Video: First Look At Riviera's 10th And 15th
Explaining modifications to a pair of famous greens the golf world will see plenty of over the next eight years.
After much back and forth with the Quad staff I decided to employ video to explain recent changes at Riviera Country Club’s 10th and 15th greens. Forgive the rustic production values, but Riviera is, after all, adjacent to Rustic Canyon. And apologies in advance for the talent’s tendency to talk while facing away from the microphone. He’s rusty.
As for the course change analysis and ultimate architectural wonkery about to be shared here, the story goes like this: Riviera’s greens were created in 1926 when speeds Stimping in the 7’s. After Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw carefully restored the contours while making a few minor concessions to 1990’s speeds around 10 on the Stimpmeter, Riviera’s greens have remained playable thanks to George Thomas and Billy Bell favoring subtle contours over the more radical look-at-me stuff of lesser architects. Thomas and Bell greens generally were shaped to feel like a simple extension of the existing land forms, only with adjustments, curves, bumps and wings to inject strategy.
If only more architects would mimic their humility and care. I digress.
Thomas also felt the putt was over-emphasized, going so far as to advocate in one article for putts only counting as a 1/2 stroke. Still, when teaming with Bell from 1924 until his passing in 1932, Thomas built his share of artfully contoured and steeply pitched surfaces.
Which brings us to the pair of greens altered at Riviera where an onslaught of events will take place in the coming years. With speeds in the 12-13 range, vital hole locations key to putting on a complete championship. So in response to the evolution, speed increases and player frustration, the club, in consultation with the PGA Tour, lifted all of the poa annua turf off the 10th and 15th greens last summer and gently altered two key areas with hopes of restoring lost holes locations.
For those who enjoy these kinds of nuances in course presentation, here’s what was done and what I’ve seen so far this week.