PRICE IS RIGHT : With a Weekday Greens Fee of $55, Westridge in La Habra Is a Good Deal

There is no doubt golfers will be skeptical about Westridge Golf Club, which opened last week in La Habra.

The course costs $55 during the week, including Fridays, so golfers accustomed to paying at least $20 more at other recently opened Orange County courses might wonder what the catch is.

There isn’t one.

The price goes up to only $75 on weekends and holidays, and officials from Environmental Golf, which built and runs the course, say there are no plans to increase rates in the near future.

Westridge is a challenging, well-designed par-72 layout that will bedevil even the best players in places.

The back nine, which has been ready to play for about a month, features several striking holes.

The front nine, parts of which were recently sodded because it was finished later, is raw in spots but will catch up with the back nine in a month or two.

Besides the lush look of the course, players will also notice the scorecard. The layout measures a modest 6,342 yards from the back tees, but the card suggests only players with handicaps of 11 or lower play from there. The slope rating is 134 from the back tees.

Players with handicaps of 12 or higher are asked to play the white tees, which measure 5,860 yards.

The course, designed by Damian Pascuzzo and Robert Muir Graves, offers a nice variety of holes, including the fourth, a downhill par four that plays 471 yards from the back tees and only five yards shorter from the regular tees.

The fairway is generous for about 220 yards then starts to narrow, thanks to a large lake on the left. The lake continues up to the green and will swallow many poorly struck second shots.

The hole, like most on this course, features a large green and plenty of rough, especially on the right side.

The rough at Westridge, about two inches in spots, will grab clubs but can also save players.

The rough can corral off-line shots and prevent them from ending up in adjoining fairways or any of the many environmentally sensitive areas.

The course is built on a hillside that used to be an oil field. But the ground was terraced so most of the holes play on rolling fairways instead of up and down hills.

“The straight ball works really, really well here,” Pascuzzo said. “Club selection is important here . . . and don’t try to imitate Tiger Woods.”

The back nine starts with a short par four--361 yards from the back tee--and the tee box is elevated. The 16th is another short par four (331 yards) but the landing area is narrow. The true delight of No. 16 is the second shot, which comes into a green protected on three sides by water and a bunker that fronts the right side.

The par threes are all solid but only the seventh is intimidating. That hole is 190 yards from the back. Most tee shots will be pushed right because of the large drop-off on the left side.

“If you miss the green left, then just hit another ball,” joked head professional Tom Arnold.

The pin placement will make all the difference on the 11th hole, which is 134 yards from the back. If the pin is on the left in the bowl section of the horizontal green then the hole is simple.

The challenge comes when the pin is on the right, where it is protected by front and back sand traps.

The hole yielded the course’s first hole-in-one Monday.

The par fives on the front nine--545 and 471 yards--offer no special challenges, but the two on the back nine are more interesting.

The 18th plays downhill and measures 509 yards. But a large bunker sits on the right and awaits players who are shying away from the lake that guards the front and right side of the green.

Curious golfers have kept the phones ringing constantly in the pro shop and the course has been booked solid from 7 a.m. to about 3 each day since it opened Saturday.

“We’re the new thing in town, so we’re just getting pounded,” Arnold said. “But it’s a great product at an affordable price.”

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Course Information

* Course: Westridge Golf Club

* Address: 1400 S. La Habra Hills Dr., La Habra

* Phone: (562) 690-4200

* Web site: https://www.westridgegolf.com

* Green fees (regular/twilight after 2 p.m.): Mon.-Fri.: $55/$35; Sat.-Sun.: $75/$45

* Carts: Included

* Par/Yardage: Par 72/6,342 blue, 5,860 white. Par 72/5,081 red