GOLF:

Usually, I would be the first person to raise the bayonet against a rate increase at a golf course.

It was I who railed against golf courses in Orange County charging $100 or more on the weekends in the early 2000s. It was ridiculous, but it was supply and demand and the golf courses could charge those fees.

When the Inland Empire started to build similar courses and charge half the price, it brought a smile to my face, knowing that overpriced, overrated courses in Orange County were getting a little golf karma.

But when I ran into a group of golfers at Costa Mesa Golf & Country Club sitting at a table complaining about the recent rate increase, I couldn’t help but force my opinion on them.

I asked them when the last time they had a rate increase at either the Mesa Linda or Los Lagos courses and no one there even came close.

One guy said two years ago, another thought four. The other two thought they raised the rates annually.

Uh, wrong, no Samsonite luggage for any of you.

The City of Costa Mesa, which owns the municipal golf courses that were built in 1968, proposed the rate increase because the last one was seven years ago.

Seven years!

Go to an American Golf-run golf course and they try and raise the rate every seven days.

How much was the increase, you ask? It must have been a lot to make up for seven years of the same price. Was it $5, $10, $15?

No. It was $4 on both courses and $1 for seniors and weekday twilight rates. Are you kidding me? A buck; in the time it took me to type this sentence a gallon of gas went up that much.

A round at Los Lagos during the week is now $31, $33 on Friday and $43 on weekends and holidays.

With head professional Brad Booth running the operation and Superintendent Jim Fetterly making the course as good as any in Orange County, $43 on the weekends is a steal.

Fetterly has the golf course in the best condition I have ever seen and the city was lucky to get him. He could be working at a country club making a lot more than he is being a civil servant.

A lot of residents are taking advantage of the city’s gems. Booth estimates the number of rounds is up between 3% and 4% from last year.

“This is the busiest time right now,” Booth said. “We are getting booked up for the whole day.”

Booth’s tee sheet a few weeks ago had tee times from 5:15 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and golfers were coming up at 7 p.m. to pay for super twilight, despite only getting in about four or five holes before dark.

“They don’t care,” Booth said. “They just want to play a couple of holes. It is really amazing right now.”

The complaints to Booth have been sporadic, but he believes most of the people understand the rate increase.

“I get some people telling me they can’t believe it took this long,” Booth said. “About 70% of the people understand we had to raise the price.”

That leaves 30% and that is way too many. Quit bugging Booth about it, since it wasn’t his decision. Accept the fact that prices go up and be thankful it wasn’t by more than $4.

Let’s face it, Costa Mesa residents, you have a sweet deal. Keep quiet, real quiet before someone at City Hall figures it out and you are greeted with a rate increase more in line with inflation, like every seven minutes.

JOHN REGER’S golf column appears Thursdays.