River's Bend Golf Club, Chester, VA

Closed - No longer open

I played this course a couple weeks back with my nephew and he loved the course, a lot of great views, and some challenging holes.I would recommend for a casual round with friends or family.

The course is challenging. There is not much room for error with the narrow fairways and tight greens. It says it has a full service club house, but the amenities are lacking. The grass is terrible; there is no distinction between the fairways and the rough. The sand traps were not even really sand traps, they were more like hard sandy ponds with overgrown weeds. There were no ball washers at the tee box. You have to ride, no walking. It was the most poorly maintained course I've ever seen.

This was obviously a 5-star course at one time. Many holes have a really cool layout. Small, fast greens rolled great. Steep slopes guarding some of the greens. Several blind shots and many hazardous waste areas. All of these things made it a great course to play. My poor score was 100% MY fault. I usually shoot 78-82; I shot a 94 with 6 penalty strokes! I was terrible. I should have taken the cart ahead to check out blind shots BEFORE hitting. Many of the bunkers were unkept and the tees and fairways were crabgrass - cut short it did not affect my game, it just does not look nice. The greens were excellent and the layout is challenging and fun. I will definitely play there again.

The course could definitely use some maintenance. I wouldn't pay full price and expect to get my monies worth out of the fairways, bunkers, and definitely not the greens. However, if you get discounted play as I did, it is a fun course. I will be playing this one again and again, when the situation allows. The back 9 is drastically different from the front. It makes the course more interesting. There are better courses in the area, but I liked this one fine.

This was a tough course to play the first time. It was certainly not maintained very well. Not that I am a good golfer but I generally do not lose many balls when I am playing. I lost quite a few balls in this course. Narrow, unmaintained fairways are plenty but the difficulty of this course will draw people in.

Not an enjoyable golf course. Poorly designed with overgrown vegetation and narrow fairways. Course has odd layout with holes running parallel to each other, which can make it tough determine what fairway you are supposed to be aiming at (they are literally stacked on top of each other). Course had no range balls available to practice with and may zero attempt to get some. Will not be playing this one again. Not even worth the $20 tee time.

The front 9 of this course was very hard for me! Not a grip, it and rip it course... If you miss hit a ball it's in a marsh or water, and your ball is GONE. There is no course map or hole map- except a 2 inch by 2 inch non-detailed picture on the back of the score card, so you have to play a few times, or take time scouting out the course/ hole to figure out where to hit numerous blind tee/ approach shots. Those were just tips for first timers like I was when I played this over the weekend. The back 9 however was a bunch of fun! The par 3's are fantastic, and will allow for putt-putt-like corrections, (Ie draw, a bit too, much with a 9 iron, bounce off a hill, roll down some guys yard and on to the green on #17. #18 view is sweet, and you can BOMB a drive from way above the fairway. Very fun, but if you slice or fade on #18 you endanger players on the #5 par 3:) If you hook off of this tee- ball is gone, if you are short, ball is gone. Straight or right is your ONLY option. I played with a buy one get one green fees coupon and my partner and I paid $35 each riding. There is a $5.00 military discount, too. The scenery is the best part of playing here, and the whole course needs maintenance. Still fun for the money with a coupon or discount!