Appreciate it all. The iconic Torrey pine, San Diego’s ageless golf star. The hang gliders, dotting the coastal sky. The jet flyovers, a thundering soundtrack like no other. And especially, the U.S. Open spotlight.
These things are in no way guaranteed, rare moments lived while breathing in some of the sport’s rarest air.
Thirteen years have ed since a Tiger Woods putt delivered a lightning bolt through the game, tying Rocco Mediate to force a scintillating playoff that demanded a withering 19 holes to decide — securing San Diego’s place in Open history.
Beginning Thursday, Torrey Pines Golf Course freshens its makeup for a return to the national stage.
“The USGA always endeavors to take our championship to the cathedrals of the game, the greatest places in our country, and Torrey Pines is certainly one of those,” said John Bodenhamer, the group’s director of championships.
Yet, there’s reason to worry about when or if the golf gods will mosey up to the cathedral’s ornate door and knock again. A Golf Digest story headlined, “Why Torrey Pines is a possible goodbye to the U.S. Open’s era of true public courses,” outlined a shift in USGA thinking to a tighter rotation emphasizing historic, core locations.
Can Torrey Pines become the public-course asterisk in the fresh equation? There’s no way to know, since Open site selection leanings remain as guarded as Area 51.
San Diego’s chances moving forward certainly seem lessened, at the painful least.
“They have the kind of history you can’t buy, you can only earn it, and they have it,” said Bodenhamer, summoning as much optimism as possible without peeling back the curtain. “… We love Torrey Pines. It will get every bit of consideration it deserves.”
The stir offered a sobering reminder for San Diego to relish and enjoy its Tiger moment, while paying full attention to the assembly of talent wandering the cliffside fairways the next four days.
As Torrey Pines settles in for its glamour shot on NBC, the sparkling gem intertwines with a broader celebration of new normalcy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
USGA officials estimated 8,000-10,000 fans will descend on the course Thursday, just months after the fan-less Farmers Insurance Open. The same day, the Padres will operate at full capacity for the first time since 2019.
The week has become flush with exhilarating, energizing air. The color-coded tier system, tossed. Mask mandates, muted. Business re-openings, popping up like brilliant poppies.
After dedicating a plaque of Tiger’s 2008 theatrics on the 18th fairway Wednesday, Mayor Todd Gloria said smiles are beginning to out-birdie so much prolonged pain and sadness.
“It’s excitement. It’s relief,” Gloria said of the Open, the Padres and the county crawling out from its COVID cave. “It signals things are getting better. Getting vaccinated, that’s what is allowing this to happen.
“This city is going to be on a global stage this week, which is fantastic.”
Gloria said the collective health-care push and cooperation of residents rewrote a potentially bleak U.S. Open script. Decisions about fan attendance still teetered in recent weeks.
“It wasn’t that long ago,” Gloria itted. “We might have put this on with zero attendance.”
Erasing the on-course volume for the Open would have seriously diminished the experience. This place, as 2008 proved, is hard-wired for the kind of drama that screams throats red and raw.
Though 30-year Navy submarine officer Calvin Ponton of Chula Vista cherished the quiet course walk Wednesday as attendance was limited to military and first responders, the sounds of 2008 still pulsate in his mind.
“I was a volunteer,” Ponton said. “I thought the atmosphere was electric.”
NBC’s play-by-play lead Dan Hicks intimately understands Torrey Pines’ uniquely memorable U.S. Open legacy. When Woods miraculously overcame a fractured leg to win, Hicks’ line “Expect anything different?” was forever woven into the tournament’s fabric.
The country pays attention to an Open at Torrey Pines because of the stunning snapshots, he said. Why?
“You don’t have to look too far,” said Hicks, motioning toward the ocean-hugging cliffs. “You put a picture postcard like that, 7, 8, 9 o’clock at night on the East Coast, that’s what makes this place special.
“Is this the most memorable golf course if you put it inland somewhere? No. Out here? It pops to life.”
Hicks optimistically attempted to shoo away deflating whispers about the U.S. Open drifting from true public courses like Torrey Pines.
Keep the glass half full, he advised.
“Even with a quote-unquote rotation that might be in the best interest of the USGA and U.S. Opens in the future, I’m fairly confident they’d never close the door forever on Torrey Pines,” Hicks said. “It may not be a part of it as often as other spots like a Winged Foot or Shinnecock (both in N.Y.) or somewhere like that, but I’m hoping doors aren’t closed to places like this that are really special.”
For now, America’s sports eyes will be glued.
“To have stands filled with spectators and that energy, it will come through on television,” Gloria, the mayor, said of the welcome, unpaid national advertising for San Diego’s bruised tourism industry. “Plant that seed, ‘Yeah San Diego. We’ve been cooped up in the house, we want to go somewhere. It’s safe. It’s open.’ ”
More televisions will be locked on Torrey Pines, given that San Diegan Phil Mickelson offers an improbable and tantalizing storyline. Last month, he won the PGA Championship and became the oldest golfer to claim a major title.
What happens if Mickelson, who turned 51 Wednesday, shocks with back-to-back victories? Is there room for a Torrey Pines plaque to match the one commemorating Tiger?
“We have plenty of acreage around here,” Gloria said.
USGA willing, Torrey Pines hopes there’s much more to come.
Enjoy every moment of this week, just in case.
