Golf Course Reviews
Golf Course Reviews: California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Utah, Florida, Hawaii!So this review is about a week late but still wanted to post it because it was a very unique round at Torrey. I showed up around 6 am hoping to walk on early but just missed getting out around 7:15 and was informed that all the tee times between then and 9 am had been paid and everyone was there but they did have an opening at 9 am for a single with another 3some. So I took it and hit the range for a bit, grabbed a coffee and just hung out and relaxed, I mean how bad is it to hang around Torrey Pines on a beautiful Saturday Morning, right. So at 8:55 I head to the 1st tee and no one is there so I wait till the group in front of me is on the green. Still no 3some, the people playing behind me are waiting so I hit my ball and start walking telling them when they guys show up to catch up to me. I get to my ball, look back and still no one there, so I hit my ball. I get up to the green and the 4some behind me (2 guys and 2 women) have teed off and are starting up the fairway. So I putt out, and par the hole.The course is in good shape, the ruff being way down but still thick and grabs your club when hitting in it. So now I am standing on the 3rd tee box by myself and I am thinking, is this some kind of weird April Fools Joke? I am thinking that the marshal is going to come out any time and tell me I screwed up somehow or make me play with either the group in front of me or the one behind. But I see no marshal so I continue to play. So I am even through 5, playing by myself and the course is in really great shape except the greens are slow, they are rolling pretty good but they sanded them recently with some fine sand that allows then to roll but slows the speed down.
I am on the 9th green, in just under 2 hours having a very good round and thinking how I can birdie 9 when her comes the Marshall, Chris. I figure well at least I got to play 9 by myself and that he will pair me up on the back 9. As he stops next to me I hear him on the radio say that he found the single. I ask him whats going on and he informs me that the 3some I was supposed to play with, teed off on #10 (the old #1) and nobody figured it out until they were well into the round. So I tell him that I am having a great time and having the best round I have probably every had, can I keep it going? Chris tells me I am on my own and have fun. I am told after 18 that I am probably the only person that has ever played 18 as a single during a normal day at Torrey Pines. I have to say I really enjoyed it, I was able to slow down and enjoy the surroundings, to be able to concentrate, and have quite round among all the other golfers on the course.
The course is in pretty good shape other the the greens being sandy which are probably already much better. Pace of play was a little over 4 hours even playing as a single. Bunkers and tee boxes are also in good shape. There were some thin spots on some of the fairways on the back nine which I was surprised to see. Overall a great round, one of which I will most probably never be able to duplicate again!
I am on the 9th green, in just under 2 hours having a very good round and thinking how I can birdie 9 when her comes the Marshall, Chris. I figure well at least I got to play 9 by myself and that he will pair me up on the back 9. As he stops next to me I hear him on the radio say that he found the single. I ask him whats going on and he informs me that the 3some I was supposed to play with, teed off on #10 (the old #1) and nobody figured it out until they were well into the round. So I tell him that I am having a great time and having the best round I have probably every had, can I keep it going? Chris tells me I am on my own and have fun. I am told after 18 that I am probably the only person that has ever played 18 as a single during a normal day at Torrey Pines. I have to say I really enjoyed it, I was able to slow down and enjoy the surroundings, to be able to concentrate, and have quite round among all the other golfers on the course.
The course is in pretty good shape other the the greens being sandy which are probably already much better. Pace of play was a little over 4 hours even playing as a single. Bunkers and tee boxes are also in good shape. There were some thin spots on some of the fairways on the back nine which I was surprised to see. Overall a great round, one of which I will most probably never be able to duplicate again!
I also paid the $30 advanced booking fee and yes it was worth it. I happen to call a couple of weeks ago and got lucky when Matt said they had just got out of a meeting and announced that 11/19 would be the 1st day to book a tee time, so I grabbed the 8 am for 4 to be the 1st "Official" group out, which was nice. I agree with Weber2323's review in that the course is great. I think that Tom Weiskoph did a nice job with the redesign. He made enough changes and improvements to give the course a fresh look and feel but kept the basic design with no real drastic changes. I also agree, I was tired after my round! It will take some getting used to with the 9's being flipped that's for sure, just seemed kind of weird. The par 3 #12 (used to be #3) is very different from the Toup(Blue's) it is no longer an easy wedge shot that's for sure, it will take a stronger club to make it over the canyon! I also like what they did to #11, and #16. I agree again with Weber that it seemed to play closer to 7000, the par 3 #3 (used to be#12) was what 30 yds further back?
All in all I think all the regulars will approve of what was done, and I am certain that everyone is glad to have TPN Back in play.
All in all I think all the regulars will approve of what was done, and I am certain that everyone is glad to have TPN Back in play.
Played Wednesday 12/9 at noon for $25. Greens were real good but could be faster, but rolled nice. That's kind of where the positives ran out. The fairways are in the worst shape I have ever seen them. Very thin in most places even in the rough. Traps have no sand in 90% of them, just loose dirt, very hard to play out of them. Played here about a month ago and the course was much better, not great, but better. Not sure why it is worse now but I won'the be coming backtill 494I hear it has improved. Owners must be hurting as they did not punch the greens this fall, beverage cart has been broken for months, and the ball collecting machine is broken so the guy_has to collect them with a rake. This is a shame as I have always liked this track
Played TPN Saturday 11/28, got out at 8:07. The course is in really good shape. They have started to narrow the fairways in preparation of The Farmers, they are in pretty good shape overall and you really won't find many places where you will get a bad lie. The rough although not real high yet, is still thick! we did lose a couple of balls but it is still pretty fair. Tee boxes are also in good shape. Now for the greens, they are in excellent shape for the most part. The last 2 weeks they are running about has fast as I have ever seen them and very firm and true as well. Being below the hole is paramount now more than ever!
POP was slow for being out at 8 which is still early, about 4:50, we had to wait on many of the holes. The marshal was out but he just couldn't get a couple of the groups to keep up. Still it was a Beautiful Day and with the course for sure closing down after The Farmers Golf Tournament for renovations, I look forward to playing it as many times as I can before then.
POP was slow for being out at 8 which is still early, about 4:50, we had to wait on many of the holes. The marshal was out but he just couldn't get a couple of the groups to keep up. Still it was a Beautiful Day and with the course for sure closing down after The Farmers Golf Tournament for renovations, I look forward to playing it as many times as I can before then.
Played the North Course yesterday, teed off at 12:52 on a pretty nice afternoon. I wish I could be more positive because I absolutely Love this place, but I cannot. When I arrived I found out that the greens had been sanded and there was no mention of it on the website or when I called in, disappointing. The course is in decent shape but know where near what it has been at this time in years past. Fairways are still for the most part pretty decent but thin in a lot of areas. The ruff is really not all that bad, last year it was up to my ankles! The bunkers look good when you approach them but are really shallow when hitting out of them. And as I said, the greens had been sanded so although they where not dreadfully slow, they did not roll very true and were a lot slower than I had hoped. Now for the pace of play, it was the worst I have ever seen it. Took over 3 hours to play the front 9! There were no less then 4 groups backed up on #6, I have never seen that before on any course that I can think of. When I called the office they said they had new about it and had marshals out on the back nine trying to move it along but that it probably would not help us at all. Apparently The Men's Club had booked times from 7-12 and were really playing slow and had the whole course backed up. Then I look at the schedule and I see that this weekend they have the North course booked 3 days in a row and also on Sunday on the South course! They also have it next Tuesday and Thursday, since when is Torrey been booked up like this, why are they allowed to monopolize the course like this?
And both courses are closing a full week before The Farmers? I have been playing here almost exclusively for 2 years and I have never seen it run like this before. I played the South on the Monday before the Tournament last year and it was PERFECT, why do then need to shut it down a week before? The only good news is that the planned renovation of the North Course and shutting it down for 8 months, is now not going to happen as the bids came in 40% over what they had estimated. I hope things can get back to normal after the tournament and that means the playing conditions as well.
And both courses are closing a full week before The Farmers? I have been playing here almost exclusively for 2 years and I have never seen it run like this before. I played the South on the Monday before the Tournament last year and it was PERFECT, why do then need to shut it down a week before? The only good news is that the planned renovation of the North Course and shutting it down for 8 months, is now not going to happen as the bids came in 40% over what they had estimated. I hope things can get back to normal after the tournament and that means the playing conditions as well.
I also played 4-13 and had a 7:20 tee time so that I could watch The Masters. I have played here many times and really like the layout (although I do not score well here). When I made the tee time I called and talked to Joe because in the past when I had made an early weekend tee time I have been pushed back because the "Members" seem to have a standard tee time and they never know how many are going to show up. Joe told me that he would be there on Sunday and it should be no problem. When I checked in I introduced myself to Joe who said he remembered me and that we would have no problem going out on time because the members were already out. So it comes time to go down to the 1st tee and we are told by the starter it will be another 10 minutes. I go in and talk to Joe and he informs me that some members showed up and did not check in and just went to the first tee! This is ridiculous! It happens every time I am here! I cannot believe this is allowed and it always pushes back everyone's tee time every weekend. It is not like this is a country club where they paid $100,000 to join and monthly dues. I think it is very rude and inconsiderate to think you can just show up and jump in and play in front of others who have gone through the trouble of actually setting up a tee time, be there on time and check in only to be bumped aside like we do not count.
For his part Joe was a complete gentleman and apologized and offered us a coffee or beer when we wanted it. The starter was also really good about getting us out there as soon as he could. But what is it with this policy of "members" getting to do this?
Now for the course. It really is a nice course and they have really made attempts to improve and maintain it over the past year. Fairways still a little thin for my liking but the tee boxes are much improved. The greens are some of the best around as well. The bunkers, well that is the only really bad part of this track. I think the fist bunkers with actual sand in them are on the par 4 16. The rest are hard pan, dirt, mud and not much else. Real sand would be a huge addition and really make this course much much better. The marshal was out and did try and keep things moving along but our round was 4:35 which was a little to long for being that early in the day.
After the round we met Joe in the parking lot as he was getting ready to leave for the day but went back in and bought us the beer he promised us, class move. Once we were inside we decided to watch the Masters while we drank our beer. From there the customer service was really super. The woman behind the counter made us sandwiches that were quite good, kept us with chips and beer and was so nice we ended up staying and watching the whole match!
I would play here again but not until they get this weekend tee time member thing straighten out as I like to play in the morning but am not going to waste my time waiting for people who do not want to play by the same rules I have too.
For his part Joe was a complete gentleman and apologized and offered us a coffee or beer when we wanted it. The starter was also really good about getting us out there as soon as he could. But what is it with this policy of "members" getting to do this?
Now for the course. It really is a nice course and they have really made attempts to improve and maintain it over the past year. Fairways still a little thin for my liking but the tee boxes are much improved. The greens are some of the best around as well. The bunkers, well that is the only really bad part of this track. I think the fist bunkers with actual sand in them are on the par 4 16. The rest are hard pan, dirt, mud and not much else. Real sand would be a huge addition and really make this course much much better. The marshal was out and did try and keep things moving along but our round was 4:35 which was a little to long for being that early in the day.
After the round we met Joe in the parking lot as he was getting ready to leave for the day but went back in and bought us the beer he promised us, class move. Once we were inside we decided to watch the Masters while we drank our beer. From there the customer service was really super. The woman behind the counter made us sandwiches that were quite good, kept us with chips and beer and was so nice we ended up staying and watching the whole match!
I would play here again but not until they get this weekend tee time member thing straighten out as I like to play in the morning but am not going to waste my time waiting for people who do not want to play by the same rules I have too.
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