[Pete Lavallee]

Here is a link to Tod Leonard's article on the setup for Torrey Pines in the 2008 Open. In addition to leaving 18 as a par 5, after recontouring the landing area and bunkers, they have given up on the 100% Kikuyu plan too; looks like they'll overseed.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/golf/20070626-9999-1s26golfnote.html

[Phil Benedict]

Pete,

But are they going to keep the fountain in that fake pond on 18 turned on?

[Pete Lavallee]

I believe they are going to increase the flow to make a bigger splash.

[rjsimper]

I guess this means they'll be shaving the bank down, or at least cutting it lower...something they probably couldn't have done with the hole being a par 4.

[Kalen Braley]

Pete,

But are they going to keep the fountain in that fake pond on 18 turned on?

Why can't they just add a couple of more fountains, make them shoot higher, and program them in such a way to be a mini-tribute to Bellagio in Vegas.  Then the water could be a 3 dimension hazard instead of just 2.    

[Matt_Cohn]

Why does Rees have so much influence here? Hole #9 is a good US Open par-5. What's Rees' deal with being "adamant" about having a par of 70?

Also, if 6/9 are par 4's and 13/18 are par-5's then will TPS be 34/36=70?



Converting par 5's to 4's used to have a purpose. At Olympic, the USGA didn't want players hitting wedges to the 70th, 71st, and 72nd holes. At Oak Hill, #17 wasn't long enough to be a legitimate par-5. Ditto #2 at Pebble Beach and #1 at Baltusrol.

But now they're doing it just because they feel like it. At TPS, #6 is 575 and #9 is 630. They'd be fine just the way they are.

[peter_mcknight]

TPS Open yardage

450
385 (potential alt tee at around 320)
195 (alt tee at 160 for at least one round)
485
455
515
460
175
525 (in a number of ways, won't be too much different than WFW 9th from 2006)
3645 yards par 34

405
220
505
615 (with new tee in the dunes to the back and left of the 540 yard tee ground--way way back)
435
480
230
440
575 (perhaps an alt tee around 550)
3905 yards par 36

7550 yards par 70


Frankly, I don't get why they insist on retaining the pond in front of 18--it is wholly out of place, ugly, etc.  Now there will be less pressure to hit a solid drive on 18 because they will just lay up short of the pond and score a par anyway.

[Doug Wright]

TPS Open yardage

575 (perhaps an alt tee around 550)

What yardage do they use for 18 at the Buick? (I assume shorter)? Will it still be risk/reward or just boring drive layup SW for all but a few?  

[David Stamm]

Hmmm.. I wonder how much money has been wasted now on changes to the course that will never be used for the tournament that the changes were made for in the first place! Shew! That was a mouth full! In addition, the failed Kikuyu plan (1 million sq ft of sod!) was a failure. Jeez, this is just going to give the city residents more ammo for their dissatisfaction over the project costing them more to play.

[Kalen Braley]

Any votes for just blowing up Torrey and starting over?  Its got a world class location, can't we have a world class course?  Or is it the sand pines of cali??

[peter_mcknight]

For the Buick, they use both the 575 and 550 tees, usually each tee twice in the tournament.

I'm just saying the could use the 550 as an alternate tee ground if they have the hole location in the front to encourage the risk/reward second shot to the green.  I would think, if they hole location is in the rear, they'll use the 575 tee ground.

It would be great to nuke the existing TPS and build a brand new course at the location--pretty much anything would be a dramatic improvement.  But, this won't happen because it is a City of San Diego facility.

Lastly, just remember that Olympia Fields was a 36-34 set-up in 2003, Baltusrol is always 34-36 and Merion is 36-34.

[Matt_Cohn]

Peter,

To play devil's advocate, wouldn't the front tee pair better with a back hole location (accessible for a 250 yard shot), and wouldn't the back tee pair better with a front hole location (a precise and nervy target from 100 yards away)?

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