COSTA MESA : Golf Course to Get Concrete Cart Paths

The city will install concrete golf cart paths at the Los Lagos Golf Course, funded in part by green fees targeted for golf course improvements.

The paths, which will cost about $230,000 to install, were recommended by the city’s Golf Course Advisory Committee to reduce erosion of the turf and keep the paths from encroaching onto tees and greens. Each 3-par hole will have cart paths from tee to green and travel the length of individual fairways.

Part of the funding will come from an increase in green fees from $20 to $22 approved last July. That increase generated an additional $141,454 in revenue through November and is expected to raise an additional $40,000 for December and January, according to a memo by golf course superintendent Bob Shipley and Community Services Director Keith Van Holt.

“We’re giving the money back to the golfers through course improvements,” Van Holt said.

The 18-hole course currently has dirt paths that have been covered with asphalt material taken from old streets, but that material does not last long because of water seepage and wear and tear from the golf carts, he said.

“We are not talking tee to green,” Van Holt said. “We’re talking possible tee to green on three pars only. You get most of the concentrated traffic around the greens and tees. We try to do the green area so all the concentration will be on concrete, because if there’s no concrete path (golfers) run off the path with the cart.”