Here is the scoop on how to make reservations and/or get on the courses at Torrey Pines. Tee Time Reservations Reservations may be made one week in advance by calling 619-570-1234. This is a computerized system that will prompt you through several options. You respond by pressing the appropriate number on your touch-tone telephone. You don't have to be a city or county resident to be able to make reservations through this system. Non-residents will be required to pay all the greens fees by credit card at the time of booking on a non-refundable basis. So be sure you're coming to San Diego and you're serious about playing Torrey Pines. City and County Residents will be asked to enter their six digit City of San Diego issued Photo ID Card number (Pin #) in order to get discounted resident greens fee which they will pay on the day of play after they present their Resident Photo ID to the starter. (Note: non-residents and residents without a Photo ID who are playing with Photo ID carrying residents still have to pay the higher non-resident greens fees.) Residents without a Resident Photo ID can still make a reservation by using their phone number but, like non-residents, they will be required to pay non-resident, non-refundable greens fees and use a credit card to pre-pay at the time of booking. The computer touch-tone reservation system starts accepting calls at 7pm (PST) every day for tee times seven days later. You better be a fast re-dialer if you want to get through because it's like trying to win a radio station contest by hitting the redial button over and over until you get that lucky ring! The finishable tee times are usually gone within 15 to 20 minutes! There is one way to get a reservation more than 7 days in advance. You may call the City Golf Office at 858-522-1786. They have a limited number of times to book up to 90 days in advance. The current charge for this service is $25/player for residents, $35/player for visitors. As this is a new service being run by the City of San Diego as of August 1, 2006, contact them for more details. The other way to get on is to hire one of several "tee time providers" in town. These golf reservation companies will do the dialing for you. Of course you'll have to pay a coordination fee over and above your green fees and cart. Like any other service, you are paying them for the convenience of not having to remember to spend your time dialing for a tee time at 7 pm one week prior to your golf outing. The coordination fees range from a few dollars up to $50 per person so shop carefully. NOTE: Everyone, even city residents, using a phone number, instead of a Resident Photo ID number (PIN #) MUST pre-pay non-resident greens fees by credit card at the time of booking on a non-refundable basis. Walk-On's (or Stand-By's) There are two major "procedures" for early morning "walk-ons". The "Weekday Procedure" and the "Weekend Procedure". They are somewhat similar and don't ask me why there are two procedures when only one would do. These "procedures" have been established since the time of the guta-percha ball. The first reserved tee time, everyday, tees off at 7:30am, so there is a lot of daylight between sunrise and the first reserved tee time. The Starter usually opens the course at 6am. Some starters are may open a tad earlier, particularly in the summer. Starters usually wait for the Pro Shop to open to begin letting people on the course. This way, those who prefer to ride can rent a cart from the shop. On weekdays, obviously, it's easier to get on during this pre-7:30 am period. Park your car and take your golf bag to the rail on the deck facing the North Course first tee. Place it as close to the Starter's window as possible, without by-passing other bags already "in the line". The starter's window is to your right as you get to the deck walking up the stairs on either side of the Pro Shop. You may notice a few bags are empty and chained to the rail/fence. They belong to people that showed up early and went to sleep in their cars. After placing your bag along the rail, you may go to the cafeteria, if already open, or to your car to sleep. It's an unwritten rule NOT TO LEAVE THE PREMISES, but I'm not sure how bad this is enforced on weekdays. When the Starter opens the window, each bag owner takes his/her place in line per bag position. Usually there is room for 7 or 8 foursomes per course before 7:30am. Each person may sign up for up to one foursome. On weekends the situation is tight. The "DO NOT LEAVE THE PREMISES" rule is fully enforced. This is the procedure: You get to the parking lot and look for the car with its lights on, or for the one flashing its lights as you get there. That's the signal from the person who has The Number. The Number is exactly that, a number, or position in the line when the Starter opens the window. Once you get The Number, you wait in your car for the next arrival to pass it on. If they tell you: "You are 14", then you tell the next person: "You are 15". And so on. People look very skeptically at cars leaving the parking lot. You may go to the cafeteria, if open, once you passed on the number. Or you may go anywhere within the premises. Another no-no is to skip a Number, thus securing two spots in the line. Now, here's the bad news. You may get to the course by 4 to 5am only to find that you are Number 27. The die-hard, truly brave "dawn patrollers" get there by 11pm or Midnight, THE NIGHT BEFORE .They are the ones without a life or whose families don't like them. It is not hard to get to Number 10 before 2am. Several factors affect the Number: course condition, football, Christmas, Thanksgiving ... . Still, if your Number is high, say beyond 20, take your place in the line. Chances are that you and your group won't tee off before 7:30 am, but at least you will be in a reasonable position to get on when the reservation system yields no-shows. TIP: If you are by yourself or with a buddy, pay attention to the starter, as sometimes there is a threesome or a twosome ahead of you in the line and the starter needs to fill the foursome quickly. If you hear the starter ask for a single or twosome without using the loudspeaker, speak up fast and jump into the line. The starter will probably take you ahead of other people with reservations waiting in line to check in. You may skip over several people ahead of you. And it's "legal", so there's no danger of being sued for this. Twilight Protocol Twilight rates apply starting at 4pm from April through October, and at 3pm from November through March. The sign-up for twilight is at Noon, at the Starter's window, for the very same day. The line to sign up usually starts at 11:20am and to the left of the Starter's window, along the rail overlooking the North course first tee. One special day I haven't covered yet is the Monday after the Buick Invitational. The course management does not take reservations for that day. Both courses play with the pin locations from the last round played by the PGA TOUR pros (Friday for the North, Sunday for the South). The demand to play the South Course on that day is unbelievable. The Torrey Pines management office gives out tee times for this Monday via a lottery held after the tournament is over on Sunday. This pretty much covers it. Oil up your touch tone phone and your dialing finger or get out to the course early if you want to play Torrey.