Golf Courses

Gloucester County's Maple Ridge Golf Club - known in its heyday as the Eagles Nest, when former quarterback Ron Jaworski was the owner - closed more than a year ago and has found new life as a haven for hikers and bicyclists. The land has rolling hills - a rarity in this area - and a babbling U-shaped stream that nourishes the Mantua Creek watershed, said Richard Dilks, chairman of the environmental commission in Wenonah, a tiny borough that sits on its border. The 112 acres have swaths of tall pines and deciduous conifers and are home to deer, red fox and 63 species of birds, including an albino red-tailed hawk that has naturalists abuzz.

Tiger Woods has been conquering golf courses around the world. Now he is going to start building them. Following other players-turned-architects, Woods announced yesterday that he has formed Tiger Woods Design and will start looking for land to design golf courses. He did not say where his first golf course would be, although an announcement is expected by the end of the year, and the site will likely be outside the United States. Colleges Chuck Davis scored 29 points, including two decisive jump shots late in the second half, to lead Division II Shippensburg to a 67-61 basketball upset of Penn State in an exhibition game at the Nittany Lions' Bryce Jordan Center.

The worst is over. Or that's what golf pros around the country hope. After enduring three years of declining rounds and worrisome finances, many area golf courses hope a slight upturn last year and ringing telephones this spring signal good days to come. "I'm forecasting a good year," said Rob Passarelli, head pro at Wyncote Golf Club, a popular upscale daily-fee course in Oxford. "We've got a lot of people itching to play golf. " A week ago yesterday, Wyncote's tee sheet showed 140 rounds.

A full 18 holes of golf may seem more strenuous than a round of Putt-Putt, but in Montgomery Township, officials have decreed that miniature golf is more taxing. Under an amendment to Montgomery Township's amusement tax ordinance adopted by the Board of Supervisors this week, activities such as miniature golf and driving ranges, whether indoors or out, will be taxed at the standard township amusement tax rate of 5 percent instead of the 4 percent rate fixed by the state for regular golf courses.

Philadelphians: You've got trouble, right here in River City. I say, trouble, with a capital "T" and that rhymes with "G" and that stands for golf! I wish that were only a light-hearted parody on Meredith Willson's "The Music Man," but it's not. A no-kidding hustle is reaching into the ravaged purses of every taxpayer. In 1985, the Fairmount Park Commission led the city into a contract with a private company, Philadelphia Golf Inc. (PGI), empowering PGI to manage the city's five public golf courses.

A nationally known firm that specializes in the design and development of golf courses was hired last night by the Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders. Ault, Clark and Associates Ltd. of Kensington, Md., was retained by the county for $12,500 to develop a 10-year capital improvement plan for the recently acquired Pitman Golf Course in Mantua Township. James B. Cannon, the county's assistant administrator and director of personnel, said the company will survey the course and project repairs, improvements and costs for the next 10 years.

Offering visions of celebrity and professional golf tournaments to come, representatives of Hansen Properties unveiled preliminary plans for a "world- class" golf course and country club at the proposed Hidden Springs Corporate Center. As members of the Horsham Township Zoning Hearing Board listened during a hearing Monday night, attorney Frank W. Jenkins, who represents Hansen, described the proposed facility. He asked board members for a special exception to allow a 7,100-yard course on property zoned residential.

They talked easily about trash collection, police protection, new trucks and traffic lights - the stuff that ward politics are made of. But when the issue of senior citizens and golf fees came up at a meeting Thursday, the Abington Township Board of Commissioners shifted uneasily in their seats to explain why nobody's vote was "against senior citizens. " Finally, nine of 15 commissioners voted to keep the 50-cent fee charged to senior citizens who play nine holes on weekdays at the township's Alverthorpe Park golf course.

A Gloucester County proposal to acquire the Pitman Country Club could be a self-sustaining proposition that would also pay for the cost of the purchase. That argument and others concerning an application to the state are scheduled for a public hearing tonight after the regular meeting of the freeholders in Gloucester County. The freeholders, following a national trend in which city and county governments are purchasing golf courses to preserve open space, announced on Friday that they would apply for a loan under the state's "Green Acres" program to purchase the 18-hole golf course on Jefferson Road in Mantua.

The city golf course deal is finally done. Barring an unforeseen glitch, the city and Meadowbrook Golf Group Inc. could sign an agreement as early as today that would transfer management of the city's six municipal courses - Cobbs Creek, Karakung, Juniata, Walnut Lane, John F. Bryne and FDR - to the Chicago company for the next 11 years. "The Park Commission has approved the transfer," said Jim Bloom, a member of the commission's golf subcommittee. "We expect it to take effect very, very quickly.

The Marlton real estate group that won the auction for Woodcrest Country Club is planning to reopen the Cherry Hill club as a public golf course, township officials said Tuesday. The Haydingers - principals of First Montgomery Group - contacted Mayor Chuck Cahn on Tuesday and shared their plans for the property, saying "they do not at this point plan to seek a zoning change," township spokeswoman Bridget Palmer said. Township officials, who have opposed development of the 155-acre property, "are cautiously optimistic," Palmer said.

Cherry Hill is partnering with Camden County to bid on the bankrupt Woodcrest Country Club in an effort to preserve it as open space. At the county's request, the Township Council voted Friday to spend up to $960,000 on the bid at Monday's auction. The move comes after the county Board of Freeholders voted Tuesday to commit the required deposit of $650,600 from its open-space fund in order to participate in the bidding. The club's only secured creditor is Sun National Bank of Vineland, N.J., which is owed about $11 million.

The Union League of Philadelphia wants to buy Cherry Hill's bankrupt Woodcrest Country Club and continue to operate it as a golf course, an attorney for the Center Center institution said Monday. Attorney Edmond George told U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Judith H. Wizmur the League intends to bid on what was known as a traditionally Jewish country club when it is sold at public auction, now set for May 20. A Marlton real estate group has already entered into an agreement with a bankruptcy trustee to buy the club for $6.25 million, an offer that will serve as the minimum bid for the auction.

The multibillion-dollar Milton Hershey School for impoverished children will close its championship-caliber $17 million golf course, which is part of an investigation by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office. The school said Thursday that as part of a campus expansion, it would seek municipal approval to construct student homes on the Hershey Links property, which was acquired at an inflated price in 2006 and was the subject of several Inquirer articles in 2010 and 2011. The Dauphin County school bought the unfinished golf course for $12 million, two to three times its independently appraised value, and then constructed a $5 million Scottish-themed bar and restaurant on it. School spokeswoman Lisa Scullin said Thursday, "The building presents a number of viable and useful options when it comes to future use. We are confident that we can utilize that structure in a way that benefits our students.

  A federal bankruptcy judge Thursday rejected a plea by Woodcrest Country Club to reconsider her decision appointing a trustee to oversee the club's transition out of bankruptcy. The trustee, Bonnie Glantz Fatell, then told the court that she had already taken control of the 155-acre Cherry Hill property and said in a letter to club members she was considering its possible sale. Fatell, of the Blank Rome law firm, told Judge Judith H. Wizmur she was "hopeful but not certain" she could open the club for the spring golf season.

Mario Tobia once griped on the golf course that as his vision faded, he could not track the ball. When Tobia golfs now, he cannot see at all. He needs someone to help him set up for the shot and judges his success by how the club feels on contact. "And I feel better about myself than I did back then," Tobia said. Tobia, a 57-year-old from Mount Laurel who lost his eyesight during the last three decades because of an eye disorder, is now an award-winning golfer with the American Blind Golf Association.

If landscapes were gems, Timber Creek Park would be Tiffany's. It offers 128 rolling acres of woods, water, and fields - an oasis amid the postwar suburban sprawl of Gloucester Township. But some people who enjoy the trails and the dog run worry that this sylvan jewel could be tarnished by people who like to play disc golf. The competitive sport mixes aspects of the links with elements of Frisbee, horseshoes, and basketball. Players stand at a tee and try to sink a plastic disc about the size of a dinner plate into a basketlike target from 200 to 500 feet away, taking successive shots from wherever the disc lands.

Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones got his first true taste of Philadelphia during the 1993 season in the most heated of competitions. Jones had only three regular-season at-bats for the Braves that season, but was traveling with the team in the postseason. "I remember Mitch Williams striking out Bill Pecoda," Jones said, of the final out of the National League Championship Series, which the Phillies won in six games. "I can remember leaving the Vet and all the fans outside the stadium almost tipped our bus over.

ATLANTIC CITY - This ailing Shore resort, which has had more misses than hits in recent years, needs to wean itself off gambling and bet on the arts, museums, golf courses, or better promotion of local wineries. That was the chorus among the invited speakers at a public hearing here before the State Assembly Tourism and Arts Committee on Wednesday. "It's about turning to other sectors," said John Palmieri, executive director of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA)