Almost curtain time

Richard Dunn

Among the most storied golf clubs in Orange County, Mesa Verde

Country Club is experiencing its greatest transformation since

opening in January 1959 -- a new clubhouse facility, complete with

gourmet bistros, locker rooms, card rooms, pro shop and offices.

Club members and staffers have been anxiously awaiting the

unveiling of the anticipated, $7-million clubhouse remodeling. From a

distance, it looks like a modern castle. Mesa Verde General Manager

Kim Porter said the clubhouse is expected to open the first week of

February.

“When the clubhouse is rebuilt, it’s going to be an absolutely

primo place to be,” longtime Mesa Verde member and six-time women’s

club champion Natalie King once said. “It’s already a primo place,

but with the new clubhouse it should be really great.”

The same architectural firm (Marsh & Associates) that built the

clubhouse at The Bridges at Rancho Santa Fe, an exclusive club with

reportedly a $250,000 initiation fee, is reconstructing the Mesa

Verde clubhouse.

Mesa Verde has always resonated as a picturesque coastal Orange

County country club with one of the most refreshing natural elements

in the history of mankind -- a cool ocean breeze -- but its most

renowned legacy comes from having hosted a county-leading 12

professional golf tournaments from the PGA Tour, Champions Tour

(formerly the Senior PGA Tour) and LPGA Tour.

The tree-lined, 6,726-yard golf course with narrow fairways and

plenty of teeth has also played host to a U.S. Open Regional

Qualifier (1973), the U.S. Junior Girls Championship (‘93) and the

Junior Girls America’s Cup (2001).

The course proved challenging for the LPGA Tour players during the

Kemper Open (1979-’81) and Uniden Invitational (1984-’86). In the

first Kemper Open, Joanne Carner won a five-way playoff with an

aggregate score of 2-over-par. Despite having almost all of the top

30 money leaders competing each year, no pro broke par for the entire

four-day tournament for any of the three Kemper Opens or the first

Uniden Invitational. In 1985 and ‘86, the LPGA Tour increased par

from 71 to 72, resulting in the first under-par winners.

But perhaps Mesa Verde’s great unknown legacy is the land upon

which it was built by designer Billy Bell in 1958. The land was once

inhabited by an ancient civilization of Indians and later became part

of the great Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana. Father Junipero Serra

visited the area, enjoying a welcome retreat from his journeys. The

small adobe casita he occupied still stands on a lofty knoll a short

distance away from the golf course.

In more recent times, the Schroeder family bought 147 acres to

farm on the land in 1953, growing sweet potatoes, lima beans and

paprika on the rich soil now covered by the lush fairways and greens.

One of the family farmhouses was located on Gisler Street, near what

is now the 12th hole, and the club still uses its original well.

In 1956, the Schroeder’s sold a portion of their property to

Adolph Slecta, an investor who worked with two real estate

developers. Their plans to build houses were thwarted by problems

with terrain and utilities, leading Slecta to fund the construction

of Mesa Verde Country Club instead.

Slecta later sold the club to Ray Watt Enterprises, a subsidiary

of Boise Cascade, who in turn sold it to Japan Golf Promotions. Club

members purchased the club from the latter in October 1975 and it has

been an equity-owned club since.