The Final Round of the 2020 Genesis Invitational...

...was fantastic.

Serious Question(s): Should this be a model for how future major championship courses are set up? And can it be replicated elsewhere?

It felt like a major, but slightly different. I did not see overly long rough. The greens were rock hard, but the fringes were sticky...making chipping and pitching very difficult. Pins were inaccessible on a number of holes. This seemed to be a "tough but fair" test of golf, with US Open style of play required to win. The beauty was that the course didn't appear to be tricked up by USGA edict. IMO, Riviera in 2020 was what Shinnecock should have been in 2018...and gives hope that some of the old classic courses can still hold majors and easily test the best in the world.

I think everyone and their brother missing a bunch of relatively easy putts made it seem a bit more challenging that it was. The course was definitely playing tough for a non-major though.

Riviera was good because Riviera is always good. The combination of the grasses, the green complexes, the weather (wind) and the strategy needed to score there can't be modeled or duplicated.

Courses don't need to be lengthened to make them harder with regards to the pro game. Green complexes need to be made more difficult.

Yes and I think more non majors should try and do this when possible. Part of the difficulty was the type of grass around the greens but the fact they were super firm... And a few very good risk/rewards, leads to a good test. Basically even par on Sunday was a good score and anything under par was very good.

If greens are super soft, length doesn't matter. Rors and other guys can hit the 5w 130ft in the air and carry it 260 but land it like a 7i. Making longer shots difficult renders the total course length pretty much moot. Even guys hitting 190 yard shots could barely stop the ball. This bring the skills of shot making back up to the top.... Just like the USGA and RnA want. There's no need to change the ball or equipment.

length wasn't the main factor, but it's a bit of a factor ... it has three par 4s that are 480ish, depending on the tees ... the two par fives are long enough that, with the greens, a lot of long hitters chose to lay up ... it's a combination of everything already mentioned ... doubt it can be replicated ... that kikuyu grass really adds an element to it ...

It’s Riviera.. no tweaks no tricks no lengthening like others have had to do, ie ANGC amongn others. it’s simply the best golf course on the schedule

Yeah, I love this event. But saying it should be copied is like saying every course should be Royal Melbourne. Which is basically impossible to replicate.

I agree with the green softness... If you get any rain during the week, it's not going to play nearly as difficult... rock hard greens change everything

What we basically saw this week was a PGA Championship. Scoring was right in line with what the PGA tries to achieve with its course setups. Of course when it is the PGA it is criticized for its "soft" or vanilla setups. Nothing soft about that course this week though.

I agree in theory. Just keep in mind that all courses, course conditions and weather conditions are not created equal. As a general rule a tough course for the pros should have:

firm greens. Most people would think fast, but firm is just as important. adequate rough, most coursed don't have kikuyu so the length isn't the only factor, the type of grass the amount of moisture, the thickness etc. all should come into play. The real key is to make the shot look playable and give the player the opportunity to take a risk out of the rough, then a flier or a sideways shot will happen on occasion and make things interesting. If they do it like old school US Open where they just have to pitch out sideways then it gets real boring. tough pins throughout the week. Most greens will have 4 locations, some easier some hard, a mix is good. I like firm fairways because it makes driving accuracy more important, people who say they should slow down the course because of distance are misguided in my opinion. Fast golf is more fun to play and watch. Bunkers, use softer sand so you get some fried eggs, and the ball sticks to the back side of the bunker and leaves the ball on a downslope. This will stop guys from yelling "get in the sand!" Cool interesting courses with a good mix of short and long holes, risk/reward. The 10th is a perfect example, the pros should have to use most of the clubs in their bag and decide whether to take risks or go for it. Great courses have great routing that create angles, hitting the correct side of the fairway should be important. This is one of the reasons that courses like Riviera, Pinehurst and AGNGC are great.

Yes it is ! Tough but fair.

I agree with you. One would think that reasonable minds would want to try this before any rollback of any kind...

Point #1: Riviera kills the narrative that golf courses have to be 8000 yards to challenge pro golfers.

Point #2: Firm and fast greens prevent target golf.

Point #3 A good drivable par 4 should be mandatory at every tournament.

Point #4 Some of the leaders at this tournament of 7300+ yards only average 280 off the tee...do we want to roll them back to 250? (no).

Point #5 A par3 do not have te230 yards to be challenging.

Can Riviera be duplicated...I think not, but it is the blue print to challenging these great Pros..

Rolling everything back is a lazy mans idea...everything else should be exhausted before it come to that.

Riviera should be studied by all future architects ~just my opinion

The only thing that I would add to your #4 is that if you have fast fair ways at least have penal runoffs.

Lol.

again. 3 putts controlled the narrative. No ? Tv Golf dies if 3 putts are that common every week.

listen to yourselves. You rather see everybody putt on turtle back and saucer greens which are impossible to read in order to control score vs a distance rollback ? Sounds like you want to see pros scores pulled back without losing your distance. Thus giving the appearance of bridging the gap betweeen the two. Am I close ?

_ my opinion of course _.

Golf facts: For the last 120 years the previous generations and their great players have complained that the ball was going too far....of course all of them complain at the end of their careers.....LOL!

Wind should not be the only defense for a golf course. Setup should dictate the nature of the test, then it becomes how many strokes it take to get the ball in the hole. IMO it should not matter how you get there just how many....everyone plays the same course....tougher greens for pros~just my opinion.

Lol. You can turn that same argument around and use it as a pro rollback stance. Not how. But how many. Right ?

Im old enough to remember the only time this course had lower scoring was when it was playing a little softer/wetter. otherwise, its always a tightly contested event with bunched leaderboards. hard to separate yourself from the field I think unless my memory is wrong i only remember 2 guys running away with the event.i think DJ won by like 5-6 shots a few years back and i rmember lanny wadkins winning by like 10 in the late 80s. Maybe darth putter can dig up the winning scores for the last 25 years. i doubt they go over -12 often

Sorry, I'm LOL!....Trying to use my argument is weak...IMO. My position is that nothing need to be done....the sky isn't falling.

The glass is half full to me and half empty to those advocating some sort of rollback.

~just my opinion.

It is weak. And it’s weak because it’s circular.

LOL! In actuality nothing will change because thing are just the way the PGATOUR wants them....

If it were a "model" for other courses, Tiger Woods would not have 82 wins, apparently.

Nor Jack 18 majors.

Kikuyu grass greens with some serious undulations is the major thing that make the course difficult. Kikuyu grass itself is tricky to hit from, but putting on it is difficult because reading the green is difficult and the read and speed have to be perfect. This is the only course, to my knowledge, that has these greens that the pros play on. We saw a lot of mis-read and short putts missed yesterday, so that bears witness to just how difficult the greens are/were. Kudos to Adam Scott and the long wand for the win.

Kikuyu is quite common in Oz, that might explain why AS likes Riviera so much.

With what should have been an absolutely legendary final round, the coverage from CBS was completely unwatchable. Oddly long breaks when people were making runs. Cuts to players not even in the hunt. Repetitive analysis and commentary.

Riv is my favorite non-major and Rory is my favorite to watch and Sunday couldn't hold my attention at all.

Riviera used to be polo fields. It is said that the kikuyu came from polo horses brought over from Australia. So, spot on Oz.

And it's super invasive too, if you can't beat it, join it!

Good trivia about Riviera though, that's an interesting fact, though I find very impressive how much the type of grass can influence golf, just like the type of surface at tennis, you get it or not!

All time winners list. Los Angeles Open - Wikipedia

CBS showed a stat regarding putting at Riviera. Riviera had 100% more missed short putts than any other course the last few years (or more...can't recall exactly).

I've played the course a few times with members (decent golfers)...I've never saw anyone drain anything longer than 6-8 feet. It's utterly baffling.

No easy putts at Riviera.

thats a great find man thanks. I was pretty close so glad my memory isnt that bad!