U.S. OPEN: Golf tournament to draw hordes to Torrey Pines

By BRIAN HIRO - Staff Writer | Monday, June 9, 2008 5:55 PM PDT ∞

Spectators watch as golfers tee off on the first hole in the Golf Digest's U.S. Open Challenge at Torrey Pines Golf Course on Friday. (Photo by Bill Wechter - Staff Photographer)

LA JOLLA ---- Torrey Pines Golf Course was abuzz with activity late last week, but not of the type normally associated with the jewel of the San Diego coastline.

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There was no line of golfers at first light ---- the so-called Dawn Patrol ---- waiting for a chance to play on the famous municipal course. There were no dimpled white balls being whacked with oversized drivers or dotting the pristine fairways. There was no groaning over shots sliced into the rough.

Instead, there were utility vehicles of such number zooming about that the cart paths looked like Interstate 5. There were workers applying the final touches of green spray paint to grandstands ringing the 18th green.

Yes, unlike any other June since it opened in 1957, Torrey Pines has been temporarily closed to the public. But you won't hear even die-hard golfers complaining much, because the United States Open Championship is coming to town.

For the uninitiated, the U.S. Open is perhaps the most prestigious event in golf. Staged by the U.S. Golf Association since 1895, it's the second of four major tournaments contested every year ---- following the Masters and preceding the British Open and PGA Championship. Starting Thursday ---- there will be practice rounds Monday through Wednesday ---- 156 of the best golfers in the world will vie over four days and 72 holes for a $1.26 million payday and the instant immortality that goes to the champion.

Torrey Pines hosts the PGA Tour's Buick Invitational each winter, but the U.S. Open is another level of magnitude. The USGA awarded the tournament to San Diego in 2002, a year after the South Course underwent a $3.3 million renovation to make it longer and tougher.

Finally, the wait is over.

"It's exciting that we have the chance to host the U.S. Open," Phil Mickelson, a Rancho Santa Fe resident and one of the tournament favorites, said earlier this year. "I think San Diego is going to be a great venue for the U.S. Open. I think the USGA is going to be very pleased with the way that the golf course and the way that the city of San Diego treats everyone."

With Torrey Pines becoming only the second public course to host a U.S. Open ---- New York's Bethpage Black was the site in 2002 and will be again next year ---- San Diego will welcome another event to bolster its already-high tourist profile. In past years, the city hosted the Super Bowl, the World Series, baseball's All-Star Game, the America's Cup sailing regatta and the Republican National Convention.

"The Super Bowl is one Sunday. The U.S. Open is like four Super Bowl Sundays with three dress rehearsals," said Joe Moeller, president of the San Diego International Sports Council. "The eyes of the world will be on San Diego for four days. How do you put a price tag on that?"

Besides a national television audience on NBC and ESPN, the USGA estimates that about 250,000 people will attend the tournament throughout the week, with more than 50 percent hailing from outside the county. According to the organization's most recent public figures, from the 2005 U.S. Open in Pinehurst, N.C., the event injected $124 million into the economy, and San Diego can expect a similar figure.

The USGA alone has reserved 8,500 hotel rooms for staff, players and media. The Hyatt Regency La Jolla sold all of its rooms for this week almost a year ago; the hotel was 85 percent full at the same time last year, said Brian McLelland, the Hyatt's director of sales and marketing.

"The U.S. Open has been very good for us," McLelland said.

The San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau is wrapping up a yearlong marketing campaign to promote the tournament and the region. The initiative included a partnership with the Golf Channel and advertisements in Golf Digest magazine and other niche publications.

"San Diego County has close to 100 top-notch golf courses," said Sal Giametta, the bureau's vice president of public affairs. "There's no question this event will help further solidify San Diego's standing as a golf destination."

It won't hurt the cause that visitors and TV viewers are likely to see a San Diego County that fits their perception as a sun-splashed paradise. The long-range forecast, according to weather.com, calls not for June gloom but for clear skies with temperatures topping out in the low 70s, with only a 20 percent chance of rain through next weekend.

Of course, big events can also lead to big headaches. The crunch of extra people along the already-congested I-5 corridor is expected to lead to a traffic nightmare. To help ease gridlock around the course, the city has designated Qualcomm Stadium as the main parking area, with free shuttles ferrying people to and from Torrey Pines.

Also, the San Diego County Fair agreed to push its opening back a day, to Saturday, to lessen worries associated with Friday traffic.

"We're confident that the sacrifice we made will alleviate a lot of concerns regarding traffic," fair spokeswoman Kina Paegert said.

As for the U.S. Open itself, the intrigue surrounds Tiger Woods, the most dominant player in the world and perhaps of all time. A two-time U.S. Open champion and six-time Buick Invitational winner, Woods would normally be a prohibitive favorite at this, or any, tournament.

However, he hasn't played competitively since having knee surgery two days after finishing second in the Masters in mid-April. His clandestine practice round at Torrey Pines on Wednesday essentially marked his return to golf after almost seven weeks of inactivity. The accumulated rust could well be his downfall this week.

Should Woods falter, the beneficiary could be Mickelson, a San Diego native who grew up playing on Torrey Pines. As the No. 2 player in the world and a three-time major tournament winner, he hopes to break through after finishing second in the U.S. Open four times.

And if you're a golf fan, how can you not be wowed by the dream threesome for Thursday's first round: Woods, Mickelson and Australian Adam Scott, who stand atop the world rankings?

"If you've never been to a U.S. Open," Moeller said," it's hard to imagine the magnitude of it."

Contact staff writer Brian Hiro at b_hiro@hotmail.com.