Riviera Was Right Up His Alley

Flags flew at half-staff Friday at Riviera Country Club, otherwise known as Hogan’s Alley.

It wasn’t the eucalyptus or the barrancas or the kikuyu grass or the storied 18th hole that made Riviera famous. It was Ben Hogan, who died at 84 at his home in Fort Worth.

Hogan put Riviera on the map and gave it its nickname when he completed a historic trifecta of victories at the club in Pacific Palisades. Hogan won the 1947 and 1948 Los Angeles Opens and the 1948 U.S. Open at Riviera, where he set a scoring record.

Hogan’s 276 score at Riviera was a record for the U.S. Open, which had begun in 1895.

Hogan’s Alley was born.

Its namesake last visited Riviera in 1987 to film a commercial for his golf club company. A smiling Hogan rode a golf cart and seemed to enjoy the experience, according to Geoff Shackelford, author of “Riviera: A Definitive History.”

During the filming, Hogan noticed that a group of golfers was forced to wait for a while on the 17th hole. He wrote a letter of apology for the inconvenience. The letter is still on display at Hogan’s Alley.