Davis is so enamored with Torrey's new look that he has kept bleachers and TV towers positioned off to the side of greens at the third, fourth, seventh, 11th, 12th, 14th and 16th holes to keep those targets fully exposed to the wind.
Bandon Dunes and Torrey Pines finish away from the ocean, with somewhat anticlimatic, straight par 5s. But Torrey Pines has a hazard in front of its 18th green, a pond that brings to mind the 15th at Augusta National, with a steep, tightly shaved bank between the water and the putting surface. Bucking another USGA practice, Davis and championship-committee chairman Jim Hyler have decided not to convert this par 5 into a long par 4; they intend to position the tee markers so the hole will be a reachable par 5 for most in the field. It's the closest any 18th hole in a U.S. Open has come to resembling the fictional 18th in the movie "Tin Cup."
Davis did convert the par-5 sixth, a dogleg right around a gulch, into a par 4 of 515 yards for the Open, reducing par to 71. Architect Jones would prefer to see par reduced to 70 by playing the straight, par-5 ninth as a par 4, but Davis wants to provide some birdie opportunities (No. 9 can be stretched to 612 yards). Because the ninth and 18th run in opposite directions, one or the other will always be into the wind.
The fairway and green on the 488-yard, par-4 fourth have been relocated closer to the Pacific, bringing dramatic cliffs into play.
His main concern is that Torrey Pines has no real short par 4. Davis is considering moving tee markers way up on one hole to create a drivable par 4. He won't say which hole; he wants to surprise players in the final round. Torrey's other par 5, the 13th, has three tee locations available, including a newly installed back tee that stretches the hole to 631 yards and demands a 245-yard carry over the corner of a canyon. (click here to view an aerial photo of the 13th Davis plans to use that tee at least once.
The best courses offer all kinds of ways to overcome obstacles and achieve good scores. Should this year's winner tie the Open record by shooting a 12-under-par 272, it shouldn't be a disgrace to Torrey Pines. After all, that's the score Tiger Woods shot at Pebble Beach in 2000 (though everyone else was over par).
Playing the South in January, Woods shot a 19-under-par 269 to win by eight strokes. But if Tiger and half the field feast on birdies in June, Torrey Pines might join the ranks of one-time-only Open venues, a group that includes some surprising names -- Colonial in Fort Worth, Champions in Houston and, yes, Riviera -- as well as forgotten ones like Philadelphia Country Club and Northwood in Dallas.
We've got to believe, however, that Mike Davis will continue to experiment and change the culture of the Open.
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