{"id":260054,"date":"2025-10-30T04:14:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T04:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/260054\/"},"modified":"2025-10-30T04:14:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T04:14:09","slug":"newport-beach-approves-gutting-golf-course-making-way-for-new-surf-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/260054\/","title":{"rendered":"Newport Beach Approves Gutting Golf Course, Making Way for New Surf Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of Newport Beach\u2019s cheapest golf courses is about to get cut in half after city council members unanimously approved a new surf park on the site that\u2019s set to stretch over 15 acres with a new surf lagoon, a spa, and a three story clubhouse featuring a restaurant and bar.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That means the privately operated Newport Beach Golf Course will lose three of its 18 holes, a putting green, pro shop, restaurant and driving range, with the remaining 15 holes split on opposite sides of the new surf park that sits just under the flight path of John Wayne Airport.\u00a0<\/p>\n

City council members all endorsed the plan, saying that they didn\u2019t want to interfere with a private business looking to open up a world-class facility in Newport beach and promising the new golf course would remain in some form.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned how to golf at this golf course,\u201d said Councilman Erik Weigand. \u201cI think the golf course has seen better days\u2026I see this entity is going to improve it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

But reactions from public speakers were more mixed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some praised the new facility, saying the waves in Newport aren\u2019t usually good enough to surf on and that this will guarantee surfers a good day on the water regardless of weather.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many days we can\u2019t surf at all,\u201d said Chris Moreno, one of the founders of US Board Riders, a national surfing club. \u201cThat\u2019s why the wave pool at snug harbor is such an incredible opportunity.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

But others flagged a variety of concerns, including shrinking open space, the potential loss of a longtime local landmark and the lack of affordable golf in the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis land may be privately owned, but for decades it\u2019s been a public treasure, a true neighborhood beacon,\u201d said Benny Hallock, chair of the Save Newport Beach Golf Course movement, holding up a sheaf of papers he said held 68,000 comments from residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the sound of Newport Beach speaking loud and clear.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The county\u2019s Airport Land Use Commission also raised red flags<\/a> around the plan, highlighting that the new building sits directly under the flight path into and out of John Wayne Airport.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"A plane arrives at John Wayne Airport on Aug. 28, 2020. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC<\/p>\n

\u201cThe FAA has issued Determinations of No Hazard to Air Navigation,\u201d wrote Gerald Bresnahan, the commission\u2019s chairman, in a letter to the city council. \u201cA Determination of No Hazard does not automatically equate to (Airport Land Use Commission) consistency.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear who would be liable if a plane were to hit the building.\u00a0<\/p>\n

State law clears the airport of any wrongdoing if they recommend against the project and are overwritten, while city council members said the liability wouldn\u2019t shift to them for approving the project at their meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also unclear what the future of the 15-hole golf course will look like with the new project coming in.<\/p>\n

Newport Beach leaders said the county government had pledged to work on keeping golf there, even with the lease for the land next to the airport expiring in 2027.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Kevin Fitzgerald, director of public affairs for the Southern California Golf Association, said that slicing up the course opens questions on whether it could be profitable long term.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t seen anything that assures the golf community ten years from now we\u2019re committed to this,\u201d Fitzgerald said. \u201cI don\u2019t have anything definitive to work with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org. <\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of Newport Beach\u2019s cheapest golf courses is about to get cut in half after city council members…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260055,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[140337,427,140338,140339,140340,99,93455],"class_list":{"0":"post-260054","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-erik-weigand","9":"tag-golf","10":"tag-john-wayne","11":"tag-john-wayne-airport","12":"tag-newport-beach-city-council","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-voice-of-oc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}