When heading out for a round of golf players know that it’s important to get off to a good start.  There is no better feeling than walking off the first green, heading to the golf cart and being able to write down no worse than a par on the scorecard.  We feel that we have a very good starting hole here at Rivers Edge Golf Club, but it is not a hole that golfers can just blindly step up to the tee box and grip it and rip it down the fairway.  Players need to know what they are looking at and that is what we are going to do right now.

No.1 is a par 4 that plays anywhere from 295 yards from the forward tees to 425 yards from the back tees.  The landing area is fairly generous but positioning in the fairway is what is important here.  A large waste bunker guards the first half of the left side of the fairway with trees running along the right.  There is a trap through the fairway on the right that can come into play for long hitters.  There is a stream that runs across the fairway about 100 yards from the green so golfers need to be wary of what club they hit off the tee.  Many golfers layup with less than driver to just inside the 150 yard marker because after that the fairway slopes down towards the water.

Once in the fairway golfers will be looking up to a slightly elevated green that is heavily guarded by sand traps that are wide and deep.  They are eagerly waiting to suck up any poorly hit approach shots which will lead to a large number on the scorecard to start the day.  Proper club selection is paramount to ensure the traps are cleared on approach.  General rule here is, players should take one more club than they think the shot calls for just to be safe.  A miss long or over the green is not a bad place to be.

The putting surface is nice sized and sloped slightly from back to front.  The center of the green is the main focus on approach shots but for the daring golfers it is always better to be below the hole on No.1 that above it.  The Sunday Dwarf Bermuda greens roll great so find the line and make a run at birdie.  Par is a very good score on this not-so-easy starting hole.  The first hole can be tough, but it is a good indicator of what players can expect the rest of their day at Rivers Edge Golf Club.