Torrey Pines GC and Riviera CC recently completed multi-million dollar renovations to their courses, each hoping to land a U.S. Open Championship. Two years after finishing its re-work, Bel-Air CC was awarded the 2004 U.S. Senior Amateur Championship

Renovating golf courses is a time-honored tradition that stretches back almost to the beginning of golf time. Just about as soon as a golf course comes on stream, someone wants to make a change or two or three.

During the past decade, while more than 60 new courses have been built in Southern California, an equal number have undergone significant changes to their design or makeup. Torrey Pines South

Changes have been made on courses old (The Los Angeles CC) and new (The Farms), public (Montebello GC) and private (Hillcrest CC). But rarely have renovation projects been as closely scrutinized as the two most recent efforts, at Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla and Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades.

The reason for the increased visibility is easy to ascertain. Both Torrey Pines' South Course and Riviera's fabled "Hogan's Alley" are bidding to host the 2008 U.S. Open championship (the Opens are already allocated through 2007). And it doesn't stop there. Whoever misses out on the 2008 Open might get one of the next two or three, instead. A decision is expected later this year, at least for the 2008 Open.

When members from San Diego's Century Club (the group that runs the PGA Tour's Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines) announced two years ago that it would raise $3 million in order to renovate Torrey Pines South with the hope of hosting an Open, they were met with "open" skepticism from the golf community. No one's snickering now.

Among the group's first moves was to hire Rees Jones, who's nickname "The Open Doctor" is in recognition of the fact that he has reworked several courses that have gone on to host U.S. Opens. Jones worked closely with Golf Course Manager Jim Allen on the project.

The rework was massive. He moved several greens closer to the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean and stretched the back tees to 7,607 yards. Fairway bunkers were added and others strengthened. The layout's back-tee course rating of 78.1 is now the highest in Southern California.

The pros who played the course for the first time during the Buick Invitational were almost unanimous in their praise. Even Tiger Woods, who prior to seeing the redesign had said he couldn't imagine Torrey Pines as a U.S. Open course, did a 180 turnaround and praised the layout as a potential Open site (and that was after he shot a 77 in the second round). Riviera

While Jones' reworking of Torrey Pines was a remodel of the original Billy Bell design, Tom Fazio's efforts at Riviera CC were more of a restoration. "Our goal," says Head Golf Professional Todd Yoshitake, "was to restore the intent of George Thomas' original design, because it's one of the great courses in the world. We wanted to restore Riviera so that it would challenge the great player of today, just as it did years ago."

Riviera, which opened in 1927, was one of a collection of classic courses designed by Thomas, an amateur architect who never took a fee for his efforts at Bel-Air CC, The Los Angeles CC's North Course, Ojai Valley Inn & Spa and others. Riviera is considered by many to be his crowning achievement, but a dozen years after it opened a massive flood caused significant changes in several holes adjacent to the barranca that cuts through the course.

In this latest restoration, seven holes were re-worked by Fazio's company. Some of the changes involved added length, which brought hazards back into play. The dramatic, uphill ninth hole, for example, added 38 yards (making it 458 yards from the back tees), which brought Thomas' cross-bunkers back into play.

"Thomas intended these bunkers to be in play," explains Yoshitake, "but today's pros with the vastly improved equipment, just hit their drives over them. Lengthening the hole makes these strategic bunkers function again as they were originally designed."

While length was a factor in the alterations, other changes were more strategic. On the fifth hole, the back tee was relocated to Thomas' original placement to the right and up a small hill, changing the drive from a slight draw to a slight fade.

The most controversial change was at hole No. 8, where Thomas' original split-fairway design was restored, inviting golfers to aim either left or right. The original double fairway was one of several holes that had been washed away during the 1939 flood. Ironically, at the Nissan Open, virtually very player opted to play the right fairway.

Riviera, of course, has history going for it in a bid for the U.S. Open. The 1948 tournament was the first U.S. Open to be played on the West Coast and Ben Hogan's victory there cemented the layout's back-tee reputation as "Hogan's Alley" (he had also won the 1947 and 1948 Los Angeles Opens there). Bel-Air CC

The pursuit of a national championship wasn't uppermost on the minds of Bel-Air CC officials when they hired Fazio's company for a restoration project, but after the project was completed, the USGA announced that the 2004 U.S. Senior Amateur Championship would be played at Bel-Air.

Fazio's changes were subtle but significant. Several years ago, he had expanded the pond in front of the eighth hole and carried the water hazard across the first fairway. In the latest effort, the lateral hazard that runs from the top of the 14th hole to the bottom of the back-nine canyon was renovated and re-created into a beautiful meandering creek, hiding the 200-year flood channel beneath. The creek has proved to be a natural habitat for ducks, as well as a menacing hazard to any mis-hit drive. Several of 11 new Swilken burn-style stone bridges provide access back and forth across the creek.

Fazio also restored several bunkers (including a massive one in front of the 13th green) and added enough yardage to stretch the back tees to 6,772 yards, which should prove plenty of challenge to the seniors who come from across the country in 2004.

The other major alteration came not to the course but to the club's practice facilities. After decades of attempts, the club was able to turn an abandoned water reservoir into a new practice facility for the club which also doubles as a sports and reaction field for a nearby high school.

-Robert D. Thomas