By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM

LA JOLLA, Calif. — They did it for the kids.

With temperatures hovering around 115 degrees during the summer months in Scottsdale, Geoff Ogilvy and his wife Juli joined a lot of other "Zonies" and started taking their brood, which now numbers three, to the California coast to escape the heat. The yearly vacations have ended up becoming a permanent move.

"It was originally just going to be a summer kind of se- up, but we’d be driving back over the mountains and you drive over those mountains and you go down and it’s going up a degree every second almost," Ogilvy said. "And you get down to the bottom of the hill and it’s 105, it’s like why are we going back?

“So we eventually just decided on one of the trips back for winter, that this would be our last winter, let’s just get over here soon."

The Ogilvy clan ended up settling in Del Mar, a chic San Diego suburb nestled on the Pacific Ocean about five miles from Torrey Pines. The schools are top notch, the Aussie loves the surfing in the area and the laid-back lifestyle reminds him of home.

"A lot of Australians I know say they’re comfortable around here," Ogilvy said. "The trees are all Australian trees — you stole them. … It’s a very beachy culture, which is kind of what we’re used to.  The climate is obviously pretty amazing. So it was a bit of a no brainer. … Once you get here for a summer, it’s hard to leave, really."

Ogilvy has found several golf courses he enjoys playing in the area. Interestingly, though, before his Tuesday practice round the last time Ogilvy played Torrey Pines was in the 2008 U.S. Open. Torrey Pines, one of the premier municipal facilities in the country, is just too crowded.

"There’s lots of nice golf courses around here that don’t have 50 people standing on the first tee when you lineup, which is testament of how cool the place is," Ogilvy said. "This is a pretty unique — it’s a bit like Bethpage in New York. It’s the pride and joy of the town kind of thing or the city, really.

“So I don’t need to come and play here too much. I mean, I’ve got lots of places to play much this is the place for the public to play. I’d love to play here a bit more, but I just don’t get around to doing it"

Now, though, Ogilvy expects to make the Farmers Insurance Open an annual stop. He had planned to play last year but he was still on injured reserve after slicing a finger on some coral while he was in Hawaii.  A stomach ailment sidelined him later in the year so Ogilvy is looking forward to getting 2012 off to a strong start.

"I’m actually quite excited because I was so broken up last year and I had a few months off, and it didn’t really seem like I wasn’t in contention enough, and that’s kind of why I play to win tournaments and get up there on Sundays,’ Ogilvy said. "I’m looking forward to a year full of those type of opportunities, I guess."