Wilshire Country Club is turning so brown it’s green

| April 29, 2015 | 1 Comment
A MORE CONSERVATION friendly course is at Wilshire Country Club, 301 N. Rossmore Ave.

A MORE CONSERVATION friendly course is at Wilshire Country Club, 301 N. Rossmore Ave.

Water-saving efforts are moving the ground from the Wilshire Country Club golf course, some 24 acres of turf to be exact.

That’s the amount that has been removed from the course since early January, said Todd Keefer, general manager and chief operating officer.

A host of drought-tolerant plants will replace the water-thirsty grass on about one-quarter of the 98-acre property that spans Melrose to Third, Rossmore to near June.

About 20 varieties of native plants will be placed around the outer perimeters, leaving plenty of grass for the nine-course site. “We will still maintain the integrity of the design and yet have a focus on the drought and do our part,” said Keefer.

The Club, which opened in 1909, has worked with the city Dept. of Water and Power in its conservation efforts which pays $2 per square foot of grass removal.

BLOCKED driveway on Las Palmas.

BLOCKED driveway on Las Palmas.

The program may be saving the city water, but it’s creating a nightmare for a resident on Las Palmas Ave., who says his street is being used as a staging site for trucks and dumpsters hauling concrete and debris from the golf course, two blocks east.

“I have lived here 30 years, and I don’t recall an inconvenience and noise like this. It’s just nerve-wracking,” said David Berger.

Two calls to the Wilshire Country Club only left him on 20-minute holds. Trucks arrive as early as 7:30 a.m., sometimes park in his driveway while loading, he added.

Parking is limited at the historic Country Club’s Rossmore lot, which necessitated some residential use, but any complaints would have been addressed, said Keefer.

The project is expected to be complete this month he added.

By Suzan Filipek

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Category: Real Estate

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