Getting To Know: River Bend Links By Brian Weis

Getting To Know: River Bend Links

An Insightful Interview With Chris Culver, Head Golf Professional

By Brian Weis

Whether you have played a course 20+ times a year or looking to play the course for the first time, insights from an insider can help enhance your golf experience. Below is an interview with Chris Culver who shares some valuable tidbits about the course, memorable holes and must eats and treats at the 19th.

Give Our Readers An Overview of the Golf Course/Property
Built in 1998 and designed by Clyde B. Johnston, ASGCA, River Bend Links continues to offer a fresh opportunity for great golf to local enthusiasts and tourists alike. Our 6,923 yard long, par 72 links-style golf course presents the only true Scottish links course in the mid-South. Our links course is also ideally suited to host your next golf tournament or company outing.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
River Bend Links is a traditional link style course. It is a fun track that is not overally difficult unless you are hitting it sideways then you might find one of our many lakes. Our greens run true and not too severe. Golfers enjoy playing our course.

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
Pay close attention to where the 150 markers are located. Being a links style course, you can lose your bearings and distances. I play to the 150 markers and then attack the pins.

Any recent changes to the golf course? Or any upcoming changes?
We are in process of removing many of the bunkers on the course. This has helped make the course play easier.

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
It is hole number 17. It's a par three over water from the back tees, it plays about 200 yard. There is also water all down the right side it just plays a little tough because they're usually, the wind's coming out of the south and it's blowing toward the water. I forgot about the huge bunker on the left that you've got to navigate between there and the green. Most of the time you're better off hitting just a little short and pitch it up. I know it's crazy on the par three to play short of the green. Get your par and get to the next hole.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
I love 17 and 18 which are the two hardest holes on the golf course. Both are dog leg lefts and has water on both sides. I like them because they make me focus a lot more. Hit the ball straight and make your par putts.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
We offer a snack bar and our 1/4 hot dogs are fantastic.

For the traveling golfer, do you have lodging onsite or partner with any area hotels?
We partner with all of the casinos (Sam's Town, Hollywood Resorts, Goldstrike, Horseshoe, etc) and can customize a stay and play package for any size group. We typically find out what they are looking for and get the process started with the casino.

Back Tee Stats
Par: 72
Yardage: 6,923
Slope: 128
Rating: 72.6

More Information
River Bend Links
1205 Nine Lakes Drive
Robinsonville, MS, 38664
662-363-1005

www.riverbendlinks.com

Revised: 04/26/2019 - Article Viewed 18,458 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.