A FAIR PRICE FOR GOLF IS ONE GOLDEN IDEA.

Byline: Dave Shelburne

Golf, seemingly booming everywhere, is especially on the upswing in Ventura County, where two courses have opened within the past four months. Also, a new driving range opened in June and another is due next month. Two more courses and a pair of driving ranges are being planned.

Six of the additions are or will be the handiwork of Simi Valley-based Golden Tee Inc., operated by Paul Amann. He built scenic and expensive Sherwood Country Club 12 years ago but has a more wallet-friendly plan for his first public course - the Summit at Simi Valley - which he hopes to have fully operational by the end of the year.

His goal, and what Amann calls the Golden Tee motto, is to provide golf in a quality environment, including a cart, sandwich and beverage, all for no more than $50.

That's good news for area public-course golfers. Although there have been eight new courses in the San Fernando, Antelope, Santa Clarita and Simi valleys and Ventura County, public-course golfers know many are too expensive for more than as an occasional treat.

Unfortunately, $100-weekend rounds and $70 rounds during the week are a reality, which means many golfers can't play at those courses no matter how nice the facilities or spectacular the view.

The biggest benefit of these new upscale courses is that they might ease the traffic on the existing public courses.

Amann, whose company also operates the seven-month-old driving range at Moorpark College, has plans to open ranges in Fillmore and Oxnard as well as the Oxnard College campus and near the Camarillo airport.

His Summit course, which will be located in the hills at the west end of Simi Valley, south of the 118 Freeway, will include a clubhouse, three regulation nines of about 3,500 yards each; a lighted 18-hole, par-3 course measuring 2,200 yards; an 18-hole putting course and practice facilities.

``We're waiting for the final permit,'' Amann said. ``We want to break ground in mid-March and are hoping for a late-year opening - at least the par-3 course in the fall.''

Summit plans call for moving more than a million yards of dirt and replanting more than 100 oak trees, which pales to the reconfiguration Amann did at Sherwood, where he moved more than 1,000 oak trees during the construction of the Jack Nicklaus-designed layout.

--The real deal: The most intriguing and scenic of the area's new driving ranges is the Tom Barber Golf Center, located immediately east of the 23 Freeway and across Tierra Rejada Road from the newly opened Tierra Rejada Golf Club in Moorpark. It's probably fair to say most golfers have never seen a practice facility quite like this.

Barber, son of the late Jerry Barber - PGA champion in 1961 - is a longtime head pro at Griffith Park, where he and his father made that bare-dirt driving range notable in 1994 by covering it with artificial turf that included an artificial lake.

The younger Barber has taken that concept a bit further at his Ventura Country complex, where Field Turf covers most of the 13-acre hitting area. There, the lake - well, the pond, replete with fountain - is real, but only part of the scenery. There are also four artificial greens - at about 90, 130, 155 and 195 yards - distinctively lighter in color.

There are also several imitation bunkers, also made of Field Turf, colored as brilliantly white as those at the famed Doral Blue Monster course in Florida and amazingly realistic-looking from the tees.

It all sits on land that dips and rolls like many regulation courses. Five live on-range palm trees add to a natural feel that is enhanced by ground-level lighting hidden from view of any of the 75 hitting stalls - each of which is separated by concrete for safety.

``I think dad would have been proud,'' said Tom, a Flintridge Prep of La Canada alumnus and former Rebels golfer who would clean up every time that school held its annual father-son tournament before he went into the business end of golf with his dad at Griffith Park.

The Barber facility in Moorpark also includes chipping and putting greens and a practice bunker. Rates will be $4 for a bucket of 50 balls and $7.50 for a bucket of 100, with operating hours scheduled from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, beginning in mid-February.

THE WEEK IN GOLF

PGA TOUR

Phoenix Open

Site: Scottsdale, Ariz.

Schedule: Today-Sunday.

Course: TPC of Scottsdale (7,059 yards, par 71).

Purse: $3.2 million.

Winner's share: $576,000.

Television: USA (Today-Friday, 4-6 p.m., Taped) and CBS (Saturday-Sunday, noon-3 p.m.).

LAST WEEK: Jesper Parnevik shot a 27-under-par 331 to win the Bob Hope Classic in Indian Wells by one stroke over Rory Sabbatini.

Last year: Rocco Mediate finished with an 11-under 273 total for a two-stroke victory over Justin Leonard.

Notes: Steve Jones had a tournament-record 26-under 258 total in 1997, shooting 62-64-65-67 for an 11-stroke victory. New Zealand's Grant Waite shot a course-record 11-under 60 in the 1996 final round. . . . World No. 1 Tiger Woods is skipping the event. . . . Casey Martin is playing on a sponsor's exemption for the second consecutive week.

SENIOR PGA TOUR

Senior Skins Game

Site: Kohala Coast, Hawaii.

Schedule: Saturday-Sunday.

Course: Mauna Lani Resort, South Course (7,005 yards, par 72).

Purse: $540,000 (Nos. 1-6, $20,000 each; Nos. 7-12, $30,000 each; Nos. 13-18, $40,000 each).

Television: ABC (Saturday, noon-3 p.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m.-11 a.m.).

LAST WEEK: George Archer shot a 9-under-par to win the MasterCard Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Archer beat Lee Trevino, Graham Marsh, Hale Irwin and Dana Quigley by two strokes.

Last year: Irwin won, finishing with seven skins and $230,000. Raymond Floyd, the winner the previous five years, was second with $160,000.

PGA EUROPEAN TOUR 

AUSTRALASIAN PGA TOUR

Heineken Classic

Site: Perth, Australia.

Schedule: Today-Sunday.

Course: The Vines Resort (7,101 yards, par 72).

Purse: $945,000.

Winner's share: $178,000.

Television: None.

LAST WEEK: Mathias Gronberg shot a 14-under-par 274 to beat Ricardo Gonzalez, Nick Price and Darren Fichardt by one stroke in the South African Open in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Last year: Australia's Jarrod Moseley won, finishing with a 14-under 274 for a one-stroke victory over South Africa's Ernie Els, Germany's Bernhard Langer and Australia's Peter Lonard.

LPGA TOUR

Last week: Nancy Scranton won the Subaru Memorial of Naples in Naples, Fla. Scranton won in a two-hole playoff with Maria Hjorth, who shot a final-round 64 to catch Scranton.

Next: Los Angeles Women's Championship, Feb. 11-13, Simi Valley.

OTHER TOURNAMENTS

South African PGA Tour: Dimension Data Pro-Am, Today-Sunday, Gary Player Country Club/Lost City Golf Club, Sun City, South Africa.

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Box: The Week in golf (see text)