This is a "must play" course if visiting Raleigh: Home of…read morethe Monday Qualifier for the SAS Championship /Senior PGA Tour. The Best Course to Walk in the Triangle Area. The Best Club for "No Nonsense" Golf in North Carolina. The Best Value for Seniors in the Mid Atlantic Region. The Ideal Course for Beginners. No fuss. No muss. Just great golf and a gorgeous setting. $22 for walking 18 as a senior during the week...and worth 3x that! Greens that are very very fast. An island green for a par three. Reachable Par 5's. 20 minutes from Raleigh City Center. One of my favorite tracks and well liked by the Senior PGA pros too.

Welp. I was really hoping I would like this course and range for my golf endeavor. However, the…read moreyoung worker on the golf cart patrolling the premises summoned me to his cart stating "next time you need to get/ buy the balls from the clubhouse". Well kid, where do you I got those two golf bags full of balls from? Told him I did go to the club house, as it is my first time here, and paid $7 dollars for 45 balls in a bag. At this point, I expect some sort of embarrassment or regret in his face of accusing a woman of collecting golf balls from the range and hit? But no, with straight face he said "then your fine" Perhaps I look different? I really don't know what to think of the reason why he came up to me and told me what he did.

I give River Ridge Golf Club in Raleigh, North Carolina (there's another River Ridge GC in Oxnard,…read moreCalifornia) 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. In a nutshell, the course was in good shape for the price paid ($80 including range balls) and my overall experience with the facilities, customer service, etc. was good. This appeared to be a solid, everyday, daily-fee course. If that's what you're looking for, I recommend it. You should be satisfied. If you call the golf shop to book your tee time, you can avoid paying the online convenience fee. When I booked, the convenience fee was $2.49 per golfer. Our $80 rate was for a 2:12pm tee time on a Sunday -- peak rate, not quite at twilight rates, which I believe begin at 4:00pm during the "summer" season. As mentioned above, the $80 included a small bucket of range balls (20 balls, normally $4) and cart for 18 holes. My friend and I considered walking, but this isn't the most walking-friendly course. It's hilly and some of the distances between greens and next tees aren't close. Also, River Ridge doesn't have push carts for rent, which I like to rent if I'm walking. Harry, in the golf shop, told me he looked into them at one point. All of the staff we interacted with was nice. They included Harry and Randy in the golf shop and the starter. Since this was my first time playing at River Ridge, the starter gave me a tip about the greens. He said every hole was cut into a slope. Therefore, for uphill putts, you have to "pound" them in and for downhill putts, you have to let them trickle in. I could never get comfortable with the greens and pin placements here, but that's just me. The greens were in very good shape. I was a bit concerned since it had rained a lot the week leading up to our round. However, the greens were firm and not dinged up. They didn't roll super fast, which is what we expected. I thought the speeds were fair. I noticed most, if not all, of the holes on the practice green were cut into slopes, I guess to prepare you for the course's challenging pin positions. The driving range was mats only. There was also a sizable short game area, great for chipping and practicing sand shots. River Ridge has a big practice bunker, which is a plus. The practice facilities were busy before our round and when we made the turn. This place was popular, as evidenced by the full parking lot when I arrived around 1:20pm. Multiple cars circled the lot to find an open spot. When I booked three days in advance, the earliest tee time available for Sunday - at least to the public - was 2:12pm for two. The other two slots at our time were already taken. They turned out to be members (and friendly people). While on the practice green, we saw groups stacked ahead of us. Even though it was cart-path-only with foursomes as far as the eye could see, we finished 18 by 6:30pm, meaning our round took about 4.25 hours. That's a pretty decent pace of play for a public course on the weekend. Good job, everyone. We did experience a small wait at 10 tee, but the back nine was smooth sailing once we were off. The course has a fair amount of large sand traps. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the sand. You never know what you're going to get in terms of bunker quality at public courses in this price tier. For example, we recently played at The Preserve at Jordan Lake and Chapel Ridge. Unlike those courses, where some bunkers might have a mix of sand, dirt, clay, rocks, and/or mud even, River Ridge had proper, fluffier sand and it was consistent in every bunker I saw. The fairways were also in consistently good shape. Again, at public courses in this price tier, it's not uncommon to encounter a fairway or two with some rough patches. I don't recall any here. Now the tee boxes were closer to what I expected. And even still, they managed to make those look OK. I have to hand it to the course superintendent, Craig Hooks, and the rest of the River Ridge staff, who really maximize the course conditions given what I'm sure is a somewhat limited budget. River Ridge is a par 72 or 71 depending on which tees you play from. This is a short course by today's standards. From the tips (black tees), it measures 6,769 yards with a 72.6/141 rating/slope. My playing partners played from the blues (6,206 yards, 70.3/134) and I played from blue/white hybrid (69.2/129). White distance is 5,756. I like to play closer to 6,000. Despite the relatively-shorter length, the course was still plenty challenging with strategy involved in every shot. Some courses, you can just whack it out there, but here, you have to think a bit more about where you want to place your shots. There's a greater emphasis on course management. The course was beautiful with rock outcroppings, a few scenic ponds (Nos. 6 and 17 come to mind), and a layout/routing that naturally flowed with the hilly terrain. It's an interesting, engaging design. Unfortunately, there were no on-course restrooms nor a food and beverage cart.

The practice facility is outdoors and second to none. The course itself is beautiful and well…read morecared for with greens that are undulating and fast, a real challenge for me. The pro shop is well stocked, favoring, but not exclusive to Titleist. The staff is super friendly and helpful, and offer great instruction. I have played a lot of courses in the Raleigh area and choose to join River Ridge. Plans are to open a "golf lab" which will offer instruction using the latest in technology and managed by PGA certified instructors. I can't wait!

This golf range located on NC State's campus is Beautiful. I've been golfing for almost a year now…read moreand I can't believe it's taken me this long to try this range. There's an automatic ball machine that dispenses the exact number of balls bought. With a view of downtown and about 20 bays this is a great spot for practicing your swing!

Maybe the best public course in Raleigh. The golf course itself is the most important reason to…read moreplay Lonnie. With 5 sets of tee boxes PLUS hybrid tee options most players can enjoy this course. However this is NOT a course for "first timers" and true beginners due to the frequency, size, and locations of the sand traps and hazards. The restaurant is often closed and there is no on course cart for food and beverage so not ideal for the more socially oriented players. The shame of that is that the view of Downtown Raleigh from the East Deck is Awesome. When it's open the restaurant staff are super friendly and you can have a nice salad or grilled sandwich...and they make a perfect "Arnold Palmer." With bent grass greens the best time to play is in spring or the autumn. They are fast, a bit firm but receptive. The green complexes are huge therefore pin locations add to the variety of playing Lonnie. During the summer the bent grass is easily stressed due to much hotter temps so the greens are purposely allowed to grow out and they are over-watered making them soft and slow. Every green is fronted by a hazard... 17 of 18 greens have a front side bunker while one hole has a lake on its front side... which is why this course should be avoided by true beginners. The fairways are often massively wide but require you to play to the "correct" side for the best approach. Course condition is normally good-to-very-good. The grounds team are long serving and do a great job with the course. With SO MANY bunkers you may find yourself in an unkempt area or footprint in the bunker (which in friendly matches allows for relief.). The golf shop staff are helpful and courteous and the shop itself is very well stocked for retail therapy. The starters and rangers have a tough job because Lonnie gets an enormous amount of play every day...and they normally do a very good job of keeping the golfers moving along. As a public course Lonnie gets a lot of play and it can be slow so allow 4 1/2 hours +/-. If you are visiting Raleigh or on your way to Pinehurst then you really should play Lonnie. If you have the opportunity to play it multiple times then enjoy the variety and challenges which Lonnie offers.

Dogwood CC is impressive. Great technology with Trackman, the vibe is awesome with music and…read moreatmosphere, and the owners will make you feel like Norm from Cheers. Dave knows the golf swing, so if you need lessons, start with him. If you like golf, you have to visit.

Enjoyed our afternoon at Dogwood. The golf area was cozy with plenty of seating for those waiting…read moretheir turn. Great beverage choices, along with complimentary water, coffee and popcorn. The putting area offered fun games. The whole experience was thoroughly enjoyable and fun. Will definitely be back!

Went here for Father's day. It is a pretty good way to spend some time with friends and family. I…read morehave learned, however, eat before you come. Not a huge fan of the food, and selection. The drinks are pretty good, and they have a lot of non-alcoholic selections that are flavored teas or whatever. Lots of mixed drinks as well. The play is fun. You can bring in your own clubs, but for the most part it is amateur, so don't worry if you cant hit the ball a mile. Most people use a lot of mulligans. Always a couple show offs that think they are pros, but whatever makes them happy. The games are cute, and great for 6 or less people. We always have fun, especially when the worst one there always wins because some of the higher scoring "drives" are the chippers that barely make it off the tee. I like hitting from the 2nd or 3rd floor, just seems cooler, but maybe I'll try bottom next time. The only negatives are the sometimes poor service (I always love when I see my server for a greet and then to shut off my lane a get the bill :(... Also, it was pretty hot, and although shaded, the oscillating fan's in our particular bay were not moving and only pointing at the bay's to the right and to the left of us. We were by the door to the bar, through, and got a gush of refrigerated air once in a while...

Disappointing food, service, technology, and overall experience. I really hate that you have to pay…read morea fee to set up an account. I know that's all topgolf location but it's kind of a weird business practice. Also it was hard to find the staff to help out or set up so I felt like we had to call them over to get any service. The technology kind of sucks. It wouldn't recognize a lot of hits we did and it was kind of disappointing. Also the waving technology to get the ball to come out took many attempts and was really slow. It also stopped prematurely so felt scammed out on the full time. Also the staff at the front doesn't really know any information on some of the deals. I asked about the monthly membership and the stuff just said look online as they didn't know anything about it but it was advertised in front of them. I also wish there was a mode where you can just hit the ball and it tracks it stat wise with no game mode.

The driving range bays have gotten a complete makeover and I love it! Each bay has a lot more room…read moreand feels more private. But the best part are the Trackman screens that allow you to keep track of your progress and see exactly where and how far you are hitting each ball. Love it!

This course has changed so much with the new management company! The service was great and the…read morecourse has improved so much. I was there the other day and they put all new sod down on the tee boxes.

Best hamburger in Apex is served in the restaurant!…read more Great value restaurant with good food.

Knights Play is a great Par 3 course. Especially for someone just starting to play. The course is…read morewell maintained and the snack shop has good food.

Other than getting a parking space, it is an amazing place to practice and perfect your swing…read more Besides the driving range that gives excellent feedback and tracks your flight, they have a putting course that will make you curse and scream, but remember there are children there ;). The chipping/3Par course is also tremendous fun. It definitely helped me gain more confidence with my lob and sand wedge. All I'd say, is invest in a Sunday bag and only bring what you want to practice. Carrying a full bag around the chipping/3Par course can be challenging.

Par three was great. $30 play as many times as you like! The putting green/course is something to…read moreexperience!