RIVIERA COUNTRY CLUB - 18 POINTS

Riviera Country Club (or ‘Riv’ as those in the know would have it) is one of American’s most famous golf courses. It’s one of the few places with an enduring event on the PGA Tour. The LA Open was first held here in 1929 and over 75 iterations of the event have been held there since. On top of that, the US Open and the USPGA have both visited and 2028 will bring the Olympics, ensuring Riviera stays firmly in the golf spotlight.

When George Thomas finished the course he declared it his greatest achievement (although it should be noted that this was a common refrain from him!). Once again (cf. Bel Air) imagination was the key to his success. In his definitive account of George Thomas, ‘The Captain’, Geoff Shackelford says, ‘There is little question that Riviera is one of the greatest golf course constructions of all time’.

This is because the site itself is basically a flat, featureless, canyon valley. There’s not a huge amount of elevation change at Riviera other than the first tee shot and climb up to the 18th.There is a wash running through the middle and that’s about it for natural features. Everything else we see on the course was shaped by Thomas and his team. These days that wouldn’t be such an amazing feat. Modern courses are scooped out of flat sites regularly, as technology has developed. However, in 1927 this was quite an achievement, and the reason the record high $250,000 cost was about three times of that of a normal build of the time.

Most readers will be very familiar with Riviera from the annual TV coverage and it has some of the most iconic holes in the world of professional golf. Here are some of the highlights from my visit to Riviera, as well as some tips for how to get a round. Unlike at most of America’s private courses, the route to playing here is relatively easy (if expensive).

Enjoy the First Tee Experience
Riviera is one of the few courses where everyone gets an announcement on the first tee. When I was there it was a slightly overcast day, and there had been a bit of drizzle in the morning. As a result the place was empty - the only other person around was member, and fellow West Ham supporter, Francesco Molinari working on his putting nearby. What would have counted as a fairly nice day in the east of Scotland had scared all the members away. That didn’t stop the starter clearing his throat and announcing, ‘On the tee, from Scotland, David Jones’.

I really enjoyed the first hole. You are hitting from a terrace just in front of the clubhouse, down a big drop, onto a huge field below. The fairway isn’t massive side to side but the rough isn’t too punishing. It’s about 280 yards to the dry wash (know as a barranca in these parts) which splits the fairway but I wasn’t expecting to hit a good one, so I hit a driver into the fairway and off we went.

A straightforward par 5 to start is a Thomas trademark and this may be his finest example. Avoiding a topper was the only real thought in my head as we hit off. After that this hole allows you to breathe and enjoy the experience - a lovely start to what would be a memorable round.

A driver from the tee won’t hurt, but it’s all about the angles
I suspect the vast majority of amateur golfers are like me; show us a tee shot with thick trees, water or waist-high rough to the sides of a narrow fairway and we tense up - the swing gets fast and the result is frequently depressing. Well there are no such worries here. From the tee you won’t see huge danger in play. You will almost always be able to hit the ball from wherever it ends up.

Generally on the course, the rough is of a reasonable depth, most trees allow a punch out and even in the barranca you are likely to have a shot. However, from any of those spots, you will find it hard to get it onto the green with your approach.

This means that everyone can make progress to the green without too much delay, but only those playing well will have many birdie putts and score well.

Enjoy the special moments….
It is often said that there are no weak holes at Riviera. But there are some standout holes. Some are less well-known than others - I wasn’t familiar with the fifth but it’s sneaky good, with a huge mound built on the right of the fairway blocking your view of the green if you come in from this side. So, you should play up the left to get there in two, but you risk tangling with the trees if you go too far to that side.

Next up is the 6th - a hole to savour. From the middle tees it was just a 7 iron in to this green, but there is a lot to deal with. There are bunkers short, left and behind the green, as well as one bang in the middle! The green slopes significantly from back to front so playing long, past the bunker in the middle, will still leave a challenge for your par.

I managed to leave the bunker directly between me and the hole. The scorecard lets you know that amateurs must only take a putter on the green, but I just managed to skirt the edge to hole the putt for a nerve-wracking four. You can see the putt here:

The next hole you are likely to know is the 10th. This is maybe the most famous short par 4 in the world of golf. For years there was a usual choice for pros playing this hole - take a driver and try to get close to the green but risk an offline shot leaving real difficulty getting up and down, or lay back for a fuller shot in. The accuracy and distance of modern equipment mean that virtually all now try to get the ball up to the left of the green, and most succeed.

The challenge for the amateur though is closer to the original intent of the hole. My caddie was very clear, hit a three wood down the left and wedge it in. When you get down there you see what the challenge is. The front of the green is heavily cambered and is just a slither. If the pin is at the front and you are coming in from the right there is virtually no shot a man of my limited skills could hit to keep it on the green. However, from where I was, it was a relatively straightforward wedge up.

The 10th may not pose the same challenge it did to the pros twenty years ago but it is still one of the great examples of a strategic golf hole. Oh yes, and I made a par!

The next few holes have a different feel as you play through the eucalyptus trees. I enjoyed this part of the course which had a lovely serenity about it.

The 16th hole is a special hole. This short par 3 has a small green, surrounded on all sides by steep, deep bunkers. The sliver trees around the hole add to its beauty and it is just a gorgeous golf hole. All the par threes are pretty special but this may be the best of the lot.

The 18th is the final iconic moment in your round. It’s also one of the tougher holes. The tee shot has one of the few forced carries on the course and while it isn’t a long one, it is uphill to a blind fairway - not always a recipe for success. My drive ran off to the right and I was forced to layup in two. In reality though, I would be out there a long time before I hit the green in two. The natural amphitheatre surrounding the green is a fitting climax to your round. As you hole out and look back over the course, you know you’ve just played something pretty special.

If you get a good caddie - enjoy!
I have a checkered past with caddies. It’s not something that I was used to until relatively recently and I’ve only experienced them when playing US private courses. Quite frankly, some of them are useless, just giving me an instruction (‘give me your 160 shot’) followed by a deep sigh when I inevitably screw up. They only take away from my enjoyment of a golf course and usually I would much rather just play on my own. But sometimes it goes well.

My caddie at Riviera was very focussed on me enjoying my round. Before we reached the first green he was already telling me all the celebrities he had caddied for, many in just the last couple of weeks, and the list was impressive. Larry David, President Obama, Justin Timberlake, Tom Brady, Mark Wahlberg - he’d carried for them all. Somehow he managed to impart this information without coming across as an incredible name-dropper (I know, hard to believe!) and it added to my experience of playing Riviera.

He also had a good knowledge of the club’s history, talked about how the course had changed over the years and tolerated my standard of play with good humour. He didn’t try and play every shot for me, but gave me some advice about the unusual Kikuyu grass and actually explained why he was recommending certain lines or clubs. He added positively to the experience which was a lovely surprise!

Imagine the what if…
There is so much to enjoy at Riviera. It absolutely feels like a golf course well up the top 50 in the world, but there is also a gnawing sense that it could be so much better. I had played Bel Air and LACC on the two days before Riviera. Both have been restored in impressive fashion. LACC is an absolute joy and it feels like you are stepping into a painting from the 1920s. Riviera? Hmm, a bit less so.

The course has been worked on over the years, but not much has been particularly lauded. A lot of the work in recent years has been done by Fazio and the scars show. Bunkers have lost their original shape, holes have lost their character. The course has been homogenised in too many places when compared to the original Thomas course. When you look at what has been done at LACC you truly wonder what would happen if the club had a management hell-bent on an authentic restoration - it could be magnificent.

Andy Johnson wrote recently of America’s top candidates for restoration and puts it well when he says, ‘The club could simply restore the original barrancas, bunker styles, and green dimensions without monkeying around with hole lengths or fairway widths. Riviera is currently one of the best golf courses on the West Coast, but it could be one of the best in the country’. The only thing I would add is they could take out the cart paths too…

It would be churlish to end on that note though. Riviera may have flaws in its presentation, but there are none in its design. You don’t have to be an architecture buff to appreciate this course, just teeing it up will be enough. You will find a course which challenges all the way around and you will need every shot in the bag to score well. But it also allows you to breathe, there’s nothing oppressive about Riviera. This is a golf course which will thrill you and give you memories to cherish for life. I’ll tell you one thing, you’ll never forget what you scored at the tenth!

BOOKING THE COURSE

This is yet another one of those American private courses which are hard to play. But the good news is that it isn’t impossible to get a game at Riviera. But be warned - it’s going to cost you.

If you contact the club and explain that you would like to play (I would suggest being suitably reverential in your approach) they may well extend you an offer to play at a quiet time for $575 (late mornings Tuesday-Thursday are best). You obviously need to take a caddie too ($130). Oh yes, and you will need to have an assistant pro accompany you ($200 per group). If you are on your own then that’s a mere $905 for the tee time - it squeezes in under $800 each if you are a 3. Now clearly, on one level this is a ridiculous amount of money to pay for a round of golf. But it you really, really want to do it, and you can afford it, you can play here. That’s more than can be said for LACC or Shinnecock, NGLA or Chicago.

Of course there are other ways too. Keep an eye out for the charity auctions that come up from time to time (although don’t expect to pay less than the prices above) and a fair few clubs have reciprocals with Riviera. These days Riviera is more and more a club for companies and celebrities, so if you happen to know any of those the route in will be much cheaper.

Prices correct as of August 2023.

TOUR TIPS

I stayed in Santa Monica when I made my trip to LA and it was well positioned for all of the golf in the area. As well as Riviera I played at Wilshire, LACC and Bel Air in the city and they were all easily accessed in an Uber. I got it on a quiet day but Riviera is generally a quieter place I’m told and less of a club than those others.

Rustic Canyon was a little further away but I paid to use someone’s car for the day using the Toro app which was great! The quality was fantastic across all five courses. LA really is a great city for a golf trip and the climate is favourable to golf pretty much all year round. I was there in early December and, while the mornings and evenings were a little cool, and we had drizzle one morning, the rest of the time it was blue skies and short sleeve shirts all the way!

Riviera Country Club,
1250 Capri Dr,
Pacific Palisades,
CA 90272,
United States

Phone: +1 310-454-6591
Web: www.therivieracountryclub.com

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