Riverside Golf Course Review – GolfBlogger Golf Blog

Riverside Golf Course
Grade: C
Teacher’s Comments: A pleasant design that deserves better conditions.

Once a private club, Riverside has been open to the public since 2011. It’s a parklands style course, with surprising elevation changes.

A golf course has been at the location since 1926, but Bruce and Jerry Matthews are credited in several places as the architects, so perhaps it was redone by the pair at a later date. I also think it is possible that the back nine was added at a later date, designed by the Matthews.

Riverside, as a name, is more aspirational than actual. There is a river in the vicinity, but none of the course is at its side. The closest it gets is the sixth green, which according to Google Maps is 500 feet from the river’s shore.

And there’s no view.

That said, the course does play from heights down to lowlands which no doubt are part of the Kalamazoo River valley.

The first hole dives down from a ridge which constitutes the highest point on the front nine. From there, most of the holes either climb up or down the slope of that ridge. Even the holes that run parallel to the heights have meaningful elevation changes. The seventh and ninth greens are situated atop the same ridge as the first tee (and clubhouse).

The two nines of the course are separated by Columbia Avenue, a busy four lane road. Fortunately, there is an underpass built just for the course.

Riverview’s back nine is tighter and in some ways hillier, with many holes having both ups and downs.

I also thought the back nine was much more interesting than the front, which for all the elevation changes was just a series of straight-ish shots.

My favorite hole at Riverside was the 399 yard par four tenth. After the somewhat pedestrian front nine, there was a bit of a wow factor upon emerging from the dark concrete tunnel underpass.

The tenth starts on an elevated tee, situated a few yards below the ridge and road behind. The fairway dives down, then rises and turns left, threading between stands of pine. The hole continues to rise to the mounded green, which is guarded left and right by bunkers.

I also really enjoyed the fourteenth. It too starts from an elevated tee, dives downward and then steadily climbs to the green. A pond — unseen from the tee — lurks on the left side of the landing zone. The right side of the climb is a hillside which — if one pulls a shot to that side — offers an awkward lie for a recovery shot (I found this out the hard way.)

The eighteen is a fun, downhill thrill ride, with a blind tee shot that properly placed should run out for a long way. The green rises sharply above the low point, perched on the side of the same ridge that defines the front nine and is also the starting point for the tenth.

From the back tees, Riverside stretches to 6, 659 yards and plays to a 72.7/120.

The Riverside property apparently has been for sale for a couple of years, and was recently facing a rezoning to light industrial, commercial and multi-unit homes. As of October 2024, however, that proposal seemed to be off the table. The golf course remains zoned for single-family residences, though.

Conditions on the day I played were lacking. I found sparse fairways, weeds growing in bunkers and damaged greens. Some of that could perhaps be attributed to a certain degree of apathy due to the aforementioned rezoning threats.

Still, Riverside was not making a good case for itself as a golf course instead of a housing development or industrial park.

And I think Riverside deserves a better case. It’s a fun design, with classic vibes on the front and a worthwhile challenge on the back. As it is, I’m sure locals will often enjoy a round there.

The Riverside Golf Course Review was first published November 15, 2025 from notes and photos taken on a round played in the summer of 2025.

Read all of GolfBlogger’s Michigan Golf Course Reviews.

A course photo tour follows:

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