If you're in the San Diego area for this week's Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines, take the short trip across the Coronado Bay Bridge and experience San Diego County's second favorite municipal track.
SAN DIEGO - According to a County-wide zip code chart published in the San Diego Union-Tribune in August 2006, the median cost of a single family home in the small beach city of Coronado, California was roughly $1.6 million in July of the same year. That makes it one of the most expensive places to live in San Diego County, and one of the priciest places in the country.
As you near the water on the massive white-sand public beaches of "Coronado Island", as the locals prefer to call it, you can't help but notice the gold particles that come ashore with every wave of blue water.
The whole place resembles a movie set with palm tree-lined streets, hipster boutiques and unbelievable homes in every direction. As school let out for the week, my friend wondered aloud about the degree to which the people that live here, especially those in high school, are out of touch with reality. For certain, reality takes on a different meaning in Coronado.
So it's surprising that a place awash with symbols of luxury, opulence and wealth is home to one of the better golf values in California, if not the nation.
In both 2006 and 2007, the Coronado Golf Course was voted "Best Value" in Southern California by GreensKeeper.org. The San Diego Union-Tribune gave it 10 out of 10 in 2006. Golf Digest named Coronado as one of its "Best Places to Play" in 2008-09, giving the waterfront course a 4-star rating.
Since opening in 1957, Coronado has been one of the finest and busiest golf courses in Southern California. It's estimated that the course welcomes over 100,000 rounds of golf per year.
The course is also one of the most recognizable in San Diego, having the San Diego Bay line so many of its fairways. The course offers tremendous views of the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge, which visitors must cross to visit Coronado; good news is you no longer have to pay a toll to use the bridge. There are also fabulous views of the San Diego Skyline from the course and the nearby Coronado Ferry Landing.
The golf course itself is very flat which makes for easy walking; probably the preferred way to experience Coronado, not to mention the least expensive. The par-72 course isn't all that lengthy at only 6,590 yards from the blue tees, but does play a bit longer due to the near constant one to two club ocean breeze.
While tee times are notoriously hard to come by, walking on is available and doesn't require an advanced tee time, which costs $38 just to book, just patience. If you show up, walk on and walk the course, all you'll pay is $25. It's hard to get a beer and two mixed drinks at the price anywhere in San Diego.
Judging by the amount of people out clad in Chargers jerseys for the San Diego-Buffalo game this past Sunday, playing on an NFL game day, especially if LaDanian Tomlinson and his boys have the morning game, is a solid time to play the course.
In addition to the golf course, Coronado is home to the
historic Hotel del Coronado which has hosted illustrious dignitaries,
celebrities and presidents since it opened in 1888. At the time, the hotel was
the largest resort hotel in the world, and the first to utilize electrical
lighting.
Designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1977, Hotel del is one of the oldest and largest all-wooden buildings in California. The hotel received the Four Diamond rating by AAA, and was listed by USA Today as one of the "Top 10 Resorts in the World."
It might not have the past of Torrey Pines, which is just up the road in La Jolla, but at $25 per person, it's one of the least expensive things you can do for four to five hours in Southern California. Combine the price tag and the picture-perfect year-round San Diego climate, and you can't beat Coronado Golf Course.
For more information, visit www.golfcoronado.com.
