The Riviera Country Club Golf Course which is used for this week's Nissan open is a par 71 that plays 7,279 yards off the Championship tees.

It has a course rating of 74.7 and slope rating of 137. In 2006 it was the 21st most difficult course on the PGA Tour.

The course has hosted two PGA Championships and the 1998 Senior U.S Open - which had with a winning score over par.

This George Thomas designed course, with renovations by Ben Crenshaw, forces the players to think their way round the golf course and proves an excellent test of golf.

The course plays in a bowl in the Santa Monica Valley and the wind blows up the valley from the sea. The wind is often a factor at Riviera, particularly in the afternoons. Holes two to five and 12 to 16 all play straight into the wind.

John Rollins was right when he said: "It's kind of a fader's paradise." Holes two, three, eight, 12, 15 and 18 are all right to left doglegs that require a fade off the tee.

The bunkers on the course have been renovated over the last year. After studying old photographs of the original design, the changes were made in order to more faithfully follow the 1926 layout.

The faces of the bunkers have all been enhanced and there is new sand and drainage in each one. They are deep and unlike most bunkers on tour will cost players at least half a shot. The greenside bunkers at the 11th, 14th and 17th holes have been moved slightly closer to the greens, which should allow for new tougher pin locations.

The cold winter means there is very little kikuyu rough this year. In fact I've played on fairways the same height as the first cut of rough. This is the least rough we have seen on tour so far this year. On the lack of rough, defending champion Rory Sabbatini said: "Oh, I definitely think that will be a huge factor."

Steve Elkington moaned: "They've ruined it." John Rollins mused: "Right now the rough is - I don't want to say easy, but it's definitely not a penalty. But come Sunday afternoon, if they don't touch it, it could be pretty fun."

The greens are small and difficult to hit. When walking the course the fact that really strikes one is the slopes. They slope from side to side, often right to left not back to front, which makes for a treacherous test of test of scrambling and putting.

Retief Goosen agreed: "The greens are very tricky round here. If you miss these greens it's very difficult to get up and down."

Sabbatini summed up the course conditions best, saying: "I think all things considered the course plays faster and shorter but the greens will dry out and they will get firmer and it will be tougher to access some of the pins.'

Rollins added: "Just making par on this golf course is going to be a good score."

Below are the hole averages from the last four years:

	Hole	Yards	Par	Sc Av	Rank
	1	503	5	4.36	18
	2	463	4	4.22	6
	3	434	4	4.04	10
	4	236	3	3.27	1
	5	434	4	4.03	11
	6	199	3	3.03	11
	7	408	4	4.05	9
	8	433	4	4.25	2
	9	458	4	4.23	4
		3,568	35	35.48
	10	315	4	3.78	16
	11	564	5	4.70	17
	12	479	4	4.17	7
	13	459	4	4.12	8
	14	176	3	3.00	13
	15	487	4	4.25	2
	16	166	3	3.00	13
	17	590	5	4.80	15
	18	475	4	4.23	4
		3,711	36	36.04
		71	7,279	71.51

Holes two, three, eight and 18 have all featured in the top 50 most difficult holes on tour at different times over the last four years and if a player were to par these all week they will pick up an average of four shots on the field.

The three par fives and drivable par four 10th provide good scoring opportunities. The first is a gimme birdie giving up twenty six eagles, two hundred and sixty seven birdies in 2006 and only one hundred and forty nine pars and six bogeys.

The rain has stopped and the sun is shinning. The weather forecast is good for the first time in years, with temperatures due to hit the low 80's. At last we will see the Riviera Country Club play near its very best this week.