Batten Down The Golfing Hatches – Genesis Invitational Set For Stormy Start

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Batten down the golfing hatches as this week’s Genesis Invitational is set for a stormy start.

Weather forecasts show the San Diego/Torrey Pines region is heading for a Thursday drenching with up to an inch of rain and winds gusting to 25 mph all along this region of the Pacific Ocean coastline.

The $20m ‘Signature’ event is being played on the South Course as a mark of a respect to the lives lost and damage caused by last month’s LA wildfires and also taking place three weeks post the hosting of the Farmers Insurance Open and won by Harris English, the only American to win a PGA Tour event this year.

This year’s Genesis Invitational’s again boasts a 72-player field that includes 46 of the top 50 players in the world golf rankings, led by No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, No. 3 Rory McIlroy, No. 4 Collin Morikawa and No. 5 Hideki Matsuyama, the defending champion.

Although only 18 players who contested the Farmers Insurance Open have returned this week.

We’ve seen via a Ben Griffin video just how sinister-looking the rough already is on the South Course and aside from the nastly-looking first round forecast.

Whether it’s deeper at any times during the hosting of a Farmers Insurance Open or both the 2008 and 2021 US Open, who knows!

Collin Morikawa agrees those teeing-up this week face a ‘challenge’.

“With the forecast, the weather, the rain, it’s going to play really tough”, he said.

“It’s going to play long, it’s going to play where fairways matter a lot. I don’t think you can really overpower a golf course this long when the rough is that big. Fairways are going to be important. Torrey Pines is already a very, very difficult golf course, I look forward to that. Just have a challenge in front of us”.

Welcome to Torrey Pines – Image GolfByTourmiss

John Howard, the city’s golf manager and speaking with The Fresno Bee, put it plainly: “It’s going to be rough in the rough.” The biggest concern is water pooling on the course and making it unplayable, but drainage has been upgraded over the years to minimize such problems.

“These greens can definitely handle a certain amount of water. They’re USGA specs. If you get a decent amount on there, it will definitely pull the water through it.

“Right now we’re, obviously, looking at pin positions that will be favorable that if we do get some weather that potentially we’ll not have to worry about it. There are going to be things the Tour’s looking at to ensure we have the best chance of getting in as much golf as we can. … We like to play it firm and fast, but it doesn’t always mean that Mother Nature is on our side.

“You’re basically going to get rough that is a lot nastier. It’s going to be harder to hit out of. It’s going to be an interesting test of golf.”

The Fresno Bee rightfully added that fog has been most impactful during pro events here over the past decade. In fact, it delayed the first round of the 2021 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. The second round of this year’s Farmers had an 86-minute delay when winds gusted to 35 mph. That prevented more than two dozen golfers from completing their rounds until the following day.

Saying all of the above, we’ve been to Torrey Pines for the Farmers Insurance Open and it’s a spectacular location, looking out as you do from the towering cliff tops over the mighty expanse of the Pacific Ocean.

It’s one of the world’s great golfing destinations and it’s a public facility.

Here’s wishing the weather forecast is not as bad as being predicted and the tournament is not seriously affected.



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