Fairways

SOME NEIGHBORS are upset about plans to convert Bonnie View Golf Course into 595 homes. And no wonder. If the expanse is developed, Mount Washington and Pikesville will lose a buffer of greenery, and traffic on narrow Smith Avenue will intensify. The golf course has been sold. The question is not whether something will be built there but what, how and when. That's why Baltimore County, where most of the land is located, and the city should coordinate their approval processes. Even though it would be virtually unprecedented, the two jurisdictions should combine public hearings on Beazer Homes' proposal.

FIRST TEE of Howard County, the program started last summer to make golf more accessible to kids, continues to grow at Columbia's Fairway Hills Golf Course, to the point where an executive director has been named to oversee the work. The man chosen is no stranger to working with kids or to anyone familiar with Howard County sports. He's Don Van Deusen, a Columbia resident who for 32 years has taught physical education and coached in county schools. His "day job" these days is being athletic director at River Hill High School.

FIRST - ROUND LEADERS R.W. Eaks First-year senior tour member starts fast on back nine -- birdies on 11,12 and 13 -- and front nine -- two birdies and an eagle on first three holes. Tom Watson Three-time winner on senior tour hits 12 of 14 fairways (86 percent); four birdies -- three on the back nine -- came on par 4s and 5s. James Mason Double bogey on No. 6 offsets six-birdie round. Allen Doyle Average drive of 245 is lowest among leaders. Tom Kite Plays three par-5s at 1-under.

This golf course review is by a longtime Columbia resident and frequent golfer who has played virtually every course in Central Maryland. He also is an assistant business editor at The Sun. If you want to work on accuracy in your game, Fairway Hills Golf Club is the place to go. Environmental areas, wetlands, woods and two streams define much of this 6,158-yard, par-70 course, which cuts through several residential areas in the heart of Columbia....

SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. - She didn't hit her drives into orbit like John Daly or dominate like Tiger Woods, but she was a spectacle just the same. Morgan Pressel's score was almost irrelevant yesterday in the first round of the 56th U.S. Women's Open. People flocked to the first tee just to gawk and marvel at the 13-year-old girl with the braces and ponytail. They squeezed arm-in-arm along the ropes for almost 200 yards to see the prodigy from Boca Raton, Fla. She didn't disappoint them.

Fairway Hills Golf Course in Columbia is poised to become the Maryland centerpiece for an innovative, national instructional program that aims to teach golf to children 8 to 18 who lack financial or other access to courses. By the end of the year, backers plan to have a new addition to the clubhouse at the Columbia Association-owned course as a base for the instruction. Also, they expect to have raised $200,000 in privately generated money - including heavy subsidies from the golf industry - to help underwrite the effort.

When the National Funeral Directors Association starts its annual convention in Baltimore this weekend, the buzz won't only be about doom and gloom. The four-day conference features seminars on funeral service software, on customer satisfaction and on buying businesses back from corporations. Attendees can peruse an exhibit hall featuring themed caskets and burials in space. And for something really uplifting, the directors' spouses can have lunch with Mia Farrow as she discusses "highs and lows of her extraordinary life."

''I am Tiger Woods." Remember that? A few years back, as its newest endorser suddenly became a superstar, Nike began running commercials in which cute kids of various races made this declaration. The ads depicted the young golfer extraordinaire as an accessible Everyman's hero, the sort of person we all could emulate and realistically aspire to be. Wannabes across the country (more likely middle-aged men than fresh-faced children) adopted the saying. But now, in the wake of Tiger's record-setting British Open win last weekend, it seems it's officially time to retire it. How can even an above-average Joe ever hope to match this guy?

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland - Everywhere you look here, the history of golf is staring right back. From the fairways of the Old Course that opened before the American Revolution to the cemetery at the edge of town where Old and Young Tom Morris are buried, the game's roots are as firm as the grasp Tiger Woods currently holds on his rating as the world's top player. It is why there is always a special feel whenever the British Open returns to St. Andrews, as it will beginning today. And because of what Woods has done in a spectacular career that peaked with last month's 15-stroke victory in the U.S. Open, the 129th British Open might become of the most memorable.

Glenelg's Matt Greene first picked up a golf club when he was 10 years old, encouraged by his father, Brad. Now, seven years later, Matt has a 10 handicap and "almost a hole in one" to his credit, along with a lot of pleasant memories as he heads off to the University of Maryland, College Park in the fall. "Golf is challenging, it makes you think, and it's relaxing and competitive, all at the same time," says Matt, who graduated last month from River Hill High School. "And it gives me the opportunity to show off."