Member Limit at Golf Club Tees Off Many

Golf Wars have hit Rancho Santa Fe.

For half a century, the magnificent 18-hole golf course set amid the gently rolling hills and spreading eucalyptus trees in the heart of Rancho Santa Fe has served as a community gathering place, a gracious setting where the haves can mingle with the other haves.

But a newly imposed lid on memberships has now shut out new residents, and any residents who had not yet paid the $15,000 initiation fee to join the Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club.

By order of the Rancho Santa Fe Assn. board of directors, the iron-willed homeowners’ group that rules the ranch, the club is henceforth restricted to 500 regular members and 100 limited members.

When word of the impending limit was announced in early March, it sparked a stampede of residents seeking to join. Not all were successful, however, and thus a heretofore unknown, and therefore abhorrent, feature was added to life in Rancho Santa Fe: a waiting list.

Richard Scuba, Rancho Santa Fe resident, attorney and non-golfer, said he has been approached by several people considering lawsuits over the membership moratorium. As a former director, Scuba said he is not inclined to sue the association, but he has written a letter urging reconsideration.

The limit, Scuba says, strikes at something more dear than just golf privileges: property values.

A home that does not carry the automatic right to join the golf club is likely to fetch a significantly lower price, Scuba reasons, particularly among older buyers.

After looking at golf club attrition rates for the past four years, Scuba calculated that someone putting his or her name on the waiting list today faces a wait ranging from 1.2 years to 7.1 years.

“If you’re talking about someone, say, from Chicago who is 65 years old and retires and wants to move to Rancho Santa Fe, do you think you’ll be able to sell them a home if they have to wait three to four years to play golf?” Scuba asked.

On the links, a considerably different view is expressed.

Directors of the golf club had petitioned the association board of directors to clamp down on membership to avoid crowding and slow play and undue damage on the 6,797-yard, par-74 course.

An estimated 45,000 rounds were played last year at Rancho Santa Fe. By comparison, the two public courses at Torrey Pines saw more than 210,000 rounds; of course, Torrey Pines golfers do not have a $15,000 initiation fee and an annual fee of $1,530, so the definition of crowding may be somewhat different.

“The Rancho Santa Fe course is far too crowded,” said Ronald Frazar, 68, golf club member and retired home builder. “If they want to talk about property values, what happens when the course gets so crowded that nobody can play? What happens to values then?

“We’re really protecting property values, not hurting them.”

Limit Illegal?

Scuba says the limit is illegal under a section in the association’s articles of incorporation that ensures all property owners equal access to association facilities such as the golf course. That argument, however, does little to sway Donald Sherman, former association director and avid golfer.

“Their argument isn’t with the association but with California corporation law, which gives corporations certain authority,” said Sherman.

“If they’re upset they should throw out the board of directors. There’s an election in June,” he added before zipping down the first fairway in his golf cart.

Not all club members favor the limit.

“This is just the latest in a series of grievous errors by the men running the golf club,” said Charles Haber, 67, a retired research chemist. “I haven’t seen any pressure. They’ve solved a problem that didn’t exist. There is a certain attitude of, ‘Hey Jack, I’ve got mine. Too bad about you.’ ”

The golf club, with its red-tile roof restaurant and pro shop, requires a mix of decorum and public confession from its members.

A strict dress code is in effect--no short-shorts, tank tops, T-shirts or jeans. On the other hand, a list is prominently posted of every member’s handicap in order to avoid any urge to fudge on a $2 Nassau.

Many of those who missed the cut for membership are the hard-charging doctors, lawyers and business executives who live in Rancho Santa Fe but might have delayed joining the club because their busy schedules do not permit much weekday golf.

When the limit was announced, the rush was on. “Mass hysteria” is the term used by golf club president Doug Orth.

“I’ll never forget it,” said Tam Ouy, who handles accounts receivable for the association and is responsible for collecting membership fees. “We got 50 memberships in less than three weeks. Usually we get three or four a month.”

When the limit became effective April 1, there were 534 regular members and 111 limited members. That means the person at the top of the waiting list must await the death, removal or withdrawal of 35 regular members or 12 limited members.

The waiting list for the more coveted regular memberships is 19 and growing, Ouy said. For their initiation fee and annual dues, members can play an unlimited number of rounds and are exempt from the green fees charged to guests. Carts are extra.

Not all is lost, however, for the athletic-minded in Rancho Santa Fe.

“Tennis memberships are separate, and we have plenty of those,” Ouy said.