GOLF COURSE GETS HELP FROM SIMI PARKS DISTRICT.

Byline: Douglas Clark Daily News Staff Writer

The Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District has spent $650,000 to buy 10 acres adjacent to the Sinaloa Golf Course to protect and secure the future of the popular nine-hole facility.

The purchase comes at a time when revenues and usage of the 17-acre course on Madera Road are on the rise.

``The district saw the opportunity to expand, and we wanted to protect the facility by buffering it from any other use,'' said Ed Hayduk, planning and development administrator for the park district.

The land, which is zoned residential and was purchased last month from the Carmi Golda Trust, stretches along the southern edge of the course, near the driving range.

Plans will be complete in about 18 months, Hayduk said, and preliminary proposals include creating more public park space, expanding the golf course or reconfiguring the driving range and expanding the parking area.

``The existing course works pretty well, but we might want to tweak the driving range by moving back the tees,'' he said.

Hayduk said the driving range, which is 230 yards on the left side and 200 yards on the right, may need some work because it is too short. Balls fly over the fence, a nuisance to neighbors and golfers.

Lynn Shackelford, whose company has operated the course since 1993, said he is grateful that the parks district bought the land.

But finding a use that will benefit the parks district and general public, as well as golfers, may not be easy.

``If it were adjoining the golf course, it would be easy to say, `Let's redesign the course,' '' he said. ``But it's awkward to do that since the driving range sits between the course and the new land.''

Also, the cost of developing a new, shorter nine-hole course on the 10 acres would be prohibitive.

However, Shackelford said chip-and-putt practice greens would be attractive to golfers and more parking would be a boon to weekend players, who often must park on the side of the road.

If plans to develop the site will be slow in coming, Shackelford said, revenue and usage of the small golf course are improving at a steady pace.

``Play is up,'' said the former UCLA basketball star.

In the 12-month period ending in April, usage was up 15 percent from the previous year.

Revenues have increased at about the same rate, though Shackelford said a 50-cent increase in greens fees is partly responsible.

Another reason for the promising numbers has nothing to do with what Shackelford called the improved Ventura County economy or the popular design of the course.

Instead, the ``Tiger Woods phenomenon'' has triggered an interest in the sport - particularly among youths, who already use the course frequently, he said.