FEBRUARY 19, 2025 www.wintertexantimes.com 16 WINTER TEXAN TIMES Call today to schedule a free consultation and let us show you how professionally designed marketing materials with clear and consistent messaging can elevate your brand. You Only Get One Chance To Make A First Impression Make It Count With Promos & Prints On Your Side Sales@promosandprints.com (956) 580-7800 1217 N Conway Ave, Mission, TX A Division of Nexus Publishing LLC the course “got back to work,” furiously and purposefully attacking areas that may have distracted from the natural beauty and challenging layout of the Valley’s gem of a course. Now, the grass is greener, the golf cart paths are smoother and, with the most picturesque sights from many tees of the Laguna Madre and South Padre Island in the distance, the view at South Padre Island Golf Club is once again enough to get you to go back time and again. It’s back to where it needs to be on everyone’s bucket list of things to do/see if anywhere near it. And when you’re done with battling all of the elements that the 6,800-yard course has to challenge you, including a menacing wind, remember the location – you’re just a “stone’s throw away” from a nice relaxing – or wild and crazed – evening on South Padre Island. River Bend gave itself to the Valley and it was a gift that keeps on giving. Ever since the beautifully designed golf course opened and shared its beauty with the rest of the world, the course has sky-rocketed to a perennial favorite among Winter Texans, and across the Valley. Its design and gorgeous array of flora and fauna alone is enough to push it into a winner’s category. River Bend was built as a ninehole course but expanded to 18 holes in 1985. It’s situated along the banks of the Rio Grande and was once considered one of the best-kept golf secrets in the Valley. In some ways, it still is – every golfer who finds it wants to keep it to themselves and their closest golfing buddies. Just because it’s a beautiful course, however, isn’t the only reason that it keeps it among the perennial winner’s list. The name “River Bend” is derived from the huge bend in the Rio Grande that borders the resort and provides the property with a lush tropical setting. Plants and birds not seen elsewhere in the U.S. are common here. The course is also just plain fun to play. It gives golfers a wide variety of challenges, wide open holes, tight fairways and elevation changGOLF From pg. 15 Valley International Golf Course. Courtesy photo
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTczOTk5Mg==