A GOOD DAY AT RIVER STRAND IN BRADENTON

Additional photos of River Strand can be accessed here

Spectators at USPTA National Clay Court
Championships at The Landings

I’m guessing that you have been to a public gathering, like a conference, a tournament or something like that, and have struck up a conversation with someone, and one or both of you have talked about connecting at some point in the future, but it never happens. Am I right? Well that happens all the time in my world, perhaps because of the volume of public gatherings I attend.

Nate Griffin at The Landings

At the recent USPTA Clay Court Championships at the Landings Yacht, Golf and Tennis Club in Fort Myers, I had one of those conversations, but I contacted the individual that I had had the conversation with the very next day, and lo and behold, a couple of text messages later we were on for 18 holes of golf at his club, River Strand Golf and Country Club in Bradenton.

Abdul, Nate, & John Gillis at round robin

That alone told me that Nate Griffin, Director of Tennis at River Strand since 2007, was a standup guy, something I had already suspected from reviewing the River Strand website. 

River Strand Tennis Center

When Steph and I got to River Strand and observed Nate and his Head Pro, Abdul Idi, interacting with their members during a round robin, I figured we had encountered one of those rare, genuine individuals that walk the planet.

Among the many things that I love about golf is that it can tell you quite a bit about a person’s disposition and character during those few hours it takes to play 18 holes. After playing 18 with Nate and John Gillis, one of his tennis members who joined us, my early assessment of Nate’s disposition had been confirmed.  

Kevin Tierney- Golf Staff 

In addition to confirming our initial impression of Nate’s disposition, those 18 holes also confirmed our perception that River Strand was an upper echelon community, and that the recreational facilities 

were top notch. The 8-court, Har-Tru, tennis facility was all that a tennis player could want and the pool area was one in which Steph admitted she wouldn't mind lounging.

But it wasn’t the tennis courts or the pool that held my curiosity and made my adrenaline flow. It was, of course, the 27 holes of golf designed by Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest and Associates. Although the meat of a golf facility is the course itself, the gravy is the staff and their guest-relations skills.

Dave Konopczynski- Asst. Golf Professional

On this score, River Strand posted high numbers as Dave Konopczynski, Assistant Golf Professional, the first person I met in the well-equipped pro shop, was definitely up to snuff. 

Bob Cribbet- Golf Staff

Bob Cribbet, a member of the pro shop staff and the second individual I ran into in the golf shop, was also well-versed in how to interact with people…and they were that way before they knew we were Nate’s guests.

Steph browsing pro shop

River Strand Range

As we waited for Nate to finish his round robin at the tennis courts, we moseyed on down to the practice area, and I was like the proverbial kid in the candy store. I dropped a couple balls on the practice green, hit a few putts and realized immediately that I was obviously in a world far different than the gentle Paspalum world I typically inhabit at my home course, The Hideaway, in Fort Myers.

River Strand Practice Green

The TifEagle practice green, and, indeed, all of the greens at River Strand seemed quite a bit faster than the 10.9 that was listed as the green speed. You know those putts where you are wondering just how far past the hole it's gonna go if you miss the hole,

Sanctuary No.4

even if you just barely touch it? There were a few of those at River Strand and they definitely made things interesting and boosted the adrenalin rush of a 4-footer for par.

At The Hideaway, the Paspalum fairways are almost like hitting off a driving range mat, they are so beautifully uniform. As the Winter Rye is just giving way to the Bermuda at River Strand, there were a variety of lies that toyed with my eyes. You can imagine that I produced a variety of shots as well, and looking at my card, I also produced a high frequency of shots.

Nate, John, and I played the Sanctuary and Tributary nines from the white tees (5,822 yards), and if I were a baseball player, I would be handsomely paid for all the extra bases I recorded. 

I think I had an entire season's worth of triples (bogeys that is) that day. Neither of the nines seemed that difficult to the eye, and I was playing my standard bogey golf through the first five on Sanctuary before my batting practice started paying off and I carded consecutive triples. I usually space those out a little better.

The changes in elevation, the variable and creative bunkering, along with the contouring of the fairways and greens kept the mind engaged for sure. For example, there are zero bunkers on Sanctury's par-4 No.1, but nine bunkers on the par-5 No.2. On Hole No.4, a 167-yard par-3, the water to the left of the green may make you want to bail right, but some intricate bunkering and mounding to the right, and an illusory pair of bunkers in front of the green make you think your shot over a few times. I did manage one of my few pars on No.4.

Playing from the white tees took the water out of play on a number of holes…theoretically anyway. After pulling myself together on the final two holes of the Sanctuary nine (bogey on the par-4

eighth, and par on the par-5 ninth), we motored over to the

Tributary nine, and I was looking forward to another par or birdie on the 285-yard first hole. I don’t remember what happened there (sometimes losing my mind is a blessing!), but my card tells me that it was another baseball hole with me batting clean-up (triple). 

Hills and Forrest obviously wanted some feel-good time for players on the first two holes of Tributary, because after the short first, No.2 is just 117 yards. 

If only I could hit my irons like Nate or putt like John, I might have had that birdie, but another extra-base hit (double) was what I came up with after hitting short and struggling on the green.

Although the rest of the Tributary nine seemed ideal for a short hitter like me (the longest par-4 was the 356-yard par-6), I hit very few good shots coming in. As a matter of fact, my only two pars on the Tributary nine came on No.6 and the second longest par-4, the 308-yard No. 9. If you ain’t long, you'd better be accurate, and unfortunately, I’m neither at the moment... But it’s early in the season.

The bottom line is, and this is another of those things about golf that has me locked in, that despite playing poorly, carding more “extra-base hits” (doubles & triples) than is normal, even for me, I had a great time with Nate and John at River Strand and so did Steph. 

A stimulating environment, a great test of skills (pass or fail), and good company, equals a really good time.  I'm betting that if you love the game, you'd have a good a time as we did. We send out a sincere note of thanks to Nate, John, and the golf staff at River Strand!

Steph & T. A.