5:30 A.M.
SETTING THE STAGE

You can still see a few stars and begin to make out the hills to the east as a band of maintenance workers hop on their mowers and carts and head out onto the Coronado Golf Course. Led by golf course supervisor, Robbie Roberts, a veteran of the course for over 25 years, the crew is racing to make the course ready for the earlybirds who've already pulled into the parking lot, anxious to hit off as soon as the sun comes up. With an onslaught of 300 golfers to follow, every minute counts at the beginning of a busy day on the busiest golf course in California.

One crew heads to the first green where they're recupping - cutting a new hole and setting the flag. They're followed by a greens mower who cuts the grass guided by his headlights. Three acres of poa annua grass on each of the 18 holes has to be cut every day. A contingent of specialized mowers is used to trim the rough, the tees and the grass surrounding the greens. The maintenance crew rotates around the course, ensuring that each fairway gets cut three times a week. With nearly 100 acres to tend, along with the sand traps, plus the driving range to mow, and landscaping not only around the course but around the clubhouse, the work can never be considered "done."

Reporting to Dave Jones, director of golf services for the city of Coronado, the maintenance crew of 13 has teams working seven days a week. Because of the year-round popularity of the course there's never any down time, especially during the longer days of summer with more golfers on the course, more wear and tear, and less time to work on the course before the early morning golfers arrive.

"They just have to work alongside the golfers, but they try their hardest not to disturb them," says Jones. "Once play begins, they start work on the 18th hole and work backwards. That way they won't ever impact the same players more than once."

In addition to mowing and pruning, there's always maintaining irrigation and applying chemicals to be done. "We're always trying to improve the course, too, refining the alignment of holes to improve safety or speed up play." Technology has changed the game of golf over the decades. New clubs and balls all promise extra yardage, "but unfortunately, we just don't have any extra yardage to spare," says Jones.

You might spot a few cottontail rabbits, and there are abundant ducks, but gophers, mice and other animal pests aren't much of a problem for this course. "I reckon it's partly because of the blue herons that live in the Torrey Pine across from the course on Miguel Avenue," says the Australian-born Jones. Coronado doesn't have the heat to contend with like other courses inland, and there is very little vandalism on the course, even on the Fourth of July - the only day of the year that the course is closed. "It says something about the city government that even though the Fourth could be the biggest revenue day of the year, the city opens the course for the greater community's enjoyment." The back nine holes is transformed into a giant public park, populated with families picnicking and watching the fireworks on Glorietta Bay.

Maintaining a course that's this popular is hard work, but the crew does get to be outside on one of the prettiest courses in the world. Jones doesn't have a big turnover of staff, and he's worked here for decades. "Most of our people retire before they quit," he says.

7 A.M.
SECURING COVETED TEE TIMES

The challenge of securing a tee time at Coronado Golf Course is nearly as competitive as the game itself. Starting times can only be reserved two days in advance of play, and they're assigned either by phone or in person. Golfers show up at dawn to be in line at 6 a.m. when the starter hands out randomly chosen numbers. Once the reservation phone line opens at 7 a.m. sharp, the starter takes one phone call, and then calls out a number of one of the intrepid golfers waiting in line, then back to a phone caller. The lucky ones get the choice starting times - the earlier the better because the course is less crowded, and play is much faster in the morning.

The course is the busiest in California for good reasons, not the least of which is its low price. With greens fees of only $25 for an 18-hole round, the course is among the least expensive municipal courses in San Diego. Compare that to the $100 San Diego County residents pay at the North Course of Torrey Pines (also a public course) and you can see why Coronado's so popular. The city of Coronado is determined to keep the rates down, wanting to keep the course accessible to people of all means. They raised the rates 25 percent in 2004 for the first time in 10 years.

"We've lost tournaments because we're so cheap," says Head Professional Ron Yarbrough with a chuckle. "People calling from across the country figure we must not have any grass because our prices are so low." But the conditions are spectacular, especially considering the beating the course takes 364 days a year. Because the course is basically built on a sandbar, it drains incredibly well. Even during the wet winter of 2005, the course was only closed once.

Coronado Golf Course is also popular because it's one of the few Southern California courses right on the water, and with its views of the bridge, bay, yachts and the Hotel del Coronado, the course is one of the most picturesque. And weather in Coronado is better than other seaside courses because the fog and rain clear here earlier.

Don't be deceived and think the course is easy just because it's flat. Its course rating of 71.5 indicates it's player-friendly with a medium level of difficulty. Average players enjoy the course and above average players do too. Local player Brian Smock, who barely missed qualifying for the 2006 U.S. Open, can take pride in shooting a 60 on the course last month, the lowest score ever recorded.

And no doubt Bill Clinton has fond memories of the course. In 1998, on a presidential visit to town, he broke 80 for the first time in his life playing the Coronado Golf Course.

ALL DAY
KEEPING GOLFERS HAPPY

Ron Yarbrough is only the third head professional the course has had since it opened nearly 50 years ago. He's been called the heart of the course because over his tenure he's helped develop a course that's consistently rated one of the best public courses to play. That means keeping both regular golfers and visitors happy, and this man knows what people want.

Born in Coronado, Yarbrough's father worked on the old car ferries. Like most of the staff, he's as much a member of the community as he is an employee of the course.

Yarbrough's staff of 29 run the pro shop, sell merchandise, control tee times, collect greens fees for an average of 30 golfers per hour, rent and maintain the fleet of 80 golf carts, sell buckets of balls for the driving range (about 10,000 balls a day), marshal the course, and arrange for lessons from the seven teaching professionals.

Of the 109,000 rounds played per year, about one third of those are played by locals. But greens fees aren't lower for city residents, as they are at other municipal courses, because the course is not technically a city-owned recreation facility. The city of Coronado leases 85 percent of the land (the part that was created by the dredging of Glorietta Bay) from the Port District.

The Coronado Men's Golf Club and the Coronado Women's Golf Club have a long, rich tradition, both beginning a hundred years ago when golf was played where the Country Club Estate homes are today. That course was closed during World War II, and the clubs disbanded until after the new course opened in late 1957.

But because Coronado's is a public course, there aren't any special playing privileges given to club members like there are at a country club. The men's and women's clubs formed primarily to facilitate competition, as well as to foster the obvious social connections among like-minded golfers. Many members are retired veterans and their spouses. Until the 1990s, most club members were Coronadans, but now the majority of members come from off the island to play, attracted by the fine conditions and the great value.

The men's club has 560 members, plus 75 "life members" who are in their 80s and 90s. The waiting list is 225 names long, and if you put your name on the list today, you might be asked to join by 2016. The wait for membership in the women's club is about three or four years. The women have a more active social calendar than the men, and about a third of them have a spouse in the men's club.

"These members participate more than any other public club I know," says Yarbrough. "They're active in course development, and they're extremely supportive of junior golf." And with many members at the course three or four times a week, they've become much like one big family.

10 A.M.
TOURNAMENT TIME

Tournaments are where the course makes most of its profit, but they aren't allowed to begin until after 10 a.m. so as not to impact the regular golfers. By this time the early birds are finishing their rounds and the course is full. Tournament players are charged an extra $7 for their round, so the revenue is good, but they can impact the ability of regular golfers to turn up and play, so the course has set a maximum: only 20 percent of rounds for tournament play.

Event Coordinator Jamie Darnell makes sure that all groups who come to the course have a great time. From starting times and beverages to awards and banquets in the clubhouse, Darnell does it all. On a typical day he may have four parties to arrange, varying in size from 16 to 60 golfers. And he loves every minute.

Also a Coronado native, Darnell took over the job nine months ago. Even though retirement beckoned, he couldn't pass up such a fun job so well suited to his talents. The gregarious golfer was tournament director and president of the Men's Club for years, so he runs the events with a sensibility towards locals while blending their needs with those of the visiting golfers. He also knows a lot about hosting tournaments and what golfers of different abilities like. For some participants, a tournament is their only round of golf that year.

"Take today, for example," Darnell says. "I have a group of teachers, a birthday celebration for 32 people, and a convention of lighting specialists who are staying at the Hotel Del." Next week he'll have three days of fundraising events in a row, and all are shotgun tournaments (when the whole course is reserved for an afternoon, two foursomes are sent to every hole, and all 144 players start and finish at roughly the same time). The course hosted 1,300 tournament rounds last month.

4 P.M.
AFTER SCHOOL/ AFTER WORK

For those who don't have five hours to spare, there are still plenty of opportunities to get out and enjoy some golf. For the after-work crowd, or for those who prefer to only play nine holes, the course offers twilight pricing. After 4 p.m. greens fees drop to $13.

And on any afternoon you will see a contingent of young golfers practicing at the driving range or heading out on the course. Kids under 18 are able to purchase an unlimited monthly pass for only $30 because course and city management is determined to keep golf accessible to kids.

Don Collette, the first club professional, initiated a junior program back in 1958, and the course has stayed supportive of young players ever since. "Our future is junior golf," Dave Jones says, and that sentiment is reflected in many ways around the course. Mar Vista, Frances Parker and Coronado high schools all use Coronado as their home course.

Perhaps sparked by the success of some high profile young women golf professionals, the number of girls at the course is steadily growing. Carole Tessicini, a former president of the Women's Club, was instrumental in setting up a Coronado chapter of Girls Golf, an initiative of the Ladies Professional Golf Association and United States Golf Association. Girls Golf began here in 2000 for girls aged 7 to 17. To kick off the program, course management closed the driving range and created a temporary six-hole par-3 course for the girls to play on - giving up a whole Saturday's driving range revenue. The girl's program has been full with 66 members since it began, and the girls have learned their skills on the range and practice greens. In 2005 they were ready for on-course play, and again course management showed their support by creating a six-hole par-3 course out of the first and second holes. Coronado Golf Course has become a model site for Girls Golf nationwide.

6 P.M.
THE NINETEENTH HOLE

"The thing a lot of people don't know is that we're not a country club but a public restaurant," says Doug Andersen, co-owner and manager of restaurant operations at the course. When the new clubhouse was built in 1997, Andersen and his partners, Dan Parker and Merv Keces had a vision for how to transform what had basically been a snack bar into a full-service dining and banquet facility. All "local boys," they helped create a restaurant that accommodates everyone - golfers and the public alike.

The operation has to have food and beverages continuously available all hours of the day, starting before dawn, every day of the week. The popular golf course has to keep people moving, so food "at the turn" has to be quick and portable. "We installed a phone on the ninth tee so golfers can call in their order and have it ready to pick up on their way to the tenth," Andersen explained. One or two beverage and snack carts are out on the course every day. Serving about 400 people on an average day, lunch in the clubhouse is the busiest meal - except for the phenomenally successful Prime Rib Night on Thursdays. "It got so popular, we had to add prime rib to the menu on Sunday nights, too," Andersen says.

The staff of 40 keeps the meals coming throughout the day. "We're so many things to so many people. First and foremost, we're here to serve the golfers. But then, we host a lot of school functions, we've had a few weddings, we're a neighborhood restaurant, we're a fully licensed bar, we host birthday parties - it's a lot more than just golf."

The clubhouse, with its panoramic view of the bay and bridge framed by the lush landscaped course, rivals any posh waterfront restaurant in San Diego. Chef Heath Toms has helped perfect the menu, and can create topnotch fare for private functions. The clubhouse is warm and welcoming, with a comfortable, casual atmosphere and plenty of parking.

According to Andersen, what makes Coronado Golf Course successful is that it's managed by three distinct entities, unlike any other course he knows of. The city runs the course facility, the pro caters to the golfers, and the restaurant provides the food. "No one department is carrying another, so each operation has to be successful on its own."

And successful it is. Most of the senior staff has worked at the course for a decade or two, which is a sign of how gratifying it must be to work there: surrounded by beauty, working with people that are like a second family, while pleasing so many people.

Once someone asked Ron Yarbrough if he was interested in selling his professional side of the business. He politely declined.

"You can't sell a dream," he said.

Click here to see a timeline of golf in Coronado.