Greetings From L.A. Annual Monday 10th Hole Report

I toured Riviera today and as always it seems to have handled the rain well thanks in part to George Thomas and Billy Bell's ingenious surface drainage.

The last few years these Monday walks have given me the displeasure of reporting bizarre changes to the masterful 10th hole. Because, you know, it has always been such weak hole on an otherwise great course!

I'm pleased to report the restoration of the short grass area taken away and bemoaned about ad nauseum here and here!The restored short grass area includes a new swale that may collect balls, and therefore divots. (Click to enlarge)

Apparently there is a fear that this short grass next to the green encourages players to recklessly drive through the green into the area in front of the 11th tee, where they then face a terrifying wedge shot back. I blame that approach of players in recent years more on the ball than the hole itself. And even though the Shotlink data proved otherwise with regard to the impact of short grass, this area has been re-graded with a sea of newly installed mounds (not as horrible as it sounds, but not great either) and a new swale installed next to the green.

While it is true that players essentially treat the hole like a long par-3 now compared to just four years ago (thank you USGA and R&A!), I'm not sure if the various tinkering here really has made things more strategically interesting. But again, that's not the club's fault, that's a governing body issue.New mounds to penalize agressive drives blend in as well as can be expected. (click to enlarge)

This newly graded short grass area and swale is retaining water. But that's not a big deal. Though I'm guessing if water is collecting there, something else will too. Hint: they're little, white, dimpled and usually when PGA Tour players hit them, the boys tend to leave divots (yes, even next to a green). So we'll see if that becomes a problem this week. (The old short grass area on No. 10 was more gradual in slope, so balls finished in a variety of locations.)

Another change of the welcomed variety involves the 11th tee, where Ted Robinson's old propped-up monstrosity has been eliminated and a nice tee at grade constructed, with some needed length also added to the hole.

As for second year sponsor Northern Trust, there isn't much difference in the setup and the tournament remains a pretty uninspired operation compared to most PGA Tour events. The media tent is larger in response to an onslaught of Japanese media requests this year, while the spray painted Northern Trust logo off the tenth tee is infinitely tackier than last year thanks to the dark green backdrop added (see photo).The dark green paint strengthens the Northern Trust brand. (click to enlarge)

And despite my pleas, the pivotal 18th hole scoreboard remains missing.

Last year the old school manually-operated scoreboard was eliminated to make room for a dignitary seating area, but this year the seating is not present yet fans will still be deprived of following the leaders as they make their way to the great 18th.

I know, I know. They have the electronic board to remind them every five minutes who the host pro is and how the FedEx Cup race is playing out...I guess I just like the added touch of watching a number get changed and for players to come face to face with their situation as they make one of golf's great walks.

The 18th with scoreboard and without:

2006 with the old manual leaderboard greeting players and entertaining waiting fans (click to enlarge)

And 2009... (click to enlarge)

Comments

[O.B.]

Geoff,
I played Riviera after rain this winter and noticed the wet swale on 10 and didn't recall seeing that in the past. I was just glad they put short grass back, but as you point out, why they couldn't have just had it like it was before? I hope they get a ton of divots and the tour boys complain.

[86general]

Geoff--do you have the numbers to go along with those scatterplots? I see what you're saying about 2007--there is a cluster of red dots right near the left edge of the green. But - and this is where the numbers are needed - if you look at the overall pattern, it seems about the same in terms of pars, birdies, bogeys, etc., just that in 2006, the birdies were "spread out" more on the left side of the green, not clustered right near the edge.

In other words, visually it looks like it's possible that the same number of birdies were made, just from a slightly larger swath of land.

Is this true, or were more birdies made in 2007?

Finally...was weather any different (moisture of green, etc.) between the two years? I thought one of those years was a really wet spring, but I might be thinking of the east coast...

[Tom Fazio]

If mounding can be unnatural looking, then by all means, go forward. I don't think it ever rains out there, thus pay little or no attention to drainage.