SOUTHLAND FOCUS

A weekly look at golf courses open to the public in Southern California.

BISHOP COUNTRY CLUB

Address: U.S. 395, South, Bishop.

Green fees: $23-$28 ($20-$25 for residents of Inyo and Mono counties).

Phone: (760) 873-5828.

The layout: If you’re heading north for a little early-season trout fishing in the Eastern Sierra or for some late spring skiing at Mammoth Mountain, you might want to throw your clubs in the trunk. That patch of green on your left as you enter Bishop isn’t merely another cattle pasture. It is a sprawling golf course, challenging not so much because of its length--you can hit the ball a mile at nearly 5,000 feet--but because of water that comes into play on almost every hole and greens that are trickier than they look.

The good: The fairways are generally wide, but meandering streams and well-situated ponds force you to think before you swing. No. 14 is best played with a three-wood and a slight fade, for an ideal approach to a slick, downward sloped green surrounded by bunkers. No. 18, flanked on the right by an actual cattle pasture, is a scenic finishing hole that requires a straight, long drive, and you will still have a long iron for an approach that must carry a creek to a small green nestled amid a stand of 100-foot cottonwoods.

The bad: The extra distance you get at this altitude is good for the ego, but bad for the handicap. First-timers usually fly a green or two before they adjust. Despite the clever layout, the course is as flat as the Owens Valley floor on which it sits, which makes many of the holes seem similar. It can get windy enough to render the course unplayable and cold enough to chill the feeling out out your hands.

The score: What better way to kill time between morning and afternoon bites? With the snow-capped Sierra peaks as a backdrop and air that is actually clean enough to breath, playing here on a balmy spring day is therapeutic, no matter what you think of the course or how well you shoot.

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Overall course rating: 2 1/2 balls.

* One ball: No-frills golf.

** Two balls: Worth an occasional round.

*** Three balls: Like shooting four strokes under your handicap.

**** Four balls: Where the golf gods play.

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Hole Back Tees Middle Tees Par Front Tees 1 375 355 4 352 2 520 470 5 424 3 379 354 4 309 4 192 177 3 150 5 481 460 5 420 6 417 397 4 330 7 415 380 4 329 8 202 172 3 166 9 410 383 4 329 Out 3,148 3,182 36 2,809 10 564 529 5 485 11 405 366 4 337 12 405 361 4 348 13 210 189 3 166 14 321 265 4 259 15 197 179 3 124 16 527 505 5 445 17 167 129 3 113 18 426 401 4 376 In 3,222 2,924 35 2,653 Total 6,613 6,359 71 5,462

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Rating/Slope: Black--70.9/122, Middle--68.5/118, Front--70.3/123