San Diego: Torrey Pines South or Maderas?

[topspin4hand]

Guys, I'll be in San Diego with a couple weekdays off.  I already have a twilight tee time at The Crossings at Carlsbad for one day.  I was eyeing dropping the cash to play at Maderas or Torrey South.  From past comments, both are recommended, any comments to break this tie for me?

Unfortunately, this trip just sprang up so I'm inside of the 8-day advance reservation for non-residents at Torrey ... so I'd be doing the Walk-on wait.

[MSchott]

I don't know Madera but I've played Torrey Pines South. It's a fine course for the most part but if you play from the wrong tees it's a monster. I wouldn't say it's among the best courses I've played but it has some great holes and playing the par 5 18 where Tiger won the US Open will be a thrill. 3, 6, 12 and 13 are very good holes as is 18.

[topspin4hand]

I called Maderas.  Their tee times are wide open Monday and Wednesday (the days I'm looking at).  So I may go with this plan:  try Torrey solo walk-on for a twilight tee time on Monday afternoon. If for some reason, that doesn't work out, I will try the crack of dawn walk-on process on Wednesday morning, with Maderas being my standby.

[Clambake]

Pretty funny that your two choices are my mainstays: Maderas is my home course (play it about 3x a month) and Torrey is my other "go to" course where I play about once or twice a month.      They are very different type courses, with a very different experience.

Torrey is of course Torrey, with the US Open background, etc.     I played the South course last Thursday and it was in pretty good shape overall.   The greens were slightly slower than what is normal, but we had some rain earlier so I suspect they hadn't mowed as tight.    They have the rough at a reasonable depth now, meaning that you can find your ball OK but it is still hard to hit it out of the kikuyu grass.    Torrey is actually fairly forgiving if you aren't straight off the tee, as you can usually find your ball and may have a shot at getting to the green or at least getting it back in play.   It gets tougher the closer you get to the greens, where the kikuyu rough around the greens is a challenge.      FYI, it isn't as tough to walk on Torrey as many people think.   I'd suggest calling to see if they have a tournament going on, but if not you'll find the wait isn't too long.    When I played last Thursday I got to the course about 12:30pm and was halfway down the 1st hole by 1pm (and we played in 4 hours flat).

Maderas is a really nice course, and quite difficult.   It used to be private and it has retained a lot of the country club feel to it, so the service is great.      I played it last about a week ago, and it was getting back into really good shape.   They were wrestling with some issues on the greens, but a week ago all the greens looked really nice again and were rolling true.   They also were a little slower than they usually keep them, but are still quick enough and the undulations will give you a green reading challenges - they aren't severe, just everywhere.     Maderas is tougher off the tee as it doesn't have almost any holes that have adjacent fairways, so a wild ball is usually lost.    They don't have much rough on the course.

Maderas is always easy to get onto, and I'd try to get a discount.   The San Diego County resident rate is much less than rack rate, and if you happen to be an SCGA member it is better still.    The crew there is very accommodating, so I'd suggest calling them and telling them you'd like to play there but the price is putting you off, and is there anything they can do - I'm pretty certain they'll be really helpful (PM me and I'll give you another suggestion too).    Too bad you're looking at the weekdays or I'd be glad to help you out there when I play on the weekends and use my Advantage Club rate!

Frankly, if I were you I would skip playing the Crossings and go for both Maderas and Torrey.    I really just don't care that much for the Crossings course - it's kind of tricked up, and a lot of the layout doesn't really flow well from hole to hole.    They're re-architecting a couple of the greens to make them more sensible so hopefully that will improve it a bit.    I just played there two weeks ago and while it was OK, it just didn't really excite us very much.    Conditions were so-so, and the greens were pretty pockmarked even with an early morning time.    It's an OK course, but I suspect you'd go home wishing you had played the others instead.

Another option is Aviara, also in Carlsbad.     It's a very nicely kept resort course with fantastic landscaping, and is fairly challenging and has a great layout.   To me the normal price is not at all worth it, but twilight times at $145 are a great experience.

[topspin4hand]

Clambake, thanks for that info.  I may take your advice and play both Maderas and Torrey Pines South.  I'm traveling across the country so I'd like the courses to be somewhat memorable, or at least as close as possible.

[Chas]

You do well to go with Clambake's advice. He's right on when it comes to Torrey and The Crossings. I haven't played Maderas, yet, but I hear nothing but praise from local golfers who have played it. TP South AND Maderas would make one .... memorable .... visit to sunny San Diego. Let us know how you make out.

[topspin4hand]

Thanks guys.  I'm in San Diego now and will likely head to Torrey tomorrow. I didn't know the South Course was so long from the White tees!

[Chas]

I'm not very fit and when I walk I tend to start flagging at around the 15th.  As Clambake says, it isn't particularly unforgiving but it is looooong.  Watch out for that crabgrass around the greens as well - try not so short-side yourself.

Let us know if you par the 13th - and watch out for that massive false front!

[topspin4hand]

Originally Posted by Chas

Let us know if you par the 13th - and watch out for that massive false front!

Guys, thanks again for the advice. I played Torres Pines' South Course yesterday afternoon.  Upon my arrival the starter said I could go off with a 4-some in a half hour.  I began with 4 straight bogeys with missed par putts of approx. 15 feet on two of those holes (not bad for me). My highlight: I parred the #1 handicap 7th hole (424 yard par 4 from the Whites).

Chas, I bogeyed the par-5 13th hole ... all part of a memorable round. Locals are lucky to have this track closeby.