Golf Guide: San Diego - CA

When you think "San Diego Golf," Torrey Pines comes to mind. Sitting on cliffs high above the Pacific Ocean, Torrey Pines unrolls hole after hole of spectacular golf as revealed during the 2008 U.S. Open.

Still there are more than 90 golf courses in this land of perfect weather and sunshine where there are more playable days than anywhere else in the country. San Diego offers a smorgasbord of course styles including desert, mountain and seaside. It's no wonder Golf Digest called it "one of the top 50 golf destinations in the world."

The diverse landscape of rolling hillsides and canyons, wetlands, wildlife preserves, cactus-studded desert, and plateaus sitting atop seaside cliffs, offer top course designers a canvas filled with possibilities.

So you have Gary Roger Baird's rustically beautiful Barona Creek Golf Club; Tom Fazio's Grand Club in Del Mar tracking through the meadows; Gary Player's 27 holes at Steele Canyon Golf Club noted for dramatic elevations; Ted Robinson's ten courses including the newer Riverwalk Golf Course in Mission Valley heralded for its integration of waterscapes into the design; and Dick Wilson's classic pair at La Costa, both recently renovated.

Just as there is a huge range of courses, there are many choices of lodging from in-city high rises and beach hotels to bed and breakfasts and historic inns.

Enjoying an ideal year-round climate with warm dry summers and mild winters it's no surprise San Diego is the 8th largest city in the U.S. with more than 1.3 million in population. Thankfully, not all play golf.