Charlie Seaver R.I.P.

In researching books on Riviera and George Thomas, amateur golfing great Charlie Seaver proved to be one of my best sources because of his amazing life and sharp memory. Among my favorite insights from Seaver, who died October 25, 2004 at age 93:

• He explained how the old double fairway 8^th hole at Riviera worked, telling me he didn’t believe the far left option was worth the risk at the time (he hit the equivalent of a four-wood up the right).
• He talked about a round at Cypress Point with Alister MacKenzie looking on, though he couldn’t really describe the man, saying MacKenzie was fairly quiet. He did claim to have films from one of these rounds shot by his father, though he opted to keep them in his collection.
• Seaver told me about rounds played at Riviera in 1931 with Bobby Jones. He vividly recounted how they both tried to drive the short par4 tenth, a remarkable notion with hickory shafted clubs (ah, but no kikuyu!).
• He spoke kindly of George Thomas, who as a fellow Los Angeles Country Club member, took young Seaver under his wing and frequently was interested in how Seaver played the course. Seaver also hit shots for Thomas during the redesign of the North course in 1927-28, which Seaver recalled was a great honor for a 16-year old. But he also happened to be as good as any amateur in Southern California at the time, except for maybe the great George Von Elm.