or River Bend Club in Great Falls, what began more than 15 years ago as a pencil sketch has since become the centerpiece of a massively successful rebranding campaign.
Designed by renowned golf artist Lee Wybranski, River Bend’ s logo is an homage to both the indigenous foxes seen around the golf course and the club’ s longtime connection to the Washington spy scene. Several of its founding members worked for the CIA, headquartered in nearby Langley; one member was on the Glienicke Bridge in February 1962 during the prisoner exchange that freed Francis Gary Powers, the CIA pilot whose U-2 plane had been shot down over the Soviet Union two years earlier.
“ There are probably 100 clubs in the United States with a fox in their logo. What makes ours unique is the trenchcoat— we have this great backstory that’ s pretty interesting,” said Jeff Benton, who was president of the board of directors when River Bend replaced its putting green and flagstick logo— many members thought it resembled a beached whale with water streaming out of its blowhole— with the current mark in 2017.
“ It wasn’ t descriptive of the history of the club, you couldn’ t associate the brand with the logo at all, our apparel sales were declining, and frankly nobody cared about it,” Benton added.“ One of the hallmarks of a good logo is, is it memorable? Does it have a story and stick with you? We checked all of those boxes [ with the new logo ]. It can’ t just be pretty artwork.”
Amid a nationwide golf boom— Americans played a record 545 million rounds in 2025, according to the National Golf Foundation— properties are working harder than ever to stand out from the competition.
“ There are nearly 16,000 golf courses in the U. S. and more than 300 in Virginia, so having a logo that is easily recognizable, or at least creates a conversation, is critical,” said Glenn Gray, a past member of the VSGA Board of Directors and chief growth officer with Buffalo Groupe, a Charleston, South Carolina-based marketing firm.“ We are seeing less and less of the typical golf flag, two clubs crossing, or round logos, which tend to fall into a‘ sea of sameness.’”
The clubhouse beckons in the background at River Bend Club in Great Falls.
vsga. org J ULY / A UGUST 2026 | V IRGINIA G OLFER 21