Tom, I believe that some if not all were filmed at Riviera.

I thought that some were also filmed at Lakeside?

Tom MacWood:

If one of the courses was Lakeside, and it was, it shouldn't surprise you it looks very interesting. Max Behr built Lakeside!!

Some might be surprised to know but apparently Behr and his architectural philosophies were influential on Bob Jones and Alister MacKenzie!

No, but I do know those films were the end of Bob Jones's amateur status and consequently the end of Bob Jones's competitive career in golf!

From what I've seen on the films he did have a short, poppy stroke but I'd be willing to bet if he played the ultra smooth 11 on the stimpmeter greens of today he'd have adjusted to it and done rather well.  which begs another interesting question, should we bring back the stymie?

Tom MacWood, etc.

Not long after Lost Links was published, I was contacted by a local historian here in LA who explained - quite convincingly - that the course alluded to above as possibly being Riviera (which it was NOT) was actually the old Flintridge Country Club, up near Pasadena.  Based upon the materials I gathered in profiling and mapping Flintridge for the book, it was one of the really good SoCal layouts of the era and featured several spectacular holes.  Also, this local source confirmed that Willie Watson was, in fact, Flintridge's designer.

As Geoff points out above, none of the Jones filming was done at Riviera...though one truly wonders why not given the plethora of other "interesting" things (e.g. an episode of Batman) that did use the club's grounds.

DW

Fascinating information. I'll have to look at those shows a little more closely.

I saw a couple shows the other day--one with WC Fields and Charlie Chan (actually the actor who played Charlie Chan). I don't think Chan said a word (which was disapointing) but he looked to have a good swing. Fields was lurking under the Eucilyptous (sp?), or whatever those white trunked trees are, which brought Riviera to mind, I suspect that was Flintridge (and the elusive Willie Watson).

The prior episode had Jones teaching greenside bunker shots. The bunker had a jagged outline--maybe Billy Bell? Midwick?

I recall seeing an episode a while back with a massive (and deep) greenside bunker...Lakeside was my first thought.

In the early-mid 1980s the Callaway Company was started in LaJolla CA.  The first thing they tried to market was a set of original hickory irons, which were sold in the spirit of Bobby Jones and honoring the traditional golf era.  Trouble was at $2000 a set no one was buying them and the fledgling company was going out of business.  At about this time the 16mm Jones films teaching the likes of WC Fields, Errol Flynn, etc at Riveria and Lakeside were found in some dusty archive in Hollywood.  Callaway bought the rights to these; made VHS (and BETA!) tapes and they sold like crazy for $150 a set.  The income from the tapes kept Callaway from declaring bankruptcy, which they were within a hair’s breath of doing.  The next year Callaway came out with The Big Bertha and the rest was history.

Here is a personal aside.  I was playing Torrey Pines around this time.  I was a walk-on single paired with a father/son from the Midwest and tall guy who was a scratch golfer and a VP of Callaway.  They had just come out with the Jones lessons and I told him I knew of the tapes and the hickory irons.  Well after that he talked about Callaway non-stop the entire round to the point where I couldn’t wait until the 18th when I could get out of there.  After the round he followed me to my car and insisted that I come over to his shop to see the place.  I said no but did agree to go over to his car in the parking so he could give me some literature.  He opened his trunk and I kid you not the entire Callaway product line was on display in this guy’s trunk – hickory shafts, VHS, business cards, brochures, logo balls.  I wonder if the guy stayed with Callaway.  If so he probably did quite well!

JC

Flintridge CC, lets see now, to get there I would have to take the LA to Canada Freeway correct Daniel or Geoff?

Bob,
If you listen to certain people in this forum, they claim we didn't have any good golf courses herein SoCal at one time. I of course would love to refute that at every chance, and I ache with pain knowing what is currently going on at Riviera.

I look at aerial photos of Annandale, Midwick, San Pedro Golf & CC and many others dreaming of what was once here. It was some pretty interesting stuff indeed, and I find it highly ironic that guys like Geoff and Daniel, as well David Moriarty, David Kelly, Lynn and myself all seem so drawn to this stuff for what seems to be a lifetime. When I drive past the areas that the courses once existed, I feel a great pain as if I'm driving past a cemetary that holds the remains of a loved one.

It F%&*ING hurts!


As far as Turner or Callaway, thank God either one of them didn't colorize them! Or maybe that would be interesting to guys like us? Here's one I did of Bel Air #1



Does anyone know if they make that in DVD or, is it still even available?

Tom,

No, it's not the same course.  The Flintridge from the Jones films is an NLE.

Bump.