Approval of a 1,700-home hillside development by the Board of Supervisors will bring a PGA-quality golf course to Santa Clarita, as well as a chance for the community to play host to professional tournaments. County supervisors on May 26 gave unanimous approval to Westridge Golf Course Community, a Newhall Land & Farming Co. project that features a $20 million, 18-hole course and 1,711 single-family homes, townhouses and condominiums. Lot sales are expected to begin in late 2000, with the golf course scheduled to open in 2001, according to Marlee Lauffer, Newhall Land’s spokeswoman. “We know this has been long anticipated, but we see this as an important addition to our master-planned community,” she said. The project is slated for 798 acres of unincorporated land west of the Golden State Freeway, between McBean Parkway and Valencia Boulevard. The golf course, a joint venture of Newhall Land and PGA Tour Golf Course Properties Inc., would be open to the public and meet PGA Tour standards for tournament play. PGA officials have said it is unlikely they would move a major tournament to Valencia any time soon, but the city could play host to one of the PGA’s many specialty events that are held for prize money and televised nationally. Santa Clarita did play host to the Nissan Open last year when the Riviera Country Club, the usual host, had a scheduling conflict. Mike Haviland, the economic development manager for the city of Santa Clarita, said the four-day event gave the local economy a big boost and brought national media attention to the community. “It was wonderful. The largest number of people ever came into Santa Clarita. Of course, it did help that they had Tiger Woods,” he said. “The media brought in two very large blimps, and they were shooting shots of the community on national television. How much would you pay to have that kind of public relations exposure?” First approved by the Board of Supervisors in 1992, the project was held up for years by litigation from opponents who argued that L.A. County failed to follow its own policies regarding the protection of ecological areas. In particular, opponents objected to the proposed six-lane extension of The Old Road through a patch of valley oaks and savanna grasses, which the county had designated as a significant ecological area. But a judge later held that L.A. County was following its environmental policies when it approved the project.