Inside the course: Riviera Country Club

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Badz/PGA TOUR

A scenic view of the ninth hole at Riviera Country Club, host of the Northern Trust Open.

Feb. 1, 2010

The TOUR moves from San Diego, Calif., on to Los Angeles for the Northern Trust Open at historic Riviera CC.

Expert's Overview

Steve Voguit, Head Instructor for The PGA TOUR Golf Academy at World Golf Village, analyzes Riviera CC:

The PGA TOUR's short drive up the California coast takes the world's finest players to one of the world's finest tests of golf for this week's 2010 Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club near Los Angeles.

Captain George C. Thomas, Riviera's architect, had many tricks up his sleeve with regards to his approach to course design. And with a little help from architect Tom Fazio in 2008, the Riviera Country Club is a shotmaker's paradise. The 7,298-yard, par-71 is best known its ingenious bunkering, the natural lay of the land and tall trees and the utilization of the prevailing winds, all of which present a still challenge. For a player to win a Riviera, he is going to have to work the ball in all directions: up, down, left and right.

As a Head Instructor for the PGA TOUR Golf Academy, I'm often asked how to work the ball left and right. There are two key components we must control properly: the club face and stance alignment. Let's use Riviera's 13th hole as an example.

This 459-yard dogleg-left par 4 often faces directly into the wind. A controlled draw is the shot of choice off this tee box. To pull it off, first determine your target line. If we take this line, we will most definitely be in the trees on the left. To prevent this, align your stance to the right of this line (closed) and then also rotate the clubface so it faces a little bit left of the target line at address. Once your set-up is good, focus on making a smooth swing along your stance line.

The idea is to start the ball over the right side of the fairway and as a result of our closed club face relative to the clubhead path, the ball will curve left to our desired landing area. Look for this shot on this week's telecasts.

To learn more about the TOUR Academy, please click here.

Fast facts

Course Superintendent	Matthew A. Morton
Original architect	Captain George C. Thomas (1926)
Redesign	Tom Fazio (2008)
Par value	71
Number of TOUR events as host venue	46 (including 2010)
Course ranking	Ranked 32 (out of 51) in difficulty on the PGA TOUR in 2009
Yardage history	7,029 (1941-1993)
	6,946 (1994-1997)
	6,953 (1999)
	7,055 (2000-2001)
	7,174 (2002)
	7,222 (2003-2004)
	7,260 (2005-2006)
	7,279 (2007-2008; 2010)
	7,298 yards (2009)
Grass	Bermudagrass, perennial ryegrass (tees); Kikuyugrass (rough, fairways); Creeping bentgrass, Poa annua (greens)
Tournament Stimpmeter	12 ft
Sand bunkers	60
Water hazards	0
Course tour	Click here

Course record

Player
Ted Tryba

Year
1999

Round
3rd

Finish
T2

Holes-in-one

There have been 28 aces recorded during the Northern Trust Open at Riviera CC

Player	Hole	Year
Jeff Quinney	6	2008
Retief Goosen	16	2007
Rich Beem	14	2007
Trevor Immelman	16	2006
Darren Clarke	6	2005
Carl Pettersson	14	2004
MattGogel	16	2003
Craig Stadler	6	2000
Bob Burns	16	1999
Jerry Kelly	6	1999
Glen Day	14	1996
Joel Edwards	6	1996
Patrick Burke	6	1996
Craig Stadler	6	1995
Peter Jacobsen	14	1994
Jay Delsing	6	1992
Doug Martin	4	1992
Ed Dougherty	16	1992
Ben Crenshaw	14	1991
Jim Benepe	6	1989
Donnie Hammond	4	1988
Jeff Lewis	4	1987
T.C. Chen	6	1987
Peter Jacobsen	6	1986
Mac O'Grady	6	1986
Mike Reid	6	1985
Payne Stewart	16	1985
Mike Donald	16	1985
Allen Miller	16	1984

2009 Rankings

Most Difficult Hole

	The par-4 463-yard 2nd The most demanding hole on this course. Women members play this hole as a par 5. A slight dogleg with out-of-bounds left and trees on the right makes for a narrow tee shot. Once the player has negotiated the tee shot, he is left with a long iron or wood into a green that is only 25 feet wide and heavily bunkered. 2009: 0 eagles, 40 birdies, 266 pars, 122 bogeys, 8 double bogeys, 1 other.
Easiest hole
	The par-5 503-yard 1st A great starting hole, the tee rests 75 feet above the fairway. With a big tee shot, players can set themselves up for a birdie or possible eagle. With out of bounds left and trees right, an errant tee shot could spell trouble. 2009: 30 eagles, 275 birdies, 116 pars, 14 bogeys, 2 double bogeys and 0 others.

Riviera Country Club			2009 rankings		Last 27 years
Hole	Par	Yards	Avg. Score	Rank	Avg. Score	Rank
1	5	503	4.275	18	4.360	18
2	4	463	4.231	1	4.214	3
3	4	434	3.984	9	4.036	9
4	3	236	3.195	3	3.264	1
5	4	434	3.963	10	4.027	11
6	3	199	2.904	14	3.023	12
7	4	408	3.954	12	4.010	13
8	4	433	4.153	6	4.163	7
9	4	458	4.087	7	4.194	6
10	4	315	3.915	13	3.839	15
11	5	564	4.751	16	4.687	17
12	4	479	4.174	4	4.211	4
13	4	459	4.046	8	4.093	8
14	3	176	2.961	11	3.030	10
15	4	487	4.199	2	4.236	2
16	3	166	2.897	15	2.999	14
17	5	590	4.751	16	4.776	16
18	4	475	4.162	5	4.206	5

Course origins

The annual site of the Northern Trust Open is a gem designed by George Thomas, a Philadelphian who loved flowers and was engaged in a search for the perfect rose when directors of the Los Angeles Athletic Club invited him to design a course for them. Thomas had by then moved to Beverly Hills, had designed the highly-regarded North course of the Los Angeles Country Club and now set to work on Riviera.

The course is a beauty and a must-study for every serious student of course design. Thomas' bunkering is inventive, with their flashed far ends and their ragged look. The course plays in a bowl in the Santa Monica Valley and rises to a crescendo on the last hole, underneath the massive clubhouse that sits on the high point of the club. Riviera is probably one of the most interesting courses in the game when it comes to forcing a player to think his way around the bunkers and doglegs, along the angled approaches into the greens.

"George Thomas was very talented," said Ben Crenshaw, who was called in to return the greens to their original contours. "Riviera has so many fabulous things about it. The bunkering is wonderful, very bold. They have a grand scope about them, and there is also every conceivable type of hole. The course is so wellbalanced and requires you to work the ball so well."

Riviera Country Club has hosted the 1948 U.S. Open, the 1983 & 1995 PGA Championship and the 1998 U.S. Senior Open.

Tournament course history

Course	Location	Years
Riviera CC	Pacific Palisades, Calf.	1999-present, 1984-1997, 1973-1982, 1945-1953, 1941
Valencia CC	Valencia, Calif.	1998
Rancho Municipal GC	Los Angeles, Calif.	1983, 1969-1972, 1956-1967
Brookside GC	Pasadena, Calif.	1968
Inglewood CC	Inglewood, Calif.	1955
Fox Hills CC	Culver City, Calif.	1954
Wilshire CC	Los Angeles, Calif.	1944
Hillcrest CC	Los Angeles, Calif.	1943
Los Angeles CC (North)	Los Angeles, Calif.	1940

This week's Kodak Challenge hole

HOLE: The par-4, 315-yard 10th at Riviera Country Club
LAST YEAR: The 10th played to a stroke average of 3.915, with players recording 2 eagles, 116 birdies, 250 pars, 57 bogeys, 10 double bogeys and 2 others.
DESCRIPTION: Jack Nicklaus calls this "one of the best 10th holes in major championship golf." A short hole but by no means easy, longer hitters can drive this green, but extreme accuracy is required. The ideal spot to come into this green is from the left side of the fairway. An extremely narrow green with bunkers right, left and behind gives this hole its character. (Click here for Riviera CC tour)