Growth Driving Push for More Links in County : Recreation: While migration is helping fuel demand for golf courses, private clubs are finding times tougher.

Call it golf mania.

As it stands, there are seven public and private golf courses in eastern Ventura County. And there are plans for more--11 more, to be exact.

Golf experts say there is plenty of room for growth, citing the area’s close proximity to Los Angeles County, its comfortably cool climate and the high median income--about $45,000--of homeowners.

Population shifts are also driving the demand for more courses.

“As the stream of migration continues west into Ventura County, the need for more courses becomes evident,” concluded a 1992 study commissioned by the county. “This condition of growing golf demand is expected to continue for the next 20 years.”

Steve Rubenstein, executive director of the Thousand Oaks Chamber of Commerce, said he is not surprised at the large number of courses being proposed for eastern Ventura County.

“People in Southern California are suddenly discovering Ventura County as a very safe environment,” he said. “And golf is a sport that seems to keep growing.”

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Rubenstein said he welcomes the addition of new courses in the region because of the economic benefits they would bring.

“They’re very beneficial,” he said. “They bring a certain type of person, at a certain socioeconomic level, into the area.”

He credited the area’s existing golf courses with helping local businesses while promoting the county as a great place to live.

“When people come out they always stop at a restaurant either coming or going,” he said. “They also discover the area and they will do a lot of promoting for us by telling people, ‘I was in a real nice, safe and secure area.’ ”

Not all is well on the fairways, however.

While the three public courses in Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks accounted for more than 250,000 rounds of golf shot last year, private clubs in the same cities have been forced to slash their membership fees by half or more to attract new patrons.

And the future of the Wood Ranch Golf Club remains in limbo since its owner defaulted on a $15-million loan in 1992. The club, which has been taken over by Wells Fargo Bank, has stopped selling its $25,000 memberships until it can find a buyer.

“The private side of the market has totally collapsed,” said Blake Boyle, manager of the county Department of Recreation Services, which owns two public courses. “There’s not a lot of people with $40,000 in their pocket to play golf.”

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As a result, more of the “golfing elite” are now teeing off on public courses, where a round of golf can run as little as $12.

“A lot of the public courses are seeing more of the guy who was at the private club, but who is now having to cut back,” said Robert Meyer, director of Los Robles Golf Course in Thousand Oaks. “If you were a private club member, you may have been paying $500-a-month dues. But you may also be out trying to find a job.”

But Los Robles has always been busy, Meyer said. Situated along the Ventura Freeway, the 18-hole championship course averages more than 100,000 rounds a year. In 1991-92, nearly 115,000 rounds were shot there, making it one of the top 10 busiest public courses in the country.

To help control overcrowding, the city this year implemented a new fee structure and scheduling system to give more priority to residents.

Local players were issued golf cards that entitle them to a $3 discount during the week, and $5 on weekends. Residents are also allowed to make reservations eight days in advance, as opposed to seven for non-residents.

“But it’s still very hard to get on the course,” Meyer said, noting that there are 4,500 local card holders.

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Business is also good at two public courses in neighboring Simi Valley. Simi Hills averages about a 100,000 rounds a year, and Sinaloa Golf Course, a nine-hole facility, more than 50,000.

“If you do 70,000 rounds a year, you’re busy,” Meyer said. “All these public courses are doing plenty of play and could do more.”

Roger Revyrand, manager of Simi Hills, agreed.

“There is a great demand for golf out here,” Revyrand said. “I can see that just by how busy we are. I think there are enough golfers out here to support another course or two.”

But exactly how many new golf courses--whether public or private--the region can support remains in question.

Currently, there are plans for two new golf courses in Simi Valley that would be built as part of an exclusive community for seniors at the foot of Whiteface Mountain. One of the courses would be private and the other semiprivate.

In Thousand Oaks, there is a proposal to develop an 18-hole public course either at Hill Canyon in the Santa Rosa Valley or Broome Ranch at the southwestern edge of the city.

Neighbors of both sites, however, have come out strongly against the proposals because of environmental and traffic problems that could result from the project.

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But city officials defend the need for another course, which they say would have little impact on the environment while at the same time generate additional revenue to acquire and maintain more open space. They say a second public course is long overdue.

“I hear from golfers in the city all the time who want to know when we’re going to get another golf course,” Councilwoman Judy Lazar said. “They don’t want to hear that we’re working on it. They want to hear that we’re going to break ground.”

At the far eastern end of the county on the Ahmanson Ranch, two courses, including one public facility and one PGA tournament course, are also planned as part of a massive housing development.

And in Moorpark, which has no golf courses, there are proposals for six courses on the table--four of them tied to housing projects.

William Sherman, a San Rafael consultant who conducted the 1992 golf course study for the county, said it is doubtful that all of the courses being proposed will be built.

“First of all, there’s too many,” Sherman said. “There’s too much that would have to happen for them to all be built, especially if they are part of a residential development. . . . It’s not as easy to get a golf course built as it was 20 years ago.”

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Still, the potential for several new links is good, Sherman said. Currently, Ventura County has 21 golf courses, including 12 public facilities. Sherman’s 1992 study found that the region could absorb as many as seven additional public courses.

“Ventura County ranks very well” in terms of growth because of its location, size and affluence, Sherman said. “It has a lot of potential.”

Some developers, however, are proceeding cautiously with their plans. The Messenger Co., which initially proposed to build two golf courses as part of a 3,200-dwelling project in Moorpark, so far has applied to build only one.

“There are some questions as to whether a second course is viable with all the other courses being talked about,” said Gary Austin, vice president of Messenger. He said a state park agency has expressed interest in buying a portion of the land where the second course would be built.

Bollinger Construction Inc., a Westlake Village developer, could be the first to build new courses in Moorpark. The company has proposed to build two public links, including one that would be turned over to the city.

Jim Aguilera, director of community development, said the city is in the process of hiring a consultant to conduct a feasibility study of the two proposed courses, which could be operating within two years. He said the study would also include information on other links proposed in and around Moorpark.

“In the back of our minds, we’re concerned with who goes on-line first,” Aguilera said. “We want to know how many courses are being proposed (in the area) and how close they are to fruition.”

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Last month, developer Ralph Mahan proposed to build two 18-hole public courses on part of Happy Camp Regional Park just north of Moorpark. If built, county officials estimate the project could generate about $250,000 per year for the county Department of Recreation Services.

County and city officials agree that municipal golf courses can be good moneymakers. This year Simi Hills is expected to generate nearly $140,000 in net revenue, and Los Robles between $400,000 and $500,000.

Boyle said the county receives about $400,000 annually from leasing land for Soule Park Golf Course in Ojai and about $100,000 from Saticoy Regional Park Golf Course in Ventura.

Like Simi Hills and Los Robles, the two county courses are run by private firms. Boyle said private firms tend to provide better management and upkeep.

“Both of our courses operated at a loss when they were run by the county,” he said. “That goes to show you what private firms can do with public courses. It’s not so much that there is an increase in play, but that they are more efficiently run.”

Boyle said the county is looking at developing another public course. He said the Department of Recreation Services wants to contract with a private firm to build and operate a new course at Camarillo Regional Park.

While all agree on the demand for new golf courses, Boyle said the courses developed at the earliest possible date will have the best chance of economic success.

“It’s a matter of who builds first,” he said. “There may be 20 or 30 courses in the talking stage, but the market will determine how many actually get built.”

East County Golf Courses

There are currently 17 golf courses in eastern Ventura County, with proposals for 11 more.