The Lynx at River Bend Golf Club

First time at this course. Really nice layout with open fairways. However the grass is too high in fairways and surrounding areas. Lost several balls in the fairways. The cart path was in drastic need of improvement. Many holes and too bumpy. If these things are attended to the course would be great. Will go back in a few weeks hoping at least the grass has been mowed to the proper levels.

Overall the course is in good shape. I have seen reviews about the tee boxes but the management are redoing all the 100 + year old tee boxes at the Lynx and they are growing in nicely. Fairways are great as well as the bunkers, greens are amazing and rolling true. I will definitely will be back to play this Tillinghast course

nice course but the tee boxes were awful and the pace of play was unbearable it has a lot of potential

Course is great and has a challenging layout. Most of the holes require course management. Staff is always friendly. Nice small clubhouse bar with a patio. We enjoy playing here and play at least 2x a month

A bit confusing with Tee Box locations on some of the holes and a foursome jumped in front of us on the back 9 but otherwise we had a fun round.

We played a 4.5 hour round. Not too crowded. The greens were well kept and rolled well. The tee boxes in general needed some love, but were usable. Overall conditions were a 4/5. I would definitely play here again and would highly recommend giving the course a shot.

Greens in great shape for mid July, soft and rolling true. Bunkers well groomed. Rough was short and manageable. Fairways were patchy in places. Tee boxes were poor, very hard with little grass and often uneven. Cart paths are deteriorating and give a bumpy ride. Very friendly staff.

Course gets better every year. Despite heat wave, greens were soft and lush. Thanks to Charlie in pro shop for getting our group right out, his customer service is top notch.

At this stirring parkland layout, two architects from different eras—A.W. Tillinghast and Ron Cutlip—have left distinct imprints each of the nine holes they designed. The end result, mainly, is a blend of classic and modern design philosophies. Tillinghast, one of merely a handful of architects enshrined in the World Golf Hall of Fame, made contributions that demand strategic thinking on this course, including the ways his careful fairway angles, visible greens, and challenging bunkering reward thoughtful play and penalize imprecision. In contrast, Cutlip’s modern additions emphasize tighter driving corridors, precision into small (and some even more sharply contoured) greens, and, in places, a slightly more exacting brand of target golf. The common thread to these eighteen is that every hole primarily uses the natural landscape almost as found; not much earth-moving has been done, even around the greens. Yet while the holes laid out by each designer may seem to have the same identity, some important distinctions separate them. A fairly close look at the differing contributions of Tillinghast and Cutlip bears this out:

The Tillinghast Holes (1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 14, 17, 18):

One part of the Tillinghast design philosophy was critical: course strategy should often dictate how holes are played. The keystone to this idea involved placing the drive on a preferred side of nearly any given fairway. What does this achieve? Simply that the player earns a better angle–the ideal one–into the green. Landing your ball on the fairway’s “wrong” side, by contrast, makes for a significantly harder approach. And that is true of every par-4 and 5. A prominent example: the fifth, where a tall tree intrudes near the fairway’s edge to make the approach from the right side incredibly tough; the left side, by contrast, opens up the green. And fairness always seems part of the tee-to-green equation: all of Tillinghast’s greens remain visible from the fairways or tees. The well-bunkered Tillinghast greens are also undulating or well contoured. They are often further guarded by falloffs and by a pesky tree(s) in the general area. While good driving is necessary, a well-placed approach shot is vital–and will save you from headaches. Bunker positioning, shapes, and sizes have a great deal of variety, but the majority are deep. Risk/reward options are evident on holes like the first (to carry the cross hazard on the second shot) and the third, a “Cape” design–where from the tee golfers choose how much of the curving, right-side hazard to carry.

The Cutlip Holes (2, 4, 6, 8,9, 10, 12, 15, 16):

Ron Cutlip, who is essentially a “Modern” architect, added nine holes, which in fact are lightly integrated but primarily interspersed with the Tillinghast holes (they are not separated nines). In truth, some of these holes–most notably six, eight, nine, and fifteen–feel almost as if they are part of a Tillinghast course. Yet they add a more rigorous element of target golf: several tighter fairways surrounded by more trouble, greens that can be very challenging to hit–sometimes due to their more severe pitches or smaller sizes. Pitching and chipping to a few of these greens will require genuine skill. In general, Mr. Cutlip designed his holes to put more of a premium on straight driving, particularly at holes like the second, fourth, tenth, and fifteenth. What’s admirable about his style is that it remains challenging enough without becoming overwhelming. The pond at four, for instance, lies a comfortable distance from the green. His dogleg-left 15th is made tricky by its angles and ground movement, yet it’s still a breather hole with a wide-ish fairway and no serious bunkers or other hazards.

Three Great Holes from A.W. Tillinghast:

Three: Par-4, 366. A Cape hole. Since the tendency is to hit drive too far to the right through the fairway, the perfect shot is a fade. The green, flanked by bunkers, opens from the fairway’s left side.

Fourteen: Par-3, 135. Not quite a “Postage Stamp” hole because the green is so large, but a trio of large bunkers surrounds it.

Eighteen: Par-5, 570. A very rolling hole and massively long from the blue tees, its defining feature becomes the menacing tall trees on the left side of a slightly bending, offset fairway. Moves downhill from a ridge some 300 yards before the green. The green adds complex contouring. For nearly all players, a GIR will take three shots.

Outstanding holes from Ron Cutlip:

Two: Par-4, 393. The #1 index and clearly courses’ most hazardous par-4, as it is dominated by woods, big greenside bunkers, and a very tight fairway. Part of the “Cat’s Claw.”

Six: Par-3, 163. Brilliant hole that plays over a small hollow. The two tiered green, sloping back to front, makes this hole demonic when you land on the wrong level.

Sixteen: Par-5, 498. A couple of Cutlip’s holes add a fine Golden Age feel. This one plays straightaway to an open driving area, although a pair of bunkers pinch the landing zone near the peak of its uprise. It’s a nice second shot hole, allowing long hitters to have a go at the green.

Conditions: Very good. The front nine had a few small shortcomings in places, and their fairways were also a bit long, surprisingly. The back nine, however, was cut perfectly and looked impeccable all around. Greens ran at medium speed.

Service: Pace was pleasingly fast. The gentleman I met at the front desk, Charlie, was outstanding in every way and very knowledgeable; I thank him for carefully outlining who designed what. Helpfulness doesn’t get better than this!

Some Conclusions:

This course was originally called “Port Jervis Country Club” when Tillinghast redesigned it in 1921. While the new name is far more imaginative, its pun on Links/Lynx is clever but a stretch: the design/landscape is instead pure parkland!

Playing any Tillinghast course always seems to enhance my appreciation for the game of golf. Kudos, as well, to Ron Cutlip for his intelligent addition of nine playable, varied, and challenging holes that complement those of Tillinghast. It’s one of those layouts I could play more than fifty times without once tiring of it.

Greens were dry but they were working on the water system. Great course.