A 'barranca' is a 'deep gully or arroyo with steep sides,' according to the dictionary. In essence, it's a deep hole that's difficult to escape once you've fallen into it. At Riviera Country Club, these are the locations you don't want your golf ball to be. The barranca is used on several holes at Riviera Country Club, the most renowned of which is the par-4 13th.

If the trees on the left between it and the fairway on the 13th hole were cut down, the barranca might make the hole play like a Cape-style hole, allowing a player to bite off as much as they can while risking disaster by going into the barranca, which is effectively a hazard. The dogleg-left hole is protected by the barranca from being torn off too forcibly.

If a player decides to go down the right side of the split fairway, the second shot on the eighth hole needs a carry over a barranca, while the par-5 11th hole also has a barranca in play, forcing a player to choose whether to lay up or go for the green in two shots.

Wherever practical, George C. Thomas used the barranca to create decision points and force strategic choices. And saying barranca is a lot more fun than saying canyon, pit, or ditch.