Strawberry Farms Starts to Grow

Continuing the building boom in upscale golf courses in Orange County, work began this month on Strawberry Farms Golf Club in Irvine.

But the developers, a partnership led by former Angel Doug DeCinces, say the course will be one of a kind when it opens for play late in 1997.

You won’t be able to play for much less than $100 on weekends--in that respect it will be similar to the rest of the top-of-the-line facilities--but they say its location makes it unique.

Set on county and Irvine Ranch Water District land, the course will be part of a greenbelt that extends from Mason Regional Park to the coastline.

The front nine is being built on land formerly occupied by a strawberry ranch. That history will be commemorated by the design of the course’s buildings. The clubhouse will look like an old-time farmhouse. The cart barn will look like, well, an actual red barn.

The back nine will sit in a canyon around the 35-acre Sand Canyon Reservoir. Hardy Strozier, one of the partners, said the natural look of the area will be preserved. The back nine might remind people of Tijeras Creek.

“You’ll think you’ve died and gone to heaven up there,” Strozier said. “There are 200-year-old sycamores, three natural streams that flow year round that we have designed the course around and huge rock outcroppings to set the tee boxes back into.

“It’s spectacular.”

The course, which is near Irvine’s Turtle Rock neighborhood, will not have any fairway homes. Construction is expected to take nine months to a year depending on the weather. After several months for grow-in, the course could be playable by this time next year.

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Architect search: DeCinces said he scoured the nation for the best person to design the course. After interviewing many of the top names in the business--including Jack Nicklaus’ and Arnold Palmer’s companies--and playing courses all over the country, DeCinces settled on Jim Lipe.

Lipe, a senior designer for Nicklaus’ company, also handles some projects of his own. DeCinces said Lipe’s skill outweighed his limited name-recognition.

“I kept going back to him,” DeCinces said, “He’s by far the best technician around.”

Lipe has drawn up plans for a 6,800-yard championship 18-hole layout and another nine holes that have yet to receive planning approval.

DeCinces said the course will provide a test but not a terrifying one. “We’re not interested in beating anybody up,” he said. “Golf is meant to be a pleasurable experience, but it has to be challenging.”

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Back to Q-school: Professional golf’s survival-of-the-fittest system, the tour qualifying tournaments, is winding down for 1996 and several local players are still in the running.

Dan Bateman of Huntington Beach, John Burckle of Aliso Viejo and Brad Greer of Huntington Beach are entered in the second stage of PGA Tour qualifying, which starts today at Desert Dunes Golf Club in Desert Hot Springs. They are in a field of 80 players vying for about 25 spots in the final stage Dec. 4-9.

The final, a grueling 108-hole tournament, will be played at La Purisima Golf Course in Lompoc and Sandpiper Golf Course in Goleta. The top 40 finishers there receive a ticket to the big time--a PGA Tour card. The next 70 are fully exempt on the Nike tour.

The Senior PGA Tour’s 72-hole final qualifying stage starts Tuesday in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Jay Hyon of Fullerton is the field of at least 108. The low 16 players will get full tour membership.

The LPGA had its final qualifying stage last month and Newport Harbor High graduate Cathy Mockett won one of the final spots to retain her LPGA tour card. Mockett, who finished 145th on the 1996 money list, shot one-under-par 287 at LPGA International in Daytona Beach. She won a five-way playoff for one of three remaining full-exempt spots.

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Golfopoly: Because many golf courses are on some of the most desired pieces of real estate in the world, its only fitting Monopoly has come out with an edition aimed at golfers.

The game was developed by USAOPOLY, which is in Cardiff. Pinehurst and Pebble Beach take the place of Park Place and Boardwalk as the most expensive pieces of real estate.

Spyglass Hill and Torrey Pines are also for sale as well as the publications Golf Digest and Golf World.

On the Community Chest cards, players can earn $100 for shooting their age, $20 for their first hole in one or pay $50 for tripping over a sand trap rake. Another change is that all the money has golf carts on it.

The company announced its has shipped more than 100,000 copies of the game to stores last week in hopes of cashing in on those looking for Christmas gifts.

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