Torrey Pines South Trip Report (Pics to Come)

[Hey_Porter]

Haven't seen many trip reports on here, but thought I'd give one a shot. I was in San Diego this past weekend visiting my brother and was able to play Torrey Pines South on Monday. Because my brother is a resident, not only were we able to get a tee time (when I called to get the tee time in early April all of the non-resident tee times were booked for April), we also played it for $40 each. Sweet deal.

I shot an 87, which, being an 11 handicap, I was VERY happy with given the conditions of the course. The 87 DID include one mulligan on a flubbed tee shot on a par 3, but other than that, everything was putted out, no lie was fluffed, etc.

Looking back on my round, I can easily see how things could have been a LOT worse. The rough was INSANE (cart shed guy said it was about where it will be for the Open), and you could easily lose a ball since in most areas you have to be right on top of it before you find it. Despite being in the rough plenty, I managed to not lose a single ball. The rough was the most frustrating around the greens. Most of the greens had the fairway run right up to the front, but on all other sides there was barely any fringe, and third-cut-length rough right up to the green. Makes chipping VERY difficult as you pretty much lose feel and don't know how much strength to use.

Even more important to scoring better than I expected was the fact I only three jacked once. I'm a pretty good lag putter, and even on short putts I prefer to drop it in rather than jam it through, and this strategy really seemed to work. Plus, I was lucky and never really got in really bad spots on the greens. I can only think of one really long putt I had that had really atrocious break, the kind where I usually just grip it and rip it, but I somehow managed to get it close.

Finally, I was hitting my long irons and fairway woods REALLY well. I actually only just added a 3 wood and 5 wood to my bag, and without those I would have been totally lost. I'm not a long hitter, and several 200, 200+ second shots on the par 4s, especially after I did the right thing and ditched the driver (which I'm usually pretty accurate with). I hit a couple of greens with the 5 wood that I wouldn't be able to pull of again if you gave me ten whacks at it.

As for the course, it was in great condition. I already mentioned the rough. Most places had just two cuts, but some places had three. The first cut looks ok until you get a ball into it and realize how dense it is. You might have a little bit more control than you would in the second cut, which was dense AND deep, but you still have the issue of actually making solid contact and getting it out clean. Like I said, you can easily lose a ball in the third cut. I found at least five balls in the rough while looking for mine. Greens were FAST. It's hard for me to give a real good impression because I don't play fast greens so have little to compare it to, but the cart shed guy (keeper of all info) said that they were running at 10, and they expect to have them at 12-13 for the US Open. Fast enough for me, that's for sure. Everything just kept rolling!

Lot of work was going on preparing for the Open. They the framework for the bleachers up at what looked to me to be every place they would have them during the tournament, except for 18. Judging by the massive square footprints around 18 green, it looks like they had them up and took them down for some reason. They had a lot of folks working on the landscaping, and a bunch of giant tents up already on the boundary between the two courses and on the North Course (the back nine is already closed on the North).

That's about all I can think of. If anyone is interested, here is how my score card looked (it's from memory, but looking at http://www.torreypinesgolfcourse.com/southcourse.htm I'm pretty sure this is how it played out; I'll check the card later). The doubles were without exception where I got caught up in the rough. My only three putt was actually a bogey (#16). I started using my 3 wood on the back. More accuracy= less rough = less doubles.

1- Double
2- Par
3- Par
4- Double
5- Bogey
6- Bogey
7- Double
8- Bogey
9- Par
= 45

10- Par
11- Bogey
12- Par
13- Par
14- Double
15- Par
16- Bogey
17- Double
18- Par

= 42

I will upload some pics later if people are interested.

[twotacosfor99cents]

Definitely interested! Even though I've played the South Course a few times - I wanna see where the rough is at.

Good play though.

[erova]

i played the south back in february and this is where the rough was at...

you can see how thick it is in the color changes:

[AmenCorner]

Thanks for the report.

Which tees did you play?

[Hey_Porter]

Played from the whites, which play about 6600. Not many of the courses I play come close to that, so it was plenty long for me.

[dkglf98]

Thats what I tell everyone about Torrey, I played it the Monday after the Buik, South. The rough was the hardest part. If you roll it in the rough you will be very lucky to find it and if you do you better take your medicine at wedge out cause nothing longer will get it out.

Surprised that let you out on your brother's local card, they were pretty strict on that when I was there cause they upcharge the outa towners huge.

Hint if you want to play- There is a company called M&M; tee times that will sell you a tee time so you can get off at a decent hour.

[Hey_Porter]

Like I said, pretty much all of my doubles were from having trouble getting out of the rough. On the second shot of the day on #1 I managed to get my hybrid down to the ball and hit a pretty good shot; that was enough to make me (stupidly) think I could do that every time. Most of the time you can't even get a 7 or an 8 on the ball.

That's weird about the players card, I must have got lucky and caught an employee who didn't know. I actually assumed I would have to pay the out of town price, but when the guy taking the reservation quoted me the price it was the local rate. I even said "oh, we both get the local rate?" and he said yes. They didn't even ask for my brothers local card when we checked in.

[Puttin4Bird]

Great reading the trip report, I am just green with envy reading you guys talk about playing there. I absolutely wish.

Keep the trip reports coming, we need more of these!!!! Can't wait for the Torrey Pines pics.

[x-forged]

how did you like the 3rd hole, awesome shot isn't it?

[tigerwoo]

I managed to play Torrey South twice last week extending a Disneyland trip south to San Diego/La Jolla. My friend lives in Del Mar and was able to 'lend' me his friend's resident card and I was able to get on for a mere $42 on Thursday morning and $49 on Friday. However, both mornings were very early standby outings where I arrived at 4:30am each morning only to be bested by 10 others on each day. I thought I was the crazy golfer! Anyways, we tee'd off around 6am on both days and I had a fabulous time. However this time the golf course was a different beast as I've played the south in the past a few times.

The greens were very true and running around 10 to 11 on the stimp. Now the rough... I've never seen or played in such dense, thick, course grass before! It was unbelievable and very humbling how it could win so many battles with steel. Thursday's round was more of a 'get to know' my limits day as I battled the rough on most occasions (only hit 2 fairways) by trying to use a longer club to push it down further along the hole. This is not recommended! On most occasions the club in my hand would twist shut and I would advance the ball 30 to 50 yards maximum and into the same or deeper rough. I shot a 95 as a result that day and my handicap of 5 point whatever was put to shame.

I analyzed my game over and over on Thursday night and I went back to work on the South early (4:30am again) Friday morning. This time teeing off as the 4th group by about 6:20am. Again my driver failed me on this day but as opposed to trying to advance it out further down fairway with a long club I used my pitching and/or sand wedges to advance it 45 degrees into the fairway and about 20 to 30 yards down. This left me with a mid to long iron 3rd shot on most par 4's and on occasion I would get up and down. Shot a respectable 86 on Friday as a result of this strategy. 14 bogeys and 4 pars. No doubles or triples. Had a fabulous time! The weather was perfect and the scenery spectacular. I'd go back even if I had to pay the full $180 non-resident rate. It was truly an experience of a lifetime. I too tee'd it off from the whites which are rated at 74.3 and 136 or something like that and playing close to 6700 yards. With the offshore breeze/wind and moist conditions this course is a beast. But manageable if you play 'smart'.

[Hey_Porter]

A little bit delayed, but some of my pics are below. I mostly went for scenic pics, and I wish I had taken a few more to show how bad the rough was. Loved the shot on number three. That was actually one of my lucky and few up and downs (that and #12; I could play 12 a hundred times and par it 10 or less). Pin was back left and I drew it a little too much left and off the green, but it got caught up in the heavy rough. Grip it and rip it chip to five feet and an easy ( ;) ) tap in for par. Hope y'all like the pics. The fifth and sixth picture are of #13. If you watched the Buick you know about this, but for the Open they built a new tee box that forces you to carry the canyon that you see in the fifth picture, a carry of over 260 yards. The tee box was fenced off, so this pic is from behind the usual tournament tees; the new box is back quite a bit and off to the left of where this pic was taken. The sixth picture is looking back towards the tee box. It's gonna be brutal.

[x-forged]

nice pics!i love that course. your right about #13. those championship tees are WAY back there. i wanted to go tee off from them but i couldn't get back there.