Golf fans marvel at the Torrey Pines golf courses every winter during the telecasts for the PGA Tour’s Farmers Insurance Open. What’s not to like with those blimp shots in the sunshine of the cliffs and water and pristine grass? They can also do this: dream of actually playing the San Diego courses one day. That can’t be said of all courses used on the tour, or among the precious few munys that have hosted major championships, as Torrey Pines South did for two memorable U.S. Opens in 2008 and 2021.
How popular is Torrey Pines among the public? In a recent review for Golf Digest of its search analytics for the year, Google put it behind only Augusta National Golf Club. In Golf Digest’s most recent ranking of the 100 Greatest Public Courses, the South Course ranks 35th.
Still, for all of its visibility and inclusive nature, people probably don’t realize just how much money it rakes in for a place where senior golfers can still walk a round for $48 on a weekday. The numbers are staggering.
According to the City of San Diego’s 2024 Golf Division Business Plan Update—which operates separately from the city’s larger budget—the golf enterprise fund has amassed $39.4 million in reserves. That’s on the strength of making $14.1 million in profit in fiscal year 2024 that ended in June. The golf unit made $12.2 million in 2022 and $14 million in ’23.
The golf division consists of three facilities it directly operates—Torrey Pines, Balboa Park and Mission Bay—and while the latter courses struggled to be in the black for years, the rising popularity of golf during the COVID-19 pandemic changed that. All of the courses—36 holes at Torrey, 27 at Balboa and 18 at Mission Bay—did a combined 419,843 rounds in 2024—119 percent above the city’s target. At Torrey alone, the North Course, which is part of the Farmers Open’s 36 holes, had 93,932 rounds played, with the South garnering 81,835.
It’s likely no other muny golf setup in the country gets that kind of traffic. Or makes this much bank. New York State Parks & Recreation has said its five 18-hole courses at Bethpage host about 300,000 rounds a year.
Thanks to its worldwide reputation, where Torrey Pines really rakes in the cash is from tourist golfers looking to cross one off the bucket list. Starting on Jan. 1, 2025, non-residents will pay $155 weekdays and $194 weekends to walk the North (with an additional $45 for a cart), and $246 and $306, respectively, on the South. Advanced reservations up to 90 days in advance are another $50 per person. Want to book the entire South Course for a weekend day? That will be $108,817. (Being a kid at Torrey, on the other hand, is a steal; all-you-can-play monthly tickets are $10.50 and a yearly pass is being added in 2025 for $75).
It’s not as if the golf division doesn’t spend money. A renovation of the North Course by Tom Weiskopf in 2016 cost around $13 million, while more than $16 million went into work to refurbish the South and prepare it for the ’21 U.S. Open; there is a new clubhouse facility and driving range lighting at Mission Bay, and there are plans to spend $60 million on a new clubhouse at Torrey Pines.
In other words, Torrey Pines only figures to get better as the years go on and those TV shots remain the best advertising they could possibly hope for.
by Tod Leonard
Credits: golfdigest.com