Played today and the greens weren't too bad. Still quite slow but not too sandy. The areas around the greens are TERRIBLE. Really should be played as ground under repair; find some grass and drop o... Continue »

Played today and the greens weren't too bad. Still quite slow but not too sandy. The areas around the greens are TERRIBLE. Really should be played as ground under repair; find some grass and drop or place it rather than hit off of dirt after a not-so-bad-shot in front of and to the sides of the green.

Played last Sun. Greens were totally sanded and much slower than normal. I usually can't stand that. BUT after holding many an approach, chipping in once and holing 2 long putts off the green-I'd say ... Continue »

Played last Sun. Greens were totally sanded and much slower than normal. I usually can't stand that. BUT after holding many an approach, chipping in once and holing 2 long putts off the green-I'd say I love the well sanded surfaces..haaha.
Your mileage may vary of course.
I'd give em 2 or 3 weeks if paying full pop.

First of all just note the greens are scheduled to be punched next Tuesday and Wednesday.

Played here a few times the past couple of weeks and wanted to summarize all the reviews in one. Greens ar... Continue »

First of all just note the greens are scheduled to be punched next Tuesday and Wednesday.

Played here a few times the past couple of weeks and wanted to summarize all the reviews in one. Greens are not bad but there are a lot of ball marks on them so maybe now is a good time to punch them. Hopefully they just don't take as long to heal. Greens rolled decently if they stayed on line. Certainly not a firm as before but still some roll out on approach shots.
The biggest disappointment is the areas around the greens. There are some really bad areas with dead grass, no grass, sandy areas, etc. I'm not sure I had a round in which I didn't have to deal with a bad lie at some point. I couldn't figure out how to play these shots either and I tried, chipping, using a hybrid and putting. None of my choices seem to be the right one.

Fairways showing more signs of a dry summer, more browness, dead areas but still a decent amount of coverage on the fairways.

Rough is not bad and I mentioned the areas around the greens. The same could be said in other areas of the rough. Its down so its not penalizing at all.

Tee boxes are generally ok, some are worse than others and I think #1 might have been one of the worse ones.

Pace of play was generally good. I was always out in the am so it never took over 4 hours.

Bottom line is the course is in a little TLC right now so I would hold off playing until the maintenance is complete.

Joined Rat-Patrol for a twilight round on the North Course yesterday. I've been wanting to come back and play it since it was renovated. He had a 3:14 tee time booked and I was on board. We teed off a... Continue »

Joined Rat-Patrol for a twilight round on the North Course yesterday. I've been wanting to come back and play it since it was renovated. He had a 3:14 tee time booked and I was on board. We teed off a few minutes late because of some confusion in the two groups scheduled in front of us. It was slow going on a surprisingly hot and humid evening, and we were finishing in the dark on 18, but at least we just barely finished in just under 5 hours. $66 non-resident walking rate for me. The course is in good, but not great shape at the moment. The tee boxes were nice. The fairways were good for the most part with the (mostly) kikuyu turf cut tight. I generally had good lies, though I did notice numerous thin spots throughout. The rough was much less consistent. Most of it was cut down, though a little patchy, so lies would really vary. Then there were still some very thick/deep patches mixed in randomly. I was unfortunate with most of my lies in the rough. Always seemed to find one of those deep patches or just a clumpy spot that made for a tougher recovery. The sand traps were nice with soft sand and we had a couple fried eggs in the group (seemed to be softest near the lips, which is not ideal). The still fairly new bentgrass greens were very firm and hard to hold. I don't think I was ever able to make a ball mark myself. However, for being so super firm the greens were very pock-marked throughout the course. The were often bumpy and rolling on the slow side. I have to say I was pretty disappointed in the greens. I'm glad they kept the poa on South. It just seems better suited to the seaside environment and the amount of traffic these courses get. They do have two separate practice greens side-by-side by the clubhouse, so you can practice on the appropriate surface for either course. I am glad I had Jim with me as a tour guide to point out a lot of the changes that were made. He noted which holes were lengthened, shortened or altered in various ways. I did notice immediately they switched the nines, and I actually like that decision as it puts the more signature oceanfront holes on the back nine now. However, if you teed off any later than us you may not like this decision because you may not get to the awesome 14-16 stretch before dark! We got them during a perfect sunset, which was sweet. The other thing I couldn't help but notice was how many trees were removed and how much more open the course plays now. It seems a large reason for this was to open up more ocean views. I do get that, but it also made many of the holes feel much more plain than I remember on my first visit. They really changed the look of some holes like what is now 14 and especially 16 overlooking the ocean. They removed a bunch of trees on this hole (including that entire huge row of beautiful trees that was along the cliff on 16 (formerly 7). I have very mixed feelings on how many trees were taken out. It's not like the course was lacking in beautiful ocean views before. It was interesting to see the changes and I still haven't fully digested it all yet, but I definitely felt like I liked the course a little less overall than I did on my previous visit before the renovation. It's still a beautiful place and anyone who hasn't played either course at Torrey will want to keep both courses on their bucket list. For out of towners, though, I'd recommend a visit closer to the tournament to get the best possible course conditions.

Played yesterday and was 4th off. Finished in 4 hours and 15 minutes. It could have been a lot faster if it wasn’t for the second group. They didn’t even tee off until the first group cleared the g... Continue »

Played yesterday and was 4th off. Finished in 4 hours and 15 minutes. It could have been a lot faster if it wasn’t for the second group. They didn’t even tee off until the first group cleared the green and I’ll refrain from commenting on other things I saw of this group.

Greens are not as firm and fast as I’ve seen here but that is not a bad thing. It was just an adjustment based on my prior experience. There are actually ball marks on greens now. Some greens had many ball marks that hadn’t been properly repaired and they still show signs of those dead spots. #6 comes to mind. Rolled pretty well though.

Fairways were pretty good. Nice to hit from. A few bare areas but you’ll generally have good lies.

Rough is down and very playable right now. A few more bare areas in the rough than I’d like to see but not the worst.

Sand was very good. Looks heavy and wet but that is just the type of sand here. I was able play the shots I wanted which was a nice splash/thump.

Plenty of room on the tee boxes to tee it up. Maybe just the normal wear and tear on the par 3s.

For a resident it will fit the bill but for a nonresident I’d think it be better to wait until there are a little bit more in improvements.

Since I was already here, decided to try to get out on the North, and was fortunate enough to run into a group that needed a fourth. All good guys, which worked out great because it was a long day. ... Continue »

Since I was already here, decided to try to get out on the North, and was fortunate enough to run into a group that needed a fourth. All good guys, which worked out great because it was a long day.

To my surprise I actually enjoyed the North better than the South. (Maybe because I played better? ) The greens were better, rolled much more true and there was plenty of sand in the bunkers. Otherwise condition not really all that different.

I have to admit that had I not had a gift certificate, there is no chance I would consider paying the non resident fees. Perhaps if I were visiting from out of state, I'd go for it, but tough to pay $200+ for a course I remember paying $10-15 to play. (Which just shows how old I am)

Played this morning at 8:18, teed off a few minutes late but POP ended up decent at 4 1/2 hrs.
Course is in good shape, not great . . . lots of ball marks on the first green, greens running slow, som... Continue »

Played this morning at 8:18, teed off a few minutes late but POP ended up decent at 4 1/2 hrs.
Course is in good shape, not great . . . lots of ball marks on the first green, greens running slow, some nasty looking areas in the fairways (mostly on the edges), bunkers inconsistent some with "resort" deep white fluffy stuff some hard and wet, and one I was in, front left on 18, had hard packed rocks just under the surface scratching my LW and sending my shot into the front right bunker that had deep fluffy sand. It's Torrey and it's a nice place to play in good condition, but again, not great right now.

This is the first time I’ve played the course since they rebuild it. Overall the course was in great shape. But the greens had recently been punched and it looks like they were recently verti-cut. T... Continue »

This is the first time I’ve played the course since they rebuild it. Overall the course was in great shape. But the greens had recently been punched and it looks like they were recently verti-cut. The ball did not track well towards the hole do to the cutting at times. The punched holes have grown in but not completely, therefore your ball with bounce at times. About another month and they’ll be back to normal. Still worth playing there but you just have to know your ball is not going to be rolling consistently to the pins at the same speed on different greens. Pace of play was pretty good as we played the around in 4:10 walking.

Concerning both South and North courses. I play here a lot because it's cheap for locals. This review is for the tourist because the locals already know what's up here now. 2 years ago we changed gree... Continue »

Concerning both South and North courses. I play here a lot because it's cheap for locals. This review is for the tourist because the locals already know what's up here now. 2 years ago we changed greens keepers. Both courses started slipping condition wise. The greens keeper claims he is removing the rye grass and trying to speed up and firm up both courses. The result has been dead grass and big bare dirt spots everywhere. He made this claim to me over a year ago and the conditions are still there. Greens are hit and miss daily. Some days they are great and some days they are lousy. I have 3 PGA tour pros for clients. All 3 said last years Farmers open was as bad as they've seen these courses. Although the place was drenched with water to cover up the bare areas before the tournament, the ball sank to the bottom in the rough and was unplayable (but looked good). If you are a tourist you will pay $239.00 to walk the south and $180.00 to walk the North. This is an honest review. This is how the courses are now and will probably be for at least 2 more years. This is my 32nd year playing here at my home course. Personally, I'm completely bummed but it is what it is and it should be known before a person travels here specifically to play these courses.