River Ridge Golf Club
About
River Ridge Golf Club is one of the finest public golf courses in Raleigh. The course sprawls across 100 acres in the heart of the Triangle, it's an easy 15-minute drive from downtown Raleigh. The lush green of the course contrasts beautifully with the Carolina blue skies. Mature trees frame most of the holes and there are a few lakes that come into play. The rolling terrain provides plenty of ups and downs throughout the golf course. Accuracy will be generously rewarded but it's not overly punishing for the high handicapper. The course's signature hole is the par-4 fifth, a 375-yard hole that can be conquered with smart play. Try to keep your long iron or fairway wood to the right of the fairway, which will give you a short iron approach into the green.
| Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 72 | 6740 yards | 72.2 | 138 |
| Blue | 72 | 6274 yards | 69.9 | 128 |
| White (W) | 71 | 5769 yards | 74.1 | 138 |
| White | 72 | 5769 yards | 67.8 | 117 |
| Red (W) | 71 | 5173 yards | 65.4 | 117 |
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black M: 72.6/141 | 398 | 163 | 432 | 549 | 375 | 523 | 395 | 362 | 189 | 3386 | 414 | 315 | 375 | 541 | 410 | 173 | 485 | 197 | 473 | 3383 | 6769 |
| Blue M: 70.3/134 W: 76.1/146 | 362 | 150 | 410 | 480 | 335 | 485 | 369 | 345 | 173 | 3109 | 392 | 290 | 340 | 508 | 375 | 154 | 419 | 157 | 462 | 3097 | 6206 |
| Blue/White M: 69.2/129 W: 74.7/142 | 331 | 150 | 379 | 480 | 335 | 470 | 350 | 345 | 155 | 2995 | 355 | 290 | 340 | 508 | 350 | 142 | 389 | 157 | 462 | 2993 | 5988 |
| White M: 68.6/125 W: 73.7/137 | 331 | 120 | 379 | 438 | 300 | 470 | 350 | 325 | 155 | 2868 | 355 | 270 | 319 | 464 | 350 | 142 | 389 | 144 | 455 | 2888 | 5756 |
| White/Gold M: 67.8/122 W: 72.5/135 | 331 | 120 | 314 | 438 | 288 | 470 | 300 | 291 | 155 | 2707 | 355 | 270 | 319 | 456 | 338 | 142 | 364 | 140 | 455 | 2839 | 5546 |
| Gold M: 66.9/119 W: 71.5/131 | 319 | 111 | 314 | 410 | 288 | 449 | 300 | 291 | 142 | 2624 | 321 | 260 | 285 | 456 | 338 | 129 | 364 | 140 | 437 | 2730 | 5354 |
| Red M: 64.1/112 W: 68.4/120 | 292 | 94 | 280 | 383 | 265 | 417 | 288 | 284 | 136 | 2439 | 313 | 223 | 270 | 366 | 312 | 124 | 292 | 124 | 256 | 2280 | 4719 |
| Handicap | 9 | 15 | 1 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 17 | 11 | 8 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 14 | 2 | 4 | 18 | |||
| Par | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 36 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 36 | 72 |
| Handicap (W) | 11 | 17 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 13 | 15 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 2 | 16 | 18 |
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Course Details
Rentals/Services
Practice/Instruction
Policies
Food & Beverage
Bar, Snacks, Beverage CartsAvailable Facilities
Clubhouse, Lounge, Meeting Facilities, Conference Facilities, Banquet FacilitiesAvailable Activities
Swimming, BilliardsAvailable Sports
TennisReviews
Reviewer Photos
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Photo submitted by nI22pm8b36yKk6sJpmLn on 09/17/2025
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Photo submitted by nI22pm8b36yKk6sJpmLn on 09/17/2025
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Photo submitted by nI22pm8b36yKk6sJpmLn on 09/17/2025
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Photo submitted by nI22pm8b36yKk6sJpmLn on 09/17/2025
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Photo submitted by nI22pm8b36yKk6sJpmLn on 09/17/2025
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Photo submitted by nI22pm8b36yKk6sJpmLn on 09/17/2025
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Photo submitted by atif4196640 on 08/16/2025
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Photo submitted by atif4196640 on 08/16/2025
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Photo submitted by sjdisney on 07/10/2025
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Photo submitted by u314160544789 on 10/02/2024
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Photo submitted by u314160544789 on 10/02/2024
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Photo submitted by u314159265457 on 06/21/2024
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Photo submitted by tannergold13 on 06/02/2024
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Photo submitted by bmwpack on 08/07/2023
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Photo submitted by BronxBomber722 on 06/02/2022
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Photo submitted by BronxBomber722 on 06/02/2022
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Photo submitted by BronxBomber722 on 06/02/2022
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Photo submitted by bmwpack on 03/29/2022
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Photo submitted by jdlish on 10/10/2020
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Photo submitted by RG3B7520E95DB03394EF on 08/23/2019
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Photo submitted by u00000670919 on 07/18/2019
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Looking back to #18 green from first tee Photo submitted by u9619163 on 02/22/2018
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#5 Photo submitted by u9619163 on 02/22/2018
River Ridge Best Value
Enjoyed the layout and the greens were in great shape. The slope was consistent from hole to hole.
Excellent Course
Course was in great condition. There are numerous tee options. I played the whites, and the layout was excellent from these tees. Had to hit into fairways, but the site lines made it very easy to see where trouble would occur. Fairways, greens, tee boxes and rough were all good but not over-the-top challenging.
Not What It Appears
I want to give a fair and honest review of this course, because it deserves it after I played on Friday. I had seen previous reviews that all pointed to this being a course in excellent shape, for great value. I decided that my wife and I would try it out to kick off our anniversary weekend (she likes to ride, while I golf)
I'll start with the bad:
1st- There is a yard sign out front that has written "HELP WANTED COURSE MAINTENANCE" in sharpie...A pretty ominous sign...
2nd- Check In- The pro (or clerk) at the desk was not friendly at all. He charged me the $80, and then never clearly stated that he paired me with 3 other folks (great guys), and then charged me an extra $20 because my wife was with me and I could not ride in a cart with a 3rd. He looked at me like I was stupid for asking why he was charging an additional $20. It cost me $100.00 to play this course as a single, which is about $65.00 more than it is worth, and was pretty clear that they are trying to pack out the course to make as much money as possible.
3rd- The range is bad. Really bad. Trying to find a flat lie that is not in a crater is nearly impossible.
4th- Pace of play is bad (it took over 5 hours to play) due to the details mentioned above
5th- The greens are really, really slow and very inconsistent and bumpy. You can hear you ball whizz on the green when you putt because it is not cut down consistently in areas.
6th- There are no bathrooms anywhere on the course for women. (I saw not a single woman out there other than my wife).
7th- If you haven't played the course before, you're hitting blind constantly and the course is poorly marked. Several perfect drives that landed in great spots ended up in hazards (ex. #10 fairway I hit a 240yd 3 wood to right center, which ran left across the entire fairway and into a hazard).
8th- We ordered food on #8 to be ready at the turn. It wasn't, we had to wait for no reason to get hot dogs. This held up play further.
9th- Some of the tee box setups intentionally directed you into the blind hazards, which really didn't make any sense because not many people are able to shape the ball on some of the setups as required.
The Good:
Aside from some of the blind shots, the course layout is actually really fun. It screams of a course that could be bought by someone who had money to put into it, and turn it into a really nice place to play- there are plenty of awesome visuals on the course.
Overall:
Really disappointed in the fact that they charged me $100 to play this public course in no more than fair condition. That is way overpriced, and leads me to not want to return to this place unless I hear that there is some investment into the grounds to be properly cared for.
Be very cautious about the advertisement that this is "#14 public course in NC". It is simply nowhere near that. If you can get on for $30, go for it.
Premium Rate Not Worth It
I like this course. But for the price they are charging now, it's not worth it. Decent layout and overall good conditions but not great. But for $80, the greens are bumpy and sparse in a few areas, there is no water on the course or beverage cart circulating the course, tee times are too close together and there is no ranger enforcing pace of play. We waited several minutes on every tee shot after around hole 7. Sparsly waited before that but it only got longer and longer waits each tee and started having to wait pretty much every shot except putts. What is the point of having a timer on your cart GPS if it doesn't matter when it sayd you're 25 minutes behind pace....? I mentioned the slow pace of play to two people after the round in the clubhouse and neither of them said anything or basically acknowledged I was speaking to them at all.
Moral of the story, this is a Hot Deal course. It's a $50-$60 course. The only time I will pay stock rate again will be in a pinch.
Fun golf course
Nice variety of holes, lots of elevation changes, course was in good condition
Greens are a little bumpy.
Course is a bit hard, the ground is hard. Greens roll true but are a little bumpy. Lots of unfixed ball marks. Nice course layout.
Over rated
A lot of people speak highly of this course and granted it's early in the season, but Greens aren't in the greatest shape and looks like a ball mark has never been repaired. I don't look too much into anything in between. Greens matter the most and this is nothing to rave about or go running back to
Good course
Great layout, decent conditions...no restaurant or bar (only small grill)....pricey for 18 holes