Photo by Joanne DiBona

You can get a tour-caliber test on your San Diego golf vacation at Torrey Pines Golf Course.

Want to play this week's PGA Tour venue exactly the way the world's best players will experience it on Sunday? If so, plan your next San Diego golf vacation so you're at Torrey Pines Golf Course on the Monday following its annual Buick Invitational.

Few people outside of San Diego know that, immediately after the conclusion of the tournament, Torrey Pines Golf Course holds a lottery for the next day's tee times. The lucky golfers selected not only get to play the South Course under championship conditions, they can play from the Championship tees and with Sunday pin placements. If there was ever a way to truly know the challenging set-ups that tour players contend with, this is it.

Even if you're not up for this supreme challenge on your San Diego golf vacation, if you arrive at Torrey Pines Golf Course during the week after the tournament, you can still experience tournament conditions, although to a lesser degree. While the Championship tees won't be set up and the pins will likely be placed in more player-friendly spots, the rough only returns to pre-tournament lengths after three or four cuttings. So, expect the brutal Bermuda grass to be thick...and the pace of play to be slower than usual.

If you can't organize a San Diego golf vacation in time to take advantage of this tip, don't worry; the South Course at Torrey Pines Golf Course hosts the U.S. Open in June, and, like the top players themselves, you might be able to take another crack at it.

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