Links Magazine | The Best Of Golf

Pacific Drive continued...

1,498 miles
Torrey Pines was the starting point of a California road trip along the Pacific Coast Highway that ended in Bodega Bay, north of San Francisco, more than 600 miles away. But much as I zigged, zagged and backtracked in search of balls in Torrey Pines’ rough, my actual route was far from direct. I logged 1,498 miles, enjoying the new and noteworthy courses, food and sights of the California coast. Robert Louis Stevenson has received credit for calling the Monterey Peninsula the most felicitous meeting of land and sea in creation, but the description is perfectly apt for just about any stretch of the coast.

It also applies to Torrey’s cliffside 483-yard 4th. With full marks in both beauty and beast ratings, the 4th ranks with oceanside par 4s like Pebble Beach’s 8th and Pacific Dunes’ 13th.

Torrey occupies a former army base, and the luxurious Lodge has replaced the barracks. Evoking a strong sense of place, the California Craftsman-style hotel only could be in the Golden State, the way the Breakers is out of place anywhere but Palm Beach, Florida.

The USGA will take over the Lodge during the Open, and after a tough day of torturing the field, the blue blazers can reward themselves with a meal at A.R. Valentien. If they’re half as savvy about food as they are at growing rough, the game’s guardians will have the tuna carpaccio starter. Given the proliferation of fusion cuisine, raw tuna—tataki, tartare, carpaccio—has become about as commonplace as shrimp cocktail. I was skeptical, reluctantly assenting when the waiter suggested the carpaccio. But chef Jeff Jackson has taken the dish to another level.

It would have been great to live like a USGA committee member for a couple more days, but the schedule was tight and it was time to move up the coast.

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