Riviera Country Club
Encyclopedia
The Riviera Country Club is a country club
with a championship golf course
. It is located in Pacific Palisades, California
, a community within the city limits of Los Angeles
. The country club opened in 1926, with George C. Thomas, Jr. as the course architect. The course has been the primary host for the PGA Tour
's Northern Trust Open (better known as the Los Angeles Open). Riviera has also hosted the U.S. Open
in 1948, the PGA Championship
in 1983 and 1995, and the U.S. Senior Open in 1998. The course is located in the Santa Monica Canyon, just below the Santa Monica Mountains
and a block south of Sunset Boulevard
. It is not to be confused with the clubs of the same name in Coral Gables, Florida
,http://www.rivieracountryclub.org Chicago
, Illinois
,http://www.rivierasports.com or Dublin
, Ohio
http://www.rivieragolfclub.net.
Golf Course. Dr. Alister MacKenzie
and Billy Bell
helped Thomas in the design and planning of the course. They were in charge of assembling a labor force to build the course from scratch in the Santa Monica Canyon. In 1927 dollars, the entire country club and golf course cost $243,827.63 to build. The course has been redesigned a few times, most notably in 1992 when Ben Crenshaw
and Bill Coore redesigned the bunkers to look like they did when the course opened.
The country club prospered in the 1930s and 1940s. It hosted the dressage
equestrian
and the riding part of the modern pentathlon
events for the 1932 Summer Olympics
. The Riviera Equestrian Center was where prominent riders like Egan Merz trained younger people like Elizabeth Taylor
how to ride.
The movie Pat and Mike
, starring Katharine Hepburn
and Babe Zaharias
, was filmed at Riviera, as was "The Caddy", starring Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin, with a cameo appearance by Ben Hogan
, and Follow the Sun
, about Hogan, starring Glenn Ford
and Anne Baxter. The club has had many famous members which include Humphrey Bogart
, Glen Campbell
, Vic Damone
, Peter Falk
, Jack Ging
, Dean Martin
, Gregory Peck
, Walt Disney
, Hal Roach
, Douglas Fairbanks
, and Mary Pickford
.
The course is well-known for Ben Hogan
, and the course has been called "Hogan's Alley". In the 1940s, Hogan won the Los Angeles Open three times and finished second once. Other notable winners at Riviera include Sam Snead
, Byron Nelson
, Hale Irwin
, Tom Watson
, Johnny Miller
, Ben Crenshaw
, Mark Calcavecchia
, Fred Couples
, Corey Pavin
, Craig Stadler
, Nick Faldo
, Ernie Els
, Mike Weir
, and Phil Mickelson
. Hogan also won the 1948 U.S. Open at Riviera, and Irwin also won the 1998 U.S. Senior Open. Hal Sutton
won the 1983 PGA, and Steve Elkington
won the 1995 PGA.
More recent winners at Riviera include Rory Sabbatini
, who won the 2006 Nissan Open and Charles Howell III
, who won the 2007 Nissan Open in a sudden death playoff against Phil Mickelson
. In the 2008 Northern Trust Open, Mickelson hung on for a two shot win over Jeff Quinney
to win for the first time at Riviera. This win gave Mickelson at least one win in every West Coast Swing
event.
One notable exception to the list of winners is Tiger Woods
. As a high school sophomore from Cypress
in neighboring Orange County
, Woods played his very first PGA Tour
event (as an amateur
) at Riviera in 1992; he shot 72-75 and missed the cut. His best finish at L.A. was in 1998, when the Nissan Open was held at the Valencia Country Club (Riviera was being prepared for the U.S. Senior Open). Woods shot 65-66 on the weekend, but lost in a playoff to Billy Mayfair
, his only playoff loss on tour (10-1 through March 2008). Woods finished tied for second in 1999 and had top-10 finishes in 2003 and 2004. The 2005 event had only two rounds due to rain; Woods finished 13th. He last played at Riviera in 2006, also rain-plagued, but withdrew after two rounds due to illness. http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1713205,00.html?eref=golf
Bolded Years are major championships
on the PGA Tour
is not allowed; a collared shirt and either Bermuda shorts or slacks are required. Green fees for guests are $350 for a round, including a golf cart.
71, at a length of 6,950 from the back tees (which has been lengthened to 7,279 yards for Tour play), 6,505 yards from the middle tees, and 5,844 yards from the forward tees. The men's slope rating
s are 74.3/139 and 71.9/130 for the back and middle tees, respectively. The ladies' slope rating is 74.7/137 for the forward tees. The course record for competitive play is 61, which is 10 under par, shot by Ted Tryba in 1999. The course record for the lowest nine holes was 28 (seven under par on the front nine), shot by Andrew Magee
in the 1991 L.A. Open.
The first hole, a short par 5, is an easy beginning hole. The tee is elevated 75 feet above the fairway, tempting players to hit driver, but out of bounds on the left side and a barranca crossing the fairway make players think twice. Scores range from eagle to double bogey. The second hole is a long par four that plays uphill and into the wind. It is the number one handicap
hole. The third hole is a medium-length par four that plays into the wind.
The fourth hole is a long par three, which Hogan called the "Best par three in America". The par four fifth hole plays into the wind and is almost on the side of the hill. The par three sixth hole is world-famous for having a bunker
in the middle of the green. If a player is on the wrong side of the green, he or she will have to make a tough decision to either putt around or chip over the bunker.
The fairway at the seventh hole, a par four, is difficult to hit. The eighth hole, a long par four, has two fairways separated by a dry ditch. The ninth, a long par four, is known for its well-placed fairway bunkers.
The tenth hole is a really short par four known as a risk-reward hole. Longer hitters can try to drive the green, but an accurate drive will be needed as several bunkers surround the green. The eleventh hole is a long par five where eucalyptus
trees and barranca
come into play. The twelfth is a long par four, often into the wind, that plays to a narrow green surrounded by the barranca, bunkers and trees. One tree, Bogey's Tree, is named after Humphrey Bogart
.
The thirteenth hole is a tough driving hole, with the barranca on the left side and eucalyptus on the right side. The fourteenth is an easy par three with the largest green on the golf course, but the green is multi-tiered, making putting difficult. The fifteenth hole is a dogleg
par four to the right that features the largest green on the golf course, but the green is two-tiered, so one must make sure that his or her ball is on the proper tier. This hole plays into the breeze
of the Pacific Ocean
and it is a pivotal hole in the tournament.
The sixteenth hole is the last par three on the course and can yield birdies, however players will need to hit the small green that it surrounded by bunkers. The seventeenth hole is a long, uphill par five that is the longest hole on the golf course. The eighteenth hole is a world-famous par four. The tee shot is blind, and the ball must find the fairway to have any chance of reaching the green, which is surrounded by a natural amphitheater with a beautiful view of the clubhouse
.
34.0458856°N 118.5023546°W
Country club
A country club is a private club, often with a closed membership, that typically offers a variety of recreational sports facilities and is located in city outskirts or rural areas. Activities may include, for example, any of golf, tennis, swimming or polo...
with a championship golf course
Golf course
A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...
. It is located in Pacific Palisades, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, a community within the city limits of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. The country club opened in 1926, with George C. Thomas, Jr. as the course architect. The course has been the primary host for the PGA Tour
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
's Northern Trust Open (better known as the Los Angeles Open). Riviera has also hosted the U.S. Open
U.S. Open (golf)
The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour...
in 1948, the PGA Championship
PGA Championship
The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship...
in 1983 and 1995, and the U.S. Senior Open in 1998. The course is located in the Santa Monica Canyon, just below the Santa Monica Mountains
Santa Monica Mountains
The Santa Monica Mountains are a Transverse Range in Southern California, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean in the United States.-Geography:...
and a block south of Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades...
. It is not to be confused with the clubs of the same name in Coral Gables, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
,http://www.rivieracountryclub.org Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
,http://www.rivierasports.com or Dublin
Dublin, Ohio
Dublin is a city in Franklin, Delaware, and Union counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 41,751 at the 2010 census. Dublin is a suburb of Columbus, Ohio. Approximately 57,000 people live within the Dublin school district....
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
http://www.rivieragolfclub.net.
History
When the country club and course opened in 1926, it was known as the Los Angeles Athletic ClubLos Angeles Athletic Club
Los Angeles Athletic Club is an athletic club and private social club in Los Angeles, California, USA. It awards the John R. Wooden Award to the outstanding men's and women's college basketball player of each year....
Golf Course. Dr. Alister MacKenzie
Alister MacKenzie
Dr. Alister MacKenzie was an internationally renowned, British golf course architect whose course designs, on three different continents, are consistently ranked among the finest golf courses in the world...
and Billy Bell
Billy Bell
William Edward Bell was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played four seasons in the National Hockey Association and six in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Wanderers, Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators. He won the Stanley Cup in 1924 with the Canadiens.-Career...
helped Thomas in the design and planning of the course. They were in charge of assembling a labor force to build the course from scratch in the Santa Monica Canyon. In 1927 dollars, the entire country club and golf course cost $243,827.63 to build. The course has been redesigned a few times, most notably in 1992 when Ben Crenshaw
Ben Crenshaw
Ben Daniel Crenshaw is an American professional golfer.Crenshaw was born in Austin, Texas. He attended and played golf at Austin High School and the University of Texas, where he won three NCAA Championships from 1971 to 1973...
and Bill Coore redesigned the bunkers to look like they did when the course opened.
The country club prospered in the 1930s and 1940s. It hosted the dressage
Dressage
Dressage is a competitive equestrian sport, defined by the International Equestrian Federation as "the highest expression of horse training." Competitions are held at all levels from amateur to the World Equestrian Games...
equestrian
Equestrian at the 1932 Summer Olympics
The Equestrian Events at the 1932 Los Angeles Summer Games included Dressage , Eventing , and Show Jumping . The competitions were held from August 10, 1932 to August 14, 1932....
and the riding part of the modern pentathlon
Modern pentathlon at the 1932 Summer Olympics
The modern pentathlon at the 1932 Summer Olympics-Individual competition:...
events for the 1932 Summer Olympics
1932 Summer Olympics
The 1932 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the X Olympiad, was a major world wide multi-athletic event which was celebrated in 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. No other cities made a bid to host these Olympics. Held during the worldwide Great Depression, many nations...
. The Riviera Equestrian Center was where prominent riders like Egan Merz trained younger people like Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
how to ride.
The movie Pat and Mike
Pat and Mike
Pat and Mike is a 1952 comedy starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. The movie was directed by George Cukor, who also directed The Philadelphia Story and Adam's Rib.- Plot :...
, starring Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television. In a career that spanned 62 years as a leading lady, she was best known for playing strong-willed, sophisticated women in both dramas and comedies...
and Babe Zaharias
Babe Zaharias
Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias was an American athlete who achieved outstanding success in golf, basketball, and track and field...
, was filmed at Riviera, as was "The Caddy", starring Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin, with a cameo appearance by Ben Hogan
Ben Hogan
William Ben Hogan was an American golfer, generally considered one of the greatest players in the history of the game...
, and Follow the Sun
Follow the Sun
Follow the Sun is a 1951 biographical film of the life of golf legend Ben Hogan. It starred Glenn Ford as Hogan and Anne Baxter as his wife. Many golfers and sports figures of the day appeared in the movie.-Plot summary:...
, about Hogan, starring Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford was a Canadian-born American actor from Hollywood's Golden Era with a career that spanned seven decades...
and Anne Baxter. The club has had many famous members which include Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
, Glen Campbell
Glen Campbell
Glen Travis Campbell is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.During his 50 years in show...
, Vic Damone
Vic Damone
Vic Damone is an American singer and entertainer.- Early life :Damone was born Vito Rocco Farinola in Brooklyn, New York to French-Italian immigrants based in Bari, Italy—Rocco and Mamie Farinola. His father was an electrician; and his mother taught piano. His cousin was the actress and singer...
, Peter Falk
Peter Falk
Peter Michael Falk was an American actor, best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the television series Columbo...
, Jack Ging
Jack Ging
Jack Lee Ging is an American actor best known for his role as General Harlan 'Bull' Fullbright in the NBC television series The A-Team.-Early life:...
, Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
, Gregory Peck
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
, Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
, Hal Roach
Hal Roach
Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach, Sr. was an American film and television producer and director, and from the 1910s to the 1990s.- Early life and career :Hal Roach was born in Elmira, New York...
, Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. was an American actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films such as The Thief of Bagdad, Robin Hood, and The Mark of Zorro....
, and Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
.
The course is well-known for Ben Hogan
Ben Hogan
William Ben Hogan was an American golfer, generally considered one of the greatest players in the history of the game...
, and the course has been called "Hogan's Alley". In the 1940s, Hogan won the Los Angeles Open three times and finished second once. Other notable winners at Riviera include Sam Snead
Sam Snead
Samuel Jackson Snead was an American professional golfer who was one of the top players in the world for most of four decades. Snead won a record 82 PGA Tour events including seven majors. He failed to win a U.S...
, Byron Nelson
Byron Nelson
John Byron Nelson, Jr. was an American PGA Tour golfer between 1935 and 1946.Nelson and two other well known golfers of the time, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead, were born within seven months of each other in 1912...
, Hale Irwin
Hale Irwin
Hale S. Irwin is an American professional golfer. He is one of the few players in history to have won three U.S. Opens and was one of the world's leading golfers for much of the 1970s and 1980s. He has also developed a career as a golf course architect.Irwin was born in Joplin, Missouri, but was...
, Tom Watson
Tom Watson (golfer)
Thomas Sturges Watson is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and now mostly on the Champions Tour....
, Johnny Miller
Johnny Miller
John Laurence Miller is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour. He was one of the top players in the world during the mid-1970s; he ranked second in the world on Mark McCormack's world golf rankings in both 1974 and 1975 behind Jack Nicklaus. He is currently the lead golf...
, Ben Crenshaw
Ben Crenshaw
Ben Daniel Crenshaw is an American professional golfer.Crenshaw was born in Austin, Texas. He attended and played golf at Austin High School and the University of Texas, where he won three NCAA Championships from 1971 to 1973...
, Mark Calcavecchia
Mark Calcavecchia
Mark John Calcavecchia is an American professional golfer and a former PGA Tour member. During his professional career, he has won thirteen PGA Tour events, including the 1989 Open Championship. Calcavecchia currently plays on the Champions Tour.-Early years:Calcavecchia was born in Laurel,...
, Fred Couples
Fred Couples
Frederick Steven Couples is an American professional golfer who competes on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. A former World No. 1, he has won numerous events, most notably the 1992 Masters Tournament. In August 2011 he won his maiden senior major at the Senior Players Championship...
, Corey Pavin
Corey Pavin
Corey Allen Pavin is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour. He spent over 150 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 1986 and 1997.-Biography:...
, Craig Stadler
Craig Stadler
Craig Robert Stadler is an American professional golfer who has won numerous tournaments at both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour level....
, Nick Faldo
Nick Faldo
Sir Nicholas Alexander "Nick" Faldo, MBE is an English professional golfer on the European Tour who now mainly works as an on air golf analyst. Over his career, he has won six majors: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was ranked the World No...
, Ernie Els
Ernie Els
Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing...
, Mike Weir
Mike Weir
Michael Richard Weir, CM, O.Ont is a Canadian professional golfer on the PGA Tour. He spent over 110 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 2001 and 2005. He is best known for winning the Masters in 2003....
, and Phil Mickelson
Phil Mickelson
Philip Alfred Mickelson is an American professional golfer. He has won four major championships and a total of 39 events on the PGA Tour. He has reached a career high world ranking of 2nd in multiple years. He is nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed...
. Hogan also won the 1948 U.S. Open at Riviera, and Irwin also won the 1998 U.S. Senior Open. Hal Sutton
Hal Sutton
Hal Evan Sutton is an American professional golfer.Sutton was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. A promising golfer at the Centenary College of Louisiana, he was named Golf Magazines 1980 College Player of the Year...
won the 1983 PGA, and Steve Elkington
Steve Elkington
Stephen John Elkington is an Australian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He spent over 50 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings from 1995 to 1998.-Early years and education:...
won the 1995 PGA.
More recent winners at Riviera include Rory Sabbatini
Rory Sabbatini
Rory Mario Trevor Sabbatini is a South African professional golfer.Rory Sabbatini was born in Durban, South Africa. He started playing golf at age 4, but concentrated on it from age 12. He was recruited by the University of Arizona, turned professional in 1998 and joined the PGA Tour in 1999...
, who won the 2006 Nissan Open and Charles Howell III
Charles Howell III
Charles Gordon Howell III is an American golfer. He has been featured in the top 15 of the Official World Golf Rankings.-Early years and amateur career:...
, who won the 2007 Nissan Open in a sudden death playoff against Phil Mickelson
Phil Mickelson
Philip Alfred Mickelson is an American professional golfer. He has won four major championships and a total of 39 events on the PGA Tour. He has reached a career high world ranking of 2nd in multiple years. He is nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed...
. In the 2008 Northern Trust Open, Mickelson hung on for a two shot win over Jeff Quinney
Jeff Quinney
Jeffrey Michael Quinney is an American professional golfer.Quinney was born in Eugene, Oregon. He had a successful amateur career, winning the U.S. Amateur in 2000, and represented the USA in the Walker Cup in 2001....
to win for the first time at Riviera. This win gave Mickelson at least one win in every West Coast Swing
West Coast Swing
West Coast Swing is a partner dance with roots in Lindy Hop. It is characterized by a distinctive elastic look that results from its basic extension-compression technique of partner connection, and is danced primarily in a slotted area on the dance floor...
event.
One notable exception to the list of winners is Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
. As a high school sophomore from Cypress
Cypress, California
Cypress is a suburban city located in the northern region of Orange County within Southern California. Its population was 47,802 at the 2010 census.-History:...
in neighboring Orange County
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
, Woods played his very first PGA Tour
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
event (as an amateur
Amateur
An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....
) at Riviera in 1992; he shot 72-75 and missed the cut. His best finish at L.A. was in 1998, when the Nissan Open was held at the Valencia Country Club (Riviera was being prepared for the U.S. Senior Open). Woods shot 65-66 on the weekend, but lost in a playoff to Billy Mayfair
Billy Mayfair
William Fred Mayfair is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour .-Early years and amateur career:Mayfair was born in Phoenix, Arizona. Before his fifteenth birthday, he had won a number of junior golf tournaments. In 1981, he was on the cover of Boys' Life magazine as "golf's...
, his only playoff loss on tour (10-1 through March 2008). Woods finished tied for second in 1999 and had top-10 finishes in 2003 and 2004. The 2005 event had only two rounds due to rain; Woods finished 13th. He last played at Riviera in 2006, also rain-plagued, but withdrew after two rounds due to illness. http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1713205,00.html?eref=golf
| Year | Tournament | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| 1948 | U.S. Open U.S. Open (golf) The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour... |
Ben Hogan Ben Hogan William Ben Hogan was an American golfer, generally considered one of the greatest players in the history of the game... |
| 1983 | PGA Championship PGA Championship The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship... |
Hal Sutton Hal Sutton Hal Evan Sutton is an American professional golfer.Sutton was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. A promising golfer at the Centenary College of Louisiana, he was named Golf Magazines 1980 College Player of the Year... |
| 1995 | PGA Championship PGA Championship The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship... |
Steve Elkington Steve Elkington Stephen John Elkington is an Australian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He spent over 50 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings from 1995 to 1998.-Early years and education:... |
| 1998 | U.S. Senior Open United States Senior Open The U.S. Senior Open is one of the major championships in men's senior golf. It was first played in 1980 and is administered by the United States Golf Association and is recognized as a major championship by both the Champions Tour and the European Seniors Tour... |
Hale Irwin Hale Irwin Hale S. Irwin is an American professional golfer. He is one of the few players in history to have won three U.S. Opens and was one of the world's leading golfers for much of the 1970s and 1980s. He has also developed a career as a golf course architect.Irwin was born in Joplin, Missouri, but was... |
Bolded Years are major championships
Men's major golf championships
The men's major golf championships, commonly known as the Major Championships, and often referred to simply as the majors, are the four most prestigious annual tournaments in professional golf...
on the PGA Tour
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
General information
The greens are bent grass, and the fairways are kikuyu grass. Guests must play the course with a member. For the dress code, denimDenim
Denim is a rugged cotton twill textile, in which the weft passes under two or more warp threads. This produces the familiar diagonal ribbing identifiable on the reverse of the fabric, which distinguishes denim from cotton duck. Denim has been in American usage since the late 18th century...
is not allowed; a collared shirt and either Bermuda shorts or slacks are required. Green fees for guests are $350 for a round, including a golf cart.
The course
The course is a parPar (score)
The word "par" is a term in the game of golf used to denote the pre-determined number of strokes that a scratch golfer should require to complete a hole, a round , or a tournament...
71, at a length of 6,950 from the back tees (which has been lengthened to 7,279 yards for Tour play), 6,505 yards from the middle tees, and 5,844 yards from the forward tees. The men's slope rating
Slope rating
The slope rating of a golf course is a measure of its difficulty for bogey golfers. The term comes from the fact that when playing on more difficult courses, players' scores will rise more quickly than their handicaps would predict. The "slope rating" of a course thus predicts that rise...
s are 74.3/139 and 71.9/130 for the back and middle tees, respectively. The ladies' slope rating is 74.7/137 for the forward tees. The course record for competitive play is 61, which is 10 under par, shot by Ted Tryba in 1999. The course record for the lowest nine holes was 28 (seven under par on the front nine), shot by Andrew Magee
Andrew Magee
Andrew Donald Magee is an American professional golfer who played for more than 20 years on the PGA Tour.Magee was born in Paris, France, where his father, a Texas oil man, was working at the time. He grew up in Dallas, Texas. Magee attended the University of Oklahoma from 1981–1984...
in the 1991 L.A. Open.
The first hole, a short par 5, is an easy beginning hole. The tee is elevated 75 feet above the fairway, tempting players to hit driver, but out of bounds on the left side and a barranca crossing the fairway make players think twice. Scores range from eagle to double bogey. The second hole is a long par four that plays uphill and into the wind. It is the number one handicap
Golf handicap
A handicap is a numerical measure of an amateur golfer's playing ability based on the tees played for a given course. It is used to calculate a net score from the number of strokes actually played, thus allowing players of different proficiency to play against each other on somewhat equal terms...
hole. The third hole is a medium-length par four that plays into the wind.
The fourth hole is a long par three, which Hogan called the "Best par three in America". The par four fifth hole plays into the wind and is almost on the side of the hill. The par three sixth hole is world-famous for having a bunker
Bunker
A military bunker is a hardened shelter, often buried partly or fully underground, designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks...
in the middle of the green. If a player is on the wrong side of the green, he or she will have to make a tough decision to either putt around or chip over the bunker.
The tenth hole is a really short par four known as a risk-reward hole. Longer hitters can try to drive the green, but an accurate drive will be needed as several bunkers surround the green. The eleventh hole is a long par five where eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...
trees and barranca
Barranca
-Fiction:* Las Barrancas, a fictional town in a fictional county in the computer game, Grand Theft Auto* The guide Barranca in the opening scenes of Raiders of the Lost ArkDefinition:1. A deep ravine or gorge.2...
come into play. The twelfth is a long par four, often into the wind, that plays to a narrow green surrounded by the barranca, bunkers and trees. One tree, Bogey's Tree, is named after Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
.
The thirteenth hole is a tough driving hole, with the barranca on the left side and eucalyptus on the right side. The fourteenth is an easy par three with the largest green on the golf course, but the green is multi-tiered, making putting difficult. The fifteenth hole is a dogleg
Dogleg
Dogleg or dog-leg may refer to:Motor vehicles*Dog leg, an unusual manual transmission layout*Dog-leg, an offset 'zig-zag' plane of operation for a floor-mounted automatic transmission shift lever* The area behind the rear door on a four door car...
par four to the right that features the largest green on the golf course, but the green is two-tiered, so one must make sure that his or her ball is on the proper tier. This hole plays into the breeze
Breeze
Breeze or The Breeze can refer to:* Sea breeze, an onshore afternoon wind, caused by warm air rising over the land in sunny weather-Media:* The Breeze , a group of radio stations in New Zealand....
of the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
and it is a pivotal hole in the tournament.
The sixteenth hole is the last par three on the course and can yield birdies, however players will need to hit the small green that it surrounded by bunkers. The seventeenth hole is a long, uphill par five that is the longest hole on the golf course. The eighteenth hole is a world-famous par four. The tee shot is blind, and the ball must find the fairway to have any chance of reaching the green, which is surrounded by a natural amphitheater with a beautiful view of the clubhouse
Country club
A country club is a private club, often with a closed membership, that typically offers a variety of recreational sports facilities and is located in city outskirts or rural areas. Activities may include, for example, any of golf, tennis, swimming or polo...
.
External links
- Official site
- Virtual tour of the golf course from the official site
- Historical tour of the course from the official site
- Official PGA Tour website for the Northern Trust Open
34.0458856°N 118.5023546°W