Matt:
If you're looking for venom, try the Merion threads.
I'll admit it -- I hold the River Course to a higher standard than most any other course in Wisconsin. It's the one course that set off something of a mini-golf boom here in Wisconsin, leading to WStraits, Erin Hills, several majors and a Ryder Cup. I'm not sure any of those would've happened without Kohler taking the risk (and it was viewed as very risky at the time) to hire Dye and build the River course. Kohler's bold vision in building the course, and setting the green fees where he did (along with a very high level of service and upkeep and course maintenence, which does deserve mention), set a standard for this state.
And as I've said many times, the River Course in particular (moreso than any of the other three Kohler courses) sits on a wonderful,
natural piece of land that encapsulates what you find in that part of the state -- rolling terrain, woods and rivers, captivating vistas. It's great golfing land.
I just think Dye tried too hard here. The course is often jarring to the eye. Rather than embracing natural features of the land, he junks it up with ski moguls, split fairways, and artificial constructs. And I get that it's supposed to be a tough course -- but golf even when tough should provide the player with a level of satisfaction and (most importantly) fun.
This hole, to me, epitomizes all that is wrong with Dye's work at the River Course -- the short par 4 14th (easily my least-favorite hole on the course):
An onerous carry from the tees, penal in all respects:
An approach shot that's hemmed in on all sides, with severe penalties for shots slightly off line (with the artificial pond lined by artificial rocks lining an entire side of the hole):
I find, literally, nothing appealing about this hole -- narrow, penal, forcing one-dimensional play out of the golfer, with artificial features propping up its difficulty:
Pat and others:
Yes, the land has some boldness to it -- but it's not crazy bold land, ala what you'd find at many other highly touted courses. From what I've seen, the land at the River Course has less bold movement in it, and less elevation change, than either Sand Hills or Ballyneal, and those two courses appear to blend into their surrounds in a much better way than the River. I don't think the land at the River is all the more dramatic than what you find at Milwaukee CC, and that to me is a much superior course.