Video: Why Take On Riviera's 10th Hole Bottlebrush?

Why there are still non-native shrubs on the fascinating 10th at Riviera is a question for another day, but the obvious answer is that they now serve as a defense of a hole rendered too easily drivable. They were planted long ago for no good reason and have been kept to keep the hole from becoming even more of a bomb-and-gouge-fest than it already is.

For the purposes of this Golf Channel Morning Drive piece, I try to explain why taking on these shrubs is the lesser of two tenth hole miss evils.

Comments

[ol Harv]

They could bring in Greg Norman or Ray Floyd and just put a bunch of new bunkers all over the fairway, in front, behind the green...

[MatthewM]

Or get Norman to chainsaw the non indigenous vegetation. Topless, of course. And his wife could Instagram the entire event for him.

[Gibby]

For all the raving about this hole, it never seems to play right.
Go for it, and you get clown’s-mouth stuff like this:
https://youtu.be/8UHnD_EcaTU
Even flip-wedges after layups can be dicey.

[OWGR Fan]

Maybe on one day of the event they should use the alternate "right" green on #10. When does that green on #10 ever get used at Riveria?

[Rob S]

I think Norman should start a topless chainsawing fest it might take off like UFC.

[BDF]

@ Gibby is right - for all the gushing about this hole, it looks like an all risk, no reward joke to me. Typically, I love the short 4, but this one seems to be a crap shoot for everyone.

[jjshaka]

Have a couple of nice bottlebrushes, very pretty when in bloom....at least they pruned them into trees.

[ol Harv]

"I think Norman should start a topless chainsawing fest it might take off like UFC."

This just jumped right into the top 10 comments of the year. Awesome Rob S!

[North Texas Golfer]

Does anyone know the stroke average for this hole and where it ranks at Riviera? Seems like that would be a pertinent part of the discussion when it comes to this hole.

[North Texas Golfer]

Okay found this. Only has stats up until 2015. Looks like you're always better off going for it instead of laying up.

https://www.pgatour.com/news/2016/02/170/riviera-10-stats.html

The hole has played much tougher since about 2011. Did they make any changes? It played a lot easier in the early 2000's.

[FC]

No be afraid. Let it rip.

[North Texas Golfer]

What's the big deal about this hole, lol. Tiger, Rory, and JT all birdie it right out of the box.