NORTH COUNTY - When the phone lines opened for Carlsbad residents to make tee times at their new municipal golf course, the phone system, unable to handle the volume of calls, shut down.

The tee sheet for the two days for residents to "preview" the course filled up in 20 minutes.

"The buzz has been phenomenal, off the charts," said Jeff Perry, general manager of The Crossings at Carlsbad, which opens to the public on Saturday. "When you have a course that's (17) years in the making, you tend to get excited right near the end."

Because of its $68 million price tag, which started at $7 million, and lengthy development time - it was approved by a public vote in 1990 - The Crossings is one of the most highly anticipated golf course openings in county history.

But several months from now, long after the yellow ribbon has been cut and the welcome wagon has packed up and left, where will the 18-hole, city-owned course be left?

There are choices

With nearly 60 public golf facilities in San Diego County alone and plenty more in neighboring Orange and Southwest Riverside counties and Baja California, golfers have a wide range of options.

There are now 15,990 golf courses in the United States, according to the National Golf Foundation (NGF), over 3,000 more than when The Crossings was approved. Fourteen new courses (counting public, private and par-3 layouts) have opened in San Diego in the last 10 years. Eleven of those are in North County.

Meanwhile, the number of rounds played has been flat since the late 1990s. Total U.S. rounds, according to the NGF, actually dropped 4 percent from 2004 to 2005.

From '05 to '06, rounds were down 1 percent in California and Arizona. And for the first two months of this year, rounds were down 15.8 percent, the weakest performance in three years over the same time period.

"Just because a new course opens up doesn't mean that 35,000 more rounds (a year) are being played," said John McNair, vice president of operations for JC Golf, which manages nine courses in San Diego and Temecula, including The Crossings' neighbor, Encinitas Ranch, and inland courses such as Twin Oaks in San Marcos, the Rancho Bernardo Inn and the par-3 Reidy Creek in Escondido. "The Crossings is going to take a chunk from everyone."

It's not all roses

Therein lies the problem. When a new course opens, it takes a piece of a pie that's not getting any bigger.

"It's a tough market, especially when you're a stand-alone property," McNair said.

The Crossings manager Perry, who opened Riverwalk in Mission Valley in 1998, understands that his new golf course's honeymoon isn't going to last forever.

"After a month or two, we're going to be no different than anybody else in trying to command our fair share of rounds," he said. "In order to do that, we have to be competitive. We're receptive to the market and the conditions around us."

That translates to pricing, which is a delicate dance between operators, who have bottom lines, and customers, who seek value.

"You have to have a great product and provide value for the golfer," said McNair.

The cost factor

Gary Keough, a hotel bellman from Carlsbad, is one golfer who watches his wallet when choosing where to play. You'll never see him at Maderas or La Costa because, he said, "I have a problem paying $10 to $15 a hole." But since he gets to play The Crossings for $60 Monday through Thursday and $80 on the weekends, he said he looks forward to playing it soon.

"I don't know why (the cost) went to $68 million, but at least they're spending money on something that I'm going to use," said Keough, 55. "I don't know if the city will ever get back the $68 million, but I'm glad it's there."

The golf market has become so competitive in the last decade, it has prompted many courses to come up with innovative value packages to promote repeat businesses. JC Golf promotes heavily its JC Players Card, which starts at $259 per year and offers five free rounds of golf, discounted rates, and priority tee times. Other course operators have similar programs.

Call it amenity

Officials at KemperSports, which manages The Crossings, have discussed incentive programs, Perry said, but nothing has been finalized.

"We are going to be lumped in with Aviara, La Costa and Encinitas Ranch, and we're looking to survive in the market just like they are, and the way you do that is to listen to your customers," Perry said.

The Crossings isn't just about turning a profit. Since it's owned by city residents, city officials have said since the beginning that the course should be viewed as an amenity.

"I feel the costs are exorbitant, but I also feel that in the long run it will be a great benefit for the city," Carlsbad Mayor Bud Lewis said. "This is a futuristic approach that will last well beyond my time frame of being in local politics and my life span."

And where will it fit in with the rest of the market?

"We're certainly going to find out," he said.

- Contact Marc Figueroa at mfigueroa@nctimes.com.