GOLF / FRED ROBLEDO : The Secret of Sea-Aire Revealed

One of golf’s best-kept secrets is tucked in a corner in Torrance, just a couple of miles from the Pacific Ocean.

This is a course where you don’t need reservations, and, as it understates on the bottom of the score card, the rates are reasonable. Very reasonable.

Just show up with $3 ($2.50 for Torrance residents), a wedge, a putter and a golf ball.

Welcome to Sea-Aire, a nine-hole par-three course that is never going to be found among the top 10 courses in California or any picturesque travel section.

It’s never going to win any awards for amenities because there are none. This is strictly a no-frills course.

No driving range, no locker rooms, no pro shop, not even a club pro. Just a starter who collects the modest fees and encourages golfers to keep play moving.

“We do sell a few golf balls and rent clubs out,” says Ken Klossner, one of the starters. “We don’t have a large selection of clubs--maybe a dozen or so--but you only need two or three.”

The limit is three clubs, including the putter, so no golf bag is required.

Slope rating? Not on this course. Course record? Such things aren’t kept, but Leo Fahey, 81, one of the course regulars, recalls that a golfer once shot a 21.

“I probably hold the record for my age group with a 22,” he said.

Fahey, who plays the course several times a week, along with his wife, Evelyn, also believes he has the course record for hole-in-ones. He estimates he has 15. Evelyn has seven.

One of Fahey’s favorite vantage points is from the sixth green. From there--the highest point on the hilly course--Fahey can see the entire 618-yard layout, including the two bunkers.

“I know it doesn’t look like much of a golf course, but it is and it’s a lot tougher than people realize,” he said.

The course can be difficult because the greens are small (some are no more than seven yards wide or 10 yards long) and the thick Kikuyu grass on the fairway makes it difficult to play bump-and-run shots.

The first hole is the shortest, about 35 yards. A temporary green is in use because too many golfers were hitting shots over a fence behind the regular green and onto the grounds of an elementary school.

The longest hole is the fifth, which is 90 yards. It plays longer because the layout is uphill.

Several protective fences on the course’s perimeter protect surrounding homes.

“There’s always going to be a few balls that land on some houses, but that’s what happens when you live so close to a golf course,” Fahey said.

Although the course is perfect for senior citizens who like to stay active, it is also great to sharpen a short game.

A 60- or 70-yard shot can be difficult on a regular course because it usually means less than a full swing. It’s even more difficult at Sea-Aire because the greens are small.

“Many of the seniors who play here become very good around the greens when they go to a regular course,” Fahey said. “They have to be better. They learn to play to these small greens, then have no problem on large greens. These greens are not that easy to putt, either, because of the speed and the slopes on some of them.”

Conrad Wilson, the greenskeeper, says he has to keep the greens at a fair speed because they can get out of control.

“I could make them so fast a missed putt would roll right off the green,” he said. “I like to keep them fast enough to challenge the players, but slow enough to make it fair.”

Steve Jacobson isn’t too concerned about the speed of the greens. He likes the course because he can teach his son, Tyler, 5, how to play.

“I cut down some clubs for him and he swings them pretty well,” Jacobson said.

During the week when the course is not crowded, a golfer can play several rounds in two or three hours.

Some players have completed a round in less than 20 minutes.

“I was just closing up one day, when a couple of kids from the high school showed up and said they wanted to get in a quick practice round,” Klossner said. “I told them it would have to be quick because I was getting ready to leave. It was no problem for them. By the time I did what little I had to do, they were around the course. They probably played it in about 15 minutes.”

Notes

Sea-Aire greenskeeper Conrad Wilson is trying to start a junior program at the course this summer. Information: Wilson at (310) 316-9779. . . . Pete Wilman of Manhattan Beach is the defending champion of the 76th Los Angeles City Men’s Golf Championship and Handicap tournament, which will be played June 19-20 and 26-27 at Griffith and Rancho Park courses. Wilman won last year’s title in a playoff over Corby Segal of Burbank. The deadline to enter the tournament is June 12. Information: 213-660-2153. . . . The $100,000 Queen Mary tournament is under way at Lakewood Country Club. The 72-hole event ends Saturday, a day earlier than in past years. . . . The Amateur Golfers Assn. of America, which sponsors tournaments for golfers with an index ranging from 0-4.9 for the low flight to 17 and above for the high flight, will have events at Los Verdes on June 25, Calabasas on June 28 and Malibu on July 9. There are three flights for women and four flights for senior citizens. Information: 800-696-2930.