Torrey Pines - North (Large Photos)

[Evan_Green]

Here are some shots of Torrey Pines - North Course. Not much in terms of earth-shattering GCA, but the scenery is awefully hard to beat! Sorry for the large pics, I havent perfected my resizing method yet.

[Pete Lavallee]

Not much in terms of earth-shattering GCA, but the scenery is awefully hard to beat!

Evan,

Nice photos. Seriously how did you feel about the course; was it too easy? Did you shoot in the 60's? Granted the course does need a sympathetic restoration; the greens have shrunken drastically and the bunkers need to be redone (they're just puddles of sand these days). But why doesn't this course work perfectly as a Muni that the average golfer loves to play and the better golfer is still challanged by? Didn't you feel that the course has well contoured greens which do challange the better player with their back to front slope, meaning many sharply breqking putts? The straight edged fairways 25 yards wide need to go; but why isn't this a wonderful place to golf your ball?

[Evan_Green]

Not much in terms of earth-shattering GCA, but the scenery is awefully hard to beat!

Evan,

Nice photos. Seriously how did you feel about the course; was it too easy? Did you shoot in the 60's? Granted the course does need a sympathetic restoration; the greens have shrunken drastically and the bunkers need to be redone (they're just puddles of sand these days). But why doesn't this course work perfectly as a Muni that the average golfer loves to play and the better golfer is still challanged by? Didn't you feel that the course has well contoured greens which do challange the better player with their back to front slope, meaning many sharply breqking putts? The straight edged fairways 25 yards wide need to go; but why isn't this a wonderful place to golf your ball?

Pete

I never said the course was easy or bad or not a good muni, I just said that it doesnt have earth shattering GCA. But in my opinion, the incredible scenery alone make this course worth well playing.

Evan

[Pete Lavallee]

Evan,

The GCA can't be earth shattering it was done by Billy Bell Jr.!

Seriosly, did you think it was challanging enough, neglecting the scenery? Most people shrug it off as another poor architectural effort by Jr.; I think it might be his Opus.

[Evan_Green]

Evan,

The GCA can't be earth shattering it was done by Billy Bell Jr.!

Seriosly, did you think it was challanging enough, neglecting the scenery? Most people shrug it off as another poor architectural effort by Jr.; I think it might be his Opus.

Pete-

Regarding the difficulty it is hard for me to say honestly as I've only played the course one time. I played it in November when the rough was high because they were growing it out for the Buick. Every time I hit it in there it was a hack out. So I didnt play it under "normal" conditions. I shot a 77 (I'm a 3). But I never thought the course was "too easy."

Evan

[Matt_Cohn]

Good debate - does every course have to aspire to "Greatness"?

There's no question that more could be done with that site. There must be few better sites in the world for a golf course. Couldn't TPN be a lot greater than it is?

Then again, the course serves a great purpose and it does it very well. It's a friendly, fun, beautiful place to play golf, and not too many people are complaining!

Which should we focus on?

[tlavin]

Good debate - does every course have to aspire to "Greatness"?

There's no question that more could be done with that site. There must be few better sites in the world for a golf course. Couldn't TPN be a lot greater than it is?

Then again, the course serves a great purpose and it does it very well. It's a friendly, fun, beautiful place to play golf, and not too many people are complaining!

Which should we focus on?

No, every course doesn't have to aspire to greatness, but Torrey is a missed opportunity if I've ever seen one.  It doesn't seem to take advantage of its oceanside location, IMHO.  The golf course is bland, boring and forgettable.  The only lasting memories in my head of my round there is of the hanggliders.  Well, that's not true, I remember 490 yard straightaway par 4 after 490 yard straightaway par 4.  How this course ever got the chance to host a US Open is well beyond my comprehension.

[tlavin]

It's been gently pointed out that I've confused the North and the South.  Not as great a crime as the Civil War, but an offense nonetheless.  My error notwithstanding, I'll leave the subject with this: the course on which the US Open will be played strikes me as an uninteresting waste of oceanfront property.

[Mike Benham]

I've seen those bunkers before ...

At almost every modern muni course in California ...

[Tom Huckaby]

God, right on Mike.  Sharp-edged ovals.  
They are EVERYWHERE out here.

BTW, not that we haven't discussed this many times
before, but re the choice or Torrey-South for the US Open,
the following parameters were assumed:

1. West-coast municipal course;
2. Balance off against US Opens past and future
at Pebble and Olympic, meaning it really can't be NorCal;
3.  Needs all the other normal US Open logistics in terms of
space, etc.
4.  Normal US Open difficulty, either as is or can be made
to be such.

What other course could they have chosen?

Really the only other viable candidate is Rancho Park, and
it's hard to believe they could make that US Open type
tough enough no matter what they did.

So say what you will about Torrey as a golf course... and
complain about those parameters, sure... but if you do
accept them, well I'd like to know what other course it
could have been.

TH