Los Coyotes Is Slowly Getting Back in Shape

Los Coyotes Country Club, a one-time county gem that slipped into mediocrity, is undergoing an overhaul in hopes of returning to the elite of Southern California courses.

The revitalization project includes rebuilding the tee boxes, improving the turf quality of the fairways, eradication of weeds and meticulous manicuring of the greens.

It started last July with the reopening of the Lake nine, one of three sets of nine holes at Los Coyotes. The Lake nine, built on an old waste dump site, was shut down in 1985 because of environmental safety issues.

The project will culminate in mid-2002 with the opening of a new 61,000 square-foot clubhouse.

“We’re on a long-range program to get the course back to where it should be,” General Manager Peter Pino said. “We were the king of the hill at one time, now were trying to get our respect back.”

The project is close to Pino’s heart. He started at Los Coyotes as a bartender in 1957, moved up to restaurant manager and was eventually hired as general manager in 1962.

He left in 1970 for a job at Friendly Hills Country Club and has been general manager at Los Angeles Country Club, Industry Hills Golf Club and Riviera Country Club. Pino was set to retire in late 1998 when he heard about Los Coyotes.

“I was hearing a lot of negative things about the course,” Pino said. “It was very disappointing to me so I jumped at the chance to be here.”

One of Pino’s first moves was to bring in superintendent Dan Vasquez, who helped Pino redo the greens at Riviera after the highly publicized debacle at the 1995 PGA Championship.

In its heyday, Los Coyotes was the site of numerous high-profile events, including an LPGA Tour event in the early 1990s. Through the mid-1990s, however, the course condition slowly deteriorated.

“It was terrible,” Pino said. “It was in really bad shape.”

Head professional Brad Shupe, who has been at Los Coyotes for 11 years, recalls hearing complaints about uneven tee boxes, choppy greens and hacked up fairways.

“The standard comment I’d hear was: ‘It’s a great course, too bad it’s not in better condition,’ ” Shupe said. “That was something I’d hear almost daily.”

Membership numbers began slipping and that prompted a call to Pino. So far, nine tees have been rebuilt and the greens have smoothed from a six or seven to a 10 or 11 on the stimpmeter, a device used to measure the speed of greens. Shupe has heard nothing but praise.

“Dan Vasquez has the greenest thumb I know of,” Shupe said. “I can’t remember the last time I got a complaint.”

Pino regularly rides the course to inspect its quality and oversee the progress. The quality is good enough for television. Tiger Woods, who played Los Coyotes when he attended Western High, has filmed three commercials at Los Coyotes. One is a car commercial in which Woods knocks over a television tower with a shot from the fairway.

The current clubhouse, about 30,000 square feet, is the second at Los Coyotes. The original clubhouse burned down in 1962 when a fire started during--of all things--a fireman’s tournament.

The new clubhouse will include separate member and banquet dining facilities, a pro shop and a fitness center. It will also house the club’s administrative offices, which are separate from the current clubhouse.

“The current building has seen its best years,” Pino said. “It’s a little run down.”