Riviera Country Club will donate $1 million to local rebuilding initiatives following the wildfires that devastated its community of Pacific Palisades, California, club CEO Megan Watanabe announced last Thursday.
Riviera will partner with the California Community Foundation to benefit the Pacific Palisades Community Council as well as the CD11 Foundation to restore public spaces and help the community heal.
“Our focus now is to support rebuilding the Palisades community,” Watanabe said. “Our members and partners have reached out to us asking how they can help in the recovery efforts, and we have informed them of our donation efforts and welcomed them to support these two foundations by contributing to the fund we have set up with the California Community Foundation.”
Riviera, which typically hosts the PGA Tour’s Genesis Invitational, was not damaged in the fires, but the tournament was contested at Torrey Pines’ South Course in La Jolla, California, last week due to the disaster. The tournament, which is hosted by Tiger Woods, launched the California Rises initiative to drive relief and recovery efforts for affected communities. California Rises will raise funds for the American Red Cross, World Central Kitchen, California Fire Foundation and the Genesis Inspiration Foundation. READ MORE
Veteran PGA Tour caddies Mike Hicks, Grant Berry and Heath Holt will be among the instructors in the first university-certified professional caddie certification program, which debuts this month at Lonnie Poole Golf Course at North Carolina State University.
Tour Caddie Collective and N.C. State Continuing and Lifelong Education collaborated to launch the seven-day program, with support from the Association of Professional Tour Caddies and the Golf Coaches Association of America. The program is for entry-level caddies seeking careers at the tournament, country club, and resort levels. READ MORE
Eight sites will host qualifying for the 2025 U.S. Adaptive Open Championship, which is slated for July 7-9 at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Maryland. The 18-hole qualifiers will be held across the United States between April 23 and May 28.
In its fourth year, the U.S. Adaptive Open is open to male and female professional and amateur golfers with a handicap index of 36.4 or less and an eligible impairment confirmed by a World Ranking for Golfers with Disability Pass. READ MORE
Juliet Dawson, the wife of former R&A chief executive and outgoing Official World Golf Ranking chairman Peter Dawson, died Feb. 8. She was 77. The Dawsons were married for 55 years and had two children.
“Though Juliet had suffered from ill health for many years she never let that hold her back,” Dawson told GGP. “I am very grateful for all her support to me over the years. Other than Tiger Woods’ mother, she may have been the best known person in golf never to have played the game.”
Tap-Ins
AutoZone executive chairman Bill Rhodes and former Citigroup CEO Mike Corbat have been named to the PGA Tour Policy Board as independent directors. READ MORE
Two golf course design firms – one led by Steve Smyers and the other a partnership between Colton Craig and Tom Coyne – have merged to create Smyers Craig Coyne. READ MORE
Italy’s Domenico Geminiani, a PGA assistant professional at Old Corkscrew Golf Club near Naples, Florida, won the PGA Stroke Play Championship last Tuesday at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida. READ MORE
Attendance at the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America Conference and Trade Show increased over the previous two shows, with more than 11,000 attending the recent event in San Diego. READ MORE
The 2025 Ron Balicki Scholarship for aspiring golf journalists is accepting applications until March 1. The recipient will receive two $2,500 scholarships, one per 2025 semester. The scholarship honors the memory of longtime Golfweek amateur golf writer Ron Balicki. READ MORE
Compiled by Mike Cullity