This is my go-to course when I want to play a quick 9 by myself. There is a little bit of water on the course but not enough to give anyone huge headaches. Most holes are straight and there are no blind tee shots (which is nice for an amateur like myself). I have had nothing but good experiences here. The course has been in good shape as well each time I've played
If you want a course that has no tee times and you can just show up whenever you want this is the place for you. Be aware however that because of this you your round could take longer than you expect. There are no "rangers" that actually do anything to control slow play or hole hoppers. Because this course is open season for anyone who pays the green fees, you can encounter beginners who have no clue, 5 somes and even 6 somes so you might take a much longer time to play. Management seems more concerned with those bringing outside coolers. Course is straight, no bunkers, some water and offers little challenge to straight/hard hitters. Greens never rolled and tee boxes, benches, ball washers receive little attention if any. He can't even replace the torn flags.
Today my husband and I decided to go golfing at River Lakes Golf Course in Columbia, IL with our 9 year old daughter. My daughter and I are just starting to learn the game and travel to many different golf courses around this area with my husband. We have never been treated so rudely at any golfing establishment until we came here. The owner and gentleman that worked the counter immediately informed us that we could not golf with our 9 year old daughter. Apparently they do not support the development of future young golfers but they said it was because of their insurance with the golf carts. However, we said "alright." We had driven 30 minutes to get there and needed to redeem our rain checks from the first time we were there a couple weeks ago.(Which was not a good experience either! My husband lost his wedge on the course and when he called a week later, they said it hadn't been returned.) Back to today...After agreeing that our daughter would behave and not golf, the owner began to confuse my husband with someone else apparently concerning an incident there 2-3 months ago. I informed the owner that 2 weeks ago was the first time we were ever there. Then MAGICALLY, there was my husband's wedge from the owner's office!!! He had it when my husband was told it was not there. I was really insulted at this point with the accusation and nasty looks, but again we had already paid for the golf 2 weeks ago. My husband bit his tongue and said "thank you for letting us come out and play." Later, we returned from our 18 holes to find two blonde children DRIVING the golf carts all around the parking lot completely unattended!!! There were rules posted about "no fivesomes" and there were 2 of those out at the same time we were. Not to mention, the ranger was a player in one of the groups of 5! If you are going to enforce rules on one group of people then you should enforce the rules for everyone. I hate it when people use the "race card" in situations that it doesn't apply but today I felt discriminated against. I truly feel that River Lakes Golf Course is racist and shady. I will never be returning and will share my horrid experience with everyone in my golfing community.
This is the perfect course for the beginner. The fairways were immaculate, all greens and tee boxes have collars. Yes, some tee boxes are close and often times there is slow play, but for the value you can't beat this place.
