Woods - says tees will be crucial.

The 2008 U.S. Open will be held at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, California.

Torrey Pines is familiar to players and golf fans alike as home to a regular PGA tour event, the Buick Invitational, since 1968.

The Buick Invitational is played on the two courses at Torrey Pines designed by William Bell in 1957. The North and South courses are used in rotation over the first two days before the South course hosts the final thirty six holes.

The U.S. Open will be played solely on the South Course. It has the reputation of being long and tough and when the conditions aren't extremely soft like they were this February there are more scores over par than under par.

In 2007 the South Course played to an average of 73.69 or 1.69 shots over par. It is not a course that the USGA have to radically alter to make it a stern test of golf.

The USGA took over after the Buick to set the course up to satisfy their philosophy which states; 'A U.S. Open course should test all forms of shot making, mental tenacity, and physical endurance under conditions of extreme pressure.'

This is done by the introduction of tight fairways, graded rough and hard fast greens which test the players driving skills, approach shots, scrambling skills and putting technique both mentally and physically.

The rough is designed so the 'punishment fits the crime'. A six foot swath of initial rough is set at 1.5 inches and then 15-20 feet of primary rough at 2.25 inches and secondary rough 3.5-5 inches long.

This year the spectator ropes have been moved back to stop the most errant of drives escaping punishment by landing in trodden down areas.

The greens are set to 13-13.5 on the stimpmeter and the rough around the greens a testing 3 inches.

The preparations for this year's U.S. Open actually started back in 2001 when the 'Open Doctor' Rees Jones undertook a complete redesign of the green complexes. They became U.S. Open style greens - small raised greens with different tiers, slopes and severe undulations, open fronts and well protected by bunkers.

But things have not turned out quite as expected and Torrey Pines does not have the usual US Open feel.

The fairways are wider than most US Open venues at 28-33 yards. The rough does not seem as penal as that seen at the Buick and good lies are often found in the primary rough as balls often sit up on top of the kikuyu grass.

What is known as the 'June Gloom' has had a dramatic affect on the playing conditions. Damp cold conditions mean that the course is not playing as firm and fast as the USGA would have hoped.

Todd Leonard of the San Diego Tribune noticed a slightly disconsolate Rees Jones in the media centre who was unhappy with the speed of the greens and felt that we might see players shoot 66's and 67's.

Tiger Woods said; 'It's a little quicker, but not much. Even though it's summertime here the fairways aren't running out that much.'

The course will play to par 71 and not the par 70 we are used to seeing in previous U.S. Opens. The final hole is a reachable par five not a brutal par four and this years Open could be won with birdie rather bogey.

With the fairways and rough not as penal, the greens not up to speed and the course not playing firm and fast this par 71 is not as tough as your typical US Open set up.

However the greens are firming up and with warmer weather expected the rough should grow and the greens will get quicker and firmer. Torrey Pines will get more difficult as the week goes on and by Sunday may play more like the brutal US Open's we have come to expect.

Torrey Pines plays over 7,600 yards and at sea level with cold overcast conditions the ball does not fly far. As defending champion Angel Cabrera said; 'It favours long hitters but it's a U.S. Open golf course and you have to be straight off the tee.'

Length is a major strength this week but you still need to be accurate.

The main defense of this course is the contoured greens. Jim Furyk said, 'You have to respect the slope on them. There are some greens out there that have an amazing amount of slope on them.' Keeping the ball below the hole and in the correct position on the greens will be the major test.

With players hitting long irons into firming greens it will not be easy to get close to the pins and lag putting will play a vital roll this week.

Below is a card of the course with projected hole rankings.

	Hole	Yards	Par	Sc Av	Rank
	1	448	4		4
	2	389	4		13
	3	195	3		10
	4	488	4		7
	5	453	4		11
	6	515	4		2
	7	461	4		5
	8	177	3		15
	9	612	5		18
		3,738	35
	10	414	4		14
	11	221	3		6
	12	504	4		1
	13	614	5		16
	14	435	4		8
	15	478	4		3
	16	225	3		9
	17	441	4		12
	18	573	5		17
		3,905	36
		71	7,643

There are a number of new tees on the third, sixth, eleventh, thirteenth, fourteenth and sixteenth which can alter the length of the holes and change the sight lines off the tee.

The most dramatic could be the introduction of a forward tee on the fourteenth making it a drivable 277 yard par four. The par threes can range in difference form 17-54 yards on any given day.

One cannot be sure until the day which tees the USGA will use which makes it difficult to assess a winning score. Tiger Woods commented; 'If they play it up all then you'll see under par for sure. Play it back every day, then you'll probably say over par. But since it's a mixture you don't know what its going to be.'

The key holes are sixth, twelfth, thirteen and eighteenth.

The sixth was formerly a par five but will now play as a 515 yard par four. A fade off the tee to a very narrow fairway avoiding the bunkers on the left will leave a long iron into a severely undulating green.

The twelfth, a 504 yard par four, is traditionally the most difficult hole on the course. A long drive uphill into the wind will still leave a three wood for the shorter hitters.

The par five thirteenth has been lengthened to 613 yards and although Dustin Johnson got home in two in a practice round most players will be laying up to around 115 yards with their second shots. It almost plays like a short par three but birdie will be vital.

The eighteenth requires a good drive avoiding the bunkers and rough if players are going to reach the green in two. A new shaved front will see balls roll back into water and a front left pin will be the most treacherous. A right pin will allow the players to bail out to the right green side bunker. Anything from eagle to double bogey is possible.

It will still be a tough all round test of golf but maybe not as tough the one we used to seeing at the US Open.