Riviera, a prestigious golf club in the heart of Los Angeles, is special not only because it hosts some of golf’s biggest tournaments (and stars), but for reasons you might not have thought of.
“Our property is at the bottom of this canyon. It’s basically an old riverbed,” said Marshall Dick, the club’s superintendent. “Our general philosophy here is to nurture, enhance and perfect what we want to grow naturally, because this valley is a unique environment.”
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Ahead of this week’s U.S. Women’s Open, the first to be held on the Riviera, Golf visited the club’s agronomy team to learn more about what they do on site and how they are preparing for the biggest women’s event of the year.
Everything starts with this one word. Kikuya is a rare grass that grows on the fairways and roughs of courses. (Green is Poa annua.)
Dick said Kikuya is still considered a “noxious weed” in most parts of the country, and special permits are required to bring the seeds into the United States. But on the Riviera?
“It’s our turf,” he said.
Next question: What is “Kikuya”?Assistant Supermarket Tyler Schumann explains:
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“I feel like Kikuya came naturally. It grows here… and the climate accepted it, so we accepted it as well. It’s definitely a different animal,” he said. “Kikuya is a durable material, but it’s also a sensitive material. It changes depending on timing and type of year. When we have PGA Tour events in February, Kikuya wants to shut down and sleep in cooler temperatures. During the summer, it’s a more spongy, durable material.”
“It doesn’t seem to be that thick,” added Alexa Moncada, a senior agronomist on Riviera staff. “If you put the ball in there, you can hit it 200 yards. You’re not hitting a fairway wood out of there. It’s hard. People might even compare it to fescue. The ball is thick, and the ball kind of sinks. I don’t think it’s that hard on shortcuts, but the rough is tough. You can’t really get out.”
If you’d like to learn more about what the Riviera team’s field looks like, how they manage their own turf, and the technology-infused GS3 ball they use to monitor their greens, watch the video above or below.
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