New game on for two courses

Ron Murphy plays the first hole at Verdugo. The city is negotiating to buy the Verdugo Hills Golf Course in Tujunga and the Weddington Golf Course in Studio City, using revenue from Proposition O.Tujunga, CA 5-27-2011. (John McCoy/Staff Photographer)

Ron Murphy stepped up to the No. 1 tee on Friday for his first-ever round at Verdugo Hills Golf Course.

Only 65 yards to the pin, he went for some heavy wood.

"Hit that sucker right - now I know where the tree is," said Murphy, 53, of North Hollywood, his ball careening off a sturdy oak, then bouncing onto the fairway. "Story of my life.

"For the amount of money they ask you to play 18 holes, this is one beautiful place."

For a half-century, duffers and their kids have learned to play golf at the Tujunga short course located at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains.

Across the San Fernando Valley, generations of golfers have also made the rounds at the 9-hole Weddington Golf & Tennis facility in Studio City.

In the past decade, both historic courses have been threatened by development. And proposals at both venues have been bitterly fought by neighbors hoping to protect parks, open space and native habitat.

Now City Councilman Paul Krekorian has hatched a plan to save both golf courses - and catch, clean and store stormwater runoff.

Last week, Krekorian called on a clean-water bond program to buy both properties to create a Verdugo Hills Stormwater Project and a Los Angeles River Natural Park.

"Preserving these two pieces of open space

in a way that would become an asset to the city are among my highest priorities," said Krekorian, whose sprawling District 2 encompasses both golf courses.

"They present, really, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a model for environmental protection, and create a transformative (space) for the people of this community."

Proposition O bonds, approved seven years ago by Los Angeles voters, allow the city to spend $500 million to improve local water quality to federal clean water standards.

It has funded projects to reduce flooding, protect the ocean and use local parks to capture polluted stormwater, then naturally clean and store it underground.

Eco-benefits expected

Since its inception, however, only four Proposition O projects have been conducted in the Valley, including a $2.2million wetlands restoration at Hansen Dam Recreation Area.

Krekorian said city sanitation engineers will soon submit a report on the cost and eco-benefits of the proposed golf course-stormwater collection parks.

A preliminary study said they would recharge the aquifer with hundreds of acre-feet of water a year.

The report will be submitted to a Proposition O Citizens Oversight Advisory Committee, which must approve the parks.

Their cost would depend on a negotiated price for both properties.

Buying the golf courses - which could run into the tens of millions - could be funded by Proposition O bonds and other government funds, Krekorian said.

The golf course parks would be owned by the city or a joint powers agreement agency, he said.

"Both projects preserve some of the recreational aspects that are there now, and will preserve open space, capture stormwater, recharge groundwater and protect native habitat," Krekorian said.

"People will look back 50 years from now and say how wonderful it was that we saved these parks."

Controversy has plagued plans to develop each golf course.

Condos opposed in past

The fight over the formerly named Studio City Golf & Tennis Club erupted a decade ago over a plan to build 200 condominiums for seniors.

Backers of a nature park have opposed the condos, saying they would cause congestion around one of the last chunks of rustic L.A. River land.

The family that has owned the club for a century, however, said it still plans to build the four-story condos. And its representative said he'd never even heard about the Proposition O plan.

"It's enough to drive you crazy," said Guy Weddington McCreary, whose family owns the 16-acre golf and tennis complex. "It just seems unreal to me.

"How can they say they can come up with the money to buy my land and build a park when parks are closing everywhere? It's like stealing from Peter to pay Paul."

McCreary said he'd consider selling the Whitsett Avenue complex for $60 million.

It was in 2004 that MWH Development/Snowball West Investments bought the Verdugo Hills Golf Course, then submitted plans to replace it with 229 homes.

Neighbors bitterly fought the demise of the 58-acre golf course, the site of a former waystation during World War II for interned Japanese-Americans.

Residents hail water plan

Without a zoning variance, the developer could build just 16 homes. MWH Development, which had paid $7.6 million, has reportedly placed a value of up to $20 million for property on La Tuna Canyon Road.

The Tarzana-based company did not return calls Friday.

Meanwhile, residents hailed the Proposition O proposal.

"It's the first really bright sign to possibly get the funding," said Karen Keehne Zimmerman of the Save the Golf Course coalition. "This would definitely be a win-win - not only saving the golf course, but saving water."

Across the verdant course within earshot of the 210 Freeway, golfers made their rounds or teed off from its driving range.

They said the Verdugo Hills Golf Course, which opened in 1961, costs $10 for 18 holes. As such, it's one of the few affordable courses in the region open to everyone, including kids.

"It's a must for the community to keep, because there's nothing close," said Dick Saatzer, 78, of La Ca ada Flintridge, who once managed it, before launching a golf ball 225 yards. "This is regular folks."

"This is a landmark," added Darrel McHenry, 76, of Sunland, who plays the 3-par, 1,789-yard course every day. "Condos would ruin it.

"This looks good, and people around here like it."

Source: http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_18159587?source=rss

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