River Oaks Country Club Course Review

The River Oaks Country Club sits on a beautiful piece of real estate in Huston, Texas and its a private equity facility, available for its members and their guests only. The golf course at River Oaks Country Club was designed by the famous architect Donald J. Ross and it has been opened since 1922. In 1969, the golf courses was restored under the supervision of Joe Finger and today, it can be described as a true gem of the Lone Stars state. The golf courses initial design, courtesy of Donald Ross was a true masterpiece, a classical example of masterfully combining design, strategy and style, whilst the later touch from 1969 by Joe Finger put into play modern engineering techniques combined with elements of the penal style, thus stiffening the challenge. Joe Fingers restoration job followed closely Rosss original routing, but it enhanced it in such a way that modern day players would enjoy a truly challenging experience on a state of the art golf course, but without compromising the features and the Donalds Ross original pedigree.

The original design featured 6375 yards of golf from its longest tees, while the new/present day 6868 yard golf course, though pretty much changed from the initial design, still remains what it was intended to be at its inception, i.e. one of Americas best private layouts. The original design by Donald Ross was a classic parkland-course, the essential pre-war layout basically, with many doglegged holes that follow the natural contours of the terrain, ample use of bunkers, small greens and tree lined fairways. Playing the River Oaks Country Club will make use of all your clubs in the bag, as it will require accurate iron play, accurate/long tee shots, excellent short game and, of course, consistent putting. Joe Fingers touch renewed the greens and the fairways and also stretched the layout with some 400 yards, including balancing both 9s at par 36. The end result was pure evolution, as today the River Oaks Country Club plays better than ever before, being consistently ranked high by prestigious golf publications and its one of the finest in Texas.