Driving Range

Soon, you will be able to play miniature golf and watch airplanes land at the same time.The county has chosen a Glen Burnie company called Privatization Plus to run a driving range and miniature golf course at Friendship Park, off Dorsey Road opposite Baltimore-Washington International Airport.Jack Keene, head of planning and construction for the county Recreation and Parks Department, said the additions are part of an effort to spruce up the park and improve it for families.The 160-acre park is owned by the state, which leases it to the county for $1 a year.

J. Thomas "Gus" Novotny, a retired Howard County entrepreneur who combined his love for golf and trains and turned them into businesses, died March 24 from cancer at his home in Palm Gardens, Fla. He was 75. The son of a supervisor and a homemaker, John Thomas Novotny was born in Baltimore and raised in Hamilton. Mr. Novotny, who never used his first name, was known to family, friends and business associates as "Gus. " After graduating from Polytechnic Institute in 1956, he earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1960 from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Sophie Ramseyer, who owned and operated a Rossville driving range even though she never swung a golf club, died of respiratory failure Sunday at the Oak Crest Village retirement community, her home for the past seven years. She was 92. Born Sophie Schultz on a Baltimore County farm near the Stemmers Run area, she attended the public one-room Orems School until age 13. She then studied at Strayer's Business College in Baltimore. Family members said she accompanied her mother Thursday mornings to the Broadway Market in Fells Point.

8 p.m. [FX] Sports content (from memory, so maybe I've forgotten something): Brett Fav-ruh, Cameron Diaz (left) on the driving range and Diaz wanting to watch SportsCenter. Now, everybody sing along to "Build Me Up Buttercup."

The usual parts of most ideas that work -- a dream, a gamble, and an all-clear sign -- are now behind the developer of the area's newest golf course project.A driving range, the first phase of Mt. Vista Greens Golf Club, opens today for the season. More importantly, ground is expected to be broken within the next several weeks for an 18-hole executive golf course.The Baltimore County site is 110 acres of farmland located on Raphael Road, east of Belair Road, about 15 minutes north of the Beltway.

Despite opposition from neighbors, the Carroll County Board of Zoning Appeals yesterday approved a conditional use allowing a Westminster-area farmer to move ahead with plans for a 25-acre golf driving range.More than 50 people attended a public hearing before the board yesterday and many criticized the proposed Island Green Driving Range on South Pleasant Valley Road. They cited concerns about traffic, lighting, signs, water source and hours of operation. Many said they wanted to retain the neighborhood's rural character.

NEW YORK -- MetroGolf Inc. plans to develop a golf center adjacent to New York's Times Square, allowing patrons to work on their game without leaving midtown.The golf center will feature a 200-yard indoor driving range with 54 tees on the roof of the Port Authority Bus Terminal on 42nd Street.The project will cost about $6 million and is expected to be completed by the middle of next year."The revival of Times Square and 42nd Street is one of the great urban success stories," Charles Gargano, vice chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said in a statement.

A group of East Baltimore investors is trying to buy a toxic waste dump adjacent to Patterson High School and turn it into a driving range for golfers.The site at Kane and Lombard streets, a few miles from downtown, has a 10-acre protective cap and slurry walls designed to contain contaminants.Although questions remain as to how contained those hazardous soils are, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency believes a driving range would pose no threat to the site or to would-be golfers.Richard W. Sandza, publisher of the East Baltimore Guide, said he and other East Baltimore investors would provide at least $100,000 for the project, which would transform the dormant lot into a 40-tee driving range.

A Harford businessman unveiled plans recently to build a golf driving range on the east side of U.S. 1 between Reckord Road and the Little Gunpowder Falls.Construction of the 275- by 150-yard range will begin next month, according to Fred Kern, who, along with Baltimore businessmen Alex Sotir and John Highfield, formed Golf America Inc. and leased 13 acres of the 30-acre site for the venture."It's taken us 2 1/2 years just to get to this point," said Mr. Kern, a partner in the Harford County realty firm of Rice, Kern, Smith.

A Westminster-area farmer who sees more profit in a golf venture than soybeans and corn has raised the ire of neighbors who oppose a plan for a driving range on a portion of his property."

Here are some odds 'n' ends from the posh Pinehurst Resort, where the media spent three hours interviewing Atlantic Coast Conference football players yesterday. We'll get to that eventually, but here's what the Maryland contingent is up to: Andrew Crummey acknowledges that he can't golf well but won't turn down a chance to play at Pinehurst. Christian Varner said he sneaked out to the driving range - twice - to work on his game before the players, coaches and some media tee off this morning on Pinehurst No. 8. Varner said his game is limited to the miniature version.

On Hilton Head Island, S.C., where golf is king, the Sea Pines Resort is sweetening its offer for two-bedroom villas, starting at $175, by throwing in a $40 refund for gas until Jan. 31. Taxes and fees of 16 percent are extra. Guests must stay a minimum of three nights and mention the gas refund when they book. All villas have full kitchens, but the resort also has 18 restaurants - not to mention three golf courses. For details, call 800-732- 7463 or go to seapines.com.

Countryside Driving Range Miniature Golf Course Location: 1199 South Pleasant Valley Road, Westminster Engineer: BPR Inc., Westminster Developer: Countryside Driving Range LLC Description: An 18-hole miniature golf course adjoining an existing driving range and golf center on a 31-acre parcel. No additional lighting or signs are proposed. Status: Carroll's Board of Zoning Appeals has approved conditional use. Developer has addressed landscaping and storm-water management. Carroll Planning and Zoning Commission has recommended approval pending a public works agreement.

Sophie Ramseyer, who owned and operated a Rossville driving range even though she never swung a golf club, died of respiratory failure Sunday at the Oak Crest Village retirement community, her home for the past seven years. She was 92. Born Sophie Schultz on a Baltimore County farm near the Stemmers Run area, she attended the public one-room Orems School until age 13. She then studied at Strayer's Business College in Baltimore. Family members said she accompanied her mother Thursday mornings to the Broadway Market in Fells Point.

People in Park Heights have been waiting a long time to see the governor stop by for a morning of golf in their neighborhood. Yesterday they got to see him -- Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. teeing off a few hundred yards from boarded-up rowhouses, a crumbling, vacant parking lot with knee-high weeds, overflowing dumpsters and ratty mattresses thrown in streets. But he and just about everyone else there were talking about the changes planned for the 4700 block of Reisterstown Road, where local politicians and activists broke ground on the first phase of the Park Heights Community Golf Range and Family Sports Park, which will include tennis courts and a 30-tee golf driving range.

That junk car with its painted bulls-eye - if you've driven U.S. 29 from Washington, it's a safe bet you've noticed it out in the middle of a golf driving range just into Howard County, north of Rocky Gorge Reservoir. About 150 yards from an arc of double-decker tees, that junker is marketing gimmick and teaching tool. For as Gus Novotny, Rocky Gorge Golf Fairway's founder and majority owner, has taught literally thousands of beginners since the mid-1960s, golf is a game of trying to hit a target with a small, dimpled ball.

The owner of the Churchville Golf Driving Range couldn't help but chuckle when talking about his decision to keep his business open during the winter.Ken Rizer tried to explain what he considers a major blunder. "Great timing, right?" he asked as heavy rains fell on the family entertainment complex on Route 22 about eight miles east of Bel Air. "Haven't had this much snow since 1983. I guess we just pushed our luck."The winter hasn't been a complete loss for the man who has managed the popular operation since 1988.

County golfers, rejoice. After more than a decade of delays, county officials said yesterday that construction of a public golf course in Pasadena will begin next week, and golfers are expected to be able to tee off there by spring 2003. Financed by $18 million in construction bonds sold by Maryland Economic Development Corp., Compass Pointe Golf Course will take shape on 734 county-owned acres south of Fort Smallwood Road, across from Tar Cove Park. The course will include a driving range, a clubhouse and two 18-hole courses.

Despite opposition from neighbors, the Carroll County Board of Zoning Appeals yesterday approved a conditional use allowing a Westminster-area farmer to move ahead with plans for a 25-acre golf driving range.More than 50 people attended a public hearing before the board yesterday and many criticized the proposed Island Green Driving Range on South Pleasant Valley Road. They cited concerns about traffic, lighting, signs, water source and hours of operation. Many said they wanted to retain the neighborhood's rural character.