Oakmont

Last night the owner of the Oakmont Green Golf Course went before the Hampstead Town Council and repeated his plea for a reduction in the amount of amusement and admission taxes the course pays.Only if it receives such a reduction would it be economically feasible for the course to stay public, owner Lee Snyder had said at last month's meeting. Private golf clubs do not pay the admissions and amusements tax.Last month the council agreed to consider the request further.All members of the town council were in attendance last night as owner Lee Snyder and his lawyer, Chuck Hollman, presented a proposal whereby the amusement and admission taxes would be waived for the Oakmont Green Golf Course.

OAKMONT, Pa. -- Most of the players will have had only two or three practice rounds before the start of today's U.S. Women's Open championship. Whatever the number, it won't be enough.Oakmont Country Club is a perennial member of this country's top 10 golf courses, but it is perhaps more revered for its history.Any story about this course, the only one designed by Pittsburgh steel magnate Henry C. Fownes, includes mention of the slippery and undulating greens and its 165 bunkers, particularly the imposing row of "Church Pews," between the fourth and fifth fairways.

Piney Branch Golf Club could have a triple threat on the line for this year's Baltimore Amateur Golf Championship.Among those singled out for invitations to the select event are brothers Carol and Wayne Gailey and Doug Jacobs, all from Piney Branch. The 36-hole championship will be played July 25-26 at Sparrows Point Country Club.The field is restricted to winners and runners-up in individual club championships at various courses in the immediate Baltimore area.The Gailey brothers were convincing qualifiers for the competition.

HAMPSTEAD -- Struggling shopkeepers are angry that the town might allow yet another retail center to be built while existing space remains vacant.Several retailers attended the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting last week to protest the Oakmont commercial site, a shopping center planned for the north end of town on Route 30.One entire shopping center sits empty on Black Rock Road. Several storefronts at the new Roberts Field have yet to attract their first tenants, and five or six have been abandoned at North Carroll Plaza.

Tom Haskell has been named head golf professional at the newly opened Oakmont Green course in Hampstead.The 49-year old Haskell, a native Marylander, comes to Hampstead by way of New Jersey. His most recent pro affiliation was with the Links at Kings Grant near Cherry Hill, N.J. Haskell was an associate with former National PGA president Bill Clarke and later with reigning PGA President Bill Smith."I played some of my early years of golf as a member at Hillendale Country Club [in Harford County]

Its not likely to be mistaken for the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland, but in the opinion of at least one golfer, the newly opened Oakmont Green course in Hampstead offers a resemblance to "links-style" golf course design."

Lee Snyder, owner of Hampstead's new Oakmont Green Golf Course, is a man of unusual vision.It was on a cold, rainy day eight months ago that Snyder -- his words barely audible above the roar of bulldozers carving out shapes of tees, greens and fairways -- predicted his course would be ready by June 1, 1992.There were many doubters. Some even went so far as to say it would be impossible.Yet, with still three weeks to go, Snyder is confident of meeting the opening target date."Actually," said Snyder, "I'm very happy with most aspects of the project.

Despite the pressures of a recession, plans to build three new golf courses in Carroll County remain alive.Sites for the proposed 18-hole facilities are in Hampstead, Finksburg and Mount Airy.One of them, Oakmont Green in Hampstead, already is under construction and scheduled to open this year. The other two remain on the drawing boards with anticipation of breaking ground at any time."We'll definitely open this season, perhaps as early as Memorial Day," said Jim Matthews of Oakmont Green.

In one way or another, county golfers are going to keep swinging this winter.Determined to beat the elements until spring, some will rely on sheltered tees to stay in tune, some will move indoors and some will head south.The new clubhouse at Wakefield Valley, with its indoor driving nets, offers golfers a chance to laugh at the weather. In fact, teaching professional Bill Madonna has moved a portion of his Pro Motion Golf School to the indoor facility for the winter.Head pro and General Manager Steve Jones reports that Liberty Park Golf Center in Eldersburg offers a chance to practice even if the ground is blanketed with snow.

The developers of the Oakmont golf course to be built here this yearhave some conditions to meet before the Planning and Zoning Commission's final approval takes effect.One condition depends on an awaited report from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about how the course would affect wetlands.Another variable is a possible modification of the planned Hampstead bypass to Route 30, which could affect the location of the entrance road.The golf course will be public, although some of the maximum 100 memberships will be reserved for residents of the 89-home luxury development planned next to the course, said Leland Snyder of Oakmont Green, the corporation planning on purchasing, building and managing the course.