Simi Council to Study Golf Course Plans

Duffers and hackers take note: The Simi Valley City Council is about to consider adding a whole new dimension to your golf game.

The council is set Monday night to weigh plans for construction of two world-class golf courses and a clubhouse in the city’s northern hills.

A public hearing at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall will review a proposal for Big Sky Country Club Inc. to build two 18-hole courses, a driving range and clubhouse on 1,770 acres at the site of the otherwise stalled Whiteface development. The project would include a 28-foot-wide private driveway extending west from Tapo Canyon Road to the clubhouse.

The courses, to be designed by golf architect Pete Dye, are expected to generate 50,000 to 100,000 rounds of golf per year.

Under the agreement, at least 40% of those games must be available to the general public each year. And the owners must agree to let the city use one course twice per year for fund-raising tournaments staged by the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Foundation, the Simi Valley Police Foundation or any other law enforcement cause chosen by the City Council.

Big Sky officials have said they hope the golf courses will draw more potential customers for their proposed development of 400 custom homes at the Whiteface property, which was put on hold in 1995 after the real estate market softened.