George C. Thomas, an amateur architect who agreed to design the golf course free of charge created his crowning achievement and even today, Riviera is considered one of the finest natural layouts in all of golf. One of the oldest and largest tennis clubs in the Western United States, Riviera features 24 courts.
Originally established in 1926, “The Riv” as it’s affectionately called, will host the U.S. Women’s open in 2026 as part of its centennial celebration. Riviera hosts the Genesis Invitational, a tournament that was originally the Los Angeles Open.
Other notable winners at Riviera include Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Hale Irwin, Tom Watson, Johnny Miller, Ben Crenshaw, Bubba Watson, Mark Calcavecchia, Fred Couples, Corey Pavin, Craig Stadler, Nick Faldo, Ernie Els, Mike Weir, and Phil Mickelson. Hal Sutton won the PGA Championship in August 1983, and Steve Elkington in 1995.
Despite having different pars, the scoring averages for the two holes are usually separated by just a fraction of a stroke. They played to an average of 4.28 and 4.15, respectively, in 2021. While Riviera’s greens are the same Poa annua that players face throughout the West Coast, the Kikuyu fairways and rough offer a unique challenge.
1926Riviera Country ClubClub informationLocationPacific Palisades, CaliforniaElevation180–330 feet (55–100 m)Established1926, 96 years agoTypePrivate16 more rows
tycoon Noboru WatanabeToday Riviera is owned by Japanese real-estate tycoon Noboru Watanabe, who paid $108 million in 1989 to the descendants of L.A. Athletic Club founder Garbutt. It was a small price to pay for one of American golf's true national treasures.
A George Thomas Classic: Riviera. Riviera Country Club, one of America's iconic golf courses, is tucked away in a residential area off the busy Sunset Boulevard. The course sits in a small canyon, a relatively unpromising site where, in 1927, George C. Thomas, Jr., laid out his masterpiece.
Riviera's Owned by a Japanese Company In 1988 a Tokyo based real estate firm by the name of Marukin Shoji Ltd. purchased Riviera for $108M. The club (which also includes a tennis club) covers a total of 106 acres in one the most expensive zip codes in the world.
Experts estimate the annual dues at a minimum of $25,000 although there have been previous reports setting it at $40,000. Actually, the fee requirement may be the easiest hurdle for the potential members. You can't really be an applicant to the Riviera on your own.
Monthly *Monthly *Two Young Adults (18-29)Same household, both 18-29.$46Two Adults (30-64)Same household, with one adult 30-64.$78Two Adults (65 and over)Same household, with one adult 65.$46One Young Adult (18-29)$314 more rows
Another unique feature of Riviera Country Club's 92-year-old course is its abundance of Eucalyptus trees. The mammoth, white-barked trees are prevalent throughout the property, and in addition to looking and smelling great, they play a strategic role on several holes.
Cypress Point Golf Club in Pebble Beach, Calif., and the Los Angeles Country Club were selected by Billionaire.com as two of the 10 most exclusive golf courses in the world.
Inside the course: Riviera Country ClubCourse SuperintendentMatthew A. Morton7,298 yards (2009)GrassBermudagrass, perennial ryegrass (tees); Kikuyugrass (rough, fairways); Creeping bentgrass, Poa annua (greens)Tournament Stimpmeter12 ftSand bunkers6015 more rows•Feb 12, 2012
The main clubhouse, built in a Spanish revival style, followed in 1928. The club called upon famed Golden Age-architect George C. Thomas to design a course that would challenge the world's best. After 18 months and 15 iterations of his design, his masterpiece and crowning achievement opened for play.
Membership is believed to cost between $100,000 and $300,000 and annual dues were estimated in 2020 to be less than $30,000 per year. Club members are sometimes referred to as "green jackets."
Kirk Karasawa -Kirk Karasawa - Head Golf Professional - Riviera Country Club | LinkedIn.
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Riviera Country Club is approaching its 100th birthday and if the fairways and greens could talk, it’d probably take weeks to hear all the amazing stories.
Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California. (Photo: Todd Kelly/Golfweek)
Babe Zaharias hits a shot from a sand trap on the ninth hole at the Los Angeles Open on January 5, 1945. (Photo: Associated Press)
Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California. (Photo: Todd Kelly/Golfweek)
On this day 52 years ago, rookie Jack Nicklaus made his first check as a professional at the Los Angeles Open when he was part of a three-way tie for 50th place, winning $33.33.
Tiger Woods watches his shot during the 1992 Los Angeles Open at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California. (Photo: Gary Newkirk/Allsport)
Riv has a pretty great finishing hole (more on that in a minute) and a much-talked about donut-shaped green with a bunker in the middle (the 6th), but the 10th hole is perhaps the hole here.
He designed a number of courses especially in California including the North Course at Los Angeles Country Club and the Bel-Air Country Club, a course recently restored by Tom Doak and his team.
George C Thomas, an amateur architect was commissioned by the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Actually, he was not truly commissioned as Thomas agreed to take on the project, free of charge.
It took 18 months to develop the golf course at The Riviera Country Club before opening in 1927.
In his book Bury me in a Pot Bunker, Pete Dye says , "When I began sketching ideas for The Golf Club, images of two golf courses built in the 1920s came to mind. Along with the Scottish courses and Pinehurst No. 2, the design features at Seminole and Camargo influenced many of the characteristics prevalent at The Golf Club."
Description: The Golf Club at New Albany in Ohio is one of Pete Dye’s earliest and most understated creations and the course feels mature way beyond its years. Written by: Top100 Aggregated Rating Rating: 8.3 out of 10 Reviews: 8
A Golfer’s Dream, by Larry Berle, tells the story of how a regular guy conquered America’s Top 100 Golf Courses (following Golf Digest’s 2001/2002 list). Larry has exclusively rated for us every course in the hundred, using our golf ball rating system. However, Larry did not rate the 100 courses against every golf course he has played, but instead he rated them in relation to each other within the hundred. Consequently, in some cases, his rating may seem rather low. A Golfer’s Dream is available in Kindle format and also on Kindle Unlimited via Amazon... click the link for more.
To our knowledge, The Golf Club has never hosted a significant tournament, so very little is widely known about the course.
The Golf Club is not a search that you’d type into Google and expect to get a meaningful result. The name is vague and we suspect that's just the way they like it. The Golf Club is a course, and naturally a golf club too, which opened at New Albany, close to Columbus in Ohio, in 1967. It’s one of Pete Dye’s earliest and most understated creations, and the course feels mature way beyond its years.
The Golf Club is a difficult course, make no mistake about it. The fairways are tight, the greens are severe, and the terrain is rugged. Although the fairways and greens are in terrific condition, the surrounding woods look natural. I shot a 94, respectable for a tough course like this, and birdied Number 15.