Pacific Palisades, CA

The Riviera Country Club

Los Angeles Athletic Club executive Frank Garbutt sought a golf property away from downtown and settled on a rocky Santa Monica canyon. Land negotiations and financing took almost three years.

Course: 18 holes · par 71 · Opened 1927
Original architect: George C. Thomas Jr.
Club website: Visit website

The course

The Riviera Country Club18 holes · par 71 · Opened 1927

Course design

George C. Thomas Jr.Original design · The Riviera Country Club

William P. BellCompletion · The Riviera Country Club · Construction supervision for Thomas’s original Riviera course

A country retreat for Los Angeles golfers

Riviera opened on June 24, 1927, with architect George C. Thomas hitting the first drive. The clubhouse followed in 1928, helping establish the Club’s social life alongside its golf.

Championships

View all 70 past editions

Results and dates 70 editions

1920s

1929
Los Angeles Open
Macdonald Smith

1930s

1930
Los Angeles Open
Denny Shute

1940s

1941
Los Angeles Open
Johnny Bulla
1945
Los Angeles Open
Sam Snead
1946
Los Angeles Open
Byron Nelson
1947
Los Angeles Open
Ben Hogan
1948
Los Angeles Open
Ben Hogan
1948
U.S. Open
Ben Hogan
June 10–12, 1948
1949
Los Angeles Open
Lloyd Mangrum

1950s

1950
Los Angeles Open
Sam Snead
1951
Los Angeles Open
Lloyd Mangrum
1952
Los Angeles Open
Tommy Bolt
1953
Los Angeles Open
Lloyd Mangrum

1970s

1973
Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open
Rod Funseth
1974
Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open
Dave Stockton
1975
Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open
Pat Fitzsimons
1976
Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open
Hale Irwin
1977
Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open
Tom Purtzer
1978
Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open
Gil Morgan
1979
Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open
Lanny Wadkins

1980s

1980
Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open
Tom Watson
1981
Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open
Johnny Miller
1982
Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open
Tom Watson
1983
PGA Championship
Hal Sutton
August 4–7, 1983
1984
Los Angeles Open
David Edwards
1985
Los Angeles Open
Lanny Wadkins
1986
Los Angeles Open
Doug Tewell
1987
Los Angeles Open presented by Nissan
T.C. Chen
1988
Los Angeles Open presented by Nissan
Chip Beck
1989
Nissan Los Angeles Open
Mark Calcavecchia

1990s

1990
Nissan Los Angeles Open
Fred Couples
1991
Nissan Los Angeles Open
Ted Schulz
1992
Nissan Los Angeles Open
Fred Couples
1993
Nissan Los Angeles Open
Tom Kite
1994
Nissan Los Angeles Open
Corey Pavin
1995
Nissan Open
Corey Pavin
1995
PGA Championship
Steve Elkington
August 10–13, 1995
1996
Nissan Open
Craig Stadler
1997
Nissan Open
Nick Faldo
1998
U.S. Senior Open
Hale Irwin
1999
Nissan Open
Ernie Els

2000s

2000
Nissan Open
Kirk Triplett
2001
Nissan Open
Robert Allenby
2002
Nissan Open
Len Mattiace
2003
Nissan Open
Mike Weir
2004
Nissan Open
Mike Weir
2005
Nissan Open
Adam Scott
2006
Nissan Open
Rory Sabbatini
2007
Nissan Open
Charles Howell III
2008
Northern Trust Open
Phil Mickelson
2009
Northern Trust Open
Phil Mickelson

2010s

2010
Northern Trust Open
Steve Stricker
2011
Northern Trust Open
Aaron Baddeley
2012
NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship
Thomas Pieters
2012
Northern Trust Open
Bill Haas
2013
Northern Trust Open
John Merrick
2014
Northern Trust Open
Bubba Watson
2015
Northern Trust Open
James Hahn
2016
Northern Trust Open
Bubba Watson
2017
Genesis Open
Dustin Johnson
2017
U.S. Amateur
Doc Redman
August 14–20, 2017
2018
Genesis Open
Bubba Watson
2019
Genesis Open
J.B. Holmes

2020s

2020
Genesis Invitational
Adam Scott
2021
Genesis Invitational
Max Homa
2022
Genesis Invitational
Joaquin Niemann
2023
Genesis Invitational
Jon Rahm
2024
Genesis Invitational
Hideki Matsuyama
2026
Genesis Invitational
Jacob Bridgeman
February 19–22, 2026
2026
U.S. Women's Open
Nelly Korda
June 4–7, 2026

In the archive

Clubs in CA

Sources and editorial notes12 references

Sources for this story

The Riv: As Nearly Perfect as Man Could Make It Southern California Golf Association / FORE
History and course description.
Consulted 2026-09-21
Passages:Introduction A country retreat for Los Angeles golfers, paragraph 2

Record sources11 references

Club mark source
USGA Women's Open Champions and Championship Results The official champions table records the 2026 winner and site. Recorded site text follows that table; no canonical Club or Course identity is inferred. Explicit date span: www.uswomensopen.com
The Genesis Invitational: Tournament History 2026 completed tournament confirmed in the official winners and host inventory. Historical tournament name corroborated by en.riviera.co.jp. Competition dates: newsroom.genesis.com.
USGA: 2024 U.S. Amateur Record Book Printed/PDF page 11, 2017 result row. Doc Redman def. Doug Ghim, 37 holes. Match margins and extra-hole lengths are not stroke totals. Actual dates from the retrospective result table.
NCAA: 2025 Division I Mens Golf Championships Records Book Official NCAA team and individual championship records, PDF pages5-9 and39. Separate team/individual awards; NCAA chronology starts1939, not the pre1939 intercollegiate family. Dates remain unasserted except where printed in Houston PDF page14 for1982.
PGA Tour: U.S. Senior Open verified results PGA Tour 2015 Champions media guide, PDF page 213 / printed page 212, year row establishes a completed championship and named winner. No event dates are inferred from advertised schedules. Host-club evidence: www.usga.org.
USGA: Host States and Clubs, 1895 to Present (as of October 13, 2025) Gold club identity reviewed against the source host entry Riviera C.C., Pacific Palisades (3), 1998 Senior Open. Exact physical course and round scope remain unresolved; no single-course inference is made.
2026 PGA Championship Media Guide The official Media Guide directly enumerates the 77th playing, champion, site, and its year-page date span. The recorded venue and champion preserve the official PGA Championship History entry’s published text.
Riviera Country Club: owner tournament archive The owner tournament archive lists Hal Sutton in 1983 and Steve Elkington in 1995 at Riviera. Its English translation labels the event US Professional Golf Championship; the PGA official Guide independently confirms those PGA Championship years and winners. The continuing Riviera course is the physical venue; no unchanged routing is asserted.
2026 USGA Championships Media Guide - U.S. Open The official 2026 USGA Championship Record Book directly enumerates the completed 1948 Championship, champion, explicit date span, and site in Championship Results: 1895 to 2025. The recorded champion and site preserve the higher-resolution register text. The current official U.S. Open Champions table independently confirms the year, champion, and site.
Riviera official Club history The reviewed physical-course opening and primary course history establish this continuing course, separately from Club founding, earlier sites, later renovations and alternate routings. The official history distinguishes founding in 1926, course opening in 1927 and clubhouse completion in 1928. This correction preserves the existing legacy architect text and typed credits unchanged; it does not newly verify every name in the legacy text. Host evidence is also preserved in the adjacent course ledger and USGA record book. No unchanged hole routing or all-round usage is asserted.