Bulle Rock

Bulle Rock Golf Course in Havre de Grace has been ranked the 10th-best course in the nation, according to the Zagat Survey guide released yesterday. Bulle Rock also was named the top course in the Mid-Atlantic region. Zagat Survey is the world's leading provider of consumer survey-based leisure content. The guide, which contains ratings and reviews for 1,095 of the nation's best golf courses, is based on the experiences of 6,000 avid golfers who played more than a half million rounds of golf in the past 12 months.

The freshman broke a 20-year-old scoring record by two shots to win the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association individual golf championship May 1 at Bulle Rock in Havre de Grace. His 71-73-70-214 won by five strokes. The 5-foot-9, 130-pound 15-year-old is believed to be only the second freshman to ever win the title. Navarro's coach, Pete VanZandt, said the teen has the perfect disposition for golf success, never letting his emotions get the best of him. "He never seems to feel the pressure," VanZandt said.

Here's what you have to love about the LPGA: a player who stands 5 feet 2 and weighs as much as a Keebler elf is the talk of the tour this morning. This would be South Korean In-Kyung Kim, who is all of 20 and who won the State Farm Classic by a stroke over Se Ri Pak on Sunday, creating all sorts of buzz for this week's McDonald's LPGA Championship at Bulle Rock in Harford County. Did you see Kim's spunky performance? In only her second tour victory, she managed four birdies on the front nine and then birdied 11, 13, 17 and 18 to shoot a 7-under-par 65, no small feat given the gusty conditions and tricky greens at Panther Creek Country Club in Springfield, Ill. And wonder of wonders, she actually seemed to be having a good time closing out the win, something we haven't seen since Rocco Mediate smiled and yukked it up at last year's men's U.S. Open, when he went head-to-head - and lost - against Tiger Woods.

Editor: I support and endorse, without qualification, Joseph Smith, candidate for the Havre de Grace City Council. I like what he wrote in the following statement: One primary theme that I am stressing during this campaign is that people in Bulle Rock moved here because we feel a strong connection to the community and want to be here. We want to be considered a part of the community, regardless of where we are from or how long we've lived here. We offer much in terms of diversity, experiences, skills and interests.

The Residences at Bulle Rock, a planned community, will hold open houses from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, June 17 and June 23 and 24 at its newly opened Residents' Club, 1250 Bulle Rock Parkway. The public is invited to tour the 37,000-square-foot facility, watch demonstrations in the fitness and aquatic center, enter to win prizes and enjoy refreshments. The Residents' Club features indoor and outdoor pools, tennis and bocce courts, fitness equipment, exercise studios, meeting rooms, a billiards room, and an Internet cafe.

This is not just another golf course sprouting out of the ground. It's an ambitious mission to provide the public with the kind of amenities previously offered by only the elite of country clubs. Enticing, elegant, expensive, the kind of place that qualifies for national attention. Welcome to Bulle Rock, named for a famed thoroughbred of the past.Eighteen extraordinary holes are in place, created by designer Pete Dye, and another similar course also will be routed on the 564-acre tract that owner Ed Abel bought and is developing into a golfing mecca at what is estimated to be an $18 million price tag.He may never get his investment back.

One of the major championships in women's pro golf is moving to Havre de Grace. The LPGA Championship will be played at the Bulle Rock golf course starting next year, the tournament's directors announced last night. The event had been played at the DuPont Country Club in Wilmington, Del., for 18 years. "Bulle Rock is a five-star facility designed by renowned golf course architect Pete Dye and listed as one of the best courses in the state of Maryland," tournament director Frank Quinn said in a statement.

Developers of the Residences at Bulle Rock said they always knew they had a view. Now they have the rooms -- and they showed those off last week during a hard-hat tour of Bulle Rock's 37,000-square foot community center. "This is show and tell. And the show part is looking over our shoulders," said developer Clark Turner, motioning to a red sunset framed by clouds above the Chesapeake Bay. "Nowhere in this region will you find a spectacular view like we have behind us." Expected to be finished by May, the $12 million center is a focal point of the Havre de Grace development spearheaded by Manekin LLC, Turner and H&S Properties, which together hosted the tour for politicians, business leaders and other Harford County and regional notables.

It seemed like a good idea at the time. And five years later, those who brought the McDonald's LPGA Championship to Harford County's Bulle Rock Golf Club say they got what they expected: high-quality competition on a world-class course with millions raised for charity. But after this week's competition, the pro tour and the sponsor will part ways in a decision reached a year ago. The LPGA leaves with complete control of one of its signature events. McDonald's, the sponsor for 28 years, will put on a golfing fundraiser with lower overhead to ensure more money is funneled to Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Bulle Rock, the public golf course that opened in Harford County last spring, quickly became famous for having extremely high greens fees - $126 a round, to be exact.Bulle Rock (named after a famed thoroughbred) got more press when it was recently voted Golf Digest's best new upscale public golf course for 1998.What you don't hear about is Bulle Rock's restaurant, which looks like a public golf course's dining room - nothing fancy, in other words - but has a chef who formerly worked at the Milton Inn and Hamilton's.

Editor: Havre de Grace threw a grand celebration for Mardi Gras with a colorful parade and festivities Feb. 21. Thank you to the Tuesday crowds of 1,500-2,000 onlookers. Hundreds of glittering beads were tossed to cheering revelers. The holiday fun continued through the crisp evening at downtown restaurants and crowded taverns. More than 250 folks participated in our largest parade yet, among 21 entries and units. Special thanks to restaurants, Silks at Bulle Rock, Tidewater Grille, MacGregor's, Coakley's Pub, Laurrapin Grille; to local businesses, Big House Signs, Pizzazz, Spencer-Silver Mansion bed and breakfast, White Rabbet Gallery, The Art Rooms, La Cle'D'or Guesthouse, Maryland Conservatory of Music; to youth organizations, Havre de Grace recreation cheerleaders, Havre de Grace recreation basketball, Havre de Grace drama guild, Havre de Grace recreation soccer, Havre de Grace High School swim team; and to local civic organizations, Havre de Grace Seafood Festival, Havre de Grace Arts Commission, Upper Chesapeake Red Pump Ball.

Christmas has blossomed in Harford County, seemingly overnight, like a lawn overtaken by dandelions. It's not even December and, without rhyme or reason, picture windows aplenty are filled with decorated trees, houses are aglow with exterior lights and lawns are adorned with all sorts of ornamentation. With retailers pushing the Christmas season ever earlier, it's no wonder their customers are following their lead and bringing Christmas into their homes ever earlier. But this year seems to have topped all others.

Every other week, quilters gather in a sun-drenched community room that overlooks their Harford County homes. They will spend a few hours sewing and socializing, ever aware that they are stitching with a purpose. Like the quilting bees of old that provided families with warmth and comfort, the group, which meets at the Residents' Club at Bulle Rock in Havre de Grace, puts together coverlets that will ultimately let a wounded veteran sense the care and gratitude of a stranger. The quilters, mostly women but also a few men, are part of the "Quilts for the Injured Soldiers Project.

A street lined with villa homes in the Harford County community of Bulle Rock appears unremarkable, with exteriors that at a glance appear pretty much alike. It is only upon closer look that Bulle Rock residents' personalities shine through gardens, flags and lawn adornments. At Valerie Matricciani's villa home, the front yard is a botanical feast for the senses and, visitors soon realize, a mere taste of what's to come beyond the door. The walk leading to her home is lined with dwarf bushes, impatiens, large coleus plants and a gracefully blooming crepe myrtle.

Upper Chesapeake Health and the University of Maryland Medical System have purchased 70 acres of land in Havre de Grace for future expansion. The price of the land, near the intersection of highway 155 and I-95, was not disclosed. The hospitals said the land purchase would eventually allow Upper Chesapeake to expand inpatient and ambulatory services. The land is near the hospital's Bulle Rock property purchased in 2008. The hospital is responding to expected growth and aging of the population in northeast Maryland.

For Jane and Mike Fischbeck, building a spacious new villa in the Bulle Rock development of Harford County was like a day at the beach. The couple, coming from a Ryland-built house in a waterfront community in Joppa, chose the same builder the second time around. Working with Ryland, they knew pretty much what to expect, including a focus on the details. "The builder gave us evergreen, holly and perennials for the front walk," said 59-year old Jane Fischbeck, an employee in the central office of Harford County Public Schools, who praised the accommodating sales staff.

For Jane and Mike Fischbeck, building a spacious new villa in the Bulle Rock development of Harford County was like a day at the beach. The couple, coming from a Ryland-built house in a waterfront community in Joppa, chose the same builder the second time around. Working with Ryland, they knew pretty much what to expect, including a focus on the details. "The builder gave us evergreen, holly and perennials for the front walk," said 59-year old Jane Fischbeck, an employee in the central office of Harford County Public Schools, who praised the accommodating sales staff.

Three years ago, the timing seemed perfect for the LPGA Championship and Bulle Rock Golf Course. At the time, Annika Sorenstam was considered by many to be the most dominant female player in modern history and amateur phenom Michelle Wie was thought to be the game's next megastar. The upscale public course in Havre de Grace was on everybody's to-play list, a five-star gem hidden away in Harford County. When the LPGA Championship returns there for a fourth year this week, the tour and the tournament venue appear to be approaching a crossroads.

From a street-level view of the Snider home, with its brick front and three gables jutting from a deeply pitched roof, a first impression could easily be that of a cozy little cottage. Indeed, the 40-foot-wide home suggests compact living with all the trappings of charm. The wow factor strikes at the front door with an open interior layout extending 70 feet deep to the back of the home. Dava Snider remarks how deceiving the home is from the outside. "And all the houses are meant to have an individual feel," she said of her two-story home with basement walk-out in the Residences at Bulle Rock in Havre de Grace.