(Editor’s note: The 2022 Genesis Invitational opens on Thursday at the Riviera golf course in Pacific Palisades, with the final round on Sunday, February 20. The field includes all of the top-10 golfers in the Official World Golf Ranking. Why does this particular tournament attract the top talent? It’s the course, of course.)
Charting the Riviera Golf Course
Expert strategy is one of the key components needed to do well on the historic Riviera golf course, which has been the site of a U.S. Open, two PGA Championships and a U.S. Senior Open.
The 71-par Riviera was designed by George Thomas, Jr. and completed in 1927. Construction was paid by the Los Angeles Athletic Club, which had a building in downtown, but wanted to add a golf club.
Under the leadership of Club Vice President Frank Garbutt, the 290-acre Santa Monica Canyon site of bramble brushes and sumac trees, home to coyotes, rabbits and squirrels, was chosen.
After drafting 15 different plans, Thomas found one that he liked and, in 1926, construction began. Fill dirt came from the San Fernando Valley and 1,350 tons of white beach sand was imported for the bunkers. The Riviera was the first golf course in the country to install an underground watering system at a cost of $58,000. Dr. John Morton, a renowned arborist, oversaw the planting of 1,000 trees, including sycamores, acacias, poplars and eucalyptus.
Construction took 15 months and when the golf course was finished, the cost was $250,000 (when the average cost of a course was about $70,000). In 1992, under Noboru Watanabe’s ownership, a renovation to preserve the contours of the greens and restore the bunkers cost $1.2-million
According to “The Riviera Country Club: A Definitive History,” Thomas designed the course with the idea that “the most important thing on the Championship course is terrain, because no matter how skillfully one may layout the holes and diversify them, nevertheless one must get the thrill of nature.”
Players may also note what Thomas said about strategy, “The spirit of golf is to dare a hazard, and by negotiating it reap a reward, while he who fears or declines the issue of carry has a longer or harder shot for his second (or his third on long holes); yet the player who avoids the unwise effort gains advantage over one who tries for more than in him lies, or fails the test.
“Wise is the man who knows how to play each hole as he should play it, and skillful the golfer who can place his shots after he knows where they should go. Such a player is exceedingly hard to defeat on a course with proper strategy.”
Former PGA TOUR player Johnny Miller said, “Riviera is definitely one of the greatest, no-nonsense golf courses in the world. It requires a player to play every club in his bag and every shot in his game.”
In 1994, President Bill Clinton played the Riviera. Although he took a few mulligans on the first tee, he reported a score of 85.
The best overall score in tournament play was 264 by Lanny Wadkins in 1985, and the course record of 61 was set in 1991 by Ted Tryba.
The Riviera golf course located in Pacific Palisades is one of the most beautiful in the nation.
Riviera Holes of Note:
Many fans were happy to take a photo of Tiger Woods in 2018.
Hole 1 (503 yards Par 5): Considered one of the easiest par 5s on the PGA Tour, with a 4.296 stroke average in 2014. There is a 75-ft. drop from tee to fairway and many golfers reach the hole in two.
Hole 4 (236 yards Par 3): In 1948, Ben Hogan called it “The greatest par-3 hole in America.” The large bunker in front of the green is superb and the sidehill right of the green would be great if the kikuyu grass didn’t hold every ball hit in its direction rather than releasing it back towards the green.”
Hole 6 (175 yards Par 3): Considered one of the most famous golf holes in the world because of the bunker square in the middle of the green. Members and guests aren’t allowed to use a wedge on the green; PGA Tour golfers are allowed to play the hole however they choose.
Hole 10 (315 yards Par 4): Requires players to decide whether to challenge the narrow-angled green guarded by bunkers or to lay up down the left side of the fairway. This classic risk/reward hole is a typical Thomas design. Jack Nicklaus said this hole gave more options than any other short par four that he knew of.
Hole 17 (576 yards Par 5): An uphill tee shot is required, avoiding a right-side bunker. A second shot must avoid bunkers on the left-side layup area. The green is flanked on the right side by a deep bunker. “The strategy of the golf hole is the thing which gives the short accurate player a chance with the longer hitter who cannot control his distance,” said George C. Thomas, Jr.
Hole 18 (475 yards Par 4): Many golfers consider this one of the toughest finishing holes in golf because the tee shot must clear the hill and to the left, to let the golfer have a look at the green. A long approach shot is then played to a green sitting down in an amphitheater. Anything to the left will hit the rough and result in a downhill chip.
The crowds surround the 18th hole during the final round at the Genesis Open in 2018.