New Golf Center to Open Saturday : 3,900-Yard Course Ready for Public in Fountain Valley

The overcrowded public golf courses of Orange County are about to get a small break.

The David L. Baker Memorial Golf Center, a par-62 course in Fountain Valley, is scheduled to open Saturday. It will be the first public course to open in Orange County since the Newport Golf Course in 1977.

The 3,900-yard course, lighted for night play, is built on 63 acres on the corner of Edinger and Brookhurst streets in Mile Square Park.

The golf center was built and will be run by the American Golf Corp., which owns or operates more than 100 courses across the country. The course has been ready for play since early February, but the building of the pro shop, club house, cart house and access road from Edinger were just completed this week.

Construction was delayed twice. Some clay pots were discovered on the site for the driving range, so building was stopped for a few weeks in that area while an archeologist was brought in. His study concluded that there had been a pottery shack on the land in the 1880s, according to Lynn Shackelford, a vice president of acquisitions for American Golf and spokeswoman for the project.

Later, some burrowing owls, which had just laid eggs, were discovered. So construction was stopped for a few months in the area of the nest until the eggs hatched. The family was then relocated.

The course features five par 3s and four par 4s on each nine-hole side. All the greens, many of which are very large, are protected by at least one sand trap. The course has 43 sand traps and 6 ponds.

Trees are planted along many holes but aren’t going to be much of a factor for the next few years until they grow.

“We want a fast track, but we also built the course so it would offer a good challenge to the better golfer,” Shackelford said. “We expect the first month to be slow, but then by word of mouth, it should pick up.”

The course cost an estimated $3.5 million and is named after David L. Baker, who was a member of the board of supervisors in the second district of Orange County.

Baker was instrumental in Orange County’s acquisition of Mile Square Park from the federal government in 1973.

Name: David L. Baker Memorial Golf Center

Location: 10410 Edinger Ave., Fountain Valley. (corner of Edinger and Brookhurst)

What: 18-hole, 3,900-yard, par-62, lighted golf course

Features: 10 par 3s and 8 par 4s with 43 sand traps and 6 ponds

Hours: Course will be open from dawn to 10 p.m.

Driving Range: Half grass and half rubber mats open until 10 p.m.

Green Fees: $8 for weekdays, $13 for weekends and holidays

Phone Number: 531-5885