Playing River Oaks Golf Course

Saturday I headed down to Cottage Grove, MN to play River Oaks.  It was a cloudy cool overcast day but the wind was down.  I had a tee time with my wife Lisa and her brother Jeremy.  This was Lisa's first 18 since injuring her hand last year.  For Jeremy, it was his first round since playing Giant's Ridge last August.

Jeremy has just started working at a landscaping job and his body is still getting used to it.  His back and hands are still pretty sore so he was interested to see how his game was going to be.

The course is pretty short at 6400 yards from the back tees.  There are three tee boxes on the course.

I started off the round great with 2 birdies and 2 pars in the first 4 holes but things quickly turned back towards my normal erratic play.

The round was a little cold and gloomy but we stayed dry during the round.

The practice facilities at the club. 

Hole 1 is 506 yard par 5 that plays straight away.  A road runs really close down the left side.

I had only 200 yards on my second.  I came up short but chipped on and made my bird.

Hole 2 is a 408 yard par 4.

Jeremy hitting his second shot towards the green.

The green has some severe undulations.

I managed par here.

The 385 yard straight par 4 3rd.

One more par.

The first par 3 at 158 yards.  The power lines are in play but if you hit them you get a free re-hit.

I managed one last moment of goodness with a bird here before the wheels on the bus fell off.

The par 4 5th at 299 yards.  It doglegs right around the pond and the weeping willow.

Lisa hitting into the green.

The 325 yard par 4 6th.  Trees on the left can come into play with a good drive or can prevent a good shot if short and too far left off the tee.

There is also water right but it is pretty far up on the hole and really shouldn't come into play.

The par 3 7th at 164 yards.

The par 4, 359 yard, 8th hole.

The green has water surrounding deep.

Hole 9 is a 399 yard par 4.  Water is left off the tee but shouldn't be in play.

Other than a few trees the only real danger here are the bunkers.

 

The par 4, 408 yard, 10th is a target golf hole.  A tough hole that really requires you to cut the trees on the right in order to not have 250 yards on your second shot.  A massive downhill tee shot, there is a signal on the tee box to let you know when you can hit.

Here is the hole after it turns on the dogleg.  I was 250 yards out.

Hole 11 is a 388 yard par 4.  The hole doglegs right at the right bunker you can see off the tee.

The pretty par 3 hole 12.  193 yards that must carry the water to reach the green or else you can bail out left and play around the hazard.

The tee on 13 requires a shot across the water you just played on 12.  THis is a par 5 at 571 yards, the longest hole on the course.

The hole doglegs left at the right bunker off the tee.

Once the hole turns left you then have a slight dogleg right to the green.  The dogleg is protected by trees at the turn.

Your third shot may need to carry the trees in front of the green.

Or, if you play far enough left you have this shot to the green.

Hole 14 is a 334 yard par 4 that turns right past the trees on the right.

Besides the trees on the right, a large bunker complex is also there to catch those trying to cut too much off.

Hole 15 is a 405 yard par 4 that doglegs left.

After the dogleg only a large bunker protects the green short right.

Hole 16 is the last par 3 at 207 yards.  Bunkers around the green make this long hole tougher.

Hole 17 is another dogleg left par 4. 

Again once you clear the dogleg the hole is pretty wide open to the green.

Hole 18 is a par 5 finishing hole at 496 yards.  Off the tee you can't hit driver as the hole turns left sharply. 

After the dogleg the hole rises uphill most of the way to the hole.  The second shot is blind up the hill.

The third shot continues should be relatively flat towards the green.

We finished the round just as rain started.  We could see it coming up behind us on 18 and we just made it to the car when the skies opened up.  it rained for the rest of the day.  Good timing.

overall the course was fairly fun to play.  Not a lot of hazards or variety to the holes.  It is a bit of a drive for me but I would go back.  This course is consistently ranked as a top value metro course.  The weekend fees are only $33.  If it were a little closer it might be one I would look to play more often but as it is it is a little too far for me to want to come back often to play.