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Weeds grow at Greg Norman golf course
| Thursday, Jun 26 2008 7:17 PM
Last Updated: Friday, Jun 27 2008 7:27 AM
If you were hoping to tee off at the Greg Norman-designed golf course at McAllister Ranch anytime soon, don’t hold your breath.
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June 1, 2006: Greg Norman hits a ceremonial opening shot while visiting the first four holes under construction. He autographs the club for later display in the clubhouse.
The course is expected to open for public play by mid-summer 2007.
March 7, 2007: Norman stops by to check progress.
“Everything is great, on budget, on time,” he says, adding construction would finish that June and the course would open in the fall.
Regarding working with developer SunCal, Norman says: “It’s married up very well and I think my branding adds some panache to the overall project.”
Sept. 13, 2007: Norman inspects the course, now seeded, and is reportedly pleased, a SunCal spokesman says.
The clubhouse should be finished by January 2008 and the course open by April 2008, SunCal representatives say.
Oct. 30, 2007: Genesis Golf Builders Inc., which built most of the course, files a mechanic’s lien alleging SunCal owes it for unpaid work; the lien later becomes a lawsuit seeking payment of more than $830,000. As months roll by, it becomes one of 60 or so such liens and lawsuits filed against the project with more than $14.4 million at stake.
February: Troon Golf, the Arizona company hired to manage the golf course, ends its relationship with the project.
April 22: A $235 million loan taken out by SunCal against the McAllister Ranch project defaults.
June: Maintenance of the course has been halted though watering continues. The clubhouse remains unfinished.
Source: Californian archives, Kern County Recorder, Kern County Superior Court
Photos:
Nothing was happening at McAllister Ranch and the Greg Norman golf course on Panama Lane in this June photo.
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Weeds, some taller than your wife, currently thrive in the fairways.
That’s because the course is not getting clipped much these days.
“The golf course is being watered at a maintenance level but it is not being groomed for course play at this time,” said Joe Aguirre, spokesman for Irvine-based SunCal Companies, the developer behind the financially strapped 6,000-home future community 15 miles southwest of downtown Bakersfield.
The course, which cost at least $8.3 million to build, court documents show, has been the highly touted centerpiece of the now-stalled housing development.
The influx of weeds is a setback, local greens experts say.
David James, longtime director of the Buena Vista and North Kern golf courses — until his upcoming retirement Monday — said removing weeds from fairways can be costly.
Depending on the time of year, weeds need to be pulled out and treated with an expensive chemical process, James said.
If greens aren’t being kept up that could also be a problem, James said, since the fragile grass is much like a carefully trained bonsai plant.
“If you let it grow wild, to take it back to dwarf size probably kills it,” he said.
Scott Furtak is among the few who have played the McAllister Ranch course.
“It was outstanding, a fantastic layout,” he said.
Furtak handles central California sales for Phoenix-headquartered Ewing, a national irrigation and golf services company, and played as part of an industry and VIP group.
He agreed weeds alone can mean costly renovation.
What’s more, he said, McAllister Ranch’s roughs feature native grasses that need regular upkeep.
“Without maintenance, those also would tend to become overgrown,” he said.
Both the housing project and the golf course have been swamped with millions of dollars worth of claims from unpaid construction companies in recent months, county filings show.
In April, SunCal defaulted on a $235 million loan against the site, located on the north side of Panama Lane west of Buena Vista Road.
The developer’s subsidiary for the project, LBREP/L-SunCal McAllister Ranch LLC, is still in default to New Jersey-based Lehman Commercial Paper Inc.
Aguirre said SunCal remains excited about the project and is in ongoing talks with the project’s investors and lender.
“SunCal remains committed to seeing that this community becomes a reality,” he said.
A message left for representatives of Greg Norman Golf Course Design in West Palm Beach, Fla., Thursday was not returned.
One trio of golfers had mixed feelings about the new course.
“We’d love to go out there and play it, but I don’t know if it will ever open,” said John Evans, who spoke by cell phone from the Sundale Golf Course Thursday afternoon. “A new course is always special.”
Mark Wetterholm had heard green fees would be high at McAllister Ranch. The slow economy means he’s choosing courses that are “safe on the wallet.”
Stu Sultze, meanwhile, said the opening has been delayed so long he hasn’t thought about the new course at all.
“It’s not even on my mind,” he said.