The city of Victorville is on the brink of adding golfing legend Billy Casper and his corporation to its long and impressive list of legal adversaries.
In 2010, the city entered into an agreement with Billy Casper Golf to operate the Green Tree Golf Course, a major amenity in Victorville with a storied history stretching back three-quarters of a century. On its links and in its clubhouse, politicians, businessman, developers and officials discussed and even closed deals relating to major developments in the Victor Valley.
Nearly four years after Billy Casper Golf took on responsibility for the landmark, however, city officials have not seen it restored to the status of past grandeur they had envisaged.
On March 17, city officials informed the corporation that the golf course has remained in operation within the strictures of the agreed-upon annual budget and that the course has not been maintained “in reasonably good condition.”
Thus, the city said, Billy Casper Golf is “in default.
Billy Casper Golf Senior Vice President Bill Rehanek contests the city’s claim, maintaining the golf course to be in  “far better condition today than it was at the inception of our contract in June 2010.”
Casper, now 82, attended  the University of Notre Dame on a golf scholarship and  had 51 PGA Tour wins in his career, the first of which came in 1956. He is ranked seventh among golfers all time in terms of tournament wins. He was a member of the United States team in the Ryder Cup eight times, and has scored the most points in the Ryder Cup by an American player. He is widely recognized as the best putter of his era. He won at least one PGA Tour event for 16 straight seasons, from 1956 to 1971 inclusive.
On the senior circuit, Casper earned nine Senior PGA Tour victories.
Billy Casper Golf is the second largest operator of golf courses in the United States, and currently manages more than 140 golf facilities.
The city is currently involved in more than two dozen lawsuits and legal actions, including one in which it is contesting civil charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission that it defrauded investors in its issuance of bonds for improvements at Southern California Logistics Airport.