ORANGE COUNTY GOLF NOTEBOOK / STEVE KRESAL : Driving Range Worth the Wait to Cunerty

For 12 years, Bill Cunerty has looked at the hillside below Saddleback College’s campus football field with a glint in his eye.

The Gauchos’ golf coach had said all along that someday there would be a driving range there. The plans were drawn long ago, but Cunerty’s dream had to wait for the finances to be realized.

About a year ago, funding was allocated, and last fall the earthmovers started rumbling. They quickly reduced the hillside to a long, flat landing area for golf balls.

The project, which will be used as a teaching facility for college classes but will also raise money by charging the public for use, has had its share of problems from the beginning. First, rain last winter and spring slowed the electrical and concrete work.

Then the back orders started. Poles, lights and other important items have yet to be delivered. With so many things stacking up, there was no reason to seed. But there’s still no grass.

As a result, opening day has been delayed from mid-July to mid-October. Still, Cunerty remains positive.

“I was asked if I was bothered that the date had to be pushed back,” he said. “I said that after waiting 12 years, a few months hardly bothers me at all. We just want to make sure we do it right the first time.”

The long range will be double-ended, one end for the public and the other for the college’s classes. There will be 45 stations at each end.

“It’s going to be a really beautiful practice facility,” Cunerty said. “That was always our goal.”

Add driving range: UC Irvine has been mulling the idea of an on-campus range for years, but it is still in the planning stages, according to Athletic Director Tom Ford.

The plan has expanded some recently, though. It might include a golf course when the proposal makes the rounds of various committees this fall.

Coming soon: For the last few years, the new golf courses--including Pelican Hill, Tijeras Creek and Tustin Ranch--have opened in South Orange County while there has been nothing new anywhere else.

But later next month, the north will have its new course to brag about.

The Cypress Golf Club, located next to Los Alamitos Race Course on Katella Avenue, is set to open Aug. 21.

It will offer a fine test for the golfer and his wallet. The cost is expected to be about $65 during the week, $90 on weekends.

The course has been constructed on top of Los Alamitos Golf Course, but about the only thing that remains of the old layout is a few trees.

Perry Dye, son of course designer Pete Dye, designed the course that will be a par 71 over about 6,500 yards. Tons of dirt were brought in to create hills and mounds over an otherwise flat area.

“We’re just waiting for the buffalo grass to grow in,” said Alan Andreasen, course superintendent. “The course is going to receive a lot of notice because of its spectacular look.”

Hole of the week: It is difficult to single out any of the back nine holes at Tijeras Creek in Rancho Santa Margarita, but the 17th seems to anger as many players as it delights.

Some find it unfair while others revel in the challenge it offers.

It’s a dogleg left, par four to an elevated green. Two fine shots are required to reach a green that yields few birdies.

The hole measures 399 yards from the championship tee. The major trouble off the tee is on the left side, where trees and a large bunker await the slightest mistake.

But there is no time to relax even after a solid drive. Now the golfer faces an iron shot that’s all carry to a two-tiered green. The green sits atop a hill, and the face is covered with stones.

Use at least an extra club because anything short is back down in the creek.

The good news: There’s only one hole left after it.