River Bend golf course reopens after $5.5-million upgrade<\/p>\n
Published 11:10 am Saturday, May 2, 2026<\/p>\n
One of Red Deer\u2019s most popular golf courses is back to 18 holes after the completion of a $5.5-million improvement project.<\/p>\n
River Bend Golf and Recreation Area hosted a tournament for 132 players on Saturday, May 2, as part of a grand reopening ceremony for the newly upgraded course.<\/p>\n
\u201cI sent out the notice of this golf tournament and it filled up in less than 24 hours. Our River Bend golfers are very passionate about this golf course and they\u2019re so excited to get back to playing. You can feel the excitement,\u201d said Rob MacPherson, River Bend general manager.<\/p>\n
In 2025, the golf course was limited to just nine holes while upgrades were being worked on. The project revolved around an irrigation system expansion, MacPherson noted.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur 40-year-old irrigation system was on its last legs. We needed more water capacity to keep this golf course watered,\u201d MacPherson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we were doing that we renovated four greens, as well as a bunch of tee boxes and bunkers. The overall look of the golf course is the same, but it will play differently with these new greens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite being down to nine holes in 2025, MacPherson said \u201cbusiness was OK\u201d last season.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn a typical day when we\u2019re full opened (with a full 18-hole course) we\u2019ll see 275 to 325 golfers. Last year we were seeing about 150 on nine holes. People still had a golf itch to scratch, so they came out to play the holes we had to offer. People were patient and it\u2019s proving to be worth the wait,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Coun. Bruce Buruma praised everyone who worked on the course upgrade during Saturday\u2019s grand reopening ceremony.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday is more than just about the start of a golf season, although that is probably one of the best days of the years. It\u2019s also a new chapter for one of Red Deer\u2019s most loved recreation spaces,\u201d said Buruma.<\/p>\n
Red Deer council approved a $5.5 million investment towards golf course improvements in its 2024 budget. The golf course is located on city-owned land and run by the River Bend Golf and Recreation Society.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe course has undergone substantial improvements,\u201d said Buruma.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese upgrades will improve both the playability and sustainability of this course. We also recognize that River Bend is more than just golf. \u2026 It\u2019s such a wonderful place for all of Red Deer to spend some time.\u201d<\/p>\n
MacPherson added that River Bend is seen as \u201ca crown jewel\u201d within the City of Red Deer.<\/p>\n
\u201cRiver Bend is such a unique property. There\u2019s so much to do around here, with golf, disc golf, hiking and biking in the summertime. In the wintertime, our crosscountry ski partners are very important down here,\u201d MacPherson said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"River Bend golf course reopens after $5.5-million upgrade Published 11:10 am Saturday, May 2, 2026 One of Red…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":643609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":["post-643608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}