Riviera Country Club facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
The Riviera Country Club

18th hole and clubhouse in 2006
Club information
Location in the United States Show map of the United States Location in California Show map of California Location in the Los Angeles metropolitan area Show map of the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Coordinates	34°03′N 118°30′W / 34.05°N 118.50°W / 34.05; -118.50
Location	Pacific Palisades, California
Established	1926, 99 years ago
Type	Private
Total holes	18
Tournaments hosted	Genesis Invitational - (PGA Tour) 1948 U.S. Open 1983 PGA Championship 1995 PGA Championship 1998 U.S. Senior Open 2017 U.S. Amateur
Greens	Poa annua
Fairways	Kikuyu
Website	therivieracountryclub.com
Designed by	George C. Thomas Jr., William P. Bell
Par	71
Length	7,400 yards (6,800 m)
Course rating	76.3
Slope rating	144
Course record	61 (–10) - Ted Tryba (February 21, 1997)

The Riviera Country Club is a special place in Pacific Palisades, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. It's a private club with a famous golf course and tennis courts.

This amazing golf course was designed by golf course architects George C. Thomas Jr. and William P. Bell. It's best known for hosting the Genesis Invitational, a big annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour every February. The 2023 tournament was the 61st time this event was held at Riviera.

Riviera has hosted many important golf championships. These include three major championships for men: the U.S. Open in 1948, and the PGA Championship in 1983 and 1995. It also hosted the U.S. Senior Open in 1998 and the U.S. Amateur in 2017. The club is also set to host the U.S. Women's Open in 2026 and the golf at the Summer Olympics in 2028. It was announced that the club will host the U.S. Open again in 2031.

The History of Riviera Country Club

Building a Famous Golf Course

The Riviera Country Club and its golf course first opened in 1926. Back then, it was called the Los Angeles Athletic Club Golf Course. William P. Bell worked with George C. Thomas Jr. to design and plan the course. They had to gather a team to build the entire course from scratch in the Santa Monica Canyon.

Building the club and golf course cost about $243,827. This was a huge amount of money at the time, making it one of the most expensive golf courses ever built. The course has been updated a few times. In 1992, golfers Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore redesigned the sand bunkers to look like they did when the course first opened.

Riviera's Olympic and Movie Connections

The country club became very popular in the 1930s. It even hosted events for the 1932 Summer Olympics. These included dressage (horse riding) and parts of the modern pentathlon. The Riviera Equestrian Center was a place where famous riders trained young people. One of these young people was Elizabeth Taylor, who was a child star at the time. She learned to ride there for her role in the 1944 movie National Velvet.

Many movies have been filmed at Riviera. The 1952 movie Pat and Mike, starring Katharine Hepburn, was filmed there. Also, The Caddy, with Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin, featured a cameo by golf legend Ben Hogan. Another movie about Hogan, Follow the Sun, starring Glenn Ford, was also filmed at the club. Even a silent movie from 1927, Spring Fever, used the new club as a filming location.

Famous Members and Golf Legends

Many famous people have been members of Riviera. These include actors like Humphrey Bogart, Peter Falk, Dean Martin, and Gregory Peck. Other well-known members were Walt Disney, Hal Roach, and Douglas Fairbanks. Sadly, actor Conrad Veidt passed away suddenly in 1943 while playing golf at the club.

Willie Hunter, a champion golfer, was the head professional at Riviera from 1936 to 1964. His son, Mac Hunter, took over from 1964 to 1973. Willie Hunter did a lot for the club. He helped save the course from bad flooding in 1939 and kept the club from going bankrupt during World War II.

Riviera and the PGA Tour

"Hogan's Alley" and Other Champions

Riviera has hosted the Los Angeles Open many times. It hosted the event in 1929 and 1930, and then for nine years straight from 1945 to 1953. Since 1973, it has been the main host, with only a few exceptions. By 2020, it had hosted the tournament a total of 75 times.

The course is very famous because of golfer Ben Hogan. It's even called "Hogan's Alley" because he won the L.A. Open three times there (1947, 1948) and the U.S. Open in 1948. Many other great golfers have won at Riviera, including Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Tom Watson, and Phil Mickelson. Hal Sutton won the PGA Championship in 1983, and Steve Elkington won it in 1995.

Recent Winners and Notable Golfers

In 2006, Rory Sabbatini won at Riviera. The next year, Charles Howell III won in a sudden-death playoff against Phil Mickelson. In 2008, Mickelson finally won at Riviera, which meant he had won at least one event in every West Coast Swing tournament. In 2020, Australian Adam Scott won the Genesis Open just before the COVID-19 pandemic caused the tour to pause.

Two very famous golfers, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, never won the L.A. Open at Riviera. Nicklaus came close in 1978, finishing second. Tiger Woods played his very first PGA Tour event at Riviera in 1992 when he was a high school sophomore. He missed the cut then. His best finish at the L.A. Open was in 1998, when the tournament was held at a different course. He finished tied for second in 1999 at Riviera.

Major Golf Events at Riviera

Year	Tournament	Winner	Winner's share ($)
1948	U.S. Open	Ben Hogan	2,000
1983	PGA Championship	Hal Sutton	100,000
1995	PGA Championship	Steve Elkington	360,000
1998	U.S. Senior Open	Hale Irwin	267,500
2017	U.S. Amateur	Doc Redman	–
2026	U.S. Women's Open		–
2028	Olympic Games		–

About the Course

Grass Types and Rules

The greens at Riviera are made of Poa annua grass, which is common in the western United States. However, the fairways and rough areas use Kikuyu grass. This is a tough, dense grass that originally came from East Africa. It was first used at a nearby polo field in the 1930s and also planted on hillsides to stop erosion. Over time, it spread and became the main type of grass on the course. Kikuyu grass is great for hitting the ball on the fairways, but it can be very tricky in the spongy rough.

If you want to play at Riviera, you need to be a guest of a member. There's also a dress code: you can't wear denim. You need to wear a collared shirt and either Bermuda shorts or long pants.

Course Length and Records

The course is a par 71. From the back tees, it's about 7,013 yards (6,413 m) long, but for professional tournaments, it's lengthened to 7,322 yards (6,695 m). From the middle tees, it's 6,531 yards (5,972 m), and from the forward tees, it's 5,907 yards (5,401 m).

The record for the lowest score in a competitive round is 61, which is ten strokes under par. Ted Tryba achieved this in 1999 during the Nissan Open. He even made a bogey on the 18th hole that day! The record for the lowest nine holes is 28, which is seven under par on the front nine. Andrew Magee set this record in 1991.

Playing the Front Nine Holes

Ninth hole in 2006

The first hole is a short par five, which is a relatively easy start. The tee is high up, about 75 feet (23 m) above the fairway. This makes players want to hit the ball far, but there's an "out of bounds" area on the left and a ditch across the fairway, so players need to be careful.

The second hole is a long par-four that goes uphill and often against the wind. It's considered the hardest hole on the course. The third hole is a medium-length hole that also plays into a breeze.

The fourth hole is quite long, and Ben Hogan once called it the "best par three in America." The fifth hole plays into the wind and is almost on the side of a hill. The par-three sixth hole is famous for having a bunker right in the middle of the green! If your ball lands on the wrong side of the green, you have to decide whether to putt around the bunker or chip over it.

The last three holes of the front nine are all par-fours. The seventh hole has a narrow fairway, making it hard to hit. The long eighth hole has two fairways separated by a dry ditch. The ninth hole is long and uphill, known for its well-placed sand bunkers.

Playing the Back Nine Holes

The tenth hole is a very short par four, only 315-yard (288 m) long. It's known as a "risk-reward" hole. Golfers who hit the ball far might try to hit it all the way to the green from the tee. But you need to be very accurate because several bunkers surround the green. The eleventh is a long par-five where eucalyptus trees and a ditch can cause problems. The twelfth is a long par-four, often played into the wind, leading to a narrow green surrounded by the ditch, bunkers, and trees. One tree is even named "Bogey's Tree" after actor Humphrey Bogart.

The thirteenth is a tough driving hole, with the ditch on the left and eucalyptus trees on the right. The fourteenth is an easy par-three with Riviera's largest green. However, it has different levels, which makes putting difficult. The fifteenth hole is a dogleg par-four that turns to the right and has another large green. This green also has two levels, so your ball needs to land on the correct one. This hole often plays into the breeze from the Pacific Ocean, which is just over a mile away. It's often a key hole in deciding who wins a tournament.

The sixteenth is the last par-three hole and can be a good chance for a birdie (a low score). But players need to hit the small green, which is surrounded by bunkers. The seventeenth hole is Riviera's longest. It goes uphill, with the wind, towards the clubhouse. The eighteenth is a world-famous finishing hole. Your first shot from the tee is uphill and you can't see where it lands, so hitting the fairway is very important to reach the green in the right number of shots. The green is surrounded by a natural amphitheater, offering a beautiful view of the clubhouse.

Scorecard Details

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