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View Full Version : Anyone played Rich River (Echuca)? - Updated with review



oz
22nd September 2005, 12:07 PM
I am down there next week, and have a game booked for Thursday.  Don't know which course yet (there are two 18's), they'll decide next week.  Only disappointment is that they are, or have just completed, coring the greens, so they will be far from their best.

Anyone played there previously?  What can I expect?

Thanks

Oz

Grunt
22nd September 2005, 12:10 PM
not I oz. Posting a reveiw when you get back would be good though.

AndyP
22nd September 2005, 01:06 PM
Seriously thought about it while I was in Swan Hill recently. But in the end I figured I had had enough of driving, and didn't make the effort.

oz
22nd September 2005, 01:11 PM
I hear good things... but it's not going to be in great nick, due to the coring.... but I will post a review when I get back....

Ona
22nd September 2005, 01:19 PM
Played the composite course a few months ago. To be honest I dont remember much :( The one or two fairways I hit were quite nice, although the grass they use isn't my favourite, whatever it is. Umm... I liked it, distances were to the centre of the green... thats all I've got :oops:

marcel
22nd September 2005, 02:04 PM
I've played one of the 18's a few years ago (not sure which one). Thought it was a very fine course, not as good as Murray Downs for mine but I'd put it second of those I've played on the river. (Murray Downs, Rich River, Tocumwal, Cobram Barooga)

oz
22nd September 2005, 03:56 PM
Thanks guys.

Marcel, that's quite a big rap to rank it ahead of Cobram. Tocumwal is gettting lots of praise at the moment... I should venture downthere, too.

I, too, love Murray Downs, and wasn't expecting Rich River to be of that calibre.

I am hoping the greens won't be too bad by late next week.

oz
30th September 2005, 07:05 PM
OK. I played Rich River this week. I played in the Thursday Men's Comp, a stableford event.

I played a composite 18, made up of the West front 9, and the back 9 from the East course.

The greens had been cored. The front 9 probably about 2 weeks ago, and the back 9, probably only 1 week ago. Despite the fact they were a bit bumpy from the long growth, coring and sanding, it didn't detract from the course.

I played in very, very windy conditions, the day after some heavy rain. The conditions were quite challenging.

I will say outright that I loved this course. The couch fairways were a delight, with not a bad lie all day, and the mixture of testing par 4's (both long & short), risk / reward par 5's, and a good blend of varied short holes kept the entertainment rolling throughout the 18 hole trek.

I missed a bunch of short putts (4 of them from less than 3 feet, actually), but i'm not going to blame the cored surfaces.... In my opinion, a bumpy green shows up a bad stroke. A good green can sometimes mask a flawed motion. I would love to take another crack at rich River when the greens were back to normal after coring. that would be a treat.

From the composite 18 holes I played, the standouts were:

No 1 - Par 4 - 355m - A nice gentle looking hole to ease you into it... but with a great green complex, with plenty of mounds and a well placed bunker left. We played this straight into the teeth of a very strong wind. I carved my drive, and got caught up in the trees with my 2nd, got a foul lie in the rough (deservedly), and then missed another short putt. Started with a double bogey 6. So much for a nice gentle start.

No 6 - Par 5 - 451m - A double dogleg with plenty of tree trouble everywhere. I took the driver over the trees on the corner to straighten out the drive, and flushed it. It ran through the other side of the fairway into the 1st cut. Blocked by some trees (the other half of the double-dogleg), I tried to hook a 7 iron around to the green. I overcooked it, it caught a tree just short of the green and it dropped into a bunker some 10 paces short of the green. A tentative bunker shot and 2 putts later, and I have a par. What a great short par 5.

No 8 - Par 3 - 173m - Playing into and across a howling westerly, this hole is skirted along the left by a lake, and the green sits at you a little obliquely. I hit a 5 iron (a touch skinny, actually) through to the back edge, about 20 feet behind the pin, just a couple of inches into the fringe. I put a decent stroke on it for a change, and in it went for a birdie 2. :) Couldn't make the 2 - 3 foot birdie putts, but made one from 20 ft :roll:

No 12 - par 4 - 384m - the No 1 index hole is a cracker. Straight back inot the strong wind again, you are confronted by 2 very threatening fairway traps, and water along the right side. The green complex is slightly above the fairway, and the green has a fairly steep back to front slope. I hit my drive high right into the breeze, and the strength of the wind meant I had a 3 wood 2nd shot (which I also carved right). Fortunately it stgayed out of the water, but left me no shot. My first pitch was short, then i chipped up & down for bogey. Strong hole. Great looking from the tee box.

No 13 - Par 3 - 189m - A solid hole with water right, and a green that sits at you obliquely. We played it down breeze, with the pin tucked in the very back right. I smoothed a 6 iron over the back, and then duffed a chip from a thick couch lie. My 2nd chip was a gem, up to 12 inches. Howver, another of those silly missed short putts. It jumped form a coring hole, but still should not have missed from there. My putting sucked. Another double bogey (I would make 3 in this round :roll: )

No 15 - Par 4 - 362m - Another visually strong hole from the tee. A staggered row of fairway bunkers diagonally across the fairway challenge you to take them on, mindful of the sloping fairway down to the water on the left. I ripped a drive down the middle, straight back into the westerly, and was left with 115m to the middle of the green. I tried to be cute and hit a little low running 9 iron, but left it on the front fringe. Up & down for par. A striking hole. If you blew the tee shot, you culd make 6 or 7 here, real quick.

No 18 - Par 5 - 529m - Long dogleg left, back into that bloody wind again.... A sweeping long finishing hole, with fairway bunkers guarding the short-cut form the tee, and water along the left for your 2ns & 3rd shots. there are a bunch of bunkers guarding the green, and pently of little swales on the surface. You wouldn't want to need birdie to win the club championships... that's for sure. I hit a good drive, but a bit high into that wind. My 3 wood 2nd gets hit by the wind and goes left, into the trees (saving it from the lake). I hit a beautiful 9 iron 3rd, but the wind just whipped it left into the greenside bunker. A decent bunker shot and a crap 2 putt later, I make a bogey.

What a blast it was to play this course. I enjoyed every step of the way, including all my missed short putts, multiple double-bogeys, and other mishaps. I shot an 80 for the day (34 points), which was respectable in the conditions, and the most fun I have had without breaking 80, that is for certain.

I would recommend Rich River to you most highly. I would agree with marcel, in saying that it is second only to Murray Downs, in terms of Murray River golf, and well worht the drive to get there.

I will certainly be going back to try those greens at their best, and to hopefully strike a day with less wind. :)

Cheers,

Mike

Ona
30th September 2005, 08:12 PM
Nice review Mike :D

The bad news is, even reading that I can't recall my round there less than 5 months ago. Memory gets better with age right... if not I'm in trouble :(

oz
30th September 2005, 08:19 PM
:lol: Ona, don't worry... you probably played the other 18 holes of the 36.,.. and that's why they're not ringing any bells.... either that, or you're sundowning again ;) :lol:

Ona
30th September 2005, 08:34 PM
thats it oz, I definitely played the other 18 holes :smt045

oz
1st October 2005, 06:29 PM
I forgot to add..... this was one of the few times / courses where I used every club in the bag. I'm sure the wind helped in that regard, but it was nice to play such a wide variety of golf shots and golf holes.