Golf Courses

Phil Mickelson and 16 other players ranked in the top 20 committed Friday to play in next week's $6.2-million Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club. Mickelson, ranked No. 2, was the runner-up in last year's tournament, losing to Charles Howell III in a three-hole playoff. The only players ranked in the top 20 who will be absent are No. 1 Tiger Woods, No. 4 Ernie Els and No. 13 Henrik Stenson.

When Richard Nixon made San Clemente his western White House, the late satirist Art Hoppe described the population as "15,000 conservative Republicans, 2,000 surfers, five poor people [and] roughly the same number of liberal Democrats." That was in 1972; today the population is 65,000 or so and it's possible they've chased off the last of the poor people and the liberals. As a matter of politics and philosophy, San Clemente has long been friendly to business, to growth, to builders.

Conventional wisdom dictates that you need a tee time before you hit the links. Soon, however, you may need to click a few links before you can get a tee time. A proliferation of Internet-based tee-time reservation systems and e-mail marketing campaigns by golf courses over the last five years is changing the way golfers get on courses, as well as reducing the green fees they pay.

It's an L.A. tradition to stomp all over tradition. Sure, there is Gamble House or Bullock's Wilshire to prove we're not opposed to preserving vital architecture. But nowhere is this great city's disregard for the past more evident than in the treatment of Griffith Park's Harding and Wilson golf courses. Unbeknown to most, legendary amateur golf architect George Thomas designed the 36-hole complex in 1923.

Unlike many of American golf's established hotbeds, Southern California has seen a great deal of history played out over its private and public courses, giving even the humblest muni player numerous opportunities to walk, literally, in the footsteps of the game's giants. Profiled here are 10 of the Southland's most historic layouts, a group that includes the old, the very old and even, surprisingly, the new.

Key: Yardage is front to back tees. Par is men's/women's. S -- Slope, using the highest rating for men/women. GF -- full weekday/weekend green fees. * -- cart included in green fee. W -- walking allowed. R -- driving range on site. Note: Green fees subject to change. Call course or check websites for seasonal changes, and senior, twilight and resident discounts, which can reduce amount significantly. ALHAMBRA GC 630 S. Almansor St., Alhambra. (626) 570-5059 Yds: 4,501-5,240. Par: 70/71.

Desert golf. At a glance the phrase appears almost oxymoronic, conjuring up images of British expatriates blasting their way across the Outback or endless expanses of colonial African sand. But modern agronomical and engineering techniques have changed all that, making golf not only viable but a prime recreational drawing card throughout the American Southwest -- and nowhere more than in Southern California's legendary golfing mecca, Palm Springs.