LA Times article: (continued)
The most dramatic changes were made to holes that border the barranca, the ones that took the brunt of the epic storm.
On No. 7, the humped fairway is now guarded by the restored penal bunker on the left and the barranca on the right. A shot to either side will find trouble.
On No. 8, workers added 46 yards and re-created the obliterated right half of the split fairway. Players can still go left, choosing to lay up in front of a bunker or try a power fade, leaving a wedge to the green. The right side leaves a shorter iron shot.
"Depending on the pin placement, the golfer now has a better angle with which to approach the green, which has been slightly enlarged to accept such shots," Yoshitake said.
In Tuesday's practice rounds, the tee for the eighth hole was at its farthest point, some 462 yards, so the right fairway was the one the players used.
"If it were up some, it might make a difference," Brent Geiberger said. "But with the tee all the way back, the play is to the right fairway."
The official length for the eighth is 433 yards, but unless the weather changes, it's likely the pros are going to play the hole from its longest point.
On No. 13, the tee has been lowered and the barranca comes back into play, guarding the left side and the newly extended back portion of the green.
Along the way, designers also added as much as 50 yards to Nos. 9 and 12, where Humphrey Bogart used to watch tournaments leaning against a sycamore and sipping from what the late Times columnist Jim Murray referred to as "a Thermos filled with God knows what." The tee on No. 5 was returned to the top of a small hill, which brings the wind into play and asks most golfers to hit a slight fade rather than a draw.
Yoshitake downplays the recent work, saying Riviera is known for its variety, notably the pot bunker in the middle of the sixth green and the blind tee shot on No. 18. He refers to new additions as "polishing the jewel."
But he gets an argument from Geoff Shackelford, who has written two books about designer Thomas and the club's history. An unapologetic traditionalist, Shackelford has spoken out against modifications to courses such as Augusta National, Inverness and Oak Hill.
"I've seen good restorations and bad ones," he said. "Riviera just didn't do a good job of fitting features in."
In particular, he criticizes the enlarged green on No. 13 and a new, crowned front on No. 8. He says that when No. 7 had its original bunker, the fairway was not humped, so there wasn't as much risk of bouncing into sand or barranca.
The historian sees the modifications as part of a trend: As stronger players with better equipment manhandle older courses, as scores dip lower and lower, clubs react by stretching their holes. They add gimmicks that force players to lay up, thus nudging the leaderboard back toward par.
The victim in all this, he says, is strategy. Designs are thrown out of whack as length takes precedence over classic quirks, those tricky situations where a golfer must choose between playing it safe or going for broke.
"Tour players just hit it dead straight," he said. "You don't see decision-making and you don't see shot shaping. It's just not as interesting."
Club executives, he believes, could have taken a less-invasive approach to their U.S. Open bid.
"They could say this is Riviera, this is Hogan's Alley," he said. "They could add some back tees and grow the rough everything would be fine."
The USGA will not decide on a site for the 2008 Open until its executive committee reconvenes in June. With Torrey Pines also in the running, the decision could be delayed until fall. But with the pros rarely hesitant to voice their opinions about playing conditions, Riviera should get an idea of where it stands this weekend.
Several lesser-known players, participating in Monday's invitational pro-am, gave high marks. The big names had yet to arrive.
"That's something I'll be holding my breath about," Yamaki said.
Marzolf will be on hand, charting shots, gauging whether the course plays the way he envisioned. Sitting down for a conversation with Shackelford at an industry convention in Florida last week, he is open to criticism. "It's OK to have different thoughts on the course," he said.
Maybe the only people who will not openly express themselves are club members who know they can be unilaterally expelled. A few years ago, a one-time greens committee chairman was kicked out after complaining to a golf magazine about maintenance practices.
Yoshitake insisted he has heard mostly raves from his membership. Sitting in the club's elegant dining room, nursing a soda, he pointed out that Thomas returned several years after the course's 1927 opening and tinkered with holes, adding a new twist here, a bunker there.
"The problem is, he passed away," Yoshitake said. "Who's to say that he might not have come back and done something else."
In his absence, club executives and modern designers took it upon themselves to interpret his intentions. The archives, locked away in an upstairs room, provided a research tool and inspiration.
The black-and-white photos reveal what Riviera once was, the first course west of the Mississippi selected to host an Open in 1948. The architectural sketches hearken to an era when Hogan referred to No. 4 as the "greatest par three in America," when the pros ranked this layout among the nation's best.
"I think people are confused about why we did this," Yoshitake said. "We love this golf course. We're looking for that respect."