Grass Is in Player’s Range at Oak Creek Center

Most golfers have learned to tolerate the plastic mats offered at the typical driving range. But hitting balls off a synthetic surface has always seemed so . . . artificial.

If given the choice, many would practice on the real stuff. There are places you can do that in Orange County, but none is as impressive as the Oak Creek Practice and Teaching Center in Irvine.

The center opened Saturday, about a month before the rest of the county’s newest upscale public course is up and running, and about 2,000 stopped by to get a first look.

They saw an expansive range with 75 grass hitting stations.

The range is more than two football fields wide and has seven greens surrounded by fairways that look as nice as any country club from Los Coyotes to Coto de Caza.

Each day a board will provide exact distances to the pins thanks to a laser measuring system.

“I don’t think you are going to find any range nicer than this in Orange County,” said Perry Hallmeyer, head professional. “The nicest thing is you are hitting off grass.”

The main problem with grass ranges is they turn to dirt if not properly maintained. But this practice center was built with a tee area about 50 yards deep, making it possible to start the day with unmarred turf.

Glenn Deck, director of instruction, said only on rare occasions will they not be able to hit off the grass. “Unless there are extreme weather conditions,” Deck said, “I don’t think we will ever have to hit off mats.”

Prices for range balls are $5 for a bag of about 45 and $9 for 90, which is slightly cheaper than the range at Pelican Hill and the cost to hit off grass at MacArthur Place Golf Practice Center.

Deck, also the director of instruction at Pelican Hill, said the Oak Creek range will be more community oriented than Pelican Hill, which is used a lot by tourists and those on corporate golf trips. Deck expects Oak Creek to be a comfortable place for juniors, women and beginners to work on their games.

The teaching staff includes Deck, the 1996 Southern California PGA teacher of the year, Ed Harrigfeld, a pro from Pelican Hill, Jim Petralia, ranked by Golf Magazine as one of the top 100 instructors in the nation, and Blakney Boggs, a PGA and LPGA teaching pro.

Half-day schools to work on your full swing or short game are offered for $150. A less expensive option is an hourlong clinic for $20. Clinics, with a maximum student-teacher ratio of 6 to 1, are offered in iron play, wood play, bunker play, putting, chipping and pitching. Separate clinics for juniors and women are also available.

The range is open from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. The entrance is on Irvine Center Drive near its intersection with Jeffrey Road.

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The driving range at Oak Creek is impressive, but the property’s true showpiece is the 18-hole course, which is scheduled to open Sept. 27.

The course, designed by Tom Fazio who also has both courses at Pelican Hill on his resume, is in its final stages of maturing.

Fifteen of the holes were seeded with Bermuda grass and the others sodded. The last sod was put down six weeks ago.

“The Irvine Company wants it to look like it’s 10 years old the day it opens,” said Joe Black, president of Western Golf Properties, which built and will run the facility.

The course appears older thanks in part to large eucalyptus trees that once served as a windbreak for orange groves that once were here.

An army of up to 20 earth movers moved the dirt around so that the once level ground now is covered by gentle hills and mounds designed to give each hole a feeling of isolation.

The par-71 layout ranges in yardage from 6,827 at the back tees to 6,141 from the middle tees and 5,606 yards at the forward tees.

Although it can play long, the course is plenty forgiving thanks to wide fairways and plenty of room behind or to at least one side of most greens.

The most dramatic use of the eucalyptus trees is on the 18th hole, a par four that is 457 yards from the back tees and 401 from the middle tees.

The trees run perpendicular to the fairway near the landing area for most tee shots thus creating the feeling the hitting through goal posts.

“The course has a very dramatic look to it,” Black said. “But it should play easier than that.”

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The big money question: Another dramatic aspect of the course is the cost. The standard rates for reservations made six or fewer days in advance are: $75 Monday and Tuesday; $85 Wednesday and Thursday and $100 Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Add $20 onto each rate for reservations made seven to 14 days in advance.

But there is at least a divot of good news as well. Seniors (55 and older) get a break if they are willing to play between 6:30 and 8 a.m. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The cost is $50.

Notes

MacArthur Place Golf Practice Center is holding a “Golf Expo” Saturday, featuring a long-drive exhibition by Gerry James. The center, off the Costa Mesa Freeway at MacArthur Boulevard, is offering free clinics from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Orange County Golf Notebook runs weekly during the summer. Readers are encouraged to suggest items. Call (714) 966-5904, fax (714) 966-5663 or e-mail Martin.Beck@latimes.com

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County Drives

Here is a look at the features that make one golf hole in Orange County stand out:

Course: Willowick Golf Course, 3017 W. Fifth St., Santa Ana, (714) 554-0672.

Hole: No. 16

Length: 270, 286 yards

Description: This short dogleg-left par four is one of the quirkier holes on this heavily used public course. The well-bunkered green is reachable for longer hitters, but you have to play a serious hook (for right-handers) because of the high chain-link barrier running partway down the fairway’s left edge.

Hint: The safe play is to aim your tee shot short of the large eucalyptus tree, leaving a short-iron shot to the green.

Quote: “If you are playing from the back tees, you almost assuredly have to lay up, although my crazy cousins almost always go for it and invariably make it.”--Christine Donovan, general manager