ON THE GREEN : Off and Running : Meadows Del Mar Dramatic but Playable

The story about how The Meadows Del Mar went from farmland and foothills to a top-quality 18- hole golf course is long. . . . But not as long as a couple of its par fours when the wind is blowing.

It took more than 10 years for the course, located in San Diego a few miles south of the Del Mar racetrack, to become a reality.

But all involved, including course designer Tom Fazio, are pleased with the result, which is a par-71 layout that looks more difficult than it plays.

Fazio, who has six courses on the top-100 list in the May issue of Golf Digest, is known to Orange County golfers for his work on both courses at Pelican Hill and at Oak Creek.

The most obvious feature of Meadows Del Mar, which opened Saturday, is the dramatic layout. Of course, such beauty comes at a price. In this case it is $95 Monday-Thursday and $125 Friday-Sunday. The course is the second most expensive in San Diego County behind the Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad.

The Meadows Del Mar course, which is inland off the San Diego Freeway, plays through small canyons and across surrounding hilltops.

Before Fazio and his design team arrived, the canyons were deeper and the hills were higher. But about 3 million cubic yards of dirt, twice as much as at Oak Creek, were moved to create the layout.

Not all of that earthmoving was for the golf course. Pads for 134 homes--designer ones are available starting in the $900,000s--were also constructed. A large area for a resort hotel also was built.

The course has four sets of tees and measures 6,885 yards from the championship tees, 6,353 yards from the tournament tees and 5,821 yards from the resort tees.

The tournament tees give players with handicaps of 18 or higher about as much as they can handle. The first serious test comes on the second hole, a 436-yard uphill par four that has a small stream on the extreme left.

The fourth hole, a 414-yard par four that plays across the top of a hill and into the wind is the No. 1 handicap hole.

The eighth--a 438-yard dogleg left par-four that is uphill the final 200 yards--is at least downwind. The 13th is a 424-yard par four that plays across the top of a hill and into the wind. It is the No. 2 handicap hole.

But not all the par fours are cruel. Players get a welcome rest on No. 5--a tight 281-yard par four that is followed by a 106-yard par three.

“There is a lot of golf course out there for 6,300 yards,” said Joe Black, the president of Western Golf Properties, which built and runs the course.

Fazio talked at length about the work his staff put in to hide the cart paths from view on most tee boxes but it is what the players can see--a series of menacing sand traps--that is really worth talking about.

Excluding the par threes, players face tee shots with traps on 13 of 14 holes. Three times, the traps are on both sides. Five holes are protected by just right-side sand and five more on the left side. A few of the traps are large enough to warrant their own area codes.

The trap situation gets out of hand at times--for instance, on No. 10, an uphill par-four. Five traps are chopped into the right side of the fairway, forcing most players toward the left side.

This is all by design because the 18th fairway sits below and to the right of those traps. Such things are all part of Fazio’s master plan. “Most of the traps are for framing the hole and telling the golfer what direction he doesn’t want to hit the ball,” Fazio said. “Not that many of them will come into play for most golfers.”

The most dramatic shot comes from the tee of the 15th hole, a par-four that is 367 yards from tournament tees. Players launch shots seemingly into space and hope the ball eventually lands in the fairway more than 100 feet below.

The 17th is the best par three. It measures 174 yards from the tournament tees and is protected by a lake in front, in back and to the left.

“People are telling us how much fun it is and how pretty it is,” said Herbert Moore, director of golf. “They say it has a great atmosphere and a great feel to it.”