OCEANSIDE -- Less than two years after it opened, the Arrowood Golf Course, tucked in the rolling hills of northeast Oceanside, has been sold to a Los Angeles investment firm for $12.75 million.

Bob Henninger, senior vice president of Richland Communities, the company that built the golf course for an 1,100-home, high-end residential development, said he was surprised about how quickly golfers flocked to the 18-hole course just south of Camp Pendleton's back gate.

"Usually you expect a new golf course to do about 30,000 rounds in its first year," Henninger said. "Arrowood did 60,000. We were just ecstatic."

Eric Jeska, Arrowood's director of golf, said Friday that the change in ownership will have no immediate impact on green fees or services provided by the course.

The course, which is open to the public, opened in July 2005. In June of that year, Henninger told the North County Times that design and construction of the Arrowood Golf Course would cost Richland about $13 million. At the time, Henninger said the golf course was expected to be a net loss for Richland -- a loss to be made up by selling high-end homes surrounding the course.

"We've spent about $13 million, and at the end of the day it will have a market value of about $5 million," Henninger said in 2005.

Richland announced Thursday that it sold the course to CB Richard Ellis for $12.75 million. Ellis bills itself as the world's largest commercial real estate services firm.

Jeska said that the property was attractive to investors because it has generated so much interest in the Southern California golf community. He said that many golfers from southern Orange County, especially those living in and south of Mission Viejo, have played the course.

"It's only about 35 minutes from Mission Viejo, and it's against the commute, so it has been pretty popular," Jeska said.

Green fees range from $55 to $120 depending on day, tee time and whether players are Southern California residents or members of JC Golf, a management club with 10,000 members in the region.

Arrowood was designed by well-known landscape architect Ted Robinson Jr. Robinson has designed more than 170 golf courses worldwide, including Bernardo Heights Country Club in Rancho Bernardo, Eastlake Country Club in Chula Vista and Fairbanks Ranch Country Club in Rancho Santa Fe.

Contact staff writer Paul Sisson at (760) 901-4087 or psisson@nctimes.com.