Riviera's New Tees
The world famous 4th and 18th get new angles after nearly a century of service. This weeks' Genesis Invitational should provide a nice preview of how the holes will play during upcoming majors.
The Genesis Invitational returns to Riviera after last year’s natural disaster-related pause. The Pacific Palisades-adjacent club unveils significant changes at two of its most storied holes ahead of this spring’s U.S. Women’s Open, the 2028 Olympics, and the 2031 U.S. Open.
The par-3 fourth—Ben Hogan’s favorite par-3 “in America” and where he famously returned to film an unforgettable commercial—features a new tee stretching the hole to 273 yards, up from 240 or so. The new tee was created well to the right of the original that had been in place for 97 years and was played by nearly all of the game’s greats.
The club’s newsletter said the fourth has been “meticulously restored to honor George Thomas’s vision” despite altering the Redan’s option-heavy angle created by Thomas and Billy Bell.
The view from the new tee. And yes, there’s green off in the distance. Really! I swear!
In between Monday’s downpours, I looked at what players will face this week in a couple of videos: