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<p><em>Story by Ian Guerin</em></p>
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<p>We know <u><a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/river-club">River Club</a></u> has become a bit typecast over the years.</p>
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<p>The design is water-heavy, and Tom Jackson put his best foot forward in terms of making this course stand out among its neighbors &#8211; courses who regularly show up on all of the statewide and national lists.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>Yet, when it comes to the three most difficult portions of River Club, the wet stuff is next to non-existent. In many ways, it’s the brilliance of a course that has ponds, lakes and streams visible on 14 of the 18 holes. Typecast Jackson all you want.</p>
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<p>But the man did some of his most creative (and test-worthy) work while only using water as an afterthought.</p>
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<p><strong>NO. 9, PAR 4, 394 YARDS</strong><br>There are a handful of old yardage books still floating around where the rendition and placement of one of the property’s oaks couldn’t be any more fitting. The tree itself was placed where it was to force players back to the offset fairway off the tee on No. 9.</p>
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<p>And, the drawing of the tree mimics that of an arrow, steering players in the right direction.</p>
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<p>Now, actually doing so isn’t that easy.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>The No. 1 handicap hole at <u><a href="https://www.mbn.com/courses/river-club">River Club</a></u> uses a backstop bunker beyond the tree, meaning if you cut right you’re in trouble. Yet, if you muscle up too much left of the tree, you might drift right on through the fairway into the rough.</p>
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<p>From there, all Jackson asks you to do is to squeeze in your approach to an at-parts narrow green sandwiched by four bunkers and a less-than-forgiving tree line.<em>(9th hole top photo)</em></p>
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<p><strong>NO. 11, PAR 5, 524 YARDS</strong><br>Angling off the tee box is again the name of the game on our next doozy. The Par-5 No. 11 chimes in at a cool 524 yards. But don’t get any ideas of dropping the hammer and chewing off even half the distance from the tee box.</p>
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<p>You see, the dogleg on No. 11 comes in the first third of the hole.</p>
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<p>That means you have no choice but to be just about perfect to even be in consideration for a birdie here. The more likely scenario is as follows.</p>
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<p>First shot: Tee drive short of the bend.</p>
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<p>Second shot: Lay-up of sorts to get clear the trees protecting the inner portion of the dog leg.</p>
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<figure class="alignright size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="400" height="350" src="https://mbn-admin.travelboommarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/River_Club_11th.png" alt="" class="wp-image-9470" srcset="https://admin.mbn.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/River_Club_11th.png 400w, https://admin.mbn.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/River_Club_11th-300x263.png 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px" /></figure></div>

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<p>Third shot: Fairway wood well shy of the green.</p>
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<p>Fourth shot: Soft approach shot that also falls short since you’re playing it safe.</p>
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<p>Fifth and subsequent shots: Please, lord, just let me get off this hole.<em>(11th hole pictured right)</em></p>
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<p><strong>NO. 16, PAR 4, 350 YARDS</strong><br>Even for first timers, by the time players get to No. 16, they are aware enough of what’s happened to realize this one is bone dry.</p>
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<p>Yes, we’ve heard jokes about ending up on a different course before.</p>
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<p>If the first two holes above weren’t an indication, though, Jackson didn’t need to go all in on the water to prove his point. This time around, he cut No. 16 with a dogleg at almost exactly the 50-percent mark of the hole. All of a sudden, players are staring at (hopefully) a 200-yard (-ish) drive and then 150 to the green.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>Getting to that successful situation is made much more difficult by the three bunkers hugging both sides of the fairway at the dogleg. This sucker is listed as the eighth hardest handicap at River Club.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>However, experience tells us differently.</p>
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<p><em>Ian Guerin has been covering sports and golf in South Carolina since 2004. His game has ebbed and flowed like the Atlantic, but he&#8217;s never had to explain to his kids why his round won&#8217;t be televised. You can follow along with the day-to-day conversation on Twitter&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/iguerin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@iguerin</a></em></p>
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Three Hardest Holes at River Club

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