City Council to Debate Plans for Los Robles Links Repairs : Thousand Oaks: First step of proposed face-lift of aging public course is $80,000 assessment by consultant. But some are questioning the expense.

With 350 sets of golf shoes pounding across it every day, the sixth tee at Los Robles Golf Course has taken such a beating that the grounds crew recently had to move it back about 10 yards.

Wet spots from an aging, leaky sprinkler system pop up sporadically around the 18-hole municipal golf course. Inside the pro shop, a mysterious patch of soggy carpet suggests a plumbing problem somewhere in the 32-year-old building.

Los Robles, one of the most popular golf courses in Ventura County, is starting to show its age.

At tonight’s Thousand Oaks City Council meeting, council members will debate taking a first step toward a $3-million face-lift for the golf course by paying a consultant $80,000 to figure out what the course needs to enter the 21st Century.

The consultant, Halsey Daray Golf of San Diego County, will have six months to chat with golfers, the course staff and city officials and come up with a master plan. But the renovation will be a slow one; city officials readily admit the money isn’t there to pay for the project.

About 100,000 golfers tee off at Los Robles every year, bringing an annual net income of $200,000 to a golf course reserve fund, according to city Finance Director Bob Biery.

Over the years, $3 million had accumulated in the fund, intended for capital improvements at Los Robles. But that fund was tapped to offset construction costs for the $64-million Civic Arts Plaza and to fund the purchase of 346 acres of open space at Broome Ranch.

Biery said that by the time the consultant has finished the study, the city hopes to have sold off some of its excess properties--such as the old city hall on Hillcrest Drive--and be able to repay its own loan. Otherwise, “we would just make modifications to the loans,” Biery said. “Or we would try to identify some other funds” to use for Los Robles.

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Councilwoman Elois Zeanah expressed reservations about spending so much on a consultant, particularly since there is no cash available to pay for the repairs.

“This is a lot of money,” Zeanah said. “To pay this much, this has got to be a detailed report.”

Meanwhile, the sixth tee at Los Robles stays dry, the wet spots stay wet and the architecture of the snack bar stays mired in the 1970s.

Biery said the most urgent needs are fixing the deteriorating parking lot and the irrigation system. Other areas, such as the clubhouse and pro shop, are less crucial.

A full-time staff of 12 maintains the grounds, working from 5 a.m. to midafternoon tending the greens and keeping the sprinkler system functioning. Most of the pipes running underneath the greens are aging, rusting and prone to sprouting leaks, according to assistant manager Allan Saunders.

Whizzing across the course in a golf cart on Monday, Saunders pointed out some of the trouble spots. He stopped to demonstrate how his feet sink into one particularly squishy, muddy patch.

“The longer we wait, the more of these problems we’re going to have,” Saunders said. “To keep it looking as nice as it does is becoming more and more difficult.”

Although golfers may lose an occasional ball in the patches of mud, Saunders said his customers still seem pleased with the course overall.

One threesome chatting in the sun outside the snack bar after a round of golf had no complaints. Morris Binder and Milton Struman drive up to Thousand Oaks every few weeks from Encino to play a round with their friend, Simon Ross of Camarillo.

“I thought the course was in great shape,” Struman said. “What would they change?”

The three men did agree that the restaurant above the clubhouse could be more integrated into the grounds, perhaps by a more prominent entrance from the course. But like Zeanah, they were skeptical of a $80,000 study.

“Tell ‘em I’ll do it for $50,000,” Binder said.