Mass grading is underway at Hasley Canyon, where Arnold Palmer's company is creating the first Arnold Palmer signature course in greater Los Angeles.

The Palmer course is the cornerstone of a 433-acre community featuring 209 custom home sites, with amenities including tennis courts, a state-of-theart fitness centre, swimming pool and community buildings. The property is being developed by David Chapman, Dan Palmer of Palmer Investments and Bill Kubly, chief executive officer of Landscapes Unlimited.

"The property is intimidating and rather challenging because of the very thing that makes it exciting; its dramatic changes in elevation," said Palmer's lead architect on the project, Vicki Martz.

The course features a 400-foot elevation change from mountaintops to valleys.

Particular attention has been paid to capturing the storm water from the hillside and moving it through the property. This gives Martz the opportunity to create a variety of water features that will flow directly through the golf course. Mass grading and shaping holes will be completed by the end of this autumn. The front nine holes will be grassed next January and the back nine six to eight months later.

The club is expected to open in March 2009.