Can you break 100 at Torrey Pines in US Open setup?

[twotacosfor99cents]

I think you underestimate Torrey Pines.

For one, due to the marine layer and the climate there, as well as the setup on top of the cliffs, there is a howling 10-20+ mph wind blowing from the west, depending on where you are in relation to the cliffs and the hole - the wind is not the same everywhere on the hole as well, so you might hit with 10 degree right (facing south) to compenstate for the wind blowing across at the tee, hit it, and find out that it's not windy in the middle of the fairway and your ball sails right into the bunker / rough / OB on the right. :( (happened on a number of occasions)

The lie is also quite varied, ranging from the impossible to hit to the mud pits. THe impossible to hit lies come from the roots of the torrey pines snaking throughout the rough (and sometimes the fairway). You could find your ball nested right up against the root of a tree easily, and there's no free penalty on that.

Others have mentioned the course is LOOOONG too. I drive for 220, so I suffer here, especially on these long par 4's all over the course.

Fast greens are not really an issue, it's all about timing your ball speed right - I generally do better on fast greens than slow greens. Slow greens are incredibly frustrating for me sometimes because I tend to err on the side of not enough speed.

[bogeyhitter25]

I definitely said no because I can barely break 100 at my local golf course. haha

[twotacosfor99cents]

  bogeyhitter25 said:

I definitely said no because I can barely break 100 at my local golf course. haha

Your handicap seems kind of low if you're not a 80/90's golfer. Maybe change it to 20+?

[tigerwoo]

Just played from the white tees last week (6700 yards, 74.3, 136) and shot an 86 and I thought I did quite well though I only hit 2 fairways. If my driver is behaving somewhat, I think it is doable as long as you take your medicine (when you don't hit the fairway off the tee) and chip it out of the rough at 45 degrees with a wedge in hand regardless of how far you are from the hole. The try to go for bogey or perhaps on occasion an up and down. Adding another 900 yards (50 yards per hole) would likely make it much more difficult but I think subtract the cameras and fans and hoopla of a US Open event and it is possible but it would take great discipline and patience.

[tm22721]

I would guess that most 10 handicappers could break 100 by laying up on the par 4's and three putting half of the greens.

[Undr Par]

playing from the tips not a chance and formatted like an Open, I wouldn't break 140, I'm a mid-high 80's player on regular courses so no chance at all.....but then again i wouldn't be out there looking to score good, I'd be in awe of the course to pay attention to my score.

[DJYoshi]

  bogeyhitter25 said:

I definitely said no because I can barely break 100 at my local golf course. haha

  twotacosfor99cents said:

Your handicap seems kind of low if you're not a 80/90's golfer. Maybe change it to 20+?

yeah dude...i break 90's on the regular with a rare round in the 70's and I'm a 12.9

In my eyes, knowing what I can and can't do...knowing how when I play from the whites, I should be on in 2 and sometimes it's 3. But when I play from the blue on a real long course....like when I've played Harding Park b4 a tournament and it's already been setup, or Mayakoba the day after the tourney... I was lucky to be on in 2, but most of the time I was on in 3... and that's after cracking 280 - 300 yard drives.... b/c I'd still have a mid - long iron shot left on par 4's.... mostly everything turned into a layup on those days...I managed 2 birdies at HP and only 1 at Mayakoba. The rest were par's, a bunch of bogey's and i held it to 2 db's on each course...for grand totals of: Harding Park - 84 Mayakoba - 96

[tigerwoo]

A typical lie in the rough as experienced by yours truly last week at Torrey Pines.

This was the result of my 2nd shot from the fairway that I badly missed on the Par 5, 6th hole. It was 40 yards short of the green and way wide... I hacked this baby out using a 60 degree lob wedge with an almost vertical swing. I was 5 yards short of the green but managed to get up and down for a par.

[x-forged]

yeah tigerwoo, thats a familiar sight on the south course.

[Hey_Porter]

The added distance would probably do me under. I shot an 87 there last week, and while I could have played a little bit better and a little bit smarter, that was a close to best score I could put up there with my "normal" game. I was only able to score that by hitting a good amount of fairways, especially on the back, and just plain being on with my 5 wood and long irons and hitting a decent amount of greens. Adding the extra yardage would force me to play my driver off the tee, which would lead to a quite a few more second shots out of the rough. Even if I were to hit the fairway I would be forced to hit more 5-woods and 3-woods and not hit as many greens. The rough is just as frustrating around the greens as its just as deep and impossible to make a good "feel" pitch.

[gortyl]

There is no way in hell this guy they picked is going to shoot 100. I'm betting more like 120 or higher. The freaking course is 7600 yards. If the course was 6600 yards, I bet he wouldn't break 100. It's great to talk about course management and have this idea that he could just smooth a 3 wood out in the fairway and lay up with a short iron, pitch it close, two-putt and take his bogey, but no 10-handicap is going to do this consistently for 18 holes. 500 yard Par 4s (I'm sure they'll be longer)? If he crushes one 280 (assuming no headwind; a big assumption), he'll have 220 to the green which will make it almost impossible for him to hold the green even if he is in the fairway. If he's in the rough, he may have trouble advancing it to within 160 yards, then he's going to have to hold the green from 160 and two putt for a bogey and that's if he is hitting from the fairway and pures it straight and high? EH! Next. I'd also bank on four or more three putts. I can't wait to watch it!

I love everyone's confidence and I sure as hell would love to give it a shot, but I'd like to bet the 1s and 2s on here who say that it'd be a cakewalk. Wish we could verify that. We're talking 7600 yards, likely windy, four-plus inch rough, greens running at 13, insane pin positions and camera crews all around which will remind you that you are on national TV. There's no doubt a 1 or 2 could break 100, maybe 90 and possibly 80 on the South Course as it's set up tomorrow from 7200, no doubt. But it'll be a different course in June.

If you didn't catch on by now, I voted that I would not be able to break 100, nor do I believe a 10 handicap would break 100 in an Open set up on national TV a week before the Open.

Good story here about the prep and set up of the course (13 Stimp mention):
http://www.usopen.com/en_US/news/art...017978875.html

[golf_junkie27]

Phil Mickelson just spoke about playing behind an 8 Handicap at Torrey Pines. The guy was taking two shots just to try and get out of the rough. He would literally hit the ball about a foot. (Mind you, it still has not grown out as it will for the US Open) He would then pick up and throw the ball onto the fairway. Lefty stated that the guy swung the club like Ben Hogan when he was on the fairway. He finished the round in the high nineties.

Mickelson went on to say that when you consider how long the course will play, the rough, the wind conditions, pin placement, greens and what golfing statistic point to for those types of handicaps, he believes that number will be closer to 110.

[Mr. Sparkle]

No way the guy breaks 100. Romo is the only one of the 4 that even has a shot.

[tree_under]

I can probably break 100,seriously...






































Maybe on the front or back 9...

[Mr. Sparkle]

And everyone should take note that this year you won't just see US Open rough. It will be Kikuya grown to US Open conditions. This stuff will eat your ball.

[neophyte]

If four of us played Torrey Pines twenty days in open conditions and entered our twenty scores of 90 to 99 in GHIN what would our handicap be calculated to be?

This also sounds like a set up to embarass someone or something.

[Undr Par]

  golf_junkie27 said:

Phil Mickelson just spoke about playing behind an 8 Handicap at Torrey Pines. The guy was taking two shots just to try and get out of the rough. He would literally hit the ball about a foot. (Mind you, it still has not grown out as it will for the US Open) He would then pick up and throw the ball onto the fairway. Lefty stated that the guy swung the club like Ben Hogan when he was on the fairway. He finished the round in the high nineties.

what Phil stated about the 8capper is exactly why most people wouldn't break 100 on Torrey PInes under US Open conditions........

[RX Phoenix]

A 10 would play double bogey golf which is close to Philly Mic's 110. If you're hitting long approach shots they won't hold the green and will run into the rough.

One way to do it would be to lay up to lob wedge distance, and put a lot of spin on the ball to get it close, then 2 putt. I would think that the pros will be using a lot of spin to deal with the pin placements and superfast greens. A hi-spin ball would help a lot, but that wouldn't help with accuracy off the tee. A real straight driver and a hi-spin wedge player would have a chance if they could get the speed of the greens right.