See You at Riviera!

Some say that the PGA Tour season really doesn't start until the tour heads to Florida.  What they don't appreciate, is that here in California we are very lucky to have some of the best and most historic venues on the circuit.  Torrey, Pebble, Riviera. Jewels of the California coast.  Torrey is like paradise on the bluffs, unique in the fact that it is truly a municipal course, and has a memorable US Open in its recent past.  Pebble Beach is perhaps the most dramatic, beautiful, and historic course in the United States.  And lastly Riviera - no coastline like Torrey, less history than Pebble, but it has undeniable charm in its imaginative design, famous West L.A. location, and the huge clubhouse on the hill.  I have a lot of great memories from attending the Nissan Open at Riviera.  None of them stand out more than my first one in 1989.

I started playing golf when I was 13 years old and I quickly realized that I loved the game.  I began to follow the PGA Tour in 1988, ruled at the time by Curtis Strange, Paul Azinger, Payne Stewart, Tom Kite, Greg Norman, Mark Calcavecchia and Freddy Couples.  The majors would always give us a chance to see European greats like Seve, Nick Price, Nick Faldo, and Ian Woosnam.  It was a great era for golf, with lots of colorful personalities and talented players who could contend at any tournament.  I remember being captivated by Curtis Strange dueling Nick Faldo in his first of back-to-back US Open wins; Sandy Lyle hitting a clutch shot from the fairway bunker on the 72nd hole of the Masters to make par and best Mark Calcavecchia by one stroke; and the growing popularity of metal woods and the Ping Eye 2 irons that would become controversial in later years for their square grooves.

I made the high school golf team in the fall of 1988 and was thrilled to become a competitive golfer.  In February of 1989, my golf coach told us of a way where we could go to the Nissan Open at Riviera if we put in a day of work in exchange for a ticket.  I was dying to go to the tournament, so I told my dad of the opportunity and asked him if we could take advantage of the deal.  Luckily, my father was a golf fan too.  And even luckier, he wasn't thrilled with the idea of picking up trash in exchange for a ticket, so he decided we would just head down to Riviera for the final round and try to buy tickets at the gate.  Luckier still, a rich guy in the parking lot asked us if we had tickets yet.  I said "no" but before we could ask him "how much" he tossed two tickets in my dad's lap and said "have fun!"  You have to love the generosity of golfers.

I had seen a video that Jack Nicklaus made about his favorite golf holes in the world.  Included in the video were a few of Riviera's great holes, including the driveable par-4, 10th, the par-3, 6th, which has a bunker in the middle of the green, and the famous 18th, a long par-4 with a blind tee shot to an elevated fairway and a grass amphitheater filled with spectators behind the green.  I could not wait to get a look at these holes in person, but I eventually found out that just about every one of Riviera's holes was a gem.

As we made our way onto the grounds, we made the usual route through the first and second fairways, along the driving range and wandered toward the green at #4.  The fourth hole at Riviera is one of the hardest Par-3's on the PGA Tour.  Measuring at about 230 yards into a prevailing wind, the hole is also all-carry because of a gigantic, deep bunker fronting the green.  Once players reach the putting surface, they have to contend with a green that is severely tilted from back to front and right to left.  This hole eventually became one of our favorites to watch because of its difficulty.

On this day, we stumbled upon a group of spectators who were surrounding a wayward golf ball that had been hooked severely into the left rough.  We waited near the ball to see who it belonged to. Peter Jacobsen and famous caddy Mike "Fluff" Cowan emerged from the masses and arrived at the scene.  I had no idea who Peter Jacobsen was or what he was all about.  As most avid golfers know, "Jake" is one of the most amicable and entertaining players every to grace the fairways.  As he approached, he asked the crowd if everyone was okay, and made a crack about his terrible shot.  Marshals created a lane for Jake to hit his shot, and he surveyed the situation.  He was absolutely dead, maybe 30 yards from the flag, in fairly deep rough, short sided with no green to work with and the huge bunker to contend with.  As he settled into hitting his shot, a small boy was squirming around in his peripheral vision.  Jake backed off and instead of asking his caddy to handle or or giving the father a sour look, he handled it in a graceful and humorous way that I will never forget.  He walked over to the kid and told him he wanted him to play a game, to try to help him out by acting like a statue while he hit his shot.  The child agreed and Peter went into his routine, flopped a perfect pitch shot up to about 3 feet from the cup, and the the two dozen of us watching roared with approval.  Peter gave the kid a high five and proceeded to make the putt for an incredible par!  20 minutes into my first golf tournament and I already had a great story and a close encounter with a tour pro.  It was truly exciting.

The Treacherous 4th at Riviera

Because of what we saw, we decided to follow Jake's group for awhile.  We also developed a fondness for one of Jake's playing partners on that day.  We had never heard of this guy before.  He was wearing dirty, baggy, red pants and a plain white shirt.  We could identify with him because he was a stocky fellow who seemed to be having a great time on the course.  He had a colorful first name and he looked Italian, so we we thought his last name was pronounced Mee Dee Ah Tay.  Yes, it was the one and only Rocco Mediate.  This is not the same Rocco that is famous for 10 PGA Tour victories, battling Tiger at the US Open, being the subject of a John Feinstein book, his television commentary, or sponsorship of Callaway.  This was the Rocco Mediate that was 108th on the money list in 1989.  We immediately took a liking to Rocco, as he seemed to enjoy the banter with Jacobsen and even gave us a nice fist pump when he rolled in a long birdie.  He just seemed like a guy we would want to hang out with.  For years, we would make a point of going to see him every time we went, regardless of how far out of it he was.  We often wondered if he noticed us year after year, two great big guys, standing around a green with nobody else watching, and encouraging him with a "Go get 'em Rocco" after every good shot or holed putt.

An old picture of Rocco, courtesy Getty Images

We eventually peeled away from Jake, Rocco, and their other playing partner Gary Hallberg so we could try to check out the leaders.  Scotsman Sandy Lyle started Sunday with a two shot lead over Mark Calcavecchia, and a four shot spread over local favorite Fred Couples and veteran Hale Irwin.  "Calc" was well known for his aggressive game, Ping Eye 2 irons, and having a penchant for driving Porsches.  Lyle out-dueled Calc in the 1988 Masters, but clearly was not the crowd favorite on this occasion.  Couples always played well at Riviera (eventually winning there in 1990 and 1992) and made an early charge before fading.  We witnessed a few key shots on that day, including a Calcavecchia chip-in for birdie on #12 and Lyle three-putting on #14 to give up the lead for good.  Calcavecchia got his revenge for the Masters the year before, besting Lyle by carding a 68 on the day to win by one stroke and two over Irwin.   He would go on to win the British Open that year and finish fifth on the PGA Tour Money list, topping off the best season of his career.

We stayed until the very end of the tournament.  The day was exceptionally cold, damp, and windy.  We sat on the side of the hill next to the 18th fairway and froze as we watched greats like Johnny Miller, Tom Kite, and Ben Crenshaw finish their rounds.  It was magical to experience cheering on the final group and watching  Calcavecchia hole out to claim the victory.  The whole day was a great memory.  Not only did it give me a new appreciation for the game of golf, it was one of the best times I have ever spent with my dad.  We would wind up going to the tournament every year through 1997, making a point of coming home from college or skipping work to make our way to the Riv.   

In so many ways, the events of the day solidified with me the things that are important and great about golf.  Peter Jacobsen showed class and a love for the game that is unmatched. His sportsmanship and positive attitude were infectious and clearly a key to his success.  Rocco proved to be tenacious and perservearant, eventually finding success in his career despite suffering from crippling back problems.  Watching tough competitors like Calc, Lyle, Freddy, and Irwin made a great impression on me with their levels of concentration, precision, and focus.  Anyone who loves golf or has a youngster who loves golf should attend a great event like this.  The memories, life lessons, and entertainment are well worth the price of admission, even if you aren't lucky enough to get free tickets from a stranger!

More Riviera memories to come in my next blog post!

If you are interested in purchasing tickets for the Northern Trust Open at Riviera in 2011, (Feb, 15-20) I would recommend buying them from the American Golf Foundation.  20% of proceeds go back to local golf charities. Although I no longer work for American Golf, I can personally vouch for the people who run their foundation, and they work very hard to do good things for local charities.
https://www.americangolf.com/northerntrust

Jake

80's style Mark Calcavecchia

Skins Game in the Soup - Los Serranos South 1/8/11

I was invited to play in a skins game at Los Serranos on Saturday, January 8th.  It had been over ten years since I had played at this Chino Hills classic.  What had once been a favorite local course of mine fell out of favor with me.  For years, there had been consistent construction on the 71 and 91 Freeways,  making it difficult for Orange County travelers to make the short trek.  I had also heard about the horrific loss of 3000 sycamore trees in 2001 to a blight that infected the red gum variety of the tree.  Apparently, a pinhead-sized insect called the red gum lerp psyllid was the culprit.  The tall and dense sycamores lining many of the holes made the course feel intimate, added the challenge of hitting through chutes, and on many holes, made it imperative to hit the fairway with your drive. I was told an old golfing buddy that seeing the course without the trees would "make me cry."  It was finally time to come back to a course that I had enjoyed dozens of rounds on in the 1990's.

Coburn

Overall, Los Serranos has a great feel.  There is typically a lot of activity around the clubhouse, with an adjacent driving range, tees for #1 and #10 of the South Course and #1 of the North Course nearby, and a lively restaurant and bar with sports games on the tube.  When I arrived, I met up with one of my playing partners Nick "The Kid" Gomez, a.k.a. "Slowmez" because of his pace of play and questionable intelligence (Just kidding, Nick).  He signed me in for the Skins game and after I paid my green fees, he whisked me away to the first tee to meet up with the others in my group.  Filling out the lineup were "Big Game" James (see older blog entitled "We're Home") and one of the most talented golfers I have ever known, Jeff Coburn.  We don't have a nickname for Jeff other than the standard "Cobes" or "Cobie" but I always thought "The Stick" would work on many levels.  After all, we have a mutual friend named "The Broom", why not add "The Stick"?

I was very, very relieved to find out that we were going to be playing from the blue tees.  Los Serranos South Course is famous for "Jack's Blacks", a set of tees that measure to 7628 yards, supposedly the longest golf course in California.  It has been raining off and on in Southern California for weeks.  The golf course was certainly in playable condition, but still quite wet.  My 230 yard baby draw tee shots would not get much distance in the soup.  I would have had virtually no prayer against these players.  Jeff (+2 handicap), James (2-3 handicap) and Gomez (1 handicap) are clearly better than me (currently rising to a 10), but we all know that during a skins game, all it takes is a birdie on the right hole, and I am certainly capable of getting lucky somewhere!

Overall, I hit the ball pretty well.  I started out with two solid pars on the back to back par-5 opening holes.  I made a bogey on #3 thanks to a bad tee shot and I started to slide from there.  I bogeyed three in a row including the par-3 sixth hole, where I hit an horribly fat 5-iron about 100 yards from the tee. On seven, I hit my second shot to 4 feet and missed the birdie putt by a mile, a sign of putting woes that would plague me all day.  I hammered my best drive of the day on the par-5 eighth, only to completely top my second shot, leave my third short of the green, make a terrible pitch with my fourth, and then three putt for double bogey, which left me steaming.  I made a nice up and down par on nine and posted a +6 (43) on the front.

I could have posted a decent score if I would have putted the way I am capable of.  I can't blame the greens because my putting was THAT bad, but they were a little tricky, as the poa annua proved to be bumpy later in the day and the speed seemed to be inconsistent from hole to hole.  Some holes were much quicker than they looked and felt after the rain, but others seemed very slow.  I three putted #10 from 30 feet, missed short par putts on #11 and #12, and went on to three putt #15 from the back fringe. On the monstrous 592-yard 18th I hit an absolutely beautiful approach shot to about 15 feet. In my effort to convert the birdie, I left myself with a five footer coming back.  I gassed it for another three-jab and left shaking my head with an appropriate ending to a rough day with the flat stick.  I ended up shooting a 42 on the back for a score of 85 on the day, which is +11 on the par-74 track.

I did manage to sneak in a birdie on #13, a short 476-yard par-5.  I hit driver down the middle, laid up left with a 5-wood to get a good angle for my third, and stuffed a 56 degree wedge to three feet.  However, before I even had a chance to make my birdie putt, Mr. Stick Coburn rolled in a 30 footer for eagle, dashing all hopes for a potential skin.

The most memorable hole of the day for me came on #16, a par-5 that is lined by tall trees on both sides of the fairway.  I hit an awful tee shot, short and to the right of the fairway.  Blocked by huge trees, I had no chance to hit any kind of straight shot. I decided I would try to hit a sweeping punch hook back into the fairway.   As I stated in a previous blog entry, I have a new set of clubs am I am not totally comfortable with them yet.  How hard can it be?  Narrow stance, ball back, forward press, hood face slightly, hold the follow through down, swing easy, right?  I have hit this shot a million times, it used to be my bread and butter recovery shot.  However, instead of a low curveball back to the promised land,  I produced a high block shot that went deeper into trouble.  While the ball was in flight, I threw my arms into the air in disbelief.  It must have been funny, because as I followed my ball toward the 5th fairway, I heard Gomez cackling in the background and imitating me from the fairway I SHOULD have been in.  Suddenly, I was motivated to make a grinding par.  After finally successfully punching out, I hit my fourth shot to about 10 feet from just a shade over 100 yards out.  I made the right to left slider for a great barkie par - take THAT Gomez!

The guys in my group played great.  As I mentioned, Cobes mixed in an eagle on #13, and he also birdied #18 to shoot 69, the first time he has broken 70 at Los Serranos South.  Yes folks, that is five under par.  One thing that always amazes me about Jeff's game is that he never seems to do anything that special, but at the end of the day, when you add the scores up, he almost always winds up under par.  He also seems to always find a way to bury that long putt that will win him a skin, no matter how hard or long it may be.  In other words, he is CLUTCH.  Gomez played steady and made a few nice birdies, including a chip-in and shot a 75.  James kept the ball in play for most of the round and shot a great score of 78.  What is amazing is that he is super long but he played the six par-5's at six over par.  He could have gone mega-low if he had played to his usual strength.  Overall, we all struck it pretty well and some of the guys took away a chunk of the prize money.

As for the course and the Eucalyptus trees, it was a bit disheartening to see that so many were lost.  It almost looked as if a tornado had hit holes 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, and 11.  Most of the trees have been replaced with new saplings and I can't wait to play the course in 2041 after they have had 30 more years to grow.  Although the course no longer has the feel of a poor man's Riviera Country Club, Los Serranos still has a lot of character and I am looking forward to my next visit.  

The famous 18th - 677 yards from Jack's Blacks, 592 from Blue Tees