Blue Top Ridge Golf Course at Riverside

Overview: Blue Top Ridge at Riverside is a Rees Jones public design that uses three distinct Iowa landforms: prairie high ground, a lower river plain and a wooded hillside. The course is part of Riverside Casino & Golf Resort and offers broad views over the Iowa River, two riverside settings, man-made lakes and changing terrain. The directory lists it at 7,432 yards and par 72. Jones and co-designer Bryce Swanson shaped a layout with open entrances, long strategic holes and a strong transition from the expansive front nine to the more elevated and dramatic back nine.

History: Rees Jones's design firm records the original design as 2007, with Bryce Swanson as co-designer. The course was developed as the golf component of the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort and quickly attracted national attention, receiving a Best New Public award from Golf Digest in 2009. The architect's course notes describe the routing as a sporting oasis in the Iowa cornfield, using the combination of high ground, low ground and the Iowa River as its foundation. A grand reopening was recorded in May 2011, adding another date to the course's development history without changing its 2009 directory identity.

Did You Know? The finishing stretch includes a 665-yard 16th hole where a creek divides the landing areas. The front nine also drops from prairie into the river plain, with three holes set beside the Iowa River before the course climbs back toward the hillside holes.