with tremendous style. Believe me, it is even better than the pictures in this thread.
We played the back tees, and I had a blast getting my butt kicked. I would echo the impression that you could play Rivermont every day and not get tired of it. Visually stimulating, and the greens are just magnificent. On #8, I had a putt that I swore was downhill until my playing partner made me come look at it from the other side of the green; then I understood why I left it short of each of my three attempts at it.
Chris, if you read this, I'd be curious to know where you got the bunker sand. I've never seen anything quite like, and I liked it a lot for playing purposes as well as looking great.
-
I played the old Rivermont a lot when I was in high school, and Chris kindly showed me around the new version when I was last in Atlanta (which I believe was a few Christmases ago). All I can say is that Chris has proven that *any* course can be saved and converted into a wonderful piece of architecture that anyone here would love. I wouldn't have believed it were possible at Rivermont, of all places, but it really is!
Cheers,
Darren
-
I played the old Rivermont a lot when I was in high school, and Chris kindly showed me around the new version when I was last in Atlanta (which I believe was a few Christmases ago). All I can say is that Chris has proven that *any* course can be saved and converted into a wonderful piece of architecture that anyone here would love. I wouldn't have believed it were possible at Rivermont, of all places, but it really is!
Cheers,
Darren
Chris, if you do a My Home Course profile, some before and after pictures/analysis would be real interesting.