Jun 21, 2023, 12:29 PM ET
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles had to wait seventy five years to get another US. Open and now it is changing into a steady stop. The USGA is bringing the US. Open to Riviera Country Club in 2031
The. announcement Wednesday comes three days after Wyndham Clark received the US. Open at Los Angeles Country Club, simply over 5 miles away and throughout the 405 freeway from Riviera
The. fabled course off Sunset Boulevard is the longtime host of what now is the Genesis Invitational, long regarded a favorite of leading PGA Tour players. Riviera held the first US. Open in California in 1948 when Ben Hogan received with a rfile rating of 276
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Hogan also received the Los Angeles Open in 1947 and 1948, and Riviera quickly became recognized as „Hogan’s Alley“
The. club now takes on a higher profile. It will host the US. Women’s Open in 2026 on the centennial anniversary of Riviera, and then it has the golf competition in the 2028 Olympics
And. then, 83 years later, it finally gets another US. Open
„We. are so grateful that the USGA will return the US. Open to our club in 2031,“ suggested Megan Watanabe, CEO of Riviera. „Over a six-year period, we will showcase our championship course to the world“
Watanabe,. whose loved ones bought Riviera in 1989 and who grew up taking golf and tennis classes at the club as a young girl, had her eyes on major competition since returning some 12 years ago. Riviera had not held a major since the 1995 PGA Championship and was thought to have too small of a footprint for the modern era
In. a February 2022 interview with The Associated Press, she suggested would pitch a „smaller, premium-sized US. Open“ and referenced the US. Open going to Merion in 2013
„Merion. is probably about the same measurement we are,“ Watanabe suggested. „My pondering is they can do it, I imagine we can do it“
It. is another instance of the USGA being prepared to take golf’s second-oldest championship to classes that don’t unavoidably have the area as Oakmont, Pebble Beach or Pinehurst
The. USGA restricted ticket sales to 22,000 for the North course at Los Angeles Country Club, because of the winding barranca on half of the holes that made it complicated for fans to flank both sides of the fairway from tee to green in some spots
„Riviera. Country is a really spectacular course that holds a special place in the game’s history,“ suggested John Bodenhamer, chief championships officer for the USGA
Riviera. held a PGA Tour stop for the 59th time in February. It has the oldest 72-hole scoring rfile on the PGA Tour – Lanny Wadkins with a 264 in 1985
Riviera,. designed by George C. Thomas Jr,. is recognized for its kikuya grass, for the reachable par-4 tenth hole, the bunker in the middle of the green on the par-3 sixth and the state clubhouse excessive on a hill
The. club on Tuesday all started minor tweaks to the tenth green (slightly lowering the correct facet because of years of sand accumulation from a bunker) and the fifteenth green (extending the again correct to allow for a pin position)
The. fairways are lined by sycamores and eucalyptus bushes. The most well-known sycamore is left of the twelfth green and named „Bogey’s Tree,“ because Humphrey Bogart used to sit under it and watch golfers pass
Unlike. Los Angeles Country Club, which eschewed the Hollywood crowd, Riviera was a haven for celebrities like Bogart, Gregory Peck, Walt Disney, Dean Martin and Katherine Hepburn
Los. Angeles Country Club is to host the US. Women’s Open in 2032 earlier than the US. Open returns in 2039. Riviera now has both Opens in 2026 and 2031, along with the Olympics
The. solely two majors Riviera had held since Hogan received in 1948 was the PGA Championship in 1983 received by Hal Sutton and in 1995 received by Steve Elkington. Hale Irwin received the US. Senior Open at Riviera in 1998
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