What makes Torrey Pines so special? I mean, there are over 90 golf courses in San Diego County, many of them exceptional. Well, for one thing, it's a city owned municipal course - a muni, open to all residents. No country club attitude - golf at its most egalitarian. Rich tourists golfing alongside schlubs like me.
Designed by William Bell, Sr. Torrey Pines also happens to sit upon one of California's most scenic coastlines, on the bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, north of La Jolla. The course takes its name from the indigenous Torrey Pine which is native to the area and to Santa Rosa Island. The tree is distinguished by having clusters of five pine needles. And it happens to play host to the PGA Tour for the annual Buick Invitational golf tournament, which has become Tiger Woods' personal championship, watched by millions on national TV. The exposure has made our humble Torrey a genuine golf destination - "Hey, I get to play on the same course that Tiger does!"
So, again, what makes Torrey Pines so special? Hmmm...let me think...oh, one more thing - it's also playing host to the United States Golf Association's 2008 Open Championship only the second municipal course to host the national championship and the first time in 60 years that the prestigious tournament has been played in Southern California.
In other words, this is a big flippin' deal, when it comes to major events. We're talking Super Bowl level stuff, friends.
How did our working class tract become part of the elite rotation that usual sports uptight names like Baltusrol, Congressional, Winged Foot, Medinah - all private country clubs, mostly east of the Mississippi. How did our Torrey elevate itself from a perfectly adequate PGA Tour stop to a U.S. Open caliber test?
The seeds were sown in the spring of 1999, when the city's Parks & Recreation department began a five-year program of planning and funding capital improvements to the Torrey Pines and Balboa Park golf courses. The aim was to improve the quality of the Torrey Pines courses, which were completed in 1957 by Bell's son, Billy Jr., and world-renowned designer Rees Jones was enlisted. (There are two courses - North and South. Only the South Course will be used for the Open) The choice of Jones was significant, because he is known as the "Open Doctor," an architect whose talents are often called upon by courses wishing to bid for a major golf championship.
In 2001, Jones re-shaped the South Course - literally. Lengthening, tweaking, completely re-designing several holes, adding his signature bunkering - transforming the course, already a challenging tract, into a monstrous 7,600-yard beast capable of bringing the world's best golfers to their knees.
On October 4, 2002 the USGA deemed Torrey Open-worthy and awarded it the 2008 U.S. Open Golf Tournament. It will be the first time the Open has been played at Torrey Pines and USGA tournament coordinators estimate the South Course at Torrey Pines could hold as many as 40,000 fans per day.
Event organizers and officials estimate having the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines will rank as one of the area's most lucrative sporting events ever, bringing millions of dollars to the local economy. Torrey Pines serves as an example of a quality course that the public can both see and play the game.
From June 9 to 15, the golfing world will descend on San Diego and Torrey Pines, and after years of preparation, our local muni will see if it can withstand the golfing skills of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, defending champ Angel Cabrera and the like. And if USGA tradition holds true, the course will be set up as the ultimate test of golf - brutally tough, with penal rough, slick greens and unimaginable length.
It might be the one chance to see the world's best golfers struggle to make par. On a public municipal golf course. Just like the rest of us duffers do every weekend. On our very own muni - Torrey Pines.
