Life and Relationship Coaching near Newport Beach, CA

Celebrities will set foot on the golf course at Newport Beach Country Club before the professional golfers do, when Hoag Classic week begins with sunny weather in the forecast.

The Athletes First Celebrity Waiter Night, which benefits the Hoag Hospital Foundation, kicks things off Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at VEA Newport Beach. The event, which benefits Hoag Hospital Foundation, will feature professional athletes and celebrities who will become waiters for the night to raise money for charity.

Sunday brings the Pacific Life Celebrity Classic, which benefits Hoag. More than 70 athletes are expected to attend, including Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, Colts quarterback Daniel Jones, Super Bowl LII MVP Nick Foles, Heisman Trophy winner and USC legend Reggie Bush, and other notables. Gates open at 10 a.m. at the country club, with celebrities teeing off at 11:30 a.m. Tickets are $50 each.

Two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer is the featured guest for the Hoag Classic Hall of Fame Community Breakfast, which takes place Tuesday morning at 7:30 at the Balboa Bay Resort. He is also the all-time PGA Tour Champions wins leader, with 47 victories, including the 2008 Hoag Classic, which was then known as the Toshiba Classic.

“Bernhard represents excellence, longevity, and integrity at the highest level of professional golf,” Hoag Classic executive director Scott Easton said in a statement. “His sustained success across generations, combined with his humility and sportsmanship, make him one of the most admired figures in the game. This will be a truly special opportunity for our community to hear firsthand from a global golf icon whose career continues to inspire players and fans alike.”

Jiménez returns to defend crown

Miguel Ángel Jiménez will return to Newport Beach to try to repeat as Hoag Classic champion when the tournament tees off March 27.

The colorful Spaniard won the tournament for the first time last year.

“It is a golf course I like very much and I had played well over the past few years,” Jiménez said. “So, to get the win last year was amazing. I always feel very comfortable and relaxed when I am in Newport Beach — the people are so nice to me, I eat in some great restaurants every evening, stay in a beautiful hotel and so the week is always a fun one. I am looking forward to it very much.”

Other player commitments include 2025 Charles Schwab Cup Champion Stewart Cink, as well as three-time major champion Pádraig Harrington, who won the Hoag Classic in 2024. Local fan favorite Fred Couples and Ernie Els, both two-time Hoag Classic champions, are also in the field.

Jay Haas has also won the tournament twice, in 2007 and 2016, and there are reasons he enjoys coming to Newport Beach.

“I love the area, and obviously the golf course suits me because I’ve had good success there in the past,” Haas said in an interview with the Daily Pilot. “[Winning the tournament again] would be a pretty good upset at my age [72], but you know, I’ve played well almost every time I’ve gone there. I don’t know what it is specifically, other than I love hitting off the fairways there, the kikuyu grass. The ball sits up nicely ... and the course isn’t so long tee to green, yardage-wise, so I feel like I can compete with some of the longer hitters.”

Haas has been competing on the PGA Tour Champions for more than two decades, He said he’s feeling good after having back surgery at the end of 2023.

“I just give up too much yardage off the tee anymore,” he said. “Guys are hitting it 30, 40, 50, 60 yards by me at certain times, and then it’s tough to compete. I have to play nearly perfectly to get in the hunt, so to speak. I haven’t done it much lately, but I still enjoy the competition.”

The Chipotle Sunset Celebration & Concert returns following the second round of the tournament on March 28 at VEA Newport Beach.

Tyler Braden, the performer that night, is not only a popular country music singer but also an avid golfer.

“I love that golf can give you time to yourself and you compete with yourself,” Braden said in an email interview, adding that his last handicap was around 10.5. “It’s a time when I forget my work and my phone and just play ... We haven’t been to Orange County for a show yet, but as a golfer, I’m pretty stoked that the first one gets to be at the Hoag Classic.”

Tech billionaires and major corporations are fleeing the Golden State. But for the wealthiest Californians who remain, they’re buying some of the highest-valued homes right here in Southern California.

According to a new , seven of the state’s 10 richest ZIP Codes are now in Southern California.

In 2001, seven of the 10 ZIP Codes with the highest home prices were in Northern California.

By 2026, the dynamic had flipped, my colleague Terry Castleman wrote. Not only are seven of the state’s 10 richest ZIP Codes now in Southern California, but three are also within Newport Beach — up from just one in 2001. Beverly Hills and Santa Monica ZIP Codes also joined the list, replacing Portola Valley, Ross, Palo Alto and Tiburon.

Nationwide, six of the 10 ZIP Codes with the highest-priced homes are within the Golden State. Atherton, in San Mateo County, maintained its place at the top of the list with a median home value of $7.7 million, followed by Miami Beach, Sagaponack in New York, Woody Creek in Colorado and Newport Beach.

The appreciation of existing properties and the migration of fleeing Angelenos — whether running from COVID-era masking policies and school shutdowns or the flames that devoured Pacific Palisades — helped Newport Beach gain several spots on the list.

“We look like a deal compared to L.A. real estate,” said Annie Clougherty, a Newport Beach real estate agent. “We used to just compete for buyers in Orange County, and L.A. has definitely pushed that,” bringing prices up.

She also found that many who left Los Angeles for Newport often preferred the area’s more conservative politics.

The 92657 ZIP Code covers the Newport Coast area, where the median home value was $5.42 million as of Jan. 31, according to Zillow data reviewed by The Times.

The 92661 and 92662 ZIP Codes, which cover the Balboa Peninsula and Balboa Island and were also among California’s top 10 richest areas, had median home values near $4.25 million, also as of Jan. 31.

The median home in California was about $750,000, per Zillow’s home value index.

As prices rise, many homebuyers are priced out of Newport Beach.

The average monthly rent across all homes in Newport Beach was $9,000, and the average home was worth $3.5 million, according to Zillow.

A UC Irvine poll of Orange Countyhousing costs were a top concern of residents. The poll found a third of respondents would consider moving somewhere else due to the affordability crisis.

Read more on California ZIP Codes with the highest median home values .

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Thousands of locals, tourists and fishermen enjoy Newport Beach’s two iconic ocean piers, and for the next few months, crews will make sure they are sturdy and ready for continued use.

“It’s a big cost for coastal cities to maintain these piers,” said Dave Webb, director of public works for the city.

The Newport Pier was initially built for commerce, he pointed out. “When it was a working pier, it made sense, it had commerce on it, and you were making money, but it’s really just a tourist attraction. But Newport is known for its piers, and a lot of people come and use them.”

The council recently budgeted $717,000 for this year’s maintenance projects, which include replacing broken or damaged piles, fixing the stringers and frames underneath the piers, replacing corroded and rusted-out metal hardware and bolts, and installing vinyl “jackets” to protect against marine organisms that bore into the wood. That project, Webb said, is done every two years.

In the off years, Webb said smaller repairs are made, but the piers are also inspected as part of a “marine investigation” to assess larger needs. Crews view the piers — sometimes with assistance from drones — from above and below the water, and return with a recommendation on what needs to be addressed, such as the repairs being tackled now.

While there is one broken pile that needs replacing on the Newport Pier, the city’s longest and most popular pier for fishermen, Webb said, the repair list is not as great as in some years, when severe storms have caused more damage. Among the largest amounts paid by the city for major pier maintenance, Webb said, was about $2 million.

“That year we had a lot of Pacific storms and a lot of waves and actions and beach erosion that took out several piles,” he said, adding that piles are a big cost.

The thorough inspections are needed routinely because of the damage that is a natural result of harsh marine conditions.

“Just the constant pounding of the sea, and because they’re wood, they flex a little bit,” Webb said. “There’s the all-the-time maintenance where something breaks like a railing and then there’s the bigger stuff that requires special equipment to get under there.”

Current repairs started this week are expected to take until Memorial Day. Despite the equipment that will be needed, Webb said visitors to the pier should still be able to walk from the land side to the end because most of the work will be done underwater and beneath the piers. The most invasive project this year, he said, is replacing the broken pile.

“It’s capital maintenance, it’s not like we need to close down a whole section of the pier,” Webb said.

The oldest pier is the Newport Pier, which is at 26th Street at the center of the Balboa Peninsula, right near McFadden Plaza. It’s about 1,032 feet in length, Webb said, and is registered as a California Historical Landmark. It was built in 1939 and replaced the historic McFadden Wharf, which brought commerce to the area when built in 1888 by landowners James and Robert McFadden.

“They used it to ship in lumber from the Northwest,” Webb said. “And, they’d ship other products like cattle and hides off it. They eventually built a railway from the pier all the way to Santa Ana, which helped build Santa Ana.”

But the original pier was destroyed by storms, he said, and it was eventually rebuilt with the current structure.

The Balboa Pier, which Webb said has always been more of a tourist pier, was built in 1906 as the sister project to the Balboa Pavilion. Both were used to attract investors who would later build properties on the sandy Balboa Peninsula.

The Balboa Pier was also where Orange County’s first Ruby’s Diner opened. To hold a restaurant out there, Webb said the pier has to be especially reinforced. The Newport Pier also once had a restaurant at the end, but Webb said it was removed years ago.

“You wouldn’t want to put a new facility out there on a very old pier,” he said, adding that there have been some city discussions about the Newport Pier’s future and what it should look like, including whether it should have a restaurant again and if the restaurant would be better suited closer to shore, like it is in San Clemente.

“If you want to go for a quick dinner, it’s more convenient,” he said. “If you put it way out there, there’s a certain segment of the population that won’t walk that far out there for dinner, or it’s a good walk after dinner.”

He also added that fishermen like to be at the farthest point on the pier where the water is deeper for their lines.

“There are different purposes for it,” he said of the pier.

At some point, Webb said, as the maintenance costs for the wood piers continue to rise, it might make sense to rebuild the Newport Beach piers with concrete, like what was done in Huntington Beach, when the pier was significantly damaged underneath and had to be replaced.

“The Newport Pier would be the next candidate,” he said, of the city’s two piers. “We just keep putting a lot of money into maintenance, and it is an old wood pier. At some point, they’ll have to make a decision to replace it or just keep putting more money into it.”

For now, though, the piers are just getting ready for summer.

The wicked Wedge has awoken from its winter slumber.

An early-season south swell rolled into Southern California this week, bringing big waves — and big dangers — across south-facing beaches.

At the Wedge in Newport Beach, a unique wave that bounces off a rock jetty to “wedge” up and double in size, waves were in the 8- to 10-foot range — with some sets hitting bigger than 12 feet on Thursday, March 12.

The strong surf started showing up on Wednesday and is expected to hang around through next week. It was creating good surf conditions at several breaks.

San Clemente surfer Brandon Sinden, 27, hobbled his way up the sand at Doheny State Beach, where he and dozens of others showed up to ride waves. He had fractured his foot last week in a motorcycle accident, but didn’t want to miss out on the first south swell of the season.

“Anytime in the water is healing,” he said. “Getting out in the sun, it brightens the spirits. I always say the energy of the ocean is healing.”

Huntington Beach and areas of Newport Beach had waves in the 5- to 8-foot range and were expecting 4 -to 6-foot surf through next week, with a slight drop Thursday and Friday before beefing up again leading into next weekend, according to Surfline.com.

Areas of the South Bay were also seeing elevated surf, in the 2- to 4-foot range, though not as large as beaches further south in Orange County.

At the same time, the National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory through Friday. With warm weather expected the next few days, and spring breakers out of school enjoying the coast, beachgoers are warned to stay clear of areas with strong surf and rip currents that can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea.

Always check with a lifeguard before entering the water.

“Spring break is here, we expect heavy crowds from people out from schools all over, even out of state,” said Newport Beach Marine Safety Chief Brian O’Rourke. “With these high temps and big surf that will produce rip currents, we expect hazardous conditions. We want people to use caution and check with lifeguards before they go in the water.”

The department will be staffing up for the crowds and will have all towers open, he said.

“We really urge people to swim near an open lifeguard tower,” O’Rourke said.

Sebastian Westerink, meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said a beach advisory or warning was not issued because the big waves were “localized” only at south-facing beaches, with Huntington Beach showing the largest in size.

Though no advisory, he warned the long-period swell will have “sneaker sets” that could catch people off-guard.

“There’s just more wave energy,” he said. “Just be careful, be alert for these sneaker waves and rip currents. The energy in the ocean is going to be stronger in general.”

The weather will be drawing crowds to the beach, with temperatures toward inland areas in the upper 80s and low 90s on Friday and even warmer by next week. Even at the beach, temps will be in the 80s.

South swells typically show up in summer seasons, April at the earliest. But the mid-March appearance had surfers buzzing Thursday with excitement.

At the Wedge, there would be moments when the ocean appeared flat, followed by bumps on the horizon growing, then suddenly jacking up to form building-size peaks, slamming on shore to the thrill of spectators who lined the sand to watch.

Mike Maccarone, also of San Clemente, made the pilgrimage to the Wedge, a favorite among bodyboarders. One big set nearly swept him into the rock jetty.

“I was out there weathering the storm,” he joked on the sand.

The first south swell, sunny skies and light wind were a pleasant surprise so early in the season.

“Everything really came together well today,” he said.

Kevin “Mel” Thoman, a longtime bodysurfer who, since the ’70s, has been part of the “Wedge Crew,” showed up to watch the waves, calling the early arrival of a big south swell in mid-March “historic.”

Thoman, 69, has ridden waves here for more than 50 years and knows the lure of the wicked Wedge.

“It’s very addictive, I think the adrenaline, the rush,” he said. “It’s intense.”

Whenever a big swell hits, the crowds show up to cheer on those who brave the waves.

“I think people like watching Nascar for the crashes. There’s a lot of crash-and-burn out here,” Thoman said. “If I was physically able, I would be out there.”

But the wave, he warns, is expert only.

“The sand is extremely hard,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who you are, a lot of times you’re going to take a pounding and you’re going to get hurt. That’s the price you pay, the price of admission.”

Building, fun to mid size surf with some power. Clean AM, mostly walled up with the odd corner.

Breaks with some structure are the go as long period SSW swell builds in through the day. Modest NW swell mix continues so there are a few corners but the larger sets start to get more walled.

Wind looks lightest through the earlier morning. NW/WNW wind for the afternoon.

Ace NorCal filmmaker Perry Gershkow's amazing new surf film "Keeping in the Shadows" is premiering at Daydream Surf Shop in Newport Beach on March 14 and the Rivian South Coast Theater in Laguna on March 18. Tix and info: https://www.keepingintheshadows.com/tour

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The Wedge Surf Guide

The Wedge is a mutant of a big wedging left that reflects south swell energy off the Newport Harbor jetty. On a big south swell, the Wedge can produce waves well over 20-foot faces very close to shore, with hollow grinding bowls right on the sand. During the summer all flotation devices (surfboards, bodyboards, skimboards, etc.) are banned at Wedge between 10am-5pm so the old school bodysurfers can have at it. The Wedge is a classic spectator arena and one of the best entertainment venues in the... Read more

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Building, fun to mid size surf with some power. Clean AM, mostly walled up with the odd corner.

Breaks with some structure are the go as long period SSW swell builds in through the day. Modest NW swell mix continues so there are a few corners but the larger sets start to get more walled.

Wind looks lightest through the earlier morning. NW/WNW wind for the afternoon.

Ace NorCal filmmaker Perry Gershkow's amazing new surf film "Keeping in the Shadows" is premiering at Daydream Surf Shop in Newport Beach on March 14 and the Rivian South Coast Theater in Laguna on March 18. Tix and info: https://www.keepingintheshadows.com/tour

Located just south of Seal Beach, the gated community of Surfside offers a unique and interesting study of wave dynamics and refraction. A sandy beachbreak, during the summer months large south swells hammer the Huntington Harbor jetty and the energy bounces off, creating perfect A-frame wedges in two distinct spots known as “The Bowl” and “The Hole.” A popular spot with the dedicated local crew, Surfside is best early in the morning on a lower tide. The onshore northwest winds can be unrelentin... Read more