Golf

Gambling started Wednesday afternoon at the Rocky Gap Casino Resort right after the state approved the opening of its fourth casino, one that Western Maryland leaders hope will lure not only gamblers but also their families to a region eager for more tourist dollars. "It's open and jamming," said Scott Just, the general manager of the resort near Cumberland. "There's a couple hundred people in there. They were pressing up against the ropes. " The $35 million casino, located in what was the lakeside golf resort's conference center, will be open around the clock.

Restaurants are luring families in on Father's Day with cigars and golf bags and by dry-aging anything that's not nailed down. Here are some Father's Day dining options around town: RA Sushi is offering an all-day "manly-sized" happy hour menu selection on Father's Day, 11 a.m. to close, featuring more than 30 sushi, appetizer, and tapas items ranging from $2.75 to $7.75, plus a wide variety of beer, wine, sake, and signature cocktails ranging...

A decade after the 693-acre Turf Valley development was approved as a "planned golf course community" by county officials, its first residents are expected to move into their posh country club homes this fall.Despite continued worries about Howard's real estate market, the western Ellicott City development will feature $350,000 to $500,000 luxury homes -- with great-rooms looking out on plush greens and fairways of Turf Valley's 56 holes of golf.About the same time, Mangione Family Enterprises, Turf Valley's owner, also will be trying to market European-style flats with large porches radiating from its hotel complex.

The Charlie Riley Community Service Scholarship Foundation held its 7th Annual Golf Tournament May 10 at Geneva Farm Golf Course.

Baltimore County police say the body found in a car parked on the grounds of a country club is that of Irving Hurwitz of Pikesville. Hurwitz, 78, had been reported missing by his family on Sunday. County police spokesman Cpl. Mike Hill said a passer-by found the body Thursday inside Hurwitz's 2003 Buick Century on Woodholme Country Club's golf course. Police do not suspect foul play. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death. An earlier news release from police misstated Hurwitz's first name as Norman.

"30 Rock" star Alec Baldwin broke down the difference between the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate the other night on David Letterman's show.  His take?  The House = "Jungle" The Senate = "Poshest golf club"  Seriously, Baldwin's impression of the genteel southern gentlemen who inhabit the Senate is quite funny. Watch below:     

Justin Thomas of Goshen, Ky., overtook leader Denny McCarthy of Burtonsville with a birdie on the 17th hole, and after finishing regulation play all square, won the ensuing first extra hole with a par to gain the final of the U.S. Junior Amateur championship in Ada, Mich. McCarthy had advanced to the afternoon match when he birdied the first playoff hole to defeat Canadian Richard Jung in a morning quarterfinal. pairing. Thomas will face Jim Lio of Smithtown, N.Y., , a 3-and-2 winner over Robby Shelton of Winner, Ala., in a scheduled 36-hole final.

Baltimore County police found the body of a man inside a vehicle Thursday morning at Woodholme Country Club in Pikesville. Police believe the body could be that of Norman Hurwitz, 78, who was reported missing Sunday from his home in Pikesville. Detectives had not confirmed the identity, but there are similarities, Cpl. Mike Hill said. He said there was no evidence of foul play. The car was found off a cart path on the golf course, police said. - Brent Jones

The senior standout closed out a fine four-year career with her second straight individual title at the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland golf championships, leading the Reds to their fifth consecutive team crown last week at Fox Hollow Golf Course in Timonium. After taking a three-stroke lead with a 41 covering nine holes on Tuesday's first day, Golueke fired a one-over-par 37 on Wednesday for a two-day total of 78 to comfortably win by seven strokes. Golueke's long drives off the tee set up shorter shots with her irons as she had five consecutive pars at one point on the second day and finished her career with a birdie.

It all looked so familiar Sunday -- except when it didn't. There was Tiger Woods on the 18th green at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando. Same good-luck red shirt as always on the final day. Same enthusiastic -- even adoring -- crowds cheering his every move. Same look of grim determination on his face when he needed to concentrate. But when he sank his final putt for a 2-under-par 70 to officially win the tournament by five strokes over Graeme McDowell and end 30 months of no wins on the PGA Tour, we saw a different reaction from Tiger than we'd seen in the past.

Chad Schulze's golf career has weathered several errant shots, but beginning Monday night, the Cockeysville resident will have his best chance yet at realizing his dream as a professional golfer. Schulze, 34, is a contestant on the popular Golf Channel reality show Big Break Mexico, where he's competing against 11 other contestants for a shot at playing in a PGA Tour event. The show, in its 19th season, pits six men and six women in golf-related challenges that test their strength in all aspects of the game.

The Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association individual stroke play golf tournament had been within reach for the Mount St. Joseph senior in his first three years. He finished third as a freshman and sophomore before placing second last spring. This year, tied with the defending champion, Archbishop Spalding's Chris Navarro, and with McDonogh's Rij Patel one shot behind going into the final hole of the three-day event on April 29, Long wasn't going to be denied again. His par on the final hole completed a final round 4-over-par 74 for a three-day total of 221, giving Long the elusive title by one stroke over each opponent at Baltimore Country Club's East Course in Lutherville.

The sophomore won her second straight Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland golf championship and led the Reds to their seventh straight team title last week. She shot a 7-over-par 79 at Fox Hollow Golf Course in Timonium to beat two of her teammates, Lindsey Miller and Alexis Emmett, by five strokes. Owen, who has said her goal is to win all four individual titles during her high school career, is undefeated in individual matches over the past two years. She won last year's IAAM title by 12 strokes.

An Anne Arundel County judge handed the Key School a victory Tuesday, allowing the 55-year-old Annapolis private school to go ahead with plans to turn the 70-acre Annapolis Golf Club into an outdoor campus for athletics. A request by residents of the surrounding Annapolis Roads community to block the proposed landscape of playing fields, tennis courts, parking lot and a maintenance facility was turned down by Circuit Judge Paul G. Goetzke. An appeal, however, is possible. "This is an important day for us," said Marcella Yedid, head of the school, noting that the school has been working with Anne Arundel County on the site plan.

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.

Spring is the time of rebirth and renewal . For some, that means tee time and a chance to be outdoors, unwinding from the stresses of everyday life. If golf is your sport of choice, then you need to check out the Zero Prostate Cancer Golf Classic. This event takes place on May 13 from 10:30 a.m.-7 p.m. at the Towson Golf and Country Club, where LPGA tour players will join other golfers to help fight against prostate cancer. Founded by Chesapeake Urology Associates as the Great Prostate Cancer Challenge Baltimore Classic, this event raises funds to further research and provide free screenings in dozens of cities across the U.S. A Driving Range Clinic with the LPGA pros, plus a brunch, is from 10:30 a.m. until noon when a shotgun start begins the 18-hole adventure.

It's a gloriously sunny day in Miami, and I'm standing in a semicircle of maybe 500 people on a carpet of lush, sweet-smelling, green-glinting grass, the kind that makes you want to get naked and roll around on your back like a dog.But the people around me are not doing that. They're silent and solemn, like a church congregation, except that a lot of them are smoking cigars. They're staring intently at some tiny figures way off in the distance. I'm staring, too, but I can't quite make out what the figures are doing.

A Baltimore County worker employed with the Property Management Division died after emergency personnel responded to a former golf course in Kingsville where he was working Monday, but officials released few details about the death. County spokeswoman Ellen Kobler confirmed the death of the 57-year-old man and said emergency workers went midday Monday to county-owned property that was formerly the Gunpowder Falls Golf Course on Raphael Road, off of Mount Vista Road. She did not identify the employee, and said the county could not release any further information.

Peter Young Martin, a former golf professional and Green Spring Valley Hunt Club champion, died of a respiratory illness March 31 at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. The Owings Mills resident was 64. Born in Baltimore, he was the son of John William Young Martin and Nancy Byers Martin. He was raised at the family home, Snow Hill Farm, site of the Maryland Hunt Cup point-to-point race in the Worthington Valley in Baltimore County. Mr. Martin attended the Gilman Lower School and was a 1966 graduate of Avon Old Farms School in Avon, Conn.