Judge Upholds Tee-Off Rights of Seasonal Visitors : Leisure World: The community’s board wants to ‘start the healing process,’ but homeowners may appeal.

In a case that pitted retired golfer against retired golfer, a Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday that homeowners at Leisure World in Laguna Hills cannot receive preferential tee-off times over seasonal visitors who flock to the retirement community’s golf courses.

Dismissing a lawsuit brought by a group of homeowners, Judge Randell L. Wilkinson ruled that Leisure World’s governing body--the Golden Rain Foundation--had the legal authority to make rules and regulations for the community’s three nine-hole golf courses.

The ruling squelched a legal effort by the Leisure World homeowners to challenge the foundation’s decision to allow seasonal out-of-town visitors the same courtesies as homeowners.

Of late, the lawsuit has been the most debated topic at the sprawling retirement community of more than 21,000 residents.

Many homeowners complain that “snowbirds” and “sunbirds” who flee cold northern winters and the sizzling desert sun flock to Leisure World and crowd the golf courses. As a result, the homeowners say they cannot play regularly because they have to compete for playing times with the temporary residents.

Some homeowners were dejected after the judge’s decision.

“I’m terribly disappointed,” said Charles B. Hellmann, the top men’s golfer at Leisure World for the last two years. “I really believe that we have some property rights and the snowbirds and sunbirds don’t because they don’t own anything here.”

But members of the Golden Rain Foundation’s board of directors said that they were happy about the decision and hoped that the matter was finally resolved.

“It’s unfortunate that we had to go through this litigation,” said Alex T. Gunster, the foundation’s president. “It’s been a divisive issue in our community, but we are pleased with the results. Now, we have to start the healing process.”

A standing-room-only crowd of Leisure World retirees packed the courtroom Wednesday to listen to the hearing.

George West, an attorney representing the homeowners, contended that Leisure World’s permanent residents are a “special class of people” who invested their money at the retirement community with the thought that it would be their “permanent residence.”

The homeowners simply wanted to exercise their property rights so they could play golf in the morning and “take their afternoon nap a few hours later,” he said.

Members of the Concerned Owner Residents Committee, which has confronted the foundation on the issue, will meet soon to decide whether they will appeal, according to A.J. Bernhardt, a former Los Angeles court commissioner and leader of the homeowners group.

West, however, was urging the homeowners to fight on, saying “the issues are so basic that we have to appeal.”

But the retirement community’s board of directors remains hopeful the issue can be put to rest.

“We cannot set up a divisive caste system on the golf course,” said Douglas W. Abendroth, the Golden Rain Foundation’s attorney. “This us-versus-them mentality is contrary to the whole community spirit of Leisure World.”