Southland Focus
A weekly look at golf courses open to the public in Southern California.
Green River Golf Club, Riverside Course
Address: 5215 Green River Drive, Corona.
Phone: (909) 737-7393, (714) 970-8411.
Green fees: $24-$32.
Tee times: Seven days in advance for weekdays; call Monday morning for weekend times, which are limited.
The facility: The slightly more interesting of two 18-hole layouts at the site. There’s a full pro shop and restaurant in a new Spanish-style clubhouse. Driving range and putting greens, plus an 18-hole putting course.
The good: This is an easy course to walk, mostly flat, but with mature trees lining every fairway and enough water trouble to keep things interesting. Nos. 3 through 11 are almost pastoral and are bordered by open hillsides with horses, cattle and plenty of other critters to keep you company if the rest of your foursome is getting on your nerves. That stretch is removed from the 91 Freeway that roars past part of the course. The greens are pretty lush, though not fast, and the sand in bunkers is soft and deep.
The bad: Most tee boxes are pretty chewed up and the fairways are runway hard. If you like hitting to the greens from very firm, tight lies without a whole lot of turf to get in the way, this is the place for you.
The score: This is a nice layout that doesn’t unfairly punish good shots or allow you to get away with many bad ones. Only one par four is longer than 400 yards, even from the back tees. If management gets around to putting the kind of money into the course that it did to build the stylish clubhouse, it will be that much better.
Overall rating: 2 balls.
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* One ball: No-frills golf.
** Two balls: Worth an occasional round.
*** Three balls: Like shooting four strokes under your handicap.
**** Four balls: Where the golf gods play.
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Hole Back Tees Middle Tees Par Front Tees 1 378 362 4 356 2 166 157 3 152 3 481 470 5 406 4 198 187 3 173 5 518 499 5 456 6 384 376 4 357 7 520 505 5 462 8 179 169 3 130 9 419 377 4 332 Out 3,243 3,102 36 2,824 10 394 388 4 311 11 380 371 4 331 12 318 313 4 308 13 354 347 4 331 14 369 350 4 332 15 166 150 3 125 16 518 506 5 491 17 178 149 3 127 18 355 337 4 287 In 3,0325 2,991 35 2,643 Total 6,275 6,013 71 5,467
*--*
Rating/Slope: Back--72.2/128; Middle--70.4/124; Front--71.7/125
