The Escondido, Calif., property is undergoing a $6.2 million renovation, shortening from 6,264 yards to 4,943 yards, using money supplied by the Metropolitan Water District’s turf removal program. When the property reopens in early spring, it will be renamed Boulder Oaks.
Meadow Lake Golf Club in Escondido, Calif., is undergoing a $6.2 million renovation that includes a name change to Boulder Oaks, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
When Meadow Lake shut down in July for the renovation, using money supplied by the Metropolitan Water District’s turf removal program, it was a par-72, 6,264-yard golf course from the blue tees. When Boulders Oaks opens, with a target date sometime in the early spring, it will be as a par-70 track that spans only 4,943 yards from the blue tees, the Union-Tribune reported.
Farthest back are the black tees at 5,726—1,900 yards shorter than from where the pros play on the Torrey Pines South Course. The yardage is 4,377 from the whites and 3,774 from the forward golds, the Union-Tribune reported.
Three holes have been eliminated, three added, and there is significantly less grass, with about 70 acres removed from a previous total of 140, according to project architect Dave Fleming, the East County resident who recently performed two other turf removal efforts in the county at Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club and Carmel Mountain Ranch Country Club, the Union-Tribune reported.
Fleming acknowledges that Boulder Oaks will not be for everybody, but hopes it will appeal to the average golfer who wants something other than a steady beating about the head and shoulders. He calls it the “beginners and elders” approach, the Union-Tribune reported.
“I don’t enjoy a golf course that’s 7,000 yards,” Fleming, 70, said. “I have a regular foursome, and when I got out to play I want to have fun. We’ve got scoring opportunities all around this golf course. It’s going to be a great course for kids and for the older, retired people. It’s a golf course very suited to that community up there.”
Opened in 1965, Meadow Lake has long been the centerpiece of the Hidden Meadows development. In the more recent times of economic downturn and water issues, the course had become a faint image of its former self. Reviewers online routinely complained about its poor condition. Then came the MWD turf rebates, and owner Peter Kim saw the opportunity to revitalize the facility. General manager Rex Choe has overseen the work, the Union-Tribune reported.
“When we open again, conditions and service will be very important,” said Choe.
The course itself will ultimately define the appeal, and golfers who played Meadow Lake before will recognize some big changes. The first three holes of the old back nine—including two that were across the road—were eliminated. That meant squeezing three holes into the rest of the land, and the result is two new par-3s and a driveable par-4 (No. 6) that features a bunker near the green with a large boulder in the middle of it, the Union-Tribune reported.
Among the most positive changes was the shortening of the old 18th (now No. 7) to eliminate a blind second shot on the former par-5. The finishing hole is formerly the picturesque, par-5 ninth. The bunkers are now filled with striking white sand, and the areas where grass was removed have been replaced with decomposed granite and redwood shavings known as “gorilla hair.” Wildflowers and manzanita bushes have been added to provide character and color, the Union-Tribune reported.
The recent heavy rains played havoc with some of the newly finished work, with some water flow washing sand out of bunkers and moving in onto adjacent fairways. The damage in some areas was significant, pushing the re-opening back to an undetermined date, the Union-Tribune reported.
Kim, the owner, is anxious to open the course and recoup the lost green fees from the last six months. But the hope here is that he allows enough grow-in time to do the renovation justice and not turn off those who want to try an old course made new, the Union-Tribune reported.
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