MEET THE PLAYERS

Kay Moore

Age: 64.

Residence: Roseville.

Occupation: Retired.

Handicap index: 25.

Quotable: "People I play with remember the putter more than me," she said of the Stan Thompson model she's had for 25 years that more resembles a fairway wood.

Mark Heuvelhorst

Age: 43.

Residence: Roseville.

Occupation: Claims adjuster.

Handicap index: "I'm a double-bogey golfer."

Quotable: "I didn't think there were a lot of pars to be had," said the good-natured player who didn't make any at Sunrise.

Bill Hain

Age: 46.

Residence: Natomas.

Occupation: E-file expert.

Handicap index: 19.4.

Quotable: "I was playing well. I don't feel like I'm playing well anymore," he said of Sunrise's difficulty.

COURSE OVERVIEW

Sunrise Golf Course, a hidden oasis in a concrete jungle, is one block from Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights.

The path from the parking lot runs between the back wall of a Staples office supply building and a driving range straight out of "Tin Cup."

"I was looking for Costner and Cheech," Bill Hain, making his first visit, said of "Tin Cup" stars Kevin Costner and Cheech Marin.

Kay Moore, a member at the quasi-private club for two years in the 1980s, was the only player in our foursome with Sunrise experience.

"It's just like I remember," she said.

That is, a narrow, oak tree-lined nine holes with a high degree of difficulty that measure 1,965 yards with five par-3s and four par-4s from its only set of tees.

Arcade Creek crosses five bucolic holes where turkeys roam free. The setting is far from nature in all its glory everywhere. A chainlink fence separates the course from an apartment complex just feet from the fairway on two holes. The view beyond the ninth green is layered – protective netting, then parking lot where the green once was, then strip mall, then busy boulevard.

Keeping your ball on the putting surface can be an adventure on the crowned greens, which are clearly homemade sans collars to transition between rough and green. Short-sided in the tall stuff above the hole? Good luck.

Ultimately, if you appreciate golf in its purest form, you'll appreciate Sunrise. It's not a place you'll drive by for years dreaming of an invitation, but you'll have a good time if you do find it.

"We might be the toughest nine-holer in the area," said John Altman, course leasee, operator and greenskeeper for five years. "We have some strong iron players out here. Our handicaps travel OK."

Sunrise members pay monthly dues of $110 (single), $140 (couple) or $160 (family). There is no initiation fee – three months of dues, and you can play till you drop. Before taking over operations, Altman was a member for 12 years when the club numbered more than 300. Its roster is in the mid-100s now.

The public is welcome – to the 190-yard-long driving range, which features a dilapidated double-decker structure to hit under, surrounded by towering nets; to the cozy restaurant, too. Latemorning tee times are readily available. Kids have the run of the place. The fairways at other area courses look like runways for 767s by comparison for youngsters who learn the game at Sunrise.

"We want to encourage people to come out and give it a try," Altman said. "It's handy, and it's cheap: fifteen dollars a lap."

Talk of developing the property has quieted in the past year as the economy soured. Ted Mitchell owns Sunrise's 52 acres and pretty much all the land you can see from the course. His greatgrandparents settled there in the 1860s. He helped build the course, which was for family recreation in the late 1970s and opened in 1983. He lives to the left of the third green.

Altman has a long-term lease and said the course isn't going anywhere soon.

"Two years ago, there were lots of people sniffing around, but not so much now," Altman said. "In any case, we won't be leaving until the bulldozer hits the dirt. And that's a long way away in any scenario."