The Story Behind The Fox
River Bend Golf & Country Club began in 1961. The club was founded by several like-minded members, a large contingent of which worked down the road at the CIA in Langley Virginia, who grouped to acquire the Forest Lakes Country Club at 375 Walker Road. That property was aptly named Forest Lake, a street across from the current western entrance. It reemerged as River Bend Golf & Country Club, fittingly named as River Bend Road is off to our east. With the acquisition, came a new logo. The original design was a simple shield and golf club design that lasted through the 1980s, when we moved into the trees and stream era, holding into the 1990s with yet another design that included trees and a meandering stream with River Bend emblazoned across it.
In 2009, since the logo had not been updated in sometime and our course was undergoing an extensive renovation, an official committee was formed to explore new logo alternatives. When a group of interested members “unofficially” engaged with Lee Wybranski. Lee is known as one of the premier artists working in golf today. He has been commissioned to create drawings and paintings for the finest clubs and organizations in the game. These include many marquee clubs globally, including Cypress Point Club, Pine Valley Golf Club, and The Old Course at St Andrews. In addition, Lee works annually for the game's governing bodies, creating classic, collectible work on behalf of The R&A, PGA of America, and the United States Golf Association. Lee looked at about six versions of the then current logo and offered some alternate thoughts. After listening to the history of the club, he sketched the first Fox Logo on a napkin. Ultimately however, the raised green and stream logo was chosen, but the Fox was a favorite of many. Beginning in 2011, as the club reopened, the Golf Committee began to use the Fox Logo as a unique feature of the Member-Member tournament. Eventually, that use grew to include specialty pin flags and tournament apparel.
The original fox artwork, was birthed from Lee’s creative mind and quickly grew in popularity, including as a name for one of our lady’s tennis teams, the River Bend Foxes. Fast forward, to 2017 it was becoming clear that the artwork fulfilled every attribute of great golf course logos, simple, memorable, timeless, versatile, and relevant. How was the logo designed? As Lee listened to the stories, he compiled every relevant aspect he heard into his design. The fox was the central theme because during the golf course redesign, the entire course had to be stripped of turf. During the disruption we noted a number of fox dens and a few foxes that the Construction Committee had to arrange to be removed. The Committee contacted an animal wildlife removal expert, who quoted us $129 to remove and relocate up to five foxes. Much to everyone’s surprise they removed well over 70! Next, Lee astutely matched the Fox with the history of our CIA connection, playing on the “Sly” fox theme and our connection to spies and artfully incorporated the trench coat. After many years of positive feedback, and a few subsequent tweaks by Lee, it was debated and decided, in 2017, to make the Fox the new logo for River Bend. No matter where your travels take you, we now have an iconic emblem (and story) of River Bend. As many can attest it is indeed simple, memorable, timeless, versatile, and relevant.