Pelican Hill Gets A Facelift

As a sportswriter in Irvine, Calif. back in 1991, I got the opportunity to play a brand new course called Pelican Hill Golf Club in neighboring Newport Beach. I remember pretty much everything about the experience, because it was such an exclusive, deluxe course in a special location perched right above the Pacific Ocean. The pro shop back then was an upscale trailer. And there were no houses around the course.

Through the years, I…