With the U.S. Open coming to San Diego’s Torrey Pines Golf Course in June of this year, this month's Buick Invitational at the La Jolla course will certainly have a different look and feel.

Though the most substantial changes to Torrey Pines Golf Course came in 2001, when a redesign by Rees Jones added nearly 300 yards to the South Course, players and spectators will see subtle differences when they arrive and walk the course.

According to Tom Wilson, Executive Director of the Century Club, "the city of San Diego has gone to great lengths to improve the golf course extensively in a lot of areas. It installed concrete cart paths wall-to-wall in March last year and carts have not been allowed off, which means the golf course conditions are great." 

Other property improvements include a:

• new parking lot
• new scoring staging area
• fresh coat of paint on the clubhouse

The biggest difference spectators and players will see between the Buick Invitational and the US Open will be the width and speed of the fairways and the length of the rough.

We can expect the USGA to cut down the fairways and make them hard and fast, which we probably won't do for the Buick. In addition, the USGA will likely grow the rough around the bunkers and greens a lot taller for the US Open. And, the greens are guaranteed to be a little quicker.

The Buick Invitational, which typically draws a strong field, should draw an even stronger field because players will likely want to play the same host course that the U.S. Open will be held on five months later. It is anticipated that this year’s Buick Invitational will draw more international players, especially those that haven’t played the course before.

It’s worth mentioning that the Buick was the most viewed non-major golf event on the PGA calendar in 2007. So, even though the Buick Invitational is one of the most popular PGA golf tournaments, we should expect the 2008 event to draw more coverage because of an anticipated stronger field of players that will likely want to play the same host course that the U.S. Open will be held on five months later.

In addition, it is anticipated that this year’s Buick Invitational will draw more international players, especially those that haven’t played Torrey Pines Golf Course before.