Verdugo Hills Golf Course sold

Robert Chacon

Local golfers will be still able to hit the greens at a popular area

course, but they might have to maneuver around some homes.

The developer purchasing the 60-acre Verdugo Hills Golf Course

plans to continue operating the golf course in the short term, but

will build homes on its unused areas, said Bruce Martin, general

manager of the course.

Golfers who use the 18-hole, par-3 course said the unused portion

is too compact for homes and worry the entire property will be

converted to a residential area.

Officials for the purchasing company, Calabasas-based MWH

Development Corp., did not return calls for comment Tuesday.

“The company that bought the golf course are golfers also and they

still want to operate it as a golf course,” Martin said.

The company, however, does not mention having developed or managed

golf courses, or having built homes on golf courses on its website.

It describes itself as a “home-building force in Southern

California.”

MWH Development has built a number of small- to moderate-sized

residential tracts since its inception in 1987, including the 21-home

Trammel Estates in Chatsworth, the 47-home Glenwood South in North

Hills and the 20-home Birchwood Court in Sylmar.

Some La Crescenta residents think the sale spells the end of the

golf course.

“Go up there and take a look. There is no space to put homes,”

resident Don Norbut said. He has been golfing at Verdugo Hills at

least once a week for the past 12 years.

The golf course is not built to be a country club-like facility

similar to the La Canada Flintridge Country Club, which has homes on

its property, La Crescenta resident Ken Stiles said.

The owner of the country club, the Dreyfus and Herman Investment

Co., plans to develop 115 acres of the country club, adding homes and

updating buildings for the club. It is working with the city on its

plans.

“The course is a 3-par course. It’s too small for that,” Stiles

said of Verdugo Hills.

The size of Verdugo Hills’ course is the reason why it was a

favorite among locals. The course, with its short fairways, is used

by a lot of beginning golfers, Martin said.

“I’m a golf lover. I’d hate to see this golf course close,” he

said.

About 65,000 golfers tee off each year at Verdugo Hills, which was

founded in the late 1950s by four doctors, he said.

The Montrose-Verdugo Hills and Crescenta Valley chambers of

commerce use the course for annual fundraisers.

“People love that little golf course,” said Liz Church, executive

director of the Montrose-Verdugo Hills Chamber of Commerce. “It would

be a big disappointment for us if it closes because we hold our

annual golf classic there.”

The chamber raises about $2,500 each year for scholarships during

the event.

The death of one of the original owners spurred the sale of the

course, Martin said. Ownership of the course has been passed on to

about 17 family members.

“Had Dr. House not passed away, that course would not have been

sold,” he said.