Best Golf Courses In San Diego

Best Golf Courses In San Diego

Torrey Pines is the star of the show in terms of the best golf courses in San Diego, albeit some will tell you that its location exceeds the quality of its design. It's South course has twice hosted the US Open, including one won memorably by an injured Tiger Woods. and both its South and North courses play host to the PGA Tour. But there are some other excellent golf courses in and around this city which lies on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California.

Aviara Golf Club

• Location: Carlsbad
• Designed by: Arnold Palmer
• Par: 72
• Yardage: 7,007
• Green fee: $215-$250
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This course is famed for its beauty and conditioning. Water plays a big part in the design, especially on the par 3s, such as the 3rd hole (above) where two streams flow past the green on either flank and into a pond fronting the green.

Barona Creek Golf Club

• Location: Barona Valley
• Designed by: Todd Eckenrode
• Par: 72
• Yardage: 7,384
• Green fee: $80-$100
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The fairways are wide, but placement of the drive is nevertheless important so as to give the best angle of attack from then on, such as on the par 5 opener where a grand oak spreads itself across the middle of the fairway 70 yards from the green. The routing can drop down to a 9-hole layout during times of drought. But whether playing as a 9- or 18-hole layout, the closing hole is a 472-yard par 4 into the prevailing wind with a waterfall down the left side.

Enagic Golf Club at EastLake

• Location: Chula Vista
• Designed by: Ted Robinson
• Par: 72
• Yardage: 7,107
• Green fee: $59-$125
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Formerly known as EastLake Country Club, the course opened in 1991. With six lakes, three waterfalls, nearly 1,000 trees and views of Mount Miguel, it is known for its beauty. But the local climate can provide a challenge to course conditioning.

Maderas Golf Club

• Location: Poway
• Designed by: Johnny Miller & Robert Muir Graves
• Par: 72
• Yardage: 7,167
• Green fee: $215
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This layout winds and clambers through rocky outcrops, mature woodland and meandering creeks. The 17th (above) is a beautiful descending par 3, and the 18th is 600 yards from the tips with a forced carry from the tee and a green which is 50 yards deep.

Mt Woodson Golf Club

• Location: Ramona
• Designed by: Brian Curley & Lee Schmidt
• Par: 70
• Yardage: 5,764
• Green fee: $52-77
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A 450t long wooden bridge takes you from the 2nd green to the 3rd hole, a scenic and dramatically plummeting par 3, named The Ledges. If you are having a bad round, remember to drink in the panoramic view from the 17th tee on this target-style golf course. Even if you are having a good round, still do it.

Steele Canyon Golf Club (Canyon/Ranch)

• Location: Jamul
• Designed by: Gary Player
• Par: 71
• Yardage: 6,741
• Green fee: $89-$165
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There are three nine-hole layouts here, with the best combination the Canyon and Ranch nines. There are some forced carries, such as the Canyon 4th and the Ranch 3rd hole (above) which both plummet from the tee to a rising fairway. The Canyon nine has two greens teetering on the edge of precipices in the par-3 7th where anything right of the green disappears, and anything short will live a charmed life it is to be seen again, and the 8th, where the green juts out towards, and towers over, a lake.

Torrey Pines (North)

• Location: La Jolla
• Designed by: William P Bell; Tom Weiskpof
• Par: 72
• Yardage: 7,259
• Green fee: $65-$278
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This is not a course for those golfers who struggle with a hook – 12 holes have out of bounds on the left; none have it on the right. Generally held, and deliberately set, to be an easier test than its sister course, the South. The back nine is the more interesting half, particularly the acclaimed stretch from 14 to 16 – a descending long par 4; a downhill par 3, with perhaps the best view of all on the course; and then a sharply uphill par 4.

Torrey Pines (South)

• Location: La Jolla
• Designed by: William P Bell; Rees Jones
• Par: 72
• Yardage: 7,802
• Green fee: $65-$278
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The South course is best known perhaps for being the municipal course that hosted the US Open of 2008 which was won by Tiger Woods on one leg, his 14th Major title. The US Open returned here in 2021, when the winner was Jon Rahm.