Stephen Friedlander, The Irvine Company’s new GM at soon-to-reopen Pelican Hill Golf Club, has worked with two legendary course designers,Pete Dye (on Whistling Straits and Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wis.) and Tom Fazio (on Ventana Canyon in Tucson and now on the recrafted Pelican.) The differences? “Pete is extremely hands-on, to the point where he’ll jump on a bulldozer.” Fazio is “not quite as hands-on.” Also, “Fazio is more of a ‘natural’ designer” whereas “Dye can be very severe.” Both are “masters of illusion.” Pelican reopens Nov. 2 at a flat “introductory” rate of $235 a round; that’s a little below the old $250 weekend rate, above the old weekday rate of $175 but only half the price some thought Donald Bren would charge for his spruced-up coastal courses. Friedlander says the phones are ringing, but tee times are available …
Golfers returning to Pelican will see a new clubhouse and restaurant, a redesigned North Hole No. 1, turf changes, more bunkers, tee boxes moved back and better ocean views from some holes. Harder to see, but there are irrigation improvements. Construction continues for the fall 2008 opening of the lavish hotel …
Friedlander grew up in St. Paul, Minn., playing baseball with future Hall of Famers Dave Winfield and Paul Molitor …
EE RR noticed some guys huddled around a shrouded auto in the parking lot of Newport Beach CC. Turns out Barry Ratzlaff, quality chief of Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motor America, was one of them. From what EE RR glimpsed, it looks like the production model of the Genesis performance sedan (350 horsepower) rumored to be ready for launching at the Detroit auto show in January. The car is expected to compete with the Lexus GS and Mercedes CLS and mark another step in Hyundai’s impressive climb up the quality ladder …
Indianapolis-based Emmis Communications has disclosed in an SEC filing that it paid $6.8 million for Ruth Ko’s Orange Coast Magazine …
Power plants in China, military contracts, infrastructure work,engineering is red hot. Since January the stock of Fluor Corp., which moved to Texas last year and kept operations here, has doubled to $157 with a recent market value of nearly $14 billion …
Margaret Pereira, 97-year-old widow of Medal winner William Pereira, wowed the crowd with her unscripted acceptance speech at UCI’s annual awards dinner. More than 800 attended the event, which raised a record $1.8 million …
Who are those retirement-planning surfers in the new Pacific Life commercial? Quiksilver’s Bob McKnight is the “CEO,” San Clemente surfboard maker Chuck Bassett is the “small-business owner” and Jeannette Prince of Encinitas County Day School is the “teacher.” All SoCal surfers, but they went to Makaha Beach in west Oahu for the shoot …
GOP senators John Sununu (New Hampshire) and Susan Collins (Maine) visited with the Lincoln Club …
Great Park landscape designer Mia Lehrer has been inducted as a fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects.
