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Several classic holes define Riviera. The opening hole, a par 5, features a tee 100 feet above the fairway and finishes at a boomerang-shaped putting surface. Hogan’s favorite, the 236-yard 4th, is a modified Redan fronted by the elder statesman of man-made bunkers, while the par-3 6th is defined by the oft-bemoaned bunker in the center of the green.

No hole in America has aged better than Thomas’ masterful 10th. No matter how much the game changes, one thing is certain: Great players will fall prey to this wide, flat, well-bunkered 311 yards of pure strategic golf.

Riviera’s 10th is not complicated: Lay up down the left side and leave a short pitch to a bowling-pin shaped green. Knowing this, players still cave to temptation and play straight at the green either intentionally or via some subconscious refusal to lay up left. The aggressive route to the hole rarely leads to eagles or even birdies, and almost always causes round-deflating pars and bogeys.

Several well-known movies have also been filmed at Riviera. Pat and Mike starred members Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, The Caddy included member Dean Martin, and Hogan’s dramatic comeback was re-created at Riviera for Follow the Sun. The 1970s were marked by Martin’s high-stakes money games, with the single-digit handicappers and celebrity antics immortalized in Dan Jenkins’ Dogged Victims of Inexorable Fate.

Around that time, longtime pro and former British Amateur champion Willie Hunter handed the reins over to son Mac, who created a golf-focused atmosphere that produced professionals Barry Jaeckel, Tony Sills and LPGA Hall-of-Famer Amy Alcott.

Today Riviera is owned by Japanese real-estate tycoon Noboru Watanabe, who paid $108 million in 1989 to the descendants of L.A. Athletic Club founder Garbutt. It was a small price to pay for one of American golf’s true national treasures.

Par: 71    
Yardage: 7,013
Year founded: 1926
Architects: Billy Bell and George C. Thomas

Riviera Country Club

1250 Capri Drive
Pacific Palisades, Calif. 90272
310-454-6591




Related Links:

Riviera's 10th Hole

More California Golf Courses

More California Travel Destinations

Geoff Shackelford


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