June gloom? Try June gusher.

Who said a U.S. Open in southern California meant no rain?  Here's the best part. As soon as I left Torrey Pines and drove down Highway 1 after strolling around in the wet stuff for three hours, the drizzle stopped. And driving back from a dinner downtown, where was the only place it was coming down as I drove back up the 5? Yep, La Jolla. Giving credence to that Torrey Pines "micro-climate" nonsense Strege has been talking about. I hate it when he's right.

All bitching aside, it was worth it to tour Torrey and see the incredible course conditioning progress that's been made since last month. Huge kudos to director of maintenance and soon-to-be-GCSAA head man Mark Woodward, USGA agonomist Pat Gross, Torrey super Candace Combs and the hard-working crews here. (Special thanks to Patrick, who, seeing me without raingear drenched as the hardest wave of "drizzle" came down, noted that "he didn't think the heavy stuff would come down for a while." Thanks for the chuckle.)

Not only is the South Course immaculate, it's much, much more firm than last month when it was pretty swampy, particularly on the bermuda approaches and greens. (I hear credit in part goes to SpotWater Management's Andy Slack, who was hired to help the team out with the tricky irrigation system.)
Yes, rain made that cart path shiny. (Click to enlarge)

I'd get into the particulars of the setup, but I'll save those for my first post next Monday at GolfDigest.com, where I'll be blogging each day from Torrey Pines on all things golf course related. But boy are there going to be some fun things to talk about.

I overheard a few things about Tiger's round earlier in the day where he carted it around the South. (Tod Leonard has the story here.) All witnesses said there was no hint of a limp and that he was in great spirits, talking up the USGA's Mike Davis and super Combs among others.

He apparently raved about the speed of the greens, and that's saying something since he's a tough critic of poa putting surfaces. And he should rave. They are firm and shockingly fast, so much so that a serious hot spot has emerged (again, more on that Monday).
The epic setting at 18. No, they haven't shut the fountain off yet. Everything else looks superb. (Click to enlarge)

There were also a few other people playing the course, but I was told I'd be killed if I wrote about it so I'll just cut this off in the interest of actually seeing who wins the 2008 U.S. Open.

I can't wait.