Torrey Pines Golf Course

Torrey Pines Golf Course

Club information
Location	La Jolla, California, U.S.
Established	1957 [1][2]
Type	Public
Owned by	City of San Diego
Operated by	Torrey Pines Club Corporation
Total holes	36
Tournaments hosted	Farmers Insurance Open (PGA Tour)
Website	Torrey Pines GC
South Course
Designed by	William F. Bell [3]
Par	72
Length	7,607 yards (6,956 m)
Course rating	78.1
North Course
Designed by	William F. Bell [1]
Par	72
Length	6,874 yards (6,286 m)
Course rating	72.1

Torrey Pines Golf Course is a 36-hole municipal public golf facility owned by the city of San Diego, California. It sits on the coastal cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean^[4] in the community of La Jolla, just south of Torrey Pines State Reserve. Opened in 1957, it was built on the site of Camp Callan, a U.S. Army installation during World War II.

Torrey Pines has two famous 18-hole golf courses, North and South, both designed by William F. Bell (son of noted course architect William P. Bell). The South Course was redesigned by Rees Jones in 2001,^[5] and is now 7,643 yards (6,989 m) in length from the back tees with par at 72. The logo of Torrey Pines Golf Course (illustrated: right) features a salt pruned Torrey Pine.

Since the late 1960s, Torrey Pines has hosted the Farmers Insurance Open on the PGA Tour. Held annually in January or February, the tournament uses both courses for the first two rounds and the South Course for the final two rounds; it will be held January 28–31 in 2016. Torrey Pines hosts the San Diego City Amateur Golf Championships every June, and the Junior World Golf Championships every July. It hosted the 2008 U.S. Open on the South Course, won by Tiger Woods in a playoff.

Much like Bethpage Black on Long Island, Torrey Pines has a unique method to ensure continued public access to the course. On weekends, individuals arrive as early as 6 p.m. the prior night to get in line for the first-come, first-served tee times that are given out from sunrise till the first reservations at 7:30 a.m.

Clubhouse of the Torrey Pines Golf Course

It is named after the Torrey Pine, a rare tree that grows in the wild only along this local stretch of the coastline in San Diego County and on Santa Rosa Island.^[6]

2008 U.S. Open

Tiger Woods won the 2008 U.S. Open over Rocco Mediate in a 19-hole Monday playoff. After completing the 18-hole playoff on the South Course tied at even par 71, they went to sudden-death on the 91st hole, played on the par-4 7th hole. Mediate had trouble off of the tee and made bogey, while Woods made par to gain his third U.S. Open and fourteenth career major win, which put him just four behind Jack Nicklaus. Woods birdied the 18th hole on Sunday to force the playoff and again on Monday to extend it.

Popular culture

Torrey Pines is a featured golf course in the 1990 computer game Links: The Challenge of Golf, Microsoft Golf 2.0 (1995), Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13.

Major tournaments hosted

North Course

The North Course is shorter (from the men's tees) and rated less difficult than the South Course. All measurements made in yards.

South Course

At 7,607 yards (6,956 m), the South Course is the longest course played in a regular PGA Tour event. All measurements made in yards.

References

External links

• Torrey Pines Golf Course official site
• C.Michael Hogan (2008) "Torrey Pine: Pinus torreyana", Globaltwitcher, ed. N. Stromberg
• Satellite images of Torrey Pines Golf Course
• Torrey Pines Municipal Golf Club

Coordinates: 32°54′16″N 117°14′43″W / 32.9045°N 117.2454°W / 32.9045; -117.2454