For Immediate Release July 30, 2019
San Diego area selected as 2020 Western Golf Alliance Open host
Excellent SoCal destination serves as outstanding test of west coast golf
BOTHELL, Washington. Today, the Western Golf Alliance announced that the San Diego area will host the 2020 Western Golf Alliance Open. After discussions with several other organizations, the Board of Directors determined this was a great opportunity for the WGA Open to serve as the de facto "test event" for other upcoming major championships.
"Everyone in the country knows San Diego is a premier golf destination, and we are overjoyed to take our biennial championship to this location," said Brian Gray, WGA president. "This area has great golf and great weather to make for an amazing golf event."
This year, Torrey Pines is actively performing major rennovations to improve the quality of the South course in time for our WGA Open. These improvements include new bunkering and fairway adjustments on several holes, turf improvements around all greens, and quality corrections to tee boxes. These changes need testing beefore the 2021 US Open.
Besides San Diego, the other two finalists were the Las Vegas area and the Bandon Dunes Resort. The inclusion of both Bandon Dunes and Las Vegas as finalists represents a "first" for the Western Golf Alliance, as the organization has never before considered a repeat destination. The Bandon Dunes Resort hosted the 2008 WGA Open, and the 2010 event was held in the Las Vegas area. This is the second time the Western Golf Alliance Open will take place in Southern California, though in 2006 the Open was in the Palm Springs area.
"Once a 'certain governing association' suggested through backchannels that we test out Torrey Pines, we felt it was our patriotic duty to oblige," explained Doug Atchison, WGA competition committee chairman. "That said, with all the great locations we have included in past Opens, the odds are we will return to a past host location in the future."
The Western Golf Alliance is known for holding its Open on elite, famous courses that represent the very best golf in the western United States. While the WGA does not make a final determination on which courses will be used for the Open at the same time it announces the destination, the competition committee will immediately begin working with the Torrey Pines courses and lodge to initiate planning. Other local courses - such as Maderas Golf Club, the Aviara Golf Resort, and the Barona Casino Resort - may fill out the full 72 hole lineup.
"The last time we came to Southern California was in Palm Springs, so this coastal location will present a very different and very archetypal SoCal golf challenge for our members," concluded Gray. "We look forward to everything that a coastal destination has to offer for a golf event."
The WGA expects the announcement of the San Diego area to spur interest in membership, and is prepared for such inquiries. All probationary members that join between now and May 2020 are eligible to quality for the Western Golf Alliance Open.
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About the Western Golf Alliance: The Western Golf Alliance is the premier golf organization in the United States. The WGA exists to further the greatness of this grand sport of golf through the improvement of golf play by its members, the promotion of golf rules, etiquette, and tradition, and the ability to gather together from time to time for golf events and tournaments. The regional organization spans five western states, and is organized into nine geographic regions. Further information is available at www.westerngolf.org.
About the Torrey Pines Golf Course: Located in La Jolla (pronounced "la hoya"), California, Torrey Pines Golf Course sits on the coastal cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean and is recognized as the premier municipal golf course owned and operated by a city. It is named after the Torrey Pine, a rare tree that grows in the wild only along this local stretch of the coastline in San Diego County and on Santa Rosa Island. www.torreypinesgolfcourse.com
About the Lodge at Torrey Pines: The Lodge at Torrey Pines is an AAA Five Diamond award-winning property offering more than 20,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space with views of the world-renowned Torrey Pines Golf Course and the Pacific Ocean. Guests of The Lodge can take advantage of the near-perfect weather while hiking in the Torrey Pines State Reserve, golfing on Torrey Pines Golf Course or relaxing at the spa. The Lodge pays tribute to the California Craftsman movement and is modeled after Greene and Greene’s famed Gamble and Blacker houses in Pasadena, California, two of the finest examples of early 1900s Craftsman-style architecture. The Lodge features 170 spacious guest rooms and suites, a 9,500-squarefoot full-service spa and two restaurants serving contemporary California cuisine. The Lodge is owned and operated by Evans Hotels and is in proximity to the San Diego International Airport, downtown San Diego and downtown La Jolla. www.lodgetorreypines.com.
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