Baltimore County's 70,000-plus golfers could see two new public courses by 1997 -- the first built in two decades -- if a Ruppersberger administration plan is adopted.
The additions would help attract and retain businesses and residents, county officials believe, and bring back thousands of local golfers who now drive to less crowded courses in southern Pennsylvania.
The new courses would be in Woodlawn, where the county's Diamond Ridge course would be expanded by 18 holes, and in White Hall, where a partially finished private course would be bought and opened to the public.
News of the proposal was welcomed by golfers at another county course yesterday.
"We play in Pennsylvania, and we live in Timonium," said Jacques LeBrun, as he practiced shots with fellow retiree Otts Bosley at Longview in Cockeysville.
Retirees, they said, want to play early, but are typically offered only midafternoon slots at Longview. "I don't want to play when it's 97 degrees," Mr. Bosley said.
Under a plan being finalized, the county would lease its three courses to the quasi-independent Baltimore County Revenue Authority, which would use golf profits and its borrowing power to buy and build more courses.
The authority, which operates four high-rise garages in Towson and metered lots all around the county, already is negotiating to buy the partially built, private Greystone course in White Hall in northern Baltimore County. The authority plans to use $4 million of its own cash and borrow the rest to pay the $7.6 million cost of completing the course.
A previously planned $6 million expansion at Diamond Ridge also would be financed by the authority. Work there should begin this summer, county budget director Fred Homan said.
The idea of leasing the courses at Diamond Ridge, Longview and Rocky Point on Back River Neck peninsula was debated under the previous county administration. But County Executive C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger III is moving toward closing a deal within the next few weeks, county and revenue authority officials say.
"I want to do something soon. We're known now for the highest settlement costs on homes and for having the least golf courses," he said, adding that he is working to change both. With a growing population of seniors, the need for more affordable public recreation and limited county borrowing power, the authority seems the way to go, he said.
Although the lease agreement is not complete, he said the county will create an advisory committee to help manage the courses. The county will get a share of the profits, although that amount has not yet been determined, he added.
Golf represents a ticklish problem for county officials such as Mr. Ruppersberger, himself an avid golfer who sees more courses as part of his economic development strategy. The county needs more courses, but elected officials can't bring themselves to borrow millions for golf when new schools are an even greater need.
Baltimore County, which has five public access courses, has been judged the most "underholed" locality in the country by national golf associations. York County, Pa., by comparison, has half Baltimore County's population, but has 16 public courses.
Baltimore County's public access courses include city-owned Pine Ridge near Loch Raven and the privately owned Worthington Valley Country Club. There are 16 private courses in the county.
Golfers played 184,483 rounds on the three county-owned courses last year, recreation officials said.
County officials want to build more courses quickly, without adding to the county's debt burden. By taking over the existing county courses, the revenue authority would be able to use the $1.1 million in annual profits to help finance new construction.
That works for the county too, because golf profits already are going into a golf enterprise fund set up last year, and not into the general county treasury.
George E. Hale, director of the revenue authority, said that if the deal goes through there are no plans to raise fees and current county workers would likely keep their jobs, including the current golf pros.
The authority has expanded its activities in recent years, financing the purchase of a floating dry dock from Bethlehem Steel in the late 1980s, and selling bonds to finance the Towson library expansion and the new Towson District Court building.
But some criticize the golf course plan. "We all want more golf courses," Wayne R. Harman, a former director of recreation and parks, said this week. "But we would make a terrible mistake to give away the [golf] revenues."
The Greystone purchase is "a bad deal for the county," he said, because the course is only 10 minutes from York County courses, and it might be too difficult for everyday players. The costs, he said, are too high and the return may be too small.
Mr. Homan disagreed. Compared with the $6 million cost of expanding Diamond Ridge on county-owned land, the $7.6 million price of a finished Greystone course is reasonable, he said.
The time needed to generate profits on new courses is exactly why the self-supporting revenue authority needs the profits from operating the existing courses, he said.
