Henrietta Re-introduces a Revitalized Riverton Oaks Golf Course to Rochester Golfers

CLICK HERE for additional information about Riverton Oaks Golf Course – and book a tee time today!

If it’s been a while since you’ve played Riverton Golf Course in Henrietta – you’re not alone. In fact, that’s one of the reasons why there have been some major changes at the public facility over the past two years.

First opened in the early 1970s, Riverton has always been a municipal golf facility – owned, if not always operated, by the Town of Henrietta. However, for most of it’s history, the course has been run by a third party operator, through a lease from the Town. In recent years, it became apparent that the independent operator was ready to retire or step aside. Although there had been thoughts of simply closing the facility when that happened, the Town Board saw the value of keeping it open as a municipally-owned golf course – as a benefit for its residents, as well as the local golfing community as a whole.

Fast forward to a year ago – with no third party operator running the business, the Town of Henrietta stepped in to take control of the operation, including the clubhouse and pro shop, as well as the 9-hole, championship-length golf course. The plan was to operate the facility with the Town’s own maintenance crews and equipment – as they would with any other Town-operated parkland – however, they also needed someone who could oversee the entire operation.

Since the Town’s municipal structure did not include a “Golf Couse General Manager” amongst its job descriptions, the first order of business was to find a Superintendent of Grounds – a title that was available – with the additional responsibility of getting the operation up and running.

It turned out that the Town didn’t have to look too far to find the person they needed – and now, the course is back open for daily fee play and is welcoming back players from all over the Greater Rochester area. And to add to the new outlook, the course has a new name: Riverton Oaks Municipal Golf Course – which is actually the name originally applied to the facility when it first opened.

A New Manager For A Revitalized Golf Facility

Charlie Remelt has been a Henrietta resident for most of his life – in fact, he lives a short distance from Riverton – and even worked at the course as a summer job in the mid-1980s. So naturally, with that bit of shared history, it was an easy reach to ask him to come back and oversee the work being done to get Riverton back into playing shape. Plus, he had spent much of his professional career as a greens superintendent – including stints as an assistant superintendent at the Country Club of Rochester, as well as Head Greens Superintendent at Eagle Vale for more than 10 years – so he was seen as the perfect fit for the Riverton position.

When Remelt first arrived at Riverton in his new role as Superintendent over a year ago, he immediately recognized that there was a lot of work to be done to get the facility in shape – most of the course’s many bunkers had fallen into disrepair, many trees had overgrown the course, ponds had run dry and cart paths had not been properly maintained. Moreover, the lack of a modern drainage and irrigation system had meant that much of the course’s areas of play had deteriorated over time and invasive species had overtaken the turf on and around the fairways and tee boxes.

In retrospect, Remelt now sees that the conditions of the course in recent years was probably a direct correlation as to why the amount of play had dropped off significantly.

So, in early 2023, the decision was made to close the course – temporarily – while improvements and other maintenance measures were being taken to restore the course to playability. As it turned out, it would take nearly a year before the course was ready to begin hosting golfers once again – finally opening for public play earlier this spring.

In the time in between, Remelt has overseen the efforts to get the turf back in shape, rebuild many of the course’s bunkers (including new sand), removing old, dead, or overgrown trees, trimming back underbrush and improving the outflow controls of the course’s six ponds, so that eventually, they will all be ponds again. Cart paths have also been reinforced, improved and extended, so that golf carts can be used throughout the season, rather than just the drier summer months.

The biggest of these restoration projects – the new irrigation system – has gradually been getting installed since last winter, and is now nearly complete. Given time to grow in and heal, the turf will be in top shape very soon – and definitely in time to open the 2025 season next spring. In 2025, the next project to be addressed will be a new drainage system.

Although the common perception of 9-hole courses is that most are short, or “executive length,” Riverton is far from being “executive length.” The forward tees max out at 3,115 yards (at par 37 for women’s ratings) – while the Championship tees measure 3,485 (at par-36) from the tips.

The course opens with a 550-plus-yard par-5 that follows the River in a wide, bending right-to-left dogleg. No. 2 is a shorter par-4 that flanks two of the course’s six ponds. Nos. 3 and 4 border each other, out and back, along the tree-lined Genesee, followed by the 170-plus-yard par-3 5th hole.

The No. 6 hole is a 375-plus-yard par-4 that takes a left-to-right dogleg turn and heads to an elevated green with a large pond along the left-side approaches and two bunkers guarding the front. Many consider this to be the course’s signature hole – although Remelt’s personal favorite is No. 2.

Heading for home, No. 7 is a lengthy par-4 at nearly 440 yards from the tips – although this hole is considered a par-5 for purposes of the forward tee/women’s course ratings. No. 8 is another bonafide par-5 at more than 480 yards – and the circuit returns to the clubhouse with another lengthy, 160-yard-plus par-3 at No. 9.