Riverfront Golf Club

Overview: Riverfront Golf Club in Suffolk, Virginia, is a public Tom Doak design beside the Nansemond River near the mouth of the James River. The 18-hole course plays to par 72 and 6,735 yards from the blue markers, with tidal marsh, mature pine, oak and sycamore, deep bunkers and undulating greens shaping the round. Almost every hole is bordered by a natural feature: marsh skirts the fairways, water reaches the edge of greens, or wooded ground closes one side of the corridor. The course is broad enough to invite different lines, but the correct side of the fairway matters greatly on the approaches.

History: Riverfront opened in 1999 as a waterfront golf development in Suffolk. Tom Doak’s design was built around the estuary rather than separated from it, allowing the marsh and river-edge land to provide both scenery and strategy. Over time the course became a recognizable public golf destination in Hampton Roads, with its character defined by ground-level tees, plentiful chipping areas and the alternating rhythm between open marsh and wooded holes. The current club continues to present the layout as a natural waterfront design rather than a conventional inland parkland course.

Did You Know? The official course description says all but three of the eighteen holes are bordered on one side by a natural feature. That means Riverfront’s coastal identity is present throughout the routing, even on holes where the Nansemond River itself is not directly visible.