How do I join Torrey Pines Men’s Golf Club?
Instructions for joining TPMGC can be found on the Membership Page.
Why should I join the TPMGC?
Both of our home courses are ranked in the top 100 courses open to the public in the United States. In addition, we play weekday tournaments at the best private and public courses in San Diego County. Green fees are generally discounted at most courses we play except at Torrey Pines.
Another unique benefit of our club is that we use the premium version of Golf Genius to score our tournaments. The premium version includes a live leaderboard so you can track how you are doing as you play in our events.
Who can join the club?
Only residents of San Diego County may join. Females may join the club and must play from the same tees as men in club events.
Are there General meetings for the Membership?
Yes, presently we have 2 meetings one in the Spring and one in November which also serves as our election to the Board of Directors. Announcements of the meetings will be posted on the web at least a month prior to their occurrence.
Do I need a handicap to play?
All individual events have a gross and net competition. You need 3 scores to establish an index. If you don’t have a valid index you would only be able to compete in the gross competition until you get a valid index. Team events are typically net events.
All indexes and course handicaps are determined consistent with the World Handicap System.
How many tournaments are played each year?
We organize a total of about 65 tournaments each year.
We have weekly tournaments mostly on Thursdays. 24 of those tournaments are played at Torrey Pines GC and the others are played at top courses throughout San Diego County.
We have a weekend tournament once each month. These are played at Torrey Pines GC with occasional events at Balboa Park GC.
How do I know when and how to sign up for tournaments?
It is important that all members access their email regularly. This is the primary method of communication for our club. The dates when tournament sign-ups begin is posted on our website. It is each member’s responsibility to access the website regularly for this information.
Can I play in both Weekday and Weekend events?
Yes, a member may play in both. If either the Weekend event or the Weekday event is oversubscribed a member may not play in both the weekday and weekend tournaments at the exclusion of a member not playing in either event.
Can I request a specific tee time in a tournament?
You can request a tee time within a range of times, but not a specific time. Note that more golfers want to play early than we can typically accommodate. Therefore, we are not able to accommodate many of these tee time requests.
If too many players sign up for a tournament at Torrey Pines, how is it decided who plays?
The purpose of our Player Priority Assignment system is to select players for Torrey Pines tournaments when an event is oversubscribed. Our priority assignment software is designed to give each member a fair opportunity to play in Torrey events by giving higher priorities to those who have played in a Torrey event less recently (versus more recently). Normally this will mean that a member who signs up to play every Torrey event will miss no more than one or two consecutive events.
Each member has a date recorded by our website that is the last tournament played at Torrey Pines. These dates are downloaded for each member signed up for a tournament and Excel spreadsheets with embedded formulas are used to rank players based on his “last-Torrey-play-date”. Those who have last-play-dates furthest from the tournament date have higher priority to play. For members with the same last-play-date, a random number generator is used to determine priority.
Why do you penalize members who cancel late or don’t show up for an event?
see MEMBER HOME / CLUB INFO / PENALTY INFO (https://tpmgc.org/member-resources/club-info/penalty-info/)
Why was I issued a pace-of-play penalty?
See our Pace-of-Play Policy located in MEMBER HOME / TOURNAMENTS / PACE-OF-PLAY POLICY (https://tpmgc.org/tournament-pace-of-play/)
What rules govern TPMGC tournaments?
Our events are played under USGA rules. The USGA gives clubs the option to adopt certain local rules. Rules specific to club tournaments are posted on our website. It is each member’s responsibility to be familiar with these rules. It is also each member’s responsibility to “protect the field” by ensuring all members are playing with the Rules of Golf and local TPMGC rules. Failure to comply with these rules will typically result in a disqualification.
How is prize money determined?
First, all entry fees go into the prize fund plus each event is subsidized with money from the general fund. Entry fees are $15 for most tournaments. The subsidy varies for each event.
The club uses a formula to distribute the prize money. Approximately 40% of the field receives prize money each tournament with the smallest amount being $15. Since all flights are not equal in size, those playing in larger flights typically receive a slightly larger prize.
How can I spend my prize money?
When you win prize money in a tournament, it is automatically added to your member account. Your account balance will continue to grow until you request some of your winnings.
You may withdraw prize money ($50 minimum) and spend that money at several golf vendors throughout San Diego County. A complete list of these vendors in on our website. Some vendors offer discounts for club members.
You may also request VISA gift cards in denominations of $250 or $500. Each of these gift cards has fees of approximately $15 for which you are also responsible for paying.