Golf

PHILADELPHIA -- No doubt about it: Tiger Woods' feat of winning four straight major golf tournaments was a great achievement. But many commentators have compared the "Tiger Slam" to other great sports feats such as Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak, Wilt Chamberlain scoring 100 points in one game and Carl Lewis' Olympic triumphs. Many writers have said that Tiger Woods should be considered among the greatest athletes of all time, along with Muhammad Ali, Babe Ruth and Michael Jordan.

Beverly Farms, Mass. -- BASEBALL IS in the doghouse this summer, and golf basks in the limelight, at least for this past weekend.Golf is so popular, we read, that on Long Island, west of the privileged and precious old links of Shinnecock Hills, players arise at three in the morning to get in line for a round at one of the Bethpage State Park public courses.At the same once-ungodly hour, other addicts are finishing up a round at the new, illuminated nine-hole, 17-acre layout, in the town of Deer Park, called Heartland Golf Park.

Golf, in case you didn't know, is one of the fastest growing sports in the world of travel. There are now 28.5 million golfers in the United States, and, by the year 2000, another 20 million are expected to take up the game. It's expected there will be 5,000 new courses by then also.On Cape Cod, which one golf pro describes as the Pebble Beach of the East, there is the new Old Barnstable Fairgrounds Golf Course.Even in areas one might not expect, golf is expanding. Northern Michigan, for example, where the number of courses is expected to double within four years, is being called the next Myrtle Beach, S.C. The Elk Ridge course there has just been named second best new public course in the country.

Two developers with plans for new subdivisions off Fort Smallwood Road have offered Anne Arundel County land for a 27-hole championship golf course in exchange for permission to build more houses than zoning normally would allow there.Michael T. Rose, one of the developers, said yesterday he would to cluster his houses on a 390-acre tract across Fort Smallwood Road from Tar Cove Park in Pasadena so that the course could snake around the houses.Mr. Rose said he offered the land to the county because the park, a former horse farm, is too small for the 18-hole golf course the county has planned.

The county Planning Board said yesterday that a proposed 18-hole golf course in Columbia is within zoning restrictions for the 204-acre site and can be built.Despite the 4-0 vote, with one abstention, one board member expressed reservations."Cramming a golf course into this site raises the very delicate concern of deforestation," said board member Dale Schumacher. "I don't think this is a perfect fit here."I'm surprised this short of a course is being proposed for this site. My sense is it won't serve serious golfers all that well.

The expression on Paul Wills' face rarely changes during a round of golf.Whether the Arundel senior is scrambling for bogey or making a long birdie putt, his laid-back demeanor remains intact."

MARTHA'S VINEYARD, Mass. -- The golfer, all 6-foot-3, 225 pounds of him, smacked his tee shot with a satisfying plink, but because he came out of his crouch just a tad too soon, his drive began fading to the right about 175 yards down the fairway."

An unprofitable public golf course in Kingsville could become a regional park with trails, athletic fields and possibly a gymnasium, but not without a battle from golfers who want it to stay open. Baltimore County recreation officials have scheduled a community meeting 7 p.m. Wednesday at Kingsville Elementary School to help chart the future of the 112-acre course on Raphel Road and a recently purchased adjoining 28 acres. "We will gather a consensus and lean more toward that," said Robert J. Barrett, county director of Recreation and Parks.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Ryder Cup Matches -- USA vs. Europe at pasture pool -- will be played again this weekend at The Belfry in Sutton Coldfield, England. If you're going to watch it on TV, along with your popcorn you'll need a supply of sedatives or strong drink and a hankie or two. And maybe a flag to wave.This is not the Greater Goshen Open. It's golf's ultimate battle, the most penetrating examination of a man and his game. Win a match, you get a point. Halve one, you get half a point.

County Executive John G. Gary was grilled last night by residents who live near the proposed Fort Smallwood golf course about how the new housing developments, and where the golf course would be built, would affect the area.About 180 residents from the nearby Chandler Point, Water Oak Point and Poplar Ridge areas attended the meeting. Some questioned what would happen to Tar Cove Park if the 18-hole golf course was moved across Fort Smallwood Road."If we do not get a golf course over there, what are we going to get?"