Last Weekend at Los Alamitos : Golf Faithful Left Holding the Bag

Roland Sanders and Jim Craig met on the first tee at Los Alamitos Country Club 30 years ago. They have played golf together there just about every Saturday since.

But Saturday’s round was their last.

Los Alamitos Country Club, where golfers play against the backdrop of a quarter-horse farm and Los Alamitos Race Course, is scheduled to close at dusk today. It’s the latest chapter in the feud between the golfers, backed by the Cypress City Council, and the owners, Hollywood Park Realty Inc.

The owners, who also own the race track, wanted to close nine of the 18 holes for an industrial development, and in September the council approved the zoning for it. But the Men’s Club at Los Alamitos Country Club organized a petition drive to force a special election on the issue.

Before that could happen, however, two new members joined the City Council in November and swung the vote; the council unanimously decided to rescind the industrial zoning.

Then last month, with talks between the city and the owners still pending, Hollywood Park principal owner Marjorie L. Everett announced that nine holes would close anyway. No explanation was given to the city. A few days ago, golfers learned that Hollywood Park would close the entire golf course. Again, there was no explanation.

Future Appears Bleak

Employees have been telling people they don’t know how long the course will be closed. But many golfers who have played there for years predict that it will never reopen.

“It’s a shame,” Sanders, 78, said as he meticulously cleaned his spiked shoes in the parking lot. “This has been our home for 30 years. I don’t know what we’ll do now.”

Some of the regulars who had fought to keep it an 18-hole course were angry.

“She’s doing this strictly for spite,” said Men’s Club member John Geraci of La Mirada, referring to Everett. “You bet we’re angry.”

But the mood of most golfers Saturday, many unaware of the details of the dispute, was sadness.

“It’s sad to see any golf course close, not just this one,” said Keith Natzke of Huntington Beach. “There just aren’t enough courses around to keep up with the demand.”

Los Alamitos is not one of the top-rated courses in the county. It is a short, flat layout that plays to a par of just 66 (par at regulation 18-hole courses is 70 to 72.)

But it’s been a popular course since it opened in 1957. Jack Fleck, who won the U.S. Open in 1955, is one of its members. Because it’s one of the few courses in the north part of Orange County, play on it is steady, and it is always crowded on weekends.

Some golfers say they like the relaxed atmosphere. It has a huge driving range, the pro shop is a hangout for golfing buffs and the course also has a coffee shop and bar.

Larry and Pat Lansford, a Seal Beach couple who sat over coffee Saturday while awaiting their tee-off time, reflected fondly on the number of times they had enjoyed a weekend day on the links.

“We wanted to be here for sure this weekend,” Pat Lansford said. “This is the last hurrah.”

The Lansfords planned to return to the coffee shop after their round for a free farewell buffet courtesy of the management.

Mildred N. Vessels and her family sold the 300-acre race track, golf course and horse farm complex to Everett’s Hollywood Park Realty Inc. in 1984.

Hollywood Park quickly showed that its interest was in development, and that did not please Margaret Anderson, a new member of the Cypress City Council. Anderson is not a golfer, but she says golf is not the issue.

Need for Open Space

“Most people are more interested that the city maintain open spaces,” she said. “We don’t have enough open space as it is.”

Anderson said she and other council members were stunned when they learned recently that the 100-acre course would close.

A meeting between city officials and the owners had been scheduled for Wednesday. But city officials say they haven’t heard from Everett’s representatives whether the meeting is still on.

Golf course director Ray Swedo said he couldn’t comment, and referred questions to Hollywood Park officials, who couldn’t be reached for comment.

Council member Cornelius M. Coronado Jr. the most vigorous opponent of the Hollywood Park plans, urges the golfers not to give up.

“This fight is not over yet,” he said.

But Sanders, who drives to the course every week from Alhambra, was not optimistic Saturday.

“This course will never reopen,” he predicted.

One Last Cribbage Game

He and Craig, 66, who lives nearby in Los Alamitos, played a round with two other members of their 30-year-old foursome, Ralph Vecchi of Woodland Hills and Jack Dorman of Long Beach.

Then the two of them retired to the coffee shop. While other golfers watched the New York Jets-Cleveland Browns football game on a television above the bar, Sanders and Craig got out their cribbage board, as they often did, for a last match.

“We’re orphans,” Sanders said. “We’re looking into Green River (Golf Club off the Riverside Freeway) for next Saturday. But I don’t know where we’ll end up. We’d like to find someplace to play another 30 years.”

All tee offs at Los Alamitos Country Club are booked up for today until 2 p.m. After that, it’s first come, first served at a half price of $6.