[Bill_McBride]

Here is the aerial from Google Earth of the two fairways.  I've cut off the back few tees behind the visible ones. Although it doesn't do the movement in the left fairway justice, it does give some idea of the strange and sharp formations in the arroyo between the two fairways.  Any one have any thoughts on what the idea might have been here?

I just looked at the first round coverage again, and Oosterhuis commented again on the 8th.  He said that the barranca used to come into play much more from the right side...that it went up closer to the green.  "The barranca was a major threat over the years."  Not so much now.

Now there is that odd sand stream that runs through the barranca...very strange looking.

The entire barranca was a sandy wash in the old days.  Today it is a kikuyu-lined lengthy swale, nothing like the photos of old from LACC, Wilshire and Riviera.

It still has teeth when the pin on #8 is front right.  I saw Tommy Armour III (IV?) take four to get one on the green two years ago en route to a quad.

[Mike Hendren]

I have always had this golf course at the top of my must see list.   Purely from the poor perspective of television, it appears to be among the most strategic golf courses in the country.

For those of you who have played it, is that so?

Mike

[Terry Lavin]

I have always had this golf course at the top of my must see list.   Purely from the poor perspective of television, it appears to be among the most strategic golf courses in the country.

For those of you who have played it, is that so?

Mike

It's a man-sized architecture museum, with holes that demand strategy over power.  90% of the course is played on a relatively flat parcel of rectangular land, yet one is constantly presented with angles and subtle grade changes that call for technical precision.  Riviera is only marred by the presence of the deep Fazio bunkers that one can see across America, from Berkeley Hall in South Caronlina to Glen Club in Chicago to any other big Fazio track you might want to pick.  Those bunkers marginally increase the difficulty of the course for low handicappers and maybe the touring pros and their continued existence gets less and less objectionable all the time, but it would be interesting indeed to see the course with the old time bunkering from days gone bye.  I highly doubt that it would negatively affect the pro tournament experience at the Riv.

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