Belle River Golf Course Review

Belle River Golf Course Review

Belle River Golf Course
Riley, Michigan
Grade: D
Teachers’ Comments: I had fun, but can’t recommend a visit

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Belle River is a farmlands course routed along and across a stretch of the Belle River valley. The course is quite open, with only a smattering of trees on interior lines. The river valley offers some interesting elevation changes on eight of the holes.

The design at Belle River is straightforward: hit it straight as far as you can, and then hit it again. There are two doglegs, but that’s it. Belle River is not a course that is likely to challenge or interest better golfers.

The river itself really comes into play on just two holes: the par five fourth and the par three twelfth. The twelfth is a really neat par 3. From an elevated tee, the shot must carry over a bend in the river to a flattish green. The river is really more decoration than threat, but it is still a very nice view.

My favorite hole was the par four seventh. Starting from a slightly elevated tee, the fairway rises to a crest which obscures the rest of the hole. From the crestline, the fairway dives down, and then back up again to a green perched on the side of a hill.

I liked the way the hole’s routing took advantage of the rising and falling of the terrain.

Belle River is a par 72 that stretches to 6, 556 yards and plays to a 71.4/118 from the back tees.

Tee	Yardage	Rating	Slope
Blue	6, 556	71.4	118
White	6, 257	70.1	115
Gold	5, 437	?	?
Red	5, 091	?	?

Conditions on the day I played were crispy. Fairways and rough were dry, and often poorly covered with green stuff. I don’t mind hitting off well-mowed clover or other non-grass flora; I’m really not good enough to distinguish between hitting off clover and hitting off grass. I do not, however, enjoy hitting off thin coverage and dirt. The greens at Belle River were in good shape though.

In fairness, I suspect that in a wetter part of the year, I would have found a much more green and coverage.

On a side note, the course’s bar and grill are quite good. I had a great BBQ sandwich there for lunch.

There were quite a few people out at Belle River when I was there, so I think it is appreciated by the community. It certainly is a place where a bogye golfer can summon up a good score. I just can’t recommend that anyone make a trip to play.

The Belle River Golf Course Review was first published February 23, 2023 from notes and photos taken on a round played in the summer of 2022. For all of GolfBlogger’s Michigan Golf Course reviews, follow the link.

A photo tour of Belle River Golf course follows: