GOLF : Riviera Officials to Lobby for U.S. Open

The first U.S. Open golf tournament was held in Newport, R.I., in 1895. Since then, the event has been staged at many sites but only once in Southern California.

That was in 1948 when the Riviera Country Club played host to the U.S. Open, which was won by Ben Hogan.

Riviera became known as “Hogan’s Alley” because of his success there, mainly in the Los Angeles Open.

It would seem appropriate for Riviera to play host to the U.S. Open in 1998, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Hogan’s victory.

Representatives of the club will be in Chaska, Minn., site of the 1991 U.S. Open that begins on June 13, to lobby for the return of the prestigious tournament to Riviera.

Asked if 1998 is definitely a target date, Riviera General Manager Bill Masse said: “We’ll be holding discussions with the (U.S. Golf Assn.). We’re willing to state unequivocally that we’re interested in hosting a U.S. Open whatever the year.”

The 1991 U.S. Open will be held at Pebble Beach, and sites have already been selected through 1995.

“We also have a clear idea for 1996, but we don’t want to make a public announcement until we reach an agreement with the club,” said David Fay, executive director of the USGA.

Fay is, of course, aware of Riviera’s interest in the U.S. Open.

Asked what factors go into the USGA’s selection of a site, Fay said: “There are a bunch of factors, but first and foremost is the quality of the golf course. That’s of paramount importance. Those factors are weighed by our championship committee.

“There is no question of the caliber of Riviera’s course and the history that has been made there, along with the feeling of the players when they play there on an annual basis.”

Fay wouldn’t say that any commitment, even informal, has been made to Riviera as a possible future U.S. Open site.

However, he said 1998 would seem to be a feasible date. “When we’ve been talking with Riviera, we’re thinking about 1998,” Fay said. “If I were Riviera, that would be a date I would really look at. That would make a lot of sense.”

Fay said, though, that a possible drawback to Riviera is the thick kikuyu grass around the greens, which traps balls.

It’s isn’t often that a U.S. Open is held on the West Coast. Pebble Beach was the site in 1972 and ’82 and will be again in ’92. San Francisco’s Olympic Club held the tournament in 1955.

Since the USGA is mindful of tradition, “Hogan’s Alley” could be revisited in 1998.

Hord Hardin, as chairman of the Augusta National Club, site of the Masters, has become part of the tradition of the annual event.

He annually briefs the media on the current state of the Masters, and is seemingly unflappable in answering a barrage questions, often with wry humor.

Now Hardin is relinquishing his position, something he said he has considered for five years.

“I’m coming up on 80 years of age,” Hardin said, “and I didn’t want to wait until I had a stroke, or something. That would put the club in a terrible position.”

His successor is Jackson Stephens of Little Rock, Ark., a member of the Augusta National executive committee.

Stephens will be only the fourth chairman of the Masters, which began in 1934.

Dan Jenkins compares Masters winner Ian Woosnam of Wales to Arnold Palmer in his heyday. “He is the first Man of the People to win a major award since Arnold Palmer sweated and smoked and let his shirttail fly out and drove the ball through the trunks of oaks and elms,” Jenkins writes in Golf Digest.

“Little Woosie smokes cigarettes, enjoys a pint, or two--or maybe eight--likes to play snooker, used to eat and sleep in a trailer and, although he’s a Brit from Wales, I swear he looks as if he’s stepped right out of ‘The Good Ol’ Boys Joke Book.’ ”

Golf Notes

USC’s golf team, ranked seventh nationally, will play in the NCAA Championships starting Wednesday at Poppy Hills on the Monterey Peninsula. The Trojans are led by Bryan Pemberton, who has a 72.8 stroke average. Arizona is favored to win the tournament. . . . The second annual Jerry Buss Celebrity golf tournament will be held Monday at Riviera Country Club. Proceeds of the tournament will benefit L.I.F.E. (Love Is Feeding Everyone). . . . The eighth annual Mission Viejo golf tournament will be held June 17 at Mission Viejo CC. The event benefits the National Foundation of Wheelchair Tennis and the Junior Wheelchair Sports Camp. . . . Millie Stanley, 62, a former player-coach at Cal State Long Beach, and a prominent amateur golfer, was recently inducted into the NCAA Hall of Fame.

A Players West tournament for women professionals is scheduled to start Tuesday at Sunset Hills Country Club in Thousand Oaks. . . . The first Pacific Amateur Tour event will be held on June 28 at Rancho California CC in Murietta Hot Springs. . . . Riviera CC will be among sites for U.S. Open sectional qualifying rounds Monday and Tuesday.

Hale Irwin, the defending U.S. Open champion, commenting on the use of television instant replay to monitor rules infractions, in Golf World: “We’re not a football game, or a basketball game. I think it’s ill advised to have someone up in the booth watching film. I’m not against progress, but camera angles tend to not always accurately portray the true flight of the ball.” . . . Only three U.S. players are ranked among the top 10 in the Sony world rankings: Paul Azinger, fifth; Payne Stewart, sixth, and Curtis Strange, 10th.