The Riv

[Michael Morandi]

https://golfweek.usatoday.com/story/sports/golf/2025/01/08/california-wildfires-riviera-country-club-video-pga-tour-genesis-invitational-2025/77541992007/

[Matt Schoolfield]

You can follow the official information about the fire here:

https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2025/1/7/palisades-fire

It does look like the fire is moving toward the course, which is now in a mandatory evac zone.

[Jon McSweeny]

Fingers crossed, the winds fueling these fires are supposed to die down in a couple of hours and may shift on themselves shortly thereafter. That would be a huge break  for everyone.

A few miles away, Altadena Golf Course (which is often mistaken for the Riv) was destroyed by fire. If you look at that course on google maps and see how far from Eaton Canyon it is, you can imagine how devastating the fire is for that neighborhood.

[Tom_Doak]

Aren’t the Santa Ana winds from east to west?  That might spare the golf club.


I hope Mr Kayne is away at Tara Iti, since his house is under evacuation

[Matt Schoolfield]

The fire has only crept south very slowly, whereas it's moved west to Malibu very rapidly.

I think it's safe to say that Riv is pretty far away from the active fire in terms of potential fuel (edit: now that I see the line of trees along Capri Dr, I'm not so sure), and the conditions on the ground are certainly not the dry tinder that makes these fires so dangerous (the same reason no vineyards burned in the recent huge Sonoma County fires), but houses are fuel, so anything is possible.

I think the evacuations are mainly for the very problems that Pacific Palisades faced, that the roads became impassible because of automobiles that were abandoned, which creates a cascade of impassible roads, preventing firefighters from stopping preventable damage.

Edit 2: note that Calabasas CC and the (illegally built) Perenchio three-hole course are both under evacuation warnings. Mountain Gate CC is currently the eastern edge of the evac zone, but not inside it.

[David_Tepper]

I just found out my nephew's house in Altadena has burned down.

[Matt Schoolfield]

I just found out my nephew's house in Altadena has burned down.

I didn't even know about this fire... I'm really sorry this is affecting your family.

More information on the Eaton Fire is here:

https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2025/1/7/eaton-fire

Many, many historic golf courses will be in the path of this fire:

Chevy Chase CC, La Cañada Flintridge, and Scholl Cayon GC are all under mandatory evacuation.

Altadena CC, Brookside, etc... etc... under evac warning.

[Terry Lavin]

I just found out my nephew's house in Altadena has burned down.

So sorry to hear that. Let us know if they need some help.

[Chris Hughes]

I think it's safe to say that Riv is pretty far away from the active fire in terms of potential fuel (edit: now that I see the line of trees along Capri Dr, I'm not so sure), and the conditions on the ground are certainly not the dry tinder that makes these fires so dangerous, but houses are fuel, so anything is possible.

4 to 5 blocks away from the 4th, 5th, and 18th holes. 


It hasn't jumped Amalfi Drive but has taken out a few houses on Ravoli Drive. 


Doesn't appear to have moved closer to Riviera for a few hours... 🤞

[Bill Seitz]

I just found out my nephew's house in Altadena has burned down.

I worked at Eaton Canyon and Altadena golf courses back in the '90s (moreso at Altadena) and grew up playing both.  Was talking to my mom last night and found out that most of the infrastructure at Altadena is gone, which seems crazy to me because the fire had to go through quite a few residential blocks between the canyon and the golf course. 

[Matt Schoolfield]

Flames threaten the historic Riviera Country Club golf course

[David Kelly]

Much of Altadena Golf Course is built on the remnants of the old Pasadena Golf Club, one of the original SCGA clubs and something like a SoCal Pinehurst #2 as it was built on sandy ground with a lot of exposed sand everywhere.  Billy Bell did work on it in the 20s but it was severely damaged in the 1938 floods that altered so many Southern California courses.  Bell eventually was brought in to turn it into the 9 hole Altadena course.

[Matt Schoolfield]

Much of Altadena Golf Course is built on the remnants of the old Pasadena Golf Club, one of the original SCGA clubs and something like a SoCal Pinehurst #2 as it was built on sandy ground with a lot of exposed sand everywhere.  Billy Bell did work on it in the 20s but it was severely damaged in the 1938 floods that altered so many Southern California courses.  Bell eventually was brought in to turn it into the 9 hole Altadena course.

I'm going to make a thread specifically about this course, feel free to repost there.

[Matt_Cohn]

I recall from previous NorCal wildfires that insurance companies will sometimes deploy private firefighters to protect buildings that would be exceptionally expensive to replace, as might be the case with Riviera's clubhouse. Of course, it's not like that's the only expensive building in the neighborhood, and I don't know how available either private firefighters or water are if the clubhouse were to be seriously threatened.


Mostly it's just surreal and scary and sad to see these fires ripping through populated areas.

[Matt Schoolfield]

Cal Fire is now showing the Eaton Fire as consuming Eaton Canyon Golf Course: https://i.imgur.com/C0LOqDS.png

[Michael Morandi]

I’m not trying to inject politics into this thread but given all the talk about policies that contributed to the fires that threaten people, structures and golf courses, permit me to share the link below.  In the end, it just may be that the fires were caused by the perfect storm of dry vegetation and high winds. Water policy had little to do with it.


https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/09/politics/fact-check-trump-california-wildfires-fema/index.html?cid=ios_app

[David Kelly]

I’m not trying to inject politics into this thread but given all the talk about policies that contributed to the fires that threaten people, structures and golf courses, permit me to share the link below.  In the end, it just may be that the fires were caused by the perfect storm of dry vegetation and high winds. Water policy had little to do with it.


https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/09/politics/fact-check-trump-california-wildfires-fema/index.html?cid=ios_app

It's not the cause of the fires that are at issue. Brush fires are endemic to Southern California and the extremely high winds made a perfect storm of conditions.

[Michael Morandi]

Agree but somebody was eager to assign blame with unsubstantiated claims.

[Chris Hughes]

I’m not trying to inject politics into this thread but given all the talk about policies that contributed to the fires that threaten people, structures and golf courses, permit me to share the link below.  In the end, it just may be that the fires were caused by the perfect storm of dry vegetation and high winds. Water policy had little to do with it.


https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/09/politics/fact-check-trump-california-wildfires-fema/index.html?cid=ios_app

Yeah like CNN can be counted on to accurately "fact check" anything... 😂

[Michael Morandi]

Do your own research then. The article references professional sources. Tell us what you learn.

[Chris Hughes]

Do your own research then. The article references professional sources. Tell us what you learn.

Res ipsa loquitur...