Non-Golfers Told Not to Stray Onto Rancho Santa Fe Course

Aiming to soften a standoff between golfers and others who use its famed golf course, Rancho Santa Fe’s governing board Thursday imposed new regulations on the use of the 1920s-era course, officials said.

The seven-member Rancho Santa Fe Assn. board decided that all non-golfers and their pets will be restricted from the course during normal hours of play--essentially from dawn to dusk.

“They said, basically, that, if the golf course is open, they shouldn’t be on it,” said Michael Meeker, assistant to the association’s manager.

The board stressed that horse and walking trails on the perimeter of the course may still be used and that the decision only applies to non-players who stray onto the golf course.

The new rules also state that non-members of Rancho Santa Fe Assn. will not be allowed on the golf course unless accompanied by a member. Golf course marshals have also been given the power to remove any unauthorized persons.

The board’s decision came after several golfers at the posh club complained that non-players were interrupting play by wandering onto the course. The prospect of non-players being hit by a golf ball also creates too much of a liability, the board said.

But many non-golfing Ranch residents who use the course to jog, walk dogs or ride horses complained that they had equal rights to use the area.

Richard Todd, a longtime resident who walks his dogs on the course each morning, said the new guidelines probably wouldn’t change much.

“Most people around here are against the golfers,” he said. “And the board just wanted to get this matter settled--because it’s all hokum. I don’t think anything is going to change around here.”