Played at Torrey for the first time this morning. Went through the whole dawn patrol "walk up" experience as a single. Got there around 5am, put my bag in line and was teeing off at 7am in the third g... Continue »

Played at Torrey for the first time this morning. Went through the whole dawn patrol "walk up" experience as a single. Got there around 5am, put my bag in line and was teeing off at 7am in the third group out on South. Pace just under 4.5 hours as a walking foursome. I agree the $183 non-resident rate is ridiculous and would love if they at least had an intermediate SCGA member rate or something in between that and the resident rate for other SoCal folks. But since this was my 300th course played, I was able to justify the one-time splurge in my mind as a "special occasion." In a way, it reminded me of courses like Harding Park or Cog Hill in the way it caters to locals and offers scaled down muni service, but still capitalizes on national notability to charge "bucket list" rates to out-of-towners. I paid hefty prices to play both of those courses while on vacation and I know I will someday when I try to play Bethpage, so I just viewed Torrey kind of the same way. I'm glad I didn't let the last review scare me away. I think he was being extra nit-picky as a regular player here. I thought the conditions were fantastic today and rivaled that of many high-end courses I've played (many of which charge even more). Greens were just about perfect. Fairways were great. Kikuyu rough was thick, sticky and wore me out all day. Bunkers very soft so the ball might plug a bit, but the sand itself was excellent to hit from. Tee boxes beautifully manicured. I struggled keeping the ball in the fairway because I have a fade swing and most every fairway here is very narrow and slopes drastically to the right. It was frustrating, but most times found the intermediate cut which was nice and fluffy. The deeper cut was brutal (especially around the greens) and I can only imagine what it's like when big tournaments are there. It was very foggy this morning, so some of the more scenic holes on the front nine were obscured and that was a little disappointing, though I love playing a great course in early morning fog. The 18th is very underwhelming design in person, but I walked off on a positive note with an easy birdie. Overall, I really enjoyed my experience on South once I put the price out of my head. I wish I could play here once or twice a year, but I just won't unless I get a reasonable deal. Too bad.