ROLLING HILLS OF GREENS PALMER USES IMAGINATION IN DESIGNING COURSE.

Byline: Eugene Tong  Staff Writer

CASTAIC - For golf legend Arnold Palmer, the rolling canyons along Hasley Canyon Road inspired both headaches and an opportunity to stretch his imagination. ``The area here was a bit of a challenge,'' the 76-year-old, four-time Masters champion said Monday while visiting the site of the latest ``Signature'' golf course to bear his name - the first in the Los Angeles area.

The 18-hole, par 71, private golf course scheduled to break ground in a few months will be the centerpiece of the 209-home Los Valles development - a gated community slated for 433 acres west of Interstate 5 complete with trails and neighborhood parks.

``All the things that are going to be incorporated into this project - the housing and the golf course itself - we've been working on that,'' said Palmer, who has put his stamp on more than 320 golf courses since the 1960s and heads Palmer Golf Designs. ``We've got it down to where I think it's going to be pretty exciting.

``You can't overwhelm the game of golf as an individual. There's just always a challenge in the game that I really enjoy.''

Los Valles Company, Inc. - a $130 million venture between Santa Monica-based Palmer Investments Inc. and David Chapman Investment, LLC - is scheduled to complete development in early 2008. Prices for the roughly half-acre lots start about $600,000, with golf course memberships starting at $45,000.

David Chapman, a developer and Arnold Palmer's partner in the restaurant business, envisions a line of hillside vintage-Los Angeles estates overlooking the manicured green down in the valley.

``In an area that's booming as fast as Santa Clarita, it's very rare to find an opportunity like this,'' he said. ``Even though you're close to the highway, you still kind of feel like you're out in the country a little bit, which I think gives it some of its charm.''

The Santa Clarita Valley area is home to a half-dozen other courses - including the Valencia Country Club, the site of next week's AT&T Classic. Others, including Robinson Ranch and the Tournament Players Club at Valencia, are nestled in private communities.

But Chapman said they could do something special here with Los Valles.

``Not only do we want a successful real estate project, but we also want something that we're known for - our good golf and our quality amenities,'' he said.

That's where ``Arnie'' comes in. Though he has cut back on tournament play over the past two years, Palmer has stayed sharp as a course designer, dreaming of fairways that have yet to be.

``I can't play the way I once did - I'll occasionally hit a good shot,'' he said. ``But imagining - and golf is a game of imagination - if you don't have a good imagination, it is difficult to play the game and play it well.''

Palmer said Los Valles will be a ``rolling'' course, with a mix of long and short Par 3 and Par 4 holes.

``It'll keep the players interested,'' he said. ``But we'll make it so they can walk the golf course too. ... A lot of people just like to walk 18 holes.''

Just don't expect Arnie to carry anything over from his other courses.

``People say, 'What's your trademark?' One of my objectives is 'nothing,''' said Palmer, as if channeling a Zen master. ``I don't want you to be able to know I did the golf course. ... If there is something that is the same, that you do for every golf course, it isn't fun anymore. I don't want to be predictable.

``I rather have you say 'Who did this golf course? It's wonderful. We're having a good time.'''

Eugene Tong, [phone]

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Golf legend Arnold Palmer takes a swing from what will be the fifth hole at the Los Valles Private Estates and Golf Club.

(2 -- color) The Los Valles club will be Arnold Palmer's first golf course in the L.A. area.

More than 200 homes will be built on the Los Valles development, in addition to the par-71 course designed by Arnold Palmer.

David Crane/Staff Photographer