Vancouver Open/ Riverway Golf Course

RoverRick · June 19, 2013

Riverway Golf Course

This was the third and fifth stop, or fourth and sixth depending on how you counted, on the MGS Tour 2013 Vancouver Open. This was where the MBP clan calls their home course and it is easy to understand why. This is just a local municipal course, but the facilities here are top notch. A nice restaurant, and Pro Shop, full driving range, a couple of putting greens, and I believe a chipping green. This was the first course we went to that had everything right there. The greens were in great shape, as were the fairways and the rest of the course as well.

On Wednesday, I made the decision to walk along with everyone else. This is a fairly flat course but does have some rolling hills. However, there are some pretty steep hills or moguls between the fairways and I had the opportunity to venture into them all too often. By the time I got finished with this my GPS watch told me that we had completed the 7.6 mile odyssey in 4 hours and 10 minutes, and honestly my dogs were barking. I had been nursing a ankle injury before going there and was not going to walk the courses. Riding while everyone else is walking is no fun so I decided I would quit being a wimp and walk. It was more enjoyable walking along with them but perhaps ill advised. Well, it was more enjoyable the first 15 holes. Unlike the younger crowd, I was not fully recuperated by the next day and even with the shorter course at the Cove, I still was not ready to go it again on Friday, and could feel it in my swing. I was going to ride no matter what but I was happy when MBP said that he had had enough walking also and was taking a cart on Friday. I was not too happy that BestGrips was riding with me because I thought that maybe he would become too tired to finish the round and I could beat him by default. But sadly, he elected to ride with me and he kicked my butt in the end. Curses!

The pictures that were selected for this are a mix of the first trip there on Wednesday as well as the return on Friday. This particular one is of the playoff holes we had so it is the third time that Zack and I played the first hole.

There were birdies to be had out there on the course, however, we were told that it was against the rules to collect these. This course was in the middle of Vancouver but we say birds like this, and on the 10th hole one day there was a coyote running around chasing a rabbit during daylight hours. Since these are treated a pests here in Texas, you do not see them often and certainly not during the daytime in the city. The wildlife all around Vancouver was abundant and a joy to see,

The 9 th hole at Riverway.

This is the 15th hole, and I thought all the time the ball was in the air that I was going to get to card my very first hole in one. The others were not watching it but it came down less than 3 feet from the pin but spun back into the fringe. I had already decided to not say anything and wait until they asked where I ended up, but it did not go in, but it sure looked good for a long time. I missed the birdie but had about 4 inches for par. Zach found the green and had a tricky downhill putt that he ran a few feet by but made the comebacker so we remained tied.

This was Friday, and I had a great opportunity to take advantage of a rare miscue by Zach, but did not.

And as the sun set on our adventure in Vancouver we had time to reflect on the week. Overall, the views were spectacular. The courses were in awesome shape, however, coming from a place where the fairways and greens are often harder than the asphalt in the parking lot anything green and soft is an improvement. They had perfect weather for the week. Once again, the absence of a 30 mile an hour wind and temperatures in the 60's and 70's is also rare. The people were incredible also. It was a fun week and look forward to a return visit someday.

Conclusions and Recommendations.

Canada in general and this course in particular are on my list of place where I would return. Of the four courses we played, I would definitely want to revisit this one again. I would not say that I liked it better than Furry Creek but it was much more playable. There was a perhaps over zealous marshal who hassled us because at one point we were 2 minutes behind the pace of play clocks but more than made up for it later and finished in less than the pace of play time both days. But they were kind enough to let us go back out and play a few holes for the playoff. I was not happy about the way that turned out but it was a great time anyway. Riverway Golf Course is a very nice place and it is easy to see why MBP calls this his home course.