Riviera To Host 2017 U.S. Amateur

Sean Martin of Golfweek reports that the USGA and Riviera Country Club officials are in advanced stages of discussing the 2017 U.S. Amateur, and I can confirm from multiple sources that barring some sort of contractual hiccup, it's a done deal, with 1976 U.S. Amateur host Bel-Air Country Club slated to act as co-host of the championship's stroke play portion.

The selections coincide with Los Angeles Country Club's North Course hosting the 2017 Walker Cup. Martin reports a date change for either the Amateur or Walker Cup seems possible to better link the events.

The Amateur is scheduled for Aug. 14-20, and the Walker Cup is slated for Sept. 9-10. Leaving one full week between the two competitions would give both teams time to conduct customary pre-competition practice sessions.

Naturally, as the author of a George Thomas biography, I'm thrilled that his "triumvirate" of famous designs with Billy Bell will be on the international stage and that the Amateur will be making just its second Southern California appearance. I'm not as excited about having to explain that two of the three Thomas courses bear almost no resemblance to how their creators envisioned them.