A short walk from the Lodge is the Torrey Pines State
Reserve, with
its network of canyons and uniquely wind-textured sandstone cliffs
towering above the Pacific. This is 2,000 acres of the wildest coastal
land
remaining in Southern California and home to the rare Torrey Pine,
which grows
naturally only here and on Santa Rosa Island, located 40
miles off the coast of
Ventura. On a
smaller scale, the Torrey
Pines reserve is comparable in natural beauty to the
Big Sur coastline
some 400 miles to the
north.
Lest we forget our priorities, the new Lodge must be lauded
for its
access to the adjacent Torrey Pines South course, which will host the
U.S. Open in 2008. The South, which recently underwent an extensive
renovation
by Rees Jones, is the much tougher test. Jones lengthened
the course (it can now
stretch to a punishing 7,600 sea-level yards),
relocated fairway bunkers so
they’re in play for long hitters and
repositioned greens to bring many of the
course’s cliffs and canyons
into play.
Shorter hitters may have their hands full on the South. The
par-4
13th is evidence that the redesigned South has sharp teeth. It plays 477
yards dead into the wind. Bust a driver and pure a 3-wood here and
you’ll
consider yourself most manly should you sneak it onto the front
edge.
The North is a much friendlier but equally scenic layout. But
it is
certainly no pushover, especially in a good wind. The signature hole on
Torrey Pines North is the par-3 6th, which plays 206 yards downhill to
a large
green with the Pacific as a panoramic backdrop. Play both
courses soon—and by
all means book a Lodge visit—before the whole world
gets the same
idea.
