DEALING WITH DAMAGE PAR FOR COURSE.

Byline: JILL PAINTER GOLF

PASADENA - Between Escalades and Mustangs and pickup trucks, under lawn chairs, blankets, flat-screen televisions, radios and tables, sits something sacred that wears a disguise each Saturday the UCLA football team plays here.

Brookside Golf Course is on a unique lie right outside the Rose Bowl. Some don't realize it, but when they park on the grass at football games, they're really parking smack dab on the middle of a golf course.

Golfers, of course, know this. Some cringe when they drive on the 16th fairway and turn the ignition off. Others know it's just a product of location.

The Rose Bowl leases the golf course, and if the 6,000-11,000 cars that park there each game had to find alternative parking, it would be a logistical nightmare. But that means the course takes a beating five or six times a year.

``That's the biggest challenge,'' said David Sams, the director of golf operations at the Rose Bowl. ``The golf course is always in very good shape during the fall. During the season, it's tough to try to keep it in the shape like it is in May and June. When we park the cars on a Saturday, we have to dry out the golf course so we don't have (water spots). When there's back-to-back games, it's especially tough.''

The toughest thing, according to Brookside golf pro Tim Terwilliger, is dealing with the trash that's left on the course. Of the many items Terwilliger has found on the course, some aren't suitable for print. But for all the hot dogs and chips and beverages that are consumed, it could be worse.

Diamond Bar resident Daniel Guerrero -- not to be confused with UCLA's athletic director -- attended Saturday's game against Washington State and golfs at Brookside a couple of times a month. He's impressed with how the golf course holds up.

``I've resigned myself to accept it,'' Guerrero said. ``I play here and I picnic here and the course seems to not be affected by it, although I generally golf here several days after games.''

Said Apple Valley resident Ray Palomino: ``I've seen more damage done at a golf course by inebriated golfers who run their golf carts roughshod over fairways.''

Fans aren't allowed to park on the greens or around sand traps and other hazards, and those areas are roped off.

Axel Andres, 20, attended his first UCLA football game Saturday and couldn't believe people were allowed to park on the course at all. He and a few friends were visiting from Barcelona, Spain.

``It's kind of weird,'' Andres said. ``I think the grass must need treatment from all the wheels. It's not like this in Spain.''

American Golf Corporation is responsible for cleaning up the mess after games. The course must look like a course again by the morning's early tee times. And that's not an easy task. For a 7 p.m. UCLA game, clean-up for about 100 workers is an around-the-clock affair, from about 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.

Crews need about seven hours prior to a football game to brace the course as well. Unless the game kicks off at 7 p.m. or later, golfers can't play at Brookside that day. If game time is at 7 p.m., golfers must be done by 2 p.m.

The flagsticks, information signs and other golf course amenities are then collected and stored. Trash cans are placed around the golf course so people won't throw their trash any old place. Then, the parking begins.

``People leave trash everywhere,'' said Gilbert Luevano, who put a trash can right next to his grill. ``If everyone respected the golf course, it wouldn't be so bad. I feel bad for the golfers here. I respect it.''

Luevano said he knows a group of tailgaters who throw trash on the course, and even though he doesn't golf at Brookside, it makes him mad.

The golf course was built on a river bed in 1929, so it drains well, according to Sams. Usually the course isn't irrigated the night before the game and the water is cut back a bit.

Just before the national championship game between Texas and USC at the Rose Bowl in January, an advisory went out that people couldn't park on the course because of an excess of rain. But by the day of the game, 30 percent of the course was used as a parking lot.

Sams has been the head of golf operations since 1974 and believes the golf course and fans have worked well together. Just the other day, he crunched the numbers and figured he has seen approximately two million cars come and go on the golf course.

He can't keep everyone happy, but he tries.

``It's an ideal place to tailgate, but a lot of people complain that we don't have (more) parking lots around the stadium,'' Sams said. ``I'd say probably the best parking lot when you tailgate is tailgating on grass. At the Oakland Coliseum, people have to tailgate on asphalt. That's not fun. UCLA fans are good about taking care of it.

``They're respectful of the golf course. They don't tear up the fairways by doing donuts in their cars. If they win the national championship, I don't know what's going to happen.''

Sams won't have to worry about that this year, since the Bruins are 4-4.

Maybe some day.

But for now, he can rest easy. The golf course gets a reprieve for another two weeks.

TPC at Valencia goes private

The TPC at Valencia is making some changes.

Today is the TPC's first full day as a private club. The TPC was a semi- private club, but now the public can no longer play there. The course will remain under its current management group, owned by Newhall Land.

This month, the club will begin construction on a new, 5,000-square foot men's locker room and lounge and the women's locker room will move into the existing men's locker room.

The decision to change its status was made in September.

``It was just to primarily focus on the membership and to accommodate their needs and keep the golf course in excellent condition,'' said Hillary Ames, the director of membership.

The club, which is in the gated Westridge community, will expand the Oaks Grille restaurant and its patio area as well.

Cost of the average membership is $40,000, which is a refundable deposit if the member leaves, according to Ames. They are not equity memberships, meaning members don't own a part of the club.

Since the TPC already was a semi-private club, it had between 300-330 members.

``People are asking us if we're dropping our name, but we're not. We still have networking privileges with the (other) TPC courses,'' Ames said.

The club will look to attract a professional tournament as well, according to Ames, but none are scheduled thus far. There are just threeprofessional golf tournaments in the SanFernando Valley and its surrounding area. The Target World Challenge -- hosted by Tiger Woods -- is Dec. 13-17 at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks. The PGA Tour's Nissan Open is at Riviera Country Club in February and the AT&T Classic, a Champions Tour event, is in March at Valencia Country Club.

CAPTION(S):

photo, 2 boxes

Photo:

Cars park on the Brookside Golf Course next to the Rose Bowl on Saturday for the UCLA football game against Washington State.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

Box:

(1) THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE

(2) Etc.