Riviera, the famous golf club in the heart of Los Angeles, is special – not only because it has hosted some of golf’s biggest tournaments (and stars), but also for reasons you might not have considered.
“Our property is down at the bottom of this canyon; it’s basically an old washed-out riverbed,” Marshall Dick, the club’s supervisor. “Our overall philosophy here is to nurture, enhance and perfect what wants to grow naturally within this canyon, because it’s a unique environment.”
Before this week Women’s US Open – the first on the Riviera – GOLF visited the club’s agronomy team to learn more about what they do on the ground and how they are preparing for the biggest women’s event of the year.
And it all starts with one word: Kikuya, which is a rare herb that grows on the free and rough fairways of the course. (The weeds are Poa annua.)
Dick said Kikuya is still considered a “weed” in most parts of the country and you need special permission to bring the seed into the U.S. But on the Riviera?
“It’s our turf grass,” he said.
As for your next question: What is Kikuya? Super assistant Tyler Shuman explains:
“Kikuya came naturally. It grows here … and the climate has kind of embraced it, and so have we. It’s definitely a different beast,” he said. “Kikuya can be durable, but it can also be very easily affected. The time and type of year will change things. When we have the PGA Tour event in February, it kind of wants to shut down and sleep with the cooler temperatures. In the summer months, it becomes more of a spongy, hard material.”
“It doesn’t look as thick as it is,” added Alexa Moncada, a senior agronomist on Riviera’s staff. “You put the ball in there and you can be 200 yards — you’re not getting a free wood out of there. It’s tough. People might even compare it to fescue. It’s thick and your ball just sinks. I don’t think it’s that challenging on a short fairway, but the rough is tough — you can’t get it out.”
For more of what it was like on the ground with the Riviera team, how they manage their unique grass, and to learn about the GS3 ball technology they use to monitor their greens, watch the video above or below.
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