Five things to know: The Riviera Country Club

One of the PGA TOUR’s most famed and historic tracks, The Riviera Country Club, has been providing Hollywood-caliber drama for almost a century. With an iconic bunker in the middle of a green, a natural amphitheater and one of the world’s most recognizable short par 4s, Riviera demands a variety of shots to conquer its terrain.

Riviera, which first held the Los Angeles Open in 1929, has long hosted The Genesis Invitational, a Signature Event on the PGA TOUR schedule. The club will host the 2031 U.S. Open, marking a return to Hollywood just eight years after the 2023 U.S. Open at The Los Angeles Country Club.

Prior to 2023, the U.S. Open hadn't been held in L.A. since the 1948 edition at Riviera, won by Ben Hogan. The George C. Thomas Jr. and William P. Bell design also hosted the PGA Championship in 1983 and 1995. The club will also host the Summer Olympics men's and women's golf competition in 2028.

Here are five things to know about The Riviera Country Club, a timeless track that continues to vex the game's best on a yearly basis, and will do so on a major stage in 2031.

1. What a start

The first hole at Riviera is an early feast opportunity for PGA TOUR players. The par 5 plays roughly 495 yards from a tee box that sits 75 feet above the fairway. While there’s out-of-bounds on the left and trees on the right, a straight drive should offer an eagle opportunity all four days. The hole played to a 4.19 average in 2022, the TOUR's third easiest par 5 of the season, and it was the easiest opening hole on TOUR in 2021. It traditionally plays as the easiest hole at Riviera, as well.

The difficulty dramatically shifts right after. The second hole, the No. 1 handicap hole, presents a 488-yard par 4 that heads back uphill, again with out-of-bounds on the left and trees on the right. A long, narrow green is just 25 feet wide and protected by bunkers on the left and front.

Despite having different pars, the scoring averages for the two holes are usually separated by just a fraction of a stroke. They played to an average of 4.28 and 4.15, respectively, in 2021.

While Riviera’s greens are the same Poa annua that players face throughout the West Coast, the Kikuyu fairways and rough offer a unique challenge. The sticky Kikuyu grass grabs balls like Velcro and makes it hard to execute bump-and-run shots around Riviera.

2. In the middle

You do this if you are creating a golf course in a video game, but not usually if you are an architect building a PGA TOUR-caliber track. Long before video games existed, George C. Thomas Jr. and William P. Bell had a unique vision for Riviera’s par-3 sixth hole, putting what is now one of the world’s most famous bunkers smack in the middle of the green.

If having a sand trap in the middle of the green is not enough, the putting surface is also two-tiered with a lower level mostly in front of the bunker and an upper level mostly behind the bunker. An errant tee shot, even just a few feet off-line, could find a player scrambling to putt around or pitch over the trap, even needing to pull out a wedge from the putting surface.

There is no true safe shot on the green, as all four quadrants bring the center bunker into play. And that is before mentioning there are other bunkers in the back, left and front portions of the green.

Birdie is manageable when on the correct tier of the green, but the landing spot can determine the difference between a two or a four quickly.

3. Must-see TV

Drivable par 4s are en vogue these days, and perhaps No. 10 at Riviera sets the standards for those holes. Measuring anywhere from 282 to 315 yards, most players can hit the green if the conditions are right. However, such a tee shot challenges even the best shot-shapers in the world, with bunkers protecting the green on its right, left and back. The combination of deep bunkers and a skinny putting surface make getting up-and-down difficult, especially from the sand.

Right-handed players will try to launch a power-fade, while left-handed players need to sweep a draw to the front-left portion of the green.

The lay-up shot isn’t forgiving. A bunker running across the left portion of the fairway forces players to lay up to a full wedge shot if not going for the green.

A handful of trees also run along the fairway left of the green. In 2021, Max Homa famously found his ball lying next to one of those trees during the first playoff hole against Tony Finau, but Homa was able to skip a shot out and match Finau with a par.

Unlike No. 17 at TPC Scottsdale, where a water hazard provides penalty trouble for those taking a shot at the green, trees and bunkers are the issue on this drivable par 4. A miscue left or right off the tee and a player can go from envisioning eagle to scrambling for par, even without a penalty stroke.

4. Hollywood drama

Riviera is truly one of the OG staples of the Los Angeles social scene. The Hollywood sign – then "Hollywoodland" – was erected in 1923. Riviera opened its doors in 1926. At the time, with a cost of $243,827, Riviera was labeled as one of the most expensive golf courses in the world.

The club has long-attracted famous members, with such Hollywood names as Humphrey Bogart, Walt Disney and Dean Martin making the course their home (“Bogey’s Tree,” a trimmed Eucalyptus on the 12th hole, is allegedly where Bogart used to sit to heckle pros). In the 1950s, golf films “Pat and Mike” – starring Katharine Hepburn and Babe Zaharias – and “The Caddy” – starring Martin and Jerry Lewis – were both filmed at Riviera. “Follow the Sun,” a 1951 biographical film about Ben Hogan, was also taped at Riviera.

And in more modern times, "Seinfeld" co-creater and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" star Larry David helped raise money for the club's caddies during the pandemic.

The Genesis Invitational has been held at Riviera dating all the way back to 1929, hosting the event all but two years since 1973. The exceptions were in 1983, when the club hosted the PGA Championship, and in 1998, when it hosted the U.S. Senior Open. Riviera also has been the venue for the 1948 U.S. Open, 1995 PGA Championship and 2017 U.S. Amateur. It is scheduled to host the 2026 U.S. Women’s Open, in addition to the 2031 U.S. Open.

The club will add Olympic golf to its history at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, although this won’t be the Olympics’ first foray on the grounds. Equestrian dressage and modern pentathlon were held at Riviera in 1932.

Living up to its Hollywood pedigree, the 18th hole green is surrounded by a natural amphitheater, creating golf’s version of the Hollywood Bowl. As players stare down the 18th green, with Riviera’s iconic clubhouse in the background, the gallery seated on the hillside is staring directly down at them.

5. Hogan's Alley, but no Tiger or Jack

Ben Hogan was one of Riviera’s early heroes, winning The Genesis Invitational at Riviera in 1947 and 1948 and the U.S. Open there in 1948. His dominance during that two-year stretch gave the course the nickname, “Hogan’s Alley,” a moniker it shares with Colonial Country Club for a similar reason. Hogan also finished runner-up in 1950, losing a playoff to Sam Snead in his return to the TOUR after his near-fatal car accident.

The list of winners at Riviera lives up to the Hollywood nature of the course. But the two jarring names you will not find on the champions’ plaque: Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

Nicklaus made his professional debut at Riviera in 1962, tying for 50th place as a 21-year-old, earning $33.33 in prize money. He notched his best finish in 1978, grabbing runner-up honors two strokes behind Gil Morgan.

Woods made his PGA TOUR debut at Riviera in 1992, driving up from Orange County as a 16-year-old high school sophomore (and amateur). He missed the cut. Woods’ best finish at Riviera was second in 1999, finishing two strokes behind winner Ernie Els.

Since 2016, Woods has been the host of The Genesis Invitational, with his TGR Foundation being the benefiting charity. But despite his connection to the course, Riviera is a place Woods has still never been able to lift a PGA TOUR trophy.