Nine Holes

CUMBERLAND -- The fairways are still a bit ragged-looking, and one green could use a dose of Propecia. But come Saturday, the last nine holes at Rocky Gap Lodge and Golf Resort will open for play. The roar of lawn mowers and grass trimmers has filled the air this week as groundskeepers primp the hilly, Jack Nicklaus-designed course for its full-fledged debut. "We'll be ready," vowed Jim Bauer, who is in charge of the 220-room rustic lodge on the shore of Lake Habeeb, eight miles east of Cumberland.

Mary Bryan Owen made her high school golf debut last season and won the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland championship by 12 strokes. Her four-over-par 76 at Fox Hollow Golf Course helped the Reds win their sixth straight team title. One match into her sophomore year, the 16-year-old remains undefeated in high school golf. She and teammate Lyndsey Miller won their first regular-season match, which is nine holes and uses the four-ball format. Owen, who is a triplet with brothers Davis and Edward, plays American Junior Golf Association tournaments during the summer.

There are other ways to enjoy the dawn. Sleeping in. Breakfast in bed. The morning news. Playing with the kids. But for two friends who regularly play nine holes at Clifton Park against the pastel backdrop of sunrise, only golf will do. "I like being the first one out here," says Dennis Koulatsos, 37. "Golf without a lot of interruptions, that's what I'm here for," says Norman Dowdy, 53. Koulatsos and Dowdy, colleagues at a Belair Road car dealership, are...

A Manchester developer plans to build 320 upscale homes for senior citizens on a golf course in Westminster just as state officials have frozen development in the rapidly growing Carroll County seat until new water sources are secured. Although the development is in the early planning stages, residents living around the 27-hole Wakefield Valley Golf Course and in the adjacent Carroll Lutheran Village retirement community have voiced opposition to the project. "It affects the people at Carroll Lutheran pretty badly," said Del. Tanya T. Shewell, whose home borders the golf course.

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.

KOHALA COAST, Hawaii -- Lee Trevino called the shot that made him the big winner yesterday over the first nine holes of the Senior Skins Game.Trevino had a 15-foot birdie putt in the cup and was watching Jack Nicklaus, hunkered over a 12-footer to tie him, on the 7th hole at the Mauna Lani Resort."

Buddy Marucci acknowledged Friday that his partner, Macon Moye, carried the team for much of the day in the Chesapeake Cup at the Caves Valley Golf Club, propelling them to the top of the leader board after 27 holes. Yesterday, Marucci returned the favor. Marucci made two birdies on the final nine holes and saved a crucial par on another, as he and his teammate earned a one-stroke win over Pat Tallent and Tim Jackson. For the two-day tournament, Marucci and Moye finished with a 54-hole score of 10-under-par 203. "Today, I struggled with my driver a little bit, and Buddy hung us in there the whole time, just enough to win," Moye said.

The par-3 fourth hole is particularly hazardous, with its long fairway that doglegs to the left.A driver would be recommended in most cases, but this is a much different case.No golf clubs are needed on this course. The dimpled little balls you're used to seeing are replaced by much bigger ones with panels.The holes are 28 inches in diameter, plenty of room to put a size 5 soccer ball through.A strong leg suffices for your woods, an accurate foot works as your putter and wedge. No caddie is necessary.

LEMONT, Ill. -- Ben Crenshaw broke one two-year streak and extended another with his victory yesterday over Greg Norman in the Western Open.Crenshaw used a late, two-stroke swing to leap-frog over Norman and claim his first victory since 1990."

Carroll's golfers -- as well as those residing outside the county -- are rejoicing over the opening of River Downs Golfer's Club. The first nine holes of this new course outside Finksburg are ready for use, and the back nine holes are scheduled to open in late summer. As word spreads around the Baltimore region, golf-starved men and women are likely to fill up the tee times.Even though Carroll is blessed with six golf courses, there seems to be a general countywide tolerance of creating more.

Missing yet another PGA Tour cut was the least of Michelle Wie's worries. The 16-year-old phenom was treated for heat exhaustion at a local hospital after withdrawing from the PGA John Deere Classic with nine holes left yesterday in Silvis, Ill. She struggled to keep herself from getting sick on a hot, steamy afternoon and left the course in an ambulance. "She suffered a number of different symptoms, including stomach pains, nausea, dizziness and breathing problems, which worsened as the round continued," Wie's agent, Ross Berlin, said in a statement.

After going extra holes twice to reach the last match, Jeff Castle expressed some concern about the grueling nature of the Maryland State Amateur men's championship, which requires seven rounds of the two finalists. So, yesterday at the Elkridge Club, Castle personally eliminated one-third of the final round with a blazing 31 on the front nine in the afternoon and cruised by fellow collegian Jarrod Page, 7 and 6, to become the 2006 titlist. The Towson University rising senior reached the halfway point of the 36-hole test with a 3-up lead, then squashed all chances of a Page comeback with four birdies and an eagle 3 on the par-5 seventh, virtually guaranteeing the victory.

POTOMAC - The opening round of the $4.8 million Booz Allen Classic was the perfect remedy for any post-U.S. Open blues of Charles Howell III. Howell, who shot a final round of 83 Sunday on the brown and crusty greens of Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., was 22 strokes better yesterday on the soft and inviting surfaces of the Tournament Players Club at Avenel. An opening round of 10-under-par 61, including a course-record 8-under 28 on Howell's last nine holes, was both a career-best and competitive course record, giving Howell a three-stroke lead over former PGA and Kemper Open champion Rich Beem and journeyman Olin Browne.

POTOMAC - Duffy Waldorf finally got the better of the back nine at the TPC at Avenel yesterday. After struggling with the inward stretch in the first two rounds at the Capital Open, Waldorf used four back-side birdies to erase a pair of bogeys on his way to a 2-under-par 33. That gave Waldorf a 66 - his best score in 39 competitive rounds here - and left him at 8-under, three shots behind leader Rory Sabbatini. "Today, I obviously played my best [on the back nine], making all of those birdies," Waldorf said.

I had met Johnny Unitas a couple of times for a few minutes before last Thursday and didn't by any stretch of imagination know him. But you would have never known that had you been in our foursome last week at the Caves Valley Golf Club. Johnny U., who died yesterday; John Schuerholz, general manager of the Atlanta Braves; and Mike Gill, a friend and colleague at the Baltimore Country Club, were to participate that evening in the opening of the renovated football stadium at Towson University.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Ty Tryon regained his touch and didn't lose his sense of humor yesterday. Darkness prematurely ended Tryon's second round as a 17-year-old PGA Tour rookie here at the Phoenix Open, three holes short of finishing and several strokes shy of making the cut. At par for the day and 6-over for the tournament, Tryon joked that he accomplished one of his goals. "I knew I'd make it to the weekend," Tryon said with a smile. Tryon and the other 24 players who failed to complete a round that was delayed 45 minutes by frost will come back this morning.

A proposed senior-citizen condominium complex near the Cattail Creek Country Club in Glenwood met fierce opposition at last night's Board of Appeals public hearing.In a room packed with about 75 people, the board heard testimony from one witness and the developer's statements about the proposed complex, to be located just north of the country club on the western side of Route 97.The unexpected number of opponents wishing to testify will prolong the hearings until March 10, officials said.

NEWTON, Mass. -- What began as a cold day for Jenny Chuasiriporn soon became a long and frustrating outing, as the Timonium resident struggled in the first round of the 97th U.S. Women's Amateur Championship.Chuasiriporn opened with an 80 at Brae Burn Country Club in 60-degree temperatures yesterday. But the scores in general were high, and early indications are that the cut would be at 160."I can't play much worse," said Chuasiriporn, 20. "I got off to a slow start and could not get into a rhythm in the back nine."

There are other ways to enjoy the dawn. Sleeping in. Breakfast in bed. The morning news. Playing with the kids. But for two friends who regularly play nine holes at Clifton Park against the pastel backdrop of sunrise, only golf will do. "I like being the first one out here," says Dennis Koulatsos, 37. "Golf without a lot of interruptions, that's what I'm here for," says Norman Dowdy, 53. Koulatsos and Dowdy, colleagues at a Belair Road car dealership, are...

A former church summer camp west of Mount Airy has been turned into a public golf course that celebrates its opening today. Hope Valley Golf Course on Jesse Smith Road off Route 144 is different from the other four golf courses within a five-mile radius - it's a par 63 course, rather than a par 72, making it an executive golf course. "The key word is `executive,'" said Holly Harrison Frye, vice president of Frall Developers Inc. of Mount Airy. "It's for busy people who want to get their play in and play faster."