I first heard about this course going in because Avery Jenkins and Dana Vicich were definitely on the radar, and Carrolton is sort of in the 'tristate region'. Of course, being a limited arm, technical, short course lover, I held off on a visit. Then I heard via the first review here (thanks, InnocentCrook) that this beastie was not only long but also fairly hilly. But now that I've actually played here once, I was actually amazed at the changes in elevation. In the Cincinnati area, the Devou park course recently took the area crown for maximizing a workout. Three Rivers might be Devou's big brother. It was built on an old ball golf course, and is definitely scaled to be a championship caliber track, with maximized scenic opportunities for a gallery to enjoy the big arms flexing their stuff. If you like bombing some drives off the tee, you're going to love this.

The tees are nearly 6x12, level, concrete, and fresh. Signage is excellent, and there are enough benches around to rest the weary legs you WILL be developing. All the 'longs' (blue) baskets are permanently in place, and there are basket positions for 18 white baskets, even though they were only out there today for holes 1 & 3, plus shortened positions (in the low to mid-500 foot range) for holes 12, 15 & 18. Often, the basket positions were situated to present challenges for your upshots and approaches to the greens. For instance, hole 9 memorably dives over the precipice and down into a bowl in the trees. 6 is uphill in a pocket, 7 is off the ridge into a sloping wooded green to the right, and I really enjoyed 17 because I could reach the dogleg and had a chance to run an approach down toward the pin. Even the shortie hole 5 is incredibly steeply uphill in a gap.

Overall, the takeaway for me was that there is variety, and fun, plus a lot of exercise (I think they should consider renting golf carts!), and the course is designed to present a strong challenge for advanced and open players, plus give this one a chance to not be embarrassed by the birdiefest often seen by those incredible tour players.

You will want to keep it in the fairway early on (especially on the tempting hole 3), because the steep rough edges are all thorns and 'cling-ons' (you know those triangular burrs you have to pick off one by one?). And you'll want to leave your cart at the bottom of the stairs up to the 4th tee, probably walk it up the path left on 5, and leave it at the bottom of the hill when you walk up the path and down the stairs to 6's tee. At the 9th hole's approach, I suggest walking your cart around left to the path between the 'bowl' and 10. Having been pleasantly surprised by the 'front 13 loop', I personally felt like the ball golf feel of 14 & 15 was a little 'meh'. And, though there are golf cart paths throughout the course (that I'm sure would be used as OB edges for tournaments), I still keep my 'safety' rating high, because they were always part of a golf course, and anyone using them for walks through the park 'should' be cognizant that they still ARE.

As I played this course, I kept thinking about the 'bigger' courses recently growing up in our region. If you've played them, Three Rivers is a combination of Caesar's Ford and Devou. So if that's your cup of tea, you should plan a visit.

Huge, wide open throws, very challenging on a lot of the approach, putting shots. Visually pleasing course. Nice baskets and concrete T-Pads.

Some of the T pads are too short, signage isn't acurate,I.e. Hole 12 isn't marked correctly. Most, not all, of the white baskets are missing. Grass is not well kept with lots of clippings around. Hole #3 is easy to lose a disc with thick foliage on left and woods on the right. (Use a spotter if you have one)

I loved this course, although my shoulder, back and hip were wore at by the end. Could be a 5 star course with a bit more work and better maintenance.