Ross’s work on the site (1924–26). The ground that Riviera CC occupies today was originally the South Course of the Miami Biltmore, one of two 18-hole layouts planned for George Merrick’s City of Coral Gables. Contemporary local histories and the Florida Historic Golf Trail document Donald Ross’s plans (1924–25) and opening play on January 2, 1926, when the North and South courses were introduced in a 36-hole tournament. This establishes Ross’s authorship on the property, but not of today’s Riviera configuration.
Abandonment and transfer (1936–45). The South Course fell into disuse by the mid-1930s during the Depression/Hurricane era; after years of abandonment the Biltmore interests sold the land in 1945 to organizers of a new private club. That club adopted the Riviera Country Club name and proceeded to lay out a fresh 18 on the old Ross ground.
Riviera’s opening and early architects (1945). Multiple locally focused histories and directory-level research attribute the 1945 Riviera 18-hole layout to Charles Mahannah and William (Bill) Merriam. Their design leveraged the available South Course property but did not simply reopen Ross’s South Course; it was a new 18 for a new club, albeit on broadly the same land envelope.
Mid-century remodeling (1962). In 1962, Dick Wilson executed a summer-long renovation that adjusted the Riviera plan to a par-72 / ~6,300-yard configuration at the time, reflecting his then-characteristic emphasis on elevated green pads and modernized drainage on flat sites. Newspaper and trade accounts from the period place Wilson at Riviera during this peak phase of his Florida practice.
A “Ross restoration” (1993). In 1993, Brian Silva led what the club and local coverage described as a restoration toward the 1924 Ross South Course aesthetic and routing cues, lengthening Riviera to par-71 / ~6,600 yards and re-shaping bunkers/greens toward Ross profiles. This was a historically minded re-interpretation on a property that had already diverged from Ross; it did not erase the post-war Riviera lineage but sought to recover Ross-style strategy and look where feasible.
Modern rebuild (2015–16). In 2015, Kipp Schulties undertook a comprehensive $8M renovation, rebuilding greens to USGA specifications, recontouring fairways, and adding water features (including a new two-acre lake that now defines the par-5 12th), with the course reopening in early 2016. City memoranda connected to that project noted that numerous modifications over decades had diminished the site’s historic integrity as a Ross course, reflecting how far the present Riviera now stands from the 1920s South Course and even from mid-century Riviera iterations.
Unique Design Characteristics
Routing on a tight footprint. The course works back-and-forth inside a constrained neighborhood block, producing a rhythm of short-to-mid par-4s punctuated by longer one-shotters. The better birdie chances tend to be positional rather than overpowering—an effect of corridor width, angle control, and hazards introduced (or reintroduced) in the late-20th and early-21st century works.
Greens and surrounds. Presentations emphasize modestly elevated, relatively small greens that reward precise distance control. While Ross-style internal contouring is visible in places due to Silva’s 1993 work, the 2015 USGA-spec rebuild means many targets have modern subsurfaces and edging; putts today roll on contemporary profiles even where the external look nods to classic forms.
Bunkering and water. Riviera’s bunkering now mixes low-profile, grass-faced forms near green entrances with more conspicuous fairway pots that cue line-of-charm tee shots. Water hazards are limited in number but strategically prominent—the two-acre lake on #12 affects both the tee ball and the lay-up/approach, and a smaller lake influences another corridor, giving the course distinct decision points that are not traceable to Ross’s 1920s South Course but are central to Riviera’s modern identity.
Holes that best carry the classic feel. The mid-iron par-3s and a subset of angled par-4s—where bunkers guard the ideal approach lane rather than the green itself—best preserve a Ross-style intent (i.e., diagonal hazard choices and open fronting into firm targets). Given the redesign history, however, such attributions should be treated as stylistic continuities rather than direct survivals of 1920s construction.
Historical Significance
Within Ross’s body of work. Riviera’s significance relative to Ross is site-based rather than fabric-based: Ross planned and opened the Biltmore South Course on this ground in 1924–26, making it part of the City Beautiful’s golf build-out. The Riviera Country Club that ultimately took root on that footprint (1945 onward) reflects the evolution—then erosion—of Ross fabric under post-war redesign cycles. In the story of Coral Gables golf, Riviera documents how a Ross site could shift across eras (Mahannah/Merriam post-war build, Wilson modernization, Silva “restoration,” and a 2015 rebuild), providing a case study in the tension between historic reference and contemporary member demands on tight urban parcels.
Event record and reputation. Riviera has functioned primarily as a member-competition venue with regional invitationals; it has not hosted USGA or PGA-level championships in the modern era. In South Florida golf media and municipal materials, Riviera is frequently cited as a Ross-origin site with a modernized course, and is often paired in local histories with the Biltmore (North) Ross restoration completed in 2018–19.
Current Condition / Integrity
Routing integrity. Because the Mahannah/Merriam (1945) and Wilson (1962) projects re-laid and altered much of the Riviera plan—and because the 2015–16 rebuild added/reshaped hazards and rebuilt greens—the present routing/feature set should not be treated as an intact Ross course. Key corridors likely echo earlier lines due to the property’s rectangular constraints, but feature-level continuity with the 1920s South Course is limited.
Greens and bunkers. Greens were rebuilt to USGA profiles in 2015, and fairway/green interfaces were widely recontoured. Bunker placements and forms reflect late-20th-/early-21st-century design language (Silva’s Ross-referential stylings, followed by Schulties’ more contemporary shaping). Any Ross-era edge locations that Silva may have recovered in 1993 were, in places, superseded by the 2015 program.
Trees, widths, and presentation. Tree canopies and neighborhood edges constrain widths on some corridors, but selective clearing has improved playability. Fairway mow-lines today reflect modern maintenance goals more than historical widths, and added lakes now drive decisions on at least one par-5 (No. 12) and one additional hole—key reasons the City characterized the site’s historic architectural integrity as diminished.
Facilities. Riviera maintains a limited-station practice range (useful for warm-up more than full practice) and standard member facilities; course conditioning targets firm, smooth surfaces within South Florida’s bermudagrass ecology.
Sources & Notes
City of Coral Gables (Parks & Recreation – Golf). Municipal page describing Riviera CC as an 18-hole Coral Gables course “designed in 1924” and listing current length (~6,500 yards). This reflects the Ross-origin narrative used locally for the site.
Coral Gables Magazine — “The Village Green” (Feb. 2025). Historical feature on Coral Gables golf: Ross’s 1924 plans and Jan. 2, 1926 opening of two Biltmore courses; South Course abandonment (1936–44); land sale to form Riviera CC (1945); and Brian Silva’s 1993 restoration “back to the original 1924 design and layout.” (Local-history synthesis; useful for sequencing.)
Florida Historic Golf Trail — Biltmore Golf Course. Archival images and captions confirming Ross’s 1925 plan and the 1924–25 construction context for the Biltmore courses that bookend the Riviera site’s early history. (Primary-leaning imagery; supports Ross’s authorship on the site rather than present Riviera fabric.)
“Florida Golf Course Seeker” research post (2013). Collates period clippings: Riviera organized 1945, course by Mahannah & Merriam; Wilson renovation 1962 (par-72/6,300); Silva 1993 restoration; Schulties 2015 redesign. While a blog, the entry cites newspaper dates and offers a coherent Riviera-specific timeline that aligns with later press releases.
Kipp Schulties Golf Design – press (2015) & South Florida Business Journal / PRWeb. Project announcements describing Riviera’s $8M renovation (2015), USGA-spec green rebuilds, recontoured fairways, and added lakes; reopening Jan. 30, 2016 reported in local news. (Confirms the scope and the modern character of today’s Riviera.)
City Attorney Memorandum (Aug. 17, 2015). Municipal analysis noting that, despite earlier Ross-referential work under Brian Silva, cumulative modifications have diminished the historical/cultural significance of the site and affected its integrity as a historic property. (Important for the integrity section.)
Local overview (GreatGables). General description of Riviera’s present playing character—small/elevated greens, water in play on two holes, and the #12 par-5 shaped by a two-acre lake—aligning with the post-2015 hazard set. (Helps document current features rather than historic ones.)
Disputed / Uncertain Points (explicitly flagged)
• Degree of Ross fabric on the ground today: Given the 1945 new 18, 1962 Wilson, 1993 Silva, and 2015 Schulties phases, Riviera is not a preserved Ross course; it is a club on a Ross-origin site whose present architecture is substantially later. The 1993 “restoration” was subsequently altered in 2015; precise survivals require plan-level comparison.
• 1945 design authorship: The Mahannah & Merriam attribution is well-circulated in local research but should be verified with club files or period newspaper contracts.
• Hole-by-hole attributions: Without Ross South Course drawings and Riviera as-built plans (1945/1962/1993/2015), assigning any single green or bunker to Ross would overreach.