Beyond the grown-out rough and the firm, fast fairways of tournament play, Torrey Pines Golf Course is generally one of the few traditional PGA Tour stops that is frequently available (and relatively tameable) by the public.
The famous dual-course layout adds to both the Farmers Insurance Open and the standard course charm tenfold.
The father-son duo of William P. Bell and William F. Bell originally designed both of Torrey Pines’ golf courses in the 1950s, and the South Course was notably redesigned by Rees Jones in the early 2000s.
Eerily similar to fellow prominent course designer George Thomas, the Bells scattered a variety of bunkers across Torrey’s 36-hole property, particularly greenside. Many holes on both courses are littered with uniquely shaped sand traps, swallowing the shots of high handicappers and even the PGA’s best.
Bordering Black’s Beach is the South Course, a gruelingly difficult, yet incredibly beautiful 7,800-yard beast of a golf course.
The South Course is the longest on the entire PGA schedule, as well. Beyond its length, the course features a complex layout accented by quirky, undulated greens and costly penalties for errant tee shots.
A few steps closer to the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve is the North Course, a layout widely accepted as one of the easiest on the PGA tour schedule. Coming in at 7,259 yards in length, the North Course serves as a much-needed scoring opportunity for Farmers Insurance Open competitors.
However, looking past the yardage reveals Torrey’s true value.
The course gives the average golfer a fairly-attainable opportunity to walk the same fairways that legends like Tiger Woods and Ernie Els dominated in their heyday. Golf.com ranks the North Course as the third-most accessible PGA Tour course by price, with peak green fees coming in at $185. Torrey South cracks the list at nine, with $292 peak green fees.
This nomination also fails to include the San Diego Residence Card program. The residence cards are a $25 yearly payment to receive discounted green fees at select San Diego courses. In order to qualify, a person must be within the given boundaries listed by Torrey Pines.
Joel Dahmen waits on the green for his turn to putt at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines South Golf Course on January 31, 2026. (Iain Henderson)
The residence cards serve to illuminate the importance of Torrey Pines to the city of San Diego. Torrey is a crown jewel in the San Diego community, a tourist attraction and a mark of pride for local golfers. The perfect balance between a long, difficult course and a reasonable, yet tour-level course, all with the backdrop of one of San Diego’s most beautiful ocean views.
While the courses’ astounding oceanic appeal permeates the minds of so many at the Farmers Insurance Open, so does the thick, lush rough, striking fear into the PGA Tour’s best.
Last year’s U.S. Open champion and former San Diego State Aztec J.J. Spaun is no stranger to major-like conditions, implicitly comparing Torrey Pines to the course he won his first major at, Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania.
“Heading into this year, I have [thought] this has always been a course that I feel like is a U.S. Open-style test for just a standard PGA Tour event,” Spaun said in a press conference prior to the Farmers Insurance Open.
The courses’ agronomy staff, led by Director of Agronomy Devin Cullen and Superintendent Travis Rebischke, kept the Ryegrass overseed rough at a daunting 4 inches all tournament long.
The long rough took many notable victims who didn’t make the weekend, like Spaun, SDSU alumni Xander Schauffele, 2025 Genesis Invitational champion Ludvig Åberg and 2023 Farmers Insurance Open champion Max Homa.
The winner of the tournament, Justin Rose, set tournament scoring records after 36 holes, 54 holes and 72 holes, thanks to 26 birdies across all four of his rounds.
Despite his 23-under-par final score, Rose was well aware of the challenge Torrey Pines presented to him all week.
“[Torrey Pines] is the kind of golf course [where], [if] you get in the rough, you start sort of compounding errors,” Rose explained in his post-victory press conference. “Especially when the greens get firm like they were getting today.”
Southern California-native Sahith Theegala also chimed in on the difficulty of Torrey Pines, even with the near-perfect, sunny weather.
“It is probably some of the best conditions I have ever played Torrey in,” Theegala said in his final-round media session. “It is so rare that you get sunny, warm days at Torrey with no wind. That being said, this golf course is still very difficult [without] difficult conditions.”
Rarely is Torrey Pines Golf Course as sunny, still and scoreable as it was for this year’s edition of the Farmers Insurance Open. However, it did provide a blueprint for low scores and strategy for the brave batch of amateurs that will flock to La Jolla to play the pinnacle of San Diego public golf.