Golf course dedication set for tomorrow Golf course dedication set for tomorrow (November 04, 2005)

Festivities offer public first chance to see $34.5 million facility
by Jeb Bing

Pleasanton will dedicate its $34.5-million Callippe Preserve golf course and public trails tomorrow, with a free continental breakfast starting at 8 a.m. and official ceremonies to start at 9 a.m..

Mayor Jennifer Hosterman and City Council members will tee-off from the new clubhouse in a symbolic ribbon cutting, although actual play will have to await the official opening of the course and trails next Friday, Nov. 11. Included in tomorrow's festivities will be opportunities for golfers and their families to join in driving and putting contests on Callippe's two practice greens and a driving range.

The long-planned public golf course, first conceived in the 1980s, will be the newest in the East Bay and could be one of the last, since the number of golfers is dwindling. The number of annual rounds for Callippe for the fiscal year starting July 1 is now projected at 55,000, a reduction of more than 25 percent over the estimate 10 years ago when plans to build the Happy Valley course were approved.

Although the number of golfers has dropped, the cost of the facility has not. When serious deliberations on building the course started in the 1990s, the estimated cost was $20 million. When it's dedicated tomorrow, the cost will total $40.7 million, although the city is being reimbursed $6.2 million from the 34 custom home lots as they are sold.

Dave Ironmonger, the city's financial services manager, said each home buyer will pay $208,000 to the city for infrastructure improvements that were made to their lots as the golf course was built, including water, sewer and utility hookups. That will leave the city with a total bill of $34,517,782, including $25 million in bonds, or actually certificates of participations.

To service its debt, Ironmonger said the city is obligated to pay $1.6 million a year for 28 years, although some of that has been paid already.

Still, officials consider the course and its three miles of trails in the picturesque hills above Happy Valley and Alisal Street as a "bargain." The 145-acre golf course and another 280 acres of open space lock up the far southwest corner of Pleasanton. At one time, the site, which was a part of the unincorporated Happy Valley community, was considered for apartments and homes with a street that would have connected Alisal and Happy Valley Road across the hills to Vallecitos Road to the south.

Because of competition from public and the many private golf courses in the Valley, green fees at Callippe have been set lower than a more competitive market might have allowed.

The fee structure, developed in conjunction with CourseCo, the Petaluma-based golf course management firm that will maintain and operate Callippe Preserve, provides a 15 percent discount for Pleasanton residents. Those fees will be $36 on weekdays and $51 on weekends, with senior rates for those at least 60 years of age set at $26 on weekdays. Out-of-town fees for seniors will be $28, with no senior discounts to be given on weekends.

Special junior rates for those under 18 have been set at $12 for residents, $14 for non-residents.

Cart fees for the 18-hole course will be $13 for all golfers, regardless of the number of holes played.

The trails, which will be available to hikers, joggers and equestrians, are free and can be accessed from the water tank that overlooks the course or from the clubhouse. Like the course, they will open to the public Nov. 11.

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