The U.S. Women’s Open has seen a significant upgrade in host golf courses during the past 20 years. After decades of being played at regional country clubs, solid as they may have been if sometimes unspectacular, the major championship has in more recent years been played at top-ranked courses such as Pebble Beach Golf Links, The Olympic Club, Pinehurst No. 2 and Oakmont, among others.
This year’s playing of the U.S. Women’s Open, scheduled June 4-7, is another example of the ladies playing a better golf course. Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California, will host this go-round, and future sites include Inverness in Ohio in 2027, Oakmont in 2028 and Pinehurst in 2029. All of these are serious upgrades from many of the tournament’s historical courses.
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Riviera was designed by George C. Thomas and William P. Bell, and it opened 1927. It ranks No. 17 on the Golfweek’s Best list of the top 200 classic courses in the United States, and it’s the No. 3 private course in a very stacked California.
The course is famous as host of the PGA Tour’s Genesis Invitational, and it hosted the 1948 U.S. Open won by Ben Hogan as well as the 1983 PGA Championship (Hal Sutton) and 1995 PGA Championship (Steve Elkington). It also hosted the 1998 U.S. Senior Open (Hale Irwin) and 2017 U.S. Amateur (Doc Redman). It will be the site for golf in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and is scheduled for the 2031 U.S. Open.
It all adds to the must-see viewing for this year’s Women’s Open. Get primed for the competition with a selection of photos of several holes at Riviera below, shot by noted golf course photographer Bill Hornstein for the USGA.
The second hole of the Riviera Country Club in the Pacific Palisades, California.
The second hole of the Riviera Country Club in the Pacific Palisades, California.
The eighth hole of the Riviera Country Club in the Pacific Palisades, California.
The eighth hole of the Riviera Country Club in the Pacific Palisades, California.
The ninth hole of the Riviera Country Club in the Pacific Palisades, California.
The ninth hole of the Riviera Country Club in the Pacific Palisades, California.
The 14th hole of the Riviera Country Club in the Pacific Palisades, California.
The 18th hole of the Riviera Country Club in the Pacific Palisades, California.
The 18th hole of the Riviera Country Club in the Pacific Palisades, California.
Jason Lusk is Golfweek’s travel and golf course architecture editor, as well as the magazine’s creative director. He has written for and designed Golfweek for more than two decades.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Riviera Country Club stuns in photos before U.S. Women’s Open
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