Walkin' the line at Torrey Pines

Our San Diego trip has finally come to a close, and I'm set to turn 21 in only a matter of hours. I'm planning on guilt-tripping my dad into going down the street to one of the bars in Old Town so I can buy my first legal drink right at midnight. My dad said there's a saloon or something a few blocks down that's open until 1:30 so...we'll see how that goes. I've never been to a saloon before; maybe I'll come back with a curly mustache, a cowboy hat and some spurs. Who knows?
As for today, my dad and I woke up and grabbed breakfast at the hotel before meeting Tom and driving down to the coast to Torrey Pines. The place was amazing; sometimes I didn't even realize I was still on a golf course. The ocean was right next to us for the first few holes and we couldn't have asked for more perfect weather. Warm, blue skies made the day a real treat.

My prediction didn't quite come to fruition, as I put a 90 (45-45) on the scorecard at the day's end. Here are some highlights (and lowlights) from the round:

• Holes #1, 2, 16, 17, and 18 were all dead-on from my predictions. I bogeyed the first, doubled the second, then finished hot at the end of my round for a bogey-par-birdie on 16, 17 and 18. My birdie on 18 was extra nice since it was the only one of the day from our group and happened only because I sank a tricky 15-foot slider that fell off the table at the last second to rattle in the cup. Big fist pump on that one...a great way to end a tiring round.
• I managed to walk away from Torrey without a snowman! A couple of sevens (on the par-5 9th and the par-4 14th) were the closest I came, but on both of those holes I had three putts...so they really shouldn't have been sevens anyway. Regardless, no snowmen!
• While I predicted an 88 and shot a 90, I was pretty pleased with the round overall. The greens were incredibly difficult; I thought I actually putted better than I had all weekend but still had 38 putts on the round.
• My driver completely left me. After smashing the ball all weekend, I didn't find the sweet spot a single time today and only hit 2 of 14 fairways. My iron game wasn't much better (only 4 of 18 greens in regulation) but I was pretty consistent. Not a great round off the tee but plenty of fun otherwise.
• The sixth hole was incredible; I wish I could play it everyday. The signature par 3 looked over the ocean and way down the California coastline. The green sat many feet below and only 150 yards away, so it was not too intimidating either. The picture of the three of us (above) is taken from the sixth teebox and here's a shot of my poorly struck 9-iron off the tee.
• My dad had a great front nine of only five over par (41), but he followed it with a problematic 52 on the back to finish with a mediocre 93. He did provide some comic relief for Tom and I when he got his ball stuck up in a tree and tried to retrieve it.
• Dad managed to get three balls out of that tree (none of which were his) and then jump out unharmed! I'm sure his tree climbing skills were quite impressive...but Tom and I were too preoccupied with taking as many pictures of him as possible.

Well, it is getting a bit chilly out here; I'm sitting outside the Holiday Inn Express, in the courtyard, to get wireless access since our room's ethernet connection doesn't work and it's too far away for the WiFi. Awesome digs, huh? At least it's free, I suppose.

Anyway, my fingers are cold and my battery is low so I'm will end this 99th post and continue the blog tomorrow as I will reach the 100th post of When Cameron Was In Egypt's Land with a homage to St. Patrick's Day and my 21st birthday! What a fitting way to hit the milestone.P.S....Oh, and we also snuck over to the 18th green on the South Course so I could have my picture taken right next to the place where Tiger sank the tying putt in last year's U.S. Open. It's one of the greatest majors in golf history and now, I can say I've stood there. Kind of eerie, dontcha think? I think it's pretty cool.