Hole 5 at Torrey Pines

Torrey Pines Golf Course: A Course History
Atop 300 feet of sandstone bluffs sits a crowning jewel of San Diego. It runs alongside the largest water hazard in the world, and is named after one of the rarest native pine trees in the U.S. In 2008, Torrey Pines golf course will hold another grand title: home of the United States Open Golf Championship. This year, there’s even more to celebrate. Torrey Pines turns 50.

From its mighty cliffs, Torrey Pines has seen the rise and fall of a great many things.

With ocean winds that swirl upwards against its craggy face, Torrey Pines was the perfect testing ground for aviation’s early pioneers. In 1929, Anne Lindbergh became the first woman in the U.S. to receive a first class glider license.It was only the tenth such license to be issued (her husband Charles had earned the ninth).

By World War II, Torrey’s towering vista had been discovered by the military, and in 1942 the city granted 710 acres of the Torrey Pines State Reserve to the army for $1 a year. It was named Camp Callan after Major General Robert Callan, who in World War I had distinguished himself in coastal warfare. The camp trained new recruits in anti-aircraft and long-range weapons in case of an attack on the West Coast.

The end of World War II brought the silence of the big guns, but a new roar was soon to be heard. In the late ’40s and early ’50s, the automobile industry was revving its corporate engines. Racers zoomed into San Diego like never before. Tracks were suddenly everywhere: Del Mar, Montgomery Field, Lane Field, El Cajon, Miramar, Mission Bay, Balboa Park, Encinitas, Point Loma, Lakeside, even at what is now Sea World. In the search for a new track, the California Sports Car Club figured the old army camp was perfect. They made a deal with the San Diego Junior Chamber of Commerce, and in 1951, the Torrey Pines. Race Track welcomed 1,000 spectators to watch the inaugural race.

By 1955, the city wanted to put in a golf course, so the Junior Chamber went to the city and tried to talk them into having two courses: one for racing and one for golfing. Construction began in 1956. The old base and racetrack were torn down and plowed under. Tees and greens were shaped over large chunks of concrete and asphalt.

The original architect was William Bell, Sr., but he passed away before completion and the remainder of the work was left in the hands of his son, William Bell, Jr.

On June 19, 1957, the South Course finally opened. An old two-bedroom house trucked in from Linda Vista was used for the pro-shop and clubhouse. Tickets were sold through one of the windows. Mayor Charlie Dail cut the ribbon, but wasn’t so lucky with the first ceremonial tee shot. With a crowd watching, Dail looked at the ball and took a swing. Without budging, the ball stared back. His second attempt found turf, but it would be up to the next man to bring Torrey Pines a little professional dignity. In what now seems incredibly fitting, Ralph Guldahl stood up and striped one down the first fairway. Fitting, because in 1937 and 1938, Guldahl laid claim to a championship title that he would win the U.S. Open back-to-back: Twelve years later, the rest of the PGA Tour would catch up.

Since 1952, the San Diego Open had been held at several different country club courses: San Diego, Rancho Santa Fe, Mission Valley, Singing Hills, and Rancho Bernardo. That all changed in 1968. Singer Andy Williams lent his name and fame to the tournament and the Andy Williams San Diego Open was born. Torrey Pines would be its final home. It also became home to the Junior World Golf Championship. But before kid or pro could compete, the course needed one big facelift.

In the ’60s the popularity of golf was taking off. Being a public course, Torrey was getting a lot of play. And being the days of metal spikes, the greens were taking a beating. Something had to be done. What Bell did was nothing short of miraculous.

"There used to be some pretty good slope toward the ocean, and yet some holes had puddles of water on the side hills around the greens," says Bell. "The water seemed to defy gravity. I had them dig down underneath the puddles and found pools of water that were collecting around the chunks of concrete left over from Camp Callan. Some of it we had removed and then I put in counter-slopes. That I did after playing with Paul Runyan. On number seven on the North, they put the pin in the back part of the green. Runyan hit it to the front. If you didn’t get up to the hole, the ball would roll back. He 7-putted."

Tom Weiskopf had better luck. On the 72nd hole of the first Andy Williams tournament at Torrey, the rookie needed an eagle to avoid a playoff with veteran Al Geiberger. He had 25 feet left to the hole and told himself it broke two feet toward the ocean. That decision earned him the first place check of $30,000.

Tom Wilson got his first look at Torrey Pines in 1965. He was playing for the University of Wyoming on a golf scholarship. In the spring, the team took a ten-day trip to the southwest.

"Our last tournament was at Torrey Pines," says Wilson. "We were all amazed being right on the ocean. In fact for some of the players on our team, it was the first time they’d ever seen the ocean. It was about 7,000 yards long, which was quite longer than most courses we played. I remember shooting a high score that day."

Wilson doesn’t mind higher scores. In fact, when he finally took over as president of the Century Club in the early 1990s, he came to realize higher scores were exactly what Torrey Pines needed. Top players complained that the greens were too easy, that it didn’t distinguish the good players from the bad. Wilson made changes on the South Course, and the North Course was lengthened to 6,900 yards. That first year after Wilson took over, Phil Mickelson won. The marquis players had arrived. But the biggest change was still to come.

Each year Wilson goes back east on an idea-sharing mission to other courses. In 2000, he went back with Jay Raines, then president of the Century Club. In one week, they played five courses, including three U.S. Open venues: Winged Foot (where Casper won his first Open in 1959), Baltusrol, and Merion, where in 1930, Bobby Jones completed his grand slam and in 1950 Hogan took the Open title in dramatic fashion.

On the plane trip home, Raines asked Wilson what it would take to have a U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. Wilson rattled off a list of changes and Raines thought Wilson was nuts. The real nuttiness started when they contacted the PGA Tour asking for recommendations for an architect. Almost everyone had the same answer: Rees Jones.

In the golf world, Jones is known as "The Open Doctor." The son of legendary course architect Robert Trent Jones, Sr., Rees has redesigned more than 100 courses around the world. By the time he reached Torrey Pines, he had reconstructed five U.S. Open courses, including Baltusrol, Pinehurst Course 2, Hazeltine, and was at work on Bethpage Black in New York, where, in 2002, Tiger Woods would be the only player to finish under par.

In 2001, Rees completed work on Torrey Pines. Bermuda and rye grasses dominated the fairways while the greens were replanted with bent grass. Both courses were considerably lengthened. The South is now 7,607 yards, one of the longest on tour. But where Rees left off, Mark Woodward picks up. Woodward is the new golf operations manager for the City of San Diego and with the U.S. Open a little more than a year away, his to-do list is as long as the drop off a Torrey Pines cliff.

"There’s no signage, it’s kind of messy," says Woodward. "We’re going to redo the parking lot before the Open, and there’s a tournament support building at the end of the parking lot that is planned. What I’m trying to do is match the quality of the golf course with the name that is Torrey Pines."

Along with the big changes ahead for Torrey Pines, there is big hope. Just ask Wilson. "I have a lot of hope for Torrey Pines," he says. "Hope that the U.S. Open in 2008 will perpetuate more U.S. Opens down the road. I hope the facilities will be improved to match the beauty of the course. Not just for the pros, but for all who come to this jewel we call Torrey Pines." — Dave Scott, photography courtesy of the La Jolla Historical Society and the Torrey Pines Golf Course