Riverside Golf Course

On a day in mid-January when temperatures went into the 70’s after a week in the 30’s, this old Perry Maxwell-designed course (once the home of the Austin Country Club) showed the effects of a tough winter. We weren’t just dealing with tight lies on thin brown grass; we were looking for patches of thin brown grass amidst the bare dirt. Greens were a bit bumpy, and several gave the appearance of having been sanded for ice (which, of course, they weren’t, but then where did all those clumps of sand come from?). So, the course was not presenting its best face.

Nevertheless, playing behind a pretty full tee sheet ahead of us, our 5-some finished in just a little more than 4 hours and enjoyed the day despite the course conditions. I suspect things will improve markedly in the spring and summer, but so will the crowds.

Overall, the course conditions were commensurate with the price ($38 for green fees & cart). If you go in with the proper expectations, it will be enjoyable.

Great simple course. Fairways and greens in good conditions, can get waterlogged in some areas, especially in the bunkers. Greens are fast and different than the Austin Munis. Not very challenging or varied layout, but simple and enjoyable.

Honestly, the greens right now are better than any of your other usual suspects around the area. The course isn’t super challenging but it’s a ton of fun. Multiple drivable 4’s and multiple hole on one-able short par 3s. My only knock was I lost a few balls in what should have been the rough. There was a bunch patches of tall grass and weeds almost directly off the fairway on a few holes. If your ball rolls off the fairway into one of those patches you’re NOT finding it and taking a drop in a wide open field.

I had a tee time for 3:30 on April 6th that was booked through golf now. When I arrived to check in the guy in the shop said that his manager decided to cancel our tee time but would allow us to rebook the same time slot for an additional $15 a person. I informed him that a down-payment was placed to reserve our time slot for 4 golfers at $31 a person. He confirmed that the reservation was made a week in advance but stated that the manager made the decision to cancel our tee time. He stated that I could pay the additional fees or I could leave. I have never played at a course that will cancel your reservation the day of and make you remake the same reservation with an upcharge. I'm sure the guy in the shop just pocketed the difference in price. Very unprofessional and unethical club house.

course is in great shape, other than some uneven tee boxes. and the green have very few bad patches. by far the best value of overall muni conditions as of 4/4. highly recommended for 38 during the week.

Course has improved immensely. Love that the grill delivers drinks and food to you on the course.

No frills golf course and the tee box and greens were in decent shape compared to other municipalities type golf courses. Tight green between sand traps and small water hazards.which I no doubt hit on multiple holes!) definitely play there again

Paired up with a cool group. Pleasant to play with.

It's been a LONG time since I've played this course. While it's no country club, I did find it in better shape than anticipated.

TEES -- Quite a number of the tee boxes have seen a lot of play. Either players think that they're pros and taking divots while not using tees ... or they're just not good golfers. Or perhaps the tee markers need to be moved around a little more. They're not always the biggest tee boxes to begin with. Anyway, there was minimal grass on a number of them and just about dirt only on a couple in particular.

FAIRWAYS -- No complaints here. They all appeared in quite decent shape (when I was actually playing out of them).

HAZARDS -- The bunkers were full and clean, but definitely not soft. Had they been watered a good amount? Are they just a harder sand/dirt compound? I'm not sure. I just know they were all very hard. As for water, there's barely a single pond that you may encounter. Generally speaking, you may have one or two little creek type areas to carry.

GREENS -- Most of these were just fine. However, a number of them had some larger burned up areas (heat, disease?). Soft sand was placed over these spots in lieu of grass. Hopefully a more permanent fix is coming as it might've been better to rope them off as ground under repair and let us drop on a better playing surface. I did encounter FIRE ANTS around the #16 and #17 greens. I avoided one of them but they snuck up on elsewhere so I ended up with a few bites around the ankle. That's not acceptable to me. These really need to be treated ASAP and/or regularly. For the number and size of these mounds, I can tell you from experience that they haven't been dealt with in a timely manner. Get them handled or they'll just become that much bigger of a problem.

CLUBHOUSE ETC -- The clubhouse is the same as it's been for a long, long time. It's a little old building pushed up against the back of the Austin Community College campus. I only stepped inside to pay so I'm not really sure what food/drink options may be available. There's no driving range and they have a single practice green. The carts are pretty basic (as expected) but do have USB ports and the larger drink/cup holders. They were running a beverage cart on the Friday we played and we saw them two or three times.

This is the first time I played this course. As a traditional layout and terrain course, the challenges are different and test your skills. Staff was friendly, respectful and appreciative.
Pace of play was slow. Overall I look forward to playing it again. Highly recommend.

For the price, the experience is about what you'd expect from a public course. Most greens were in good shape but some had large patches of no grass. Fairways were ok but the Texas summer definitely stressed the whole course. We played behind a terribly slow group who had no understanding of golf rules or etiquette. But the absence of any kind of course monitor or marshal left us to suffer through it. The on course beverage server was very nice and timely but at some points they were out of beer (!) and another time out of Gatorade. It seems to me that just a little bit better management and the course could be very nice. With so many beginning golfers on the course, it would be really helpful to have a marshal. But, again, for the price I would recommend it with the understanding that it is a public course and you'll get what you paid for.