MISSING LINKS: Thousand Oaks has some of...

MISSING LINKS: Thousand Oaks has some of Ventura County’s finest country clubs--North Ranch, Sherwood, and Sunset Hills--but only one public course, the heavily used Los Robles Golf Course. “It’s extremely crowded,” said John Byrd of Bogey Bob’s Golf Center. “Golf is increasing in popularity, and there’s not enough courses.” Tonight, the City Council will discuss building a second public course (B6). . . . The county’s golf hot spot: along the Santa Clara River between Ventura and Oxnard, where three courses provide nearly 280,000 rounds a year.

GRAND VACANCY: With barely two weeks to go before the start of the Ventura County Fair, organizers have yet to find a grand marshal to reign on their parade. “Usually it’s done way back in May, but this year it kind of got overlooked,” said fair spokeswoman Teri Raley. . . . Last week, the fair board agreed on a candidate, but there’s been no word on whether the offer was accepted. Non-humans are eligible: Past marshals include the famed Camarillo White Horses.

PART-TIMERS: There’s a middle ground between locking up the mentally ill and turning them loose: partial hospitalization, where patients go home at night and practice what they’ve learned at the treatment center (E1). “It allows longer-term care at less expense,” said Lynn Matthews of Ventura’s CPC Vista Del Mar Hospital. . . . Outpatient treatment is used for addiction, depression, even schizophrenia.

PATTER UP: When he returned to his KVEN microphone Monday after seven weeks’ convalescence, Frank Haines expected an easy day. Then the Dodgers were rained out. Instead of providing a few minutes’ chatter after baseball, Haines had to fill three hours. “For a million dollars a year, you’d think they could play in the rain,” Haines fumed. . . . The 60-year-old talk show host had part of one leg amputated, the latest complication in his lifelong battle with polio. He opened Monday’s show with a tirade on hospital food.

Teeing Off

Ventura County’s busiest golf courses: Course: Rounds per year Olivas Park: 120,000 Simi Hills: 100,000 Los Robles: 99,818 Soule Park: 93,600 Camarillo Springs: 91,000 Buenaventura: 90,000 River Ridge: 69,772 Source: Course operators