Rebuilt Carlton Oaks Looks as Good as Ever : Golf: Century Club brings competition back to revitalized layout.

SANTEE —  The demise of the Carlton Oaks Country Club golf course was as swift as the flood waters that turned its green fairways and manicured greens to weeds and dirt.

Ranked as one of the nation’s top 200 public golf courses in the early 1970s and host of the NCAA men’s championships in 1974, Carlton Oaks was virtually wiped out by three floods from 1979-81.

But Carlton Oaks is back and, the new owners hope, better than ever.

The revitalized course had its first major competitive test Saturday when the county’s top amateurs and professionals met for the Century Club Matches. The amateurs lead the series, 9-8, and took a 25 1/2-18 1/2 lead after the partner’s Pinehurst Scotch round (players drive, hit each other’s drive for the second shot and then pick the best ball and alternate shots through the hole).

The course easily passed the test of the 16 pros and amateurs competing for the 18th Hine Cup.

“It’s a whole lot different,” said pro Cesar Sanudo, who estimated he played Carlton Oaks 500 times while growing up in the area. “I think it’s excellent. You better bring your thinking cap. There is no room for error.”

The 18-hole course reopened Oct. 1 after being closed 11 months for reconstruction. It was redesigned by Dye Designs, which also did PGA West, La Quinta Hotel Golf Club and Oak Tree Golf Club in Edmond, Okla.

“It’s not as severe as a lot of Dye courses,” said Scott Bentley, a pro at Singing Hills Golf Course. “It’s a very playable, challenging golf course.”

Bentley proved up to the challenge as he and Russ Bloom shot a five-under 67 for the best round of the day.

While the amateurs and pros were enjoying the rebirth of Carlton Oaks, club professional Rex Cole remembered when times were not so enjoyable there.

“We were wiped out completely (by the floods),” said Cole, who has been the pro for 11 years. “We would have to close for six or seven months, and we had to put up temporary greens. The course was covered in mud and sand.”

Capital became a problem after the floods, and the course was unable to return to its previous position as one of the county’s best.

But that changed when a group of Japanese investors bought it; they have since put $5 million into its redesign and construction.

“It was just a matter of someone putting some money into it,” Cole said. “You have to have a preventive maintenance plan. A course like this will cost $1 million a year in maintenance.”

The course has five sets of tees, from the 7,109-yard tournament tees to the 4,817-yard forward tees. The championship length is 6,613 yards.

The amateurs and pros will play a two-point medal play Nassau format today in the final round, which is worth 90 points, 18 per foursome. The amateurs led, 27-18, after the Pinehurst Scotch round last year and hung on for a 69-66 victory at Rancho Santa Fe Country Club.