River Downs Country Club

$41 (cart included), played on Wednesday, September 2012 at 2pm

Nasty people. Nasty owner very arrogant, understand they have serious problems paying bills. Expect this course will change hands again soon. Will not return!

$41 (cart included), played on Saturday, September 2012 at noon

worst condition for a golf course I have ever seen, just like last year its the worst

$41 (cart included), played on Sunday, August 2012 at noon

you can tell the owner has not put a penny into this course, he must not have any idea about what a nice golf course looks like. he is ruining this course day by day

$26 (cart included), played on Tuesday, November 2009 at 8am

Bob didn't say what his hdcp is maybe he had a bad day. River Downs is a challenging course. Its tougher than most courses in the area but its in great shape and for seniors mon - fri the price is $27.00 what a deal . $ reg greens fees are $38.Still a bargain. Hole #1 is a par 5 downhill 288 to the ravine from the back tees. The first few holes are position holes. The carts have yardages to trouble, if you follow them you should avoid most of the trouble. You should pick your appropriate tees for this course if you hit drives around 240 -260 play the back tees and you can hit driver on alot of holes. The par threes are tough from the blues.156,195,195 195, 215, a good poke. Don't you get tired of playing easy courses? give yourself a challenge and play River Downs the more you play it the more you know how to play it.Bob had a bad day he shouldnt condemn a course just because he didnt score well.

$31 (cart included), played on Wednesday, June 2007 at 10am

Have played River Downs, aka Francis Scott Key, about four times over the last six years or so, whenever I am in a moment of weakness, or someone really talks me into it. It is a TERRIBLE course, by any name.

It was built as part of a development, and it sits on the land where houses could not be built for various reasons. It is very vertical, and totally unwalkable. Some of the views are nice, but playability is not a consideration here. The course was built with the idea of being public for a while, then converting to private as the homeowners bought memberships: that did not happen for a lot reasons, principal among them being the quality of the course.

The architect did not have much to work with terrain-wise, and he lived down to his material. Some examples of horrible holes: #1, a par 5, is downhill, over a wide ravine to an uphill fairway with a green tucked between three bunkers. It is fairly easy to drive through the fairway into the junk, and when laid up, it is a daunting shot across the gully from the downhill lie. #2 is a very long par 4, with a lengthy second shot requiring an approach over that same gully, going back the other way: most human beings play that hole as a par 5. #3 is a short par 3, but the green is tucked behind some serious moguls on the right front, and then slopes away SEVERELY to the left: very hard to keep the ball on the green. I could go on, but you get the picture.

The staff is generally nice, but they take a lot of abuse from customers who play here for the first time, then come back in to complain about the course. STAY AWAY!