Pelican headed off course two years

Andrew Edwards

Pelican Hill Golf Club will close for about two years to make way for

construction of a planned luxury resort and minor redesign of the

courses by renowned designer Tom Fazio.

Fazio, who laid out the courses that are frequently ranked among

the nation’s top 100, likely will look at lengthening fairways and

repositioning greens, among other changes.

The Irvine Co. announced Thursday that major construction for the

Pelican Hill at Newport Coast resort is set to begin in September.

The hotel is scheduled to open in 2008.

Early plans for the resort, which call for a 204-room hotel, a

128-villa residence club, spa, restaurants and new golf clubhouse,

had involved closing only the club’s driving range. But construction

of a complex, underground, water-management system designed to use

cisterns to capture runoff that will be saved for watering made

closing the course necessary, as well.

Irvine Co. Investment Properties Group president Clarence Barker

said keeping the courses open while building the water system would

cause play to suffer.

“It meant that we were going to have closures of holes on the

course and fairways and disruption,” Barker said.

The runoff plan has the approval of Bob Caustin, founder of water

quality organization Defend the Bay. Caustin was displeased with the

Irvine Co.’s water plan for homes developed at Crystal Cove.

“I think it’s a very solid plan and should be utilized in every

development the Irvine Co. does,” Caustin said. “This is what they

should have done with Crystal Cove.”

Also new, Irvine Co. officials announced the company will manage

the resort itself.

The Irvine Co. declined to reveal how much has been budgeted for

the project. The Newport Beach-based firm typically does not discuss

cost figures.

“It’s just something we don’t do,” Barker said.

Hotel designs were inspired by the work of 16th century Italian

architect Andrea Palladio, Barker said. Renderings of the planned

resort show a building with Mediterranean-style arches with

Classical-era touches.

“I would not be the Palladio expert, but he’s considered

throughout the centuries one of the most accomplished architects,”

Barker said.

The Irvine Co. already owns two hotels -- the Four Seasons Hotel

Newport Beach and Hyatt Regency Irvine. Barker said his company

intends to market the hotel around the world as a high-end

destination.

Though the hotel will not open its doors for about three years,

Newport Beach Conference & Visitors Bureau Executive Director Marta

Hayden wants to start attracting event planners to Pelican Hill as

soon as possible.

“We’ll be starting to sell it now,” Hayden said.

For golfers with enough cash to afford the club’s green fees,

construction will mean a long wait while the courses and driving

range are offline. The driving range is scheduled to close July 31

and both of the club’s courses are set to shut down Nov. 30. Golf

facilities are expected to reopen in late 2007 after Fazio completes

his redesign -- what Irvine Co. officials noted is an unusual

opportunity for a designer to alter earlier work -- and the fairways

are redone with Bermuda grass.

On a weekend, standard reservations at the Pelican Hill Golf Club

cost $250. Because of the high cost, locals don’t often golf at

Pelican Hill, said Jim Pooler, owner of Cal’s Caddyshack in Costa

Mesa.

Closing the golf courses for two years will create “a tremendous

amount of wait” for golfers, Pooler said.

However, Pooler said locals will likely want to go back to Pelican

Hill after the courses reopen.

“When they’re finished, everyone will want to play them again,”

Pooler said.

* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. He can be

reached at (714) 966-4624 or by e-mail at andrew.edwards@latimes.com.