To the list of famous trees in golf — the Eisenhower Tree, the Lone Cypress, the Ghost Tree — we can now add two more: the Hovland Trees.
A pair of sycamores, to be precise, now planted hard along the right side of Riviera’s 487-yard dogleg-right par-4 15th, a hole that ranks second-toughest on the scorecard and typically rates among the nastiest in the Genesis Invitational, too.
The trees weren’t added for aesthetics. They were installed as a defense against their namesake, Viktor Hovland, who in past Genesis starts has attacked the 15th unconventionally, launching his drive to the right, up the neighboring 17th fairway. It’s not the route Riviera’s designer, George Thomas, had in mind, but it opens up a wider landing area and a clean view of the 15th green. (Several other players have taken the same alternate route, but none has done so as frequently as Hovland).
Last year, of course, Riviera never got the chance to defend itself. Wildfires forced the Genesis to Torrey Pines. But in Hovland’s last appearance in the event at Riviera, he played the 15th in even par for the week — two pars, a birdie and a bogey. How much of an advantage that detour provided is impossible to say without having access to the alternate reality where he played the hole conventionally.
Regardless, this year, Riviera closed the loophole. In practice rounds, the trees appear to have served their purpose.
But if they’ve stymied Hovland, they haven’t silenced him. On Instagram, Hovland posted photos (above) of the new look with a caption that required no translation: SMH.
Hovland is hardly the first Tour pro to take a creative line in search of a competitive edge. At the Sony Open in Hawaii, Charley Hoffman has taken his drive on the par-5 18th down the 11th fairway. At the now-defunct Dell Technologies Championship, Justin Thomas and several others played the par-4 12th up the adjacent 13th.
Just as players get creative, so do courses and tournament committees, whether by planting trees or installing internal out-of-bounds. In 2023, Riviera tried a different kind of deterrent, positioning a tournament scoreboard in Hovland’s alternate line.
Hovland simply hit over it.
Good luck trying that this week.
