CARLSBAD — Last June, the Southern California Golf Association produced a list of the region’s 10 toughest public courses. Torrey Pines South ranked first, with U.S. Open pedigree, gnarly rough, a whooping 78.8 course rating and an prodigious 7,805 yards from the back tees. No surprise there. You might not guess No. 2 on the list: the North Course … at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa, site of the NCAA Division I championships that begin Friday with the women and continue next week with the men. The course rating (76.7) and length (7,500 yards) put it behind Torrey Pines South, but that was last year. That was before the thick, native grasses lining most fairways had fully matured after Gil Hanse’s $30 million redesign that was completed shortly before last year’s tournament. La Costa, those who have played both will quietly tell you, might be harder now. The native grasses are a good 3 feet high in many areas. “It’s no joke,” club director Dustin Irwin said. “We’re going to need our volunteers doing a good job finding golf balls out there (on errant tee shots),” said Texas men’s coach John Fields, whose school is the official host of the neutral-site championships. “I’ll tell you what, you need to hit it in the fairway.” Which is probably how it should be for a course designed to identify the best individuals and teams in college golf, hosting the Division I men’s and women’s championships for at least the next four years and beyond that, they hope, as a permanent site like Omaha, Neb., is for baseball’s College World Series. The average score from the four rounds of stroke play last year was 75.25, or 3-over par, for both men and women. Only nine of the 150-plus women finished under par; only 10 men did. The cream rose. Both No. 1 seeds — the Stanford women and Auburn men — won team titles last May. The North Course’s primary defense was its hard, bouncy greens that were difficult to hold, which is typical when they’re new and haven’t had a chance to naturally soften. That put a premium on iron play but less so off the tee, since you had a reasonable chance of finding your ball when it left the fairway. Good luck now. “Gil Hanse told me the way he wanted this golf course to play with the barrancas and the native areas would be three things could happen if you hit it in there,” Fields said last month, gazing out at the golden stalks swaying in the afternoon ocean breeze. “One, you could find it and chop it out of there. Two, you could find it but need to take an unplayable (lie and penalty stroke). Or three, you don’t find it. “So it’s random. But he feels that’s championship golf. That’s what he built into this golf course. … I was worried when they cut it this year, because I thought maybe if we don’t get rain, it’s not going to be as prolific. And then the good Lord sent rain, and here we are.” And the diabolical green complexes, many of which are surrounded by bunkers and collection areas? “It’s possible that the greens would be slightly softer,” Fields said. “My vision would be that they’re not, that they’re fast and firm like a championship should be. It should be a challenge.” The rest of the experience for the 30 men’s and women’s teams is more comfortable, which is another of La Costa’s selling points. The weather is predictably temperate. The Pacific time zone allows for prime-time television on the East Coast. Everyone stays on site, within walking distance of meals, physical therapy, the putting green, the driving range and the resort’s amenities. The women begin Friday with four days of stroke play to crown the individual champion, followed by two days of match play to determine the team title. The men repeat the same format the following Friday, ending May 28. “The player feedback last year was really neat,” La Costa’s Irwin said. “You have the freedom to get in your little bubble. You can finish your round, go take a nap, go to the gym, take a swim. You don’t have to sit around, waiting for a shuttle to go back to the hotel, which is 25 minutes away. That helps them perform their best.” There have been a few tweaks to meal menus and logistical details, but the key word is tweaks. La Costa was awarded the championships for three years, a leap of faith for a course that at the time was little more than mounds of dirt and a county that last hosted the NCAAs in 1974 at Carlton Oaks Country Club in Santee. (The men’s champion was future Hall of Famer Curtis Strange from Wake Forest.) It went so well that, four months later, the NCAA granted La Costa two more years through 2028 . The next logical step is to drive fan interest, which organizers admit will take time as the local community better understands the talent and drama of college golf, particularly with the match-play format for the team competition. Both men’s and women’s finals last year had a 3-2 score, and Auburn clinched the men’s title when a chip on the 17th hole by Florida State’s Luke Clanton rolled into the cup and popped out. To encourage a more intimate viewing experience, most of the ropes that you typically see at professional golf tournaments will be removed, allowing fans to walk in the fairways and get closer to the greens. Ticket prices remain modest — $8 per day and $36 for an all-event pass. “We want people to come out here and watch these kids play,” Fields said. “We don’t want to stiff-arm them when they get here by putting ropes up. … We need to give them access, we need them to enjoy it, and then we need them to spread the word. “I think we’re in the infant stages in that regard. I also think if we’re here every here, if the NCAA gives us the opportunity to have a permanent site, then 10 years from now you won’t recognize it.”
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