Riviera Country Club Gets an Altered Finish
It’s the same old course, only with a newer look. Riviera Country Club will be taking on a slightly different appearance this week for the $4.8-million Nissan Open, where the most noticeable change is the signature closing hole.
Many have called Riviera’s 18th hole one of the most famous finishing holes in golf, and now it may be one of the most famous altered finishing holes in golf ... a blind tee shot over a huge hill to a fairway landing area you can’t see.
That part is the same, but there is still a difference.
The tee at the 18th has been lowered 4 1/2 feet to ground level, and the entire tee area is extended 24 yards. Now the former 451-yard hole measures 475 yards, and that 60-foot hill that introduces the fairway and leads to the green may look a lot higher than before.
“As far as the line of sight, it’ll look different, but the players might not know why,” said Matt Morton, Riviera’s superintendent.
Tiger Woods isn’t sure why a change was necessary.
“It was hard enough as it was, wasn’t it?” Woods said. “The tee shot is difficult, but the second shot is unbelievably difficult. If they ever get any kind of Santa Ana wind blowing, you’re going to have to use lumber to reach the green. It kind of played that way with Robert Allenby [in 2001]. If it rains next week, that could be unbelievably difficult.”
Woods has played the Nissan Open at Riviera five times without winning. It’s the most he has played any tournament without winning it at least once, but he doesn’t hold any grudge against the place.
“I actually love it,” he said. “I’ve had my chances there to win, and I just haven’t been able to do it. Who knows, this week could be the week.
“It’s one of the best-designed golf courses that we play all year. It’s fair. It’s hard, but it’s fair. It’s right there in front of you. There are no hidden surprises. Every bunker is right there. There’s only one blind tee shot, which is 18. There are no bunkers up there, you know where the fairway is. You have to go out there and hit it.”
Morton and Todd Yoshitake, Riviera’s head pro, said the teeing area at the 18th was lowered to return it to its original grade.
“And that hill will appear higher because you’re standing 4 1/2 feet lower,” Yoshitake said.
There are a few other alterations to the course that the players will notice this week.
At the 15th, a fairway bunker has been moved slightly more into the right side of the fairway, 270 yards from the tee and 20 more yards to carry it.
A bunker has been repositioned on the right side of the 17th hole and moved slightly in on the fairway. Morton said it’s 290 yards to the bunker and 320 yards to carry it.
“It’ll be a little narrower landing area for them,” he said.
They added 14 yards to the tee, which now makes the hole measure 590 yards.
The Kikuyu rough is dormant, and it measures about 2 1/2 inches, although Morton said the plan is to let it go during the tournament. The fairways have been brought in to an average of about 27-30 yards, which has been standard in recent years. The landing area on the first hole, after players hit their drives from the elevated tee by the clubhouse, is 32 yards wide.
Because the weather has been generally dry and cool, the fairways are firm. Morton said he would not be surprised to see balls run out on the fairway.
He said he has targeted the speed of the greens to roll at 11.0 or 11.5 on the Stimpmeter. To maintain the speed, the greens are cut in the morning, rolled, cut once at night and rolled again. If they become too quick, Morton said, one of those care elements will be eliminated.
Mike Weir is the defending champion, with his closing round of five-under 66 eating up a three-shot lead by Charles Howell III on the last day and forcing a playoff. Howell, who had a 73 in the final round, lost to Weir on the second extra hole.
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The Facts
What: Nissan Open.
* When: Thursday-Sunday.
* Where: Riviera Country Club, Pacific Palisades.
* TV: Thursday-Friday, noon-3 p.m., USA; Saturday-Sunday, noon-3 p.m., Ch. 2.
* 2003 champion: Mike Weir.