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 Ashwood Golf Course is an executive layout with three distinct nines. Find more time for golf and pay less to play Mark Umphreyville, general manager of Rancho Carlsbad Golf Course, said smaller properties like his are thriving because they take less time and are generally more affordable than regulation courses. “Everyone’s pressed for time these days, from busy families to businesspeople,” he said. “You can play 18 holes here in two-and-a-half hours.” A weekend round at Rancho Carlsbad will cost a non-riding player a buck a hole. Umphreyville said greens fees will remain affordable even after a long-anticipated redesign and reconstruction begins this summer. It usually takes about 90 minutes to play The Links at Terranea, a nine-hole, par-3 course at Terranea Resort on the Rancho Palos Verdes Peninsula. “There’s a huge fight for customers within the golf industry because a regulation-length course can take five hours to play. Here, you can come after work and still have time to play nine holes,” said Evan Sales, PGA head golf professional at Terranea. “And this is a little more unique than a lot of par-3 courses. It’s very challenging — in fact, 3-under par is the course record. It’s a good test for a good golfer.” The Big Easy at Tustin Ranch Golf Club is a shorter and more affordable version of the regulation-length course, set up as two distinct nine-hole tracks. Morning rounds begin on the back nine, while late-afternoon and early-evening tee times shift to the front nine. Adults pay $26 weekdays and $28 weekends and holidays. Juniors pay $18 and $17, respectively. “The Big Easy offers golfers, especially families, a great opportunity to be able to play a high-end, daily-fee course at a very minimal cost,” said PGA head professional Cameron Carr. Playing as a family helps juniors build confidence “We see fathers with their sons and mothers with their daughters getting to play rounds from the same tees,” Carr said. “The concept for us is to have it for beginning golfers — kids who aren’t hitting as far — and have their parents be involved.” Encouraging junior development at the new par-3 North Course at Shadow Hills Golf Club in Indio are specially marked forward tees. The PGA Family Tee Markers are “really critical to allowing kids to have success on a golf course,” said Lance Merrihew, regional marketing director for Billy Casper Golf, which manages Shadow Hills. Have more fun and find your social swing Shorter courses are the ideal setting for golfers “who enjoy the social fabric of the game,” Merrihew noted. “Playing a long course typically means not interacting with your playing partners until you all meet back at the green,” he said. “Here you can walk together most of the round and be close to the people you’re playing with.” Carr said frequent Big Easy players are groups of friends looking to “sneak in a round” and employees taking part in team-building events. At Birch Hills, you can play golf under the stars. Golfers use glow-in-the-dark balls to play a nine-hole shotgun tournament held on the last Saturday of the month. They hit from tees and navigate fairways and greens illuminated by glow sticks. Before heading out into the good night, players fuel up with a hamburger-and-hotdog barbecue dinner before the 8:15 start. Smith said the “friendship factor” is in constant play at Ashwood, where members of two men’s clubs, a women’s club and a coed club tee off for early-morning rounds nearly every day of the week. ALSO SEE: Directory of top par-3 and executive golf courses in Southern California |
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