By Vinnie Manginelli, PGA
Located in sunny Southern California, just north of the City of San Diego, Del Mar Golf Center is a perennial award
winner here at the Golf Range Association of America. PGA General Manager Matt Clay has been at the helm for 18 years.
Clay says that it’s the driving range, as well as their miniature golf courses that drive customer engagement and generate much of their revenue. “Our team spends a lot of time making sure we maintain the quality of our mini-golf courses,” Clay stated. “We opened them in 2008 and ensured they were fully ADA-accessible.”
The driving range consists of 76 real-grass and synthetic turf hitting stalls, with 64 of them equipped with Toptracer (12 covered bays with monitors and 52 outdoor stations using Toptracer Range Mobile).
“We have the largest Toptracer camera system in the world,” Clay says. “We installed the initial system in 2017 when we were the 3rd location in the country to do so. In fact, it was still Protracer at the time.”
Six of the remaining 12 stalls that don’t currently have Toptracer will see some changes in the very near future, as Clay and his team build out more Toptracer bays this winter to enhance their already stellar teaching area.
The facility has a large putting green and two chipping greens, offering customers one of the largest short-game areas in Southern California. In addition to putting and chipping, golfers can retreat roughly 30 yards and dial in those vital scoring shots to help lower their scores the next time they’re on the course.
There are one-on-one and small and large group fitness programs offered by Milo Bryant, the founder of the Coalition for Launching Active Youth, through which he uses fundamental movement to combat the complacency and idleness that come with boredom, video games and TV among their local youth. We will chat with Milo for an upcoming story in our sister publication Golf Fitness Monthly, through the Golf Fitness Association of America.
As far as mini-golf is concerned, Del Mar Golf Center has two 18-hole layouts in an area of the country that Clay says has very little mini-golf. Open from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Pelly’s Surfin’ Safari and Pelly’s Ocean Adventure layouts host many birthday parties and a variety of group events, including fundraisers and corporate team-building experiences. Clay estimates they’ve hosted roughly 4,000 parties over the past 15 years.
Clay boasts of their converted food truck that’s now bolted in place at Del Mar Golf Center, serving patrons in the Toptracer bays from Wednesday to Sunday and providing party delicacies to the thousands of patrons on the mini-golf courses. Keeping in line with the SoCal theme, they call it the Surf’s Up Café!
One of the most attractive aspects of Del Mar Golf Center in this writer’s eyes is the extensive roster of PGA of America Golf Professionals. Check out the facility’s coaching page to see a team of teaching pros who offer a variety of experiences and expertise.
They offer private lessons (11,000 in 2023 alone) at Del Mar and on-course instruction at local courses. Growing the game, as the PGA Professional does best, there are now 135 kids in the junior academy. “We started with six and now we’re at 135,” Clay says proudly. “With Milo’s presence, kids spend half the time on athletic training and the other half on golf skills development.”
The onsite retail store is owned and managed by Worldwide Golf Shops, through which they sell hard goods, with custom fittings predominantly conducted by PGA Professional Chris Lesson, an award-winning club fitter.
Del Mar Golf Center is a destination golf facility in San Diego County. It’s the place to go to learn, practice, develop, progress, socialize, have a bite, get fit for new clubs, buy a new hat or hoodie and fall in love with the game of golf. With amenities for everyone in your family, it’s the place to be when in San Diego.
