Genesis Invitational: Hole spotlight — No. 15 at Riviera

The 15th hole at Riviera is considered one of the hardest holes on the course, if not the hardest. Number 15 is a Par-4 that stretches 487 yards, and when teeing off, golfers must turn the corner of a dogleg fairway. This course becomes even harder late in the day, as golfers will be making their shots while looking directly into the setting sun. The tricky multi-tiered green can cause additional trouble for even the best putters once they can make it to the green.

Viktor Hovland’s approach

Superstar golfer Viktor Hovland has a unique approach to playing this course. Instead of trying to perfect the power fade required to turn the corner of the fairway while avoiding a bunker, Hovland has opted to take an alternate path. He plays down the 17th hole, which runs alongside the 15th.

Hovland has been using this strategy for a while now. When Hovland was playing at Riviera in 2017 as an amateur, he attempted this path after a teammate suggested it.

Going down 17 rather than 15 avoids a dangerous bunker and gives the golfer a wider fairway. The hole is also slightly shorter if you go down 17 rather than playing it the way the course was intended to be played.

This route may be easier, but the course at Riviera Country Club certainly wasn’t meant to be played in this manner. The designers were expecting the course to be played traditionally, where you hit the ball on the hole that you are currently playing.

Why this route exists

Golfers in the past didn’t always have the option to play down 17 instead of playing the 15th hole the traditional way. That was because eucalyptus trees used to stand in the way, blocking golfers from attempting this alternative way of playing the 15th hole.

However, as those trees got older and ultimately died in recent years, there was nothing left to discourage players from attempting to play the course in a way that it was not designed to be played.

Could the rules committee ban Viktor Hovland’s strategy?

The tournament’s Rules Committee considered installing internal out of bounds down the right side of the hole. If this rule were to go into place, it would ban players from attempting Hovland’s alternate route for playing the 15th hole.

There is precedent for such a decision. Internal out of bounds rules have been instituted at several other courses in recent years to restrict players from taking shortcuts or otherwise playing holes in such a manner as they were not intended to be played. They were also used to discourage play that would create potentially dangerous situations for fans.

The 18th hole at TPC Sawgrass saw internal out of bounds rules instituted during the Players Championship, and a shortcut down the left side of the 18th hole at Waialae Country Club was banned during the Sony Open in Hawaii using internal out of bounds rules. These rules were also instituted during the 2019 British Open at the first hole at Royal Portrush, a decision which led to frustration for Irish superstar Rory McIlroy.

Ultimately, the committee opted not to institute internal out of bounds on this hole. The committee argued that there were scenarios in which a player might need to leverage the open space on 17 if they got into trouble while attempting to play 15 the proper way that it was designed to be played.

The beauty is in the creativity

The decision not to institute internal out of bounds was the correct decision. At its core, golf is a game of creativity. Players are expected to figure out what works best for them, and each player has a unique style that applies his or her personal strengths while attempting to mitigate weaknesses.

That’s the thing that makes the game of golf so unique and refreshing: you never see the same game twice. That’s part of why the flags are moved around on the greens, to create a unique aspect of playing. Players finding new ways to play a certain hole is a story as old as the game itself.