THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 26, 1996 TAG: 9605260210
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 94 lines
Standing on the 10th tee at Firestone Country Club was a dream come true, especially since the hole didn't look that tough. Par 4, 406 yards, a little tight, but no more than you'd expect from one of America's great golf courses.
I took my driver back nice and slow, turned and propelled the ball towards the green with a barbarian's fury.
``Is that a tree you hit?'' a female's computerized voice asked, seemingly with a touch of mischief.
Of course it was, and it had interrupted the flight of what would have been a magnificent tee shot after only 152 yards.
Dennis Evans, manager of the Ultimate Country Club in Virginia Beach, reached over and pressed a button on the computer to my left. Suddenly, we were watching my tee shot again, this time from the green. We watched in disgust (well, one of us did) as my ball nearly cleared the top but caught a branch and barely burrowed through the leaves, dropping to earth after another couple of yards.
``You want a mulligan?'' Evans asked, his finger poised over yet another button.
Reluctantly (a little), I nodded, then sent my second tee shot straight down the middle of the fairway, though an uncharacteristically meager 185 yards.
Evans and two Hampton Roads buddies opened Ultimate CC a couple of weeks ago. Right now, there are three computerized simulators up and running; two more are on the way. Two can be used by PGA teaching professional Tim Reynolds to analyze your swing during private lessons. The other three can be programmed for you to play one of 37 famous courses - including Bay Hill, Castle Pines, Pinehurst No. 2, Riviera, Harbour Town and, of course, Firestone.
You can even compete against Jack Nicklaus, one on one.
You use your clubs. You play your brand of ball. You take a full swing and hit it as hard as you can into a screen illustration of the hole. The computer does the rest and has become so sophisticated, says Evans, that the distance it says your ball travelled is within a yard of the actual distance you would have hit it outside.
Want to play into a 30-mph wind? Touch a button.
If you hit into the rough, you play your next stroke from a fluffier artifical turf that's right beside the ``fairway'' carpet. They even have a turf texture that simulates sand.
And the best part is that you're indoors, away from the heat, away from the rain, and within arm's reach of a full-service lunch or dinner menu. Lunch business, Evans says, has been brisk.
``It is not our intention to replace golf courses,'' Evans said. ``The whole concept is to provide golf when golfers can't get outdoors to play. Here, as long as Virginia Power gives us electricity, you can play golf.''
The cost is $10 per half-hour, $20 an hour, about how long it takes to play 18 holes. Ultimate CC, on Virginia Beach Boulevard near the Norfolk line, will open as early as 7 a.m. if someone has reserved a tee time. It closes at 11 p.m.
How'd I play the rest of Firestone? Like someone who needs to practice on a much easier layout.
HE'S BAAAACK: Mike Waugh, that is. The 1978 Norview High graduate, who toiled at Ocean View (twice) and Lake Wright before taking off for a year or so to Reston (Va.) National Golf Course, is back as Club Manager at Chesapeake's Seven Springs, the only public-access course in that burgeoning city.
Waugh, still a golf pro, returned in mid-March when National Golf Properties purchased Seven Springs for a reported $3.8 million, then leased operation of the course to American Golf. That brings to three the number of local courses American Golf operates, following Ocean View and Honey Bee.
Those courses don't have the public relations problem Waugh's encountered at Seven Springs, where a bitter dispute between the two original owners of the course deteriorated to the point where one person owned 10 holes, the other person eight and merging them was impossible.
Those days have been over for more than a year. Seven Springs is again 18 holes, a little rough from tee to green, but much, much better than the typical Hampton Roads course once on the putting surface. It's one of Waugh's jobs to reintroduce the public to what could be a very intriguing test of skill.
``Do we have an image problem to shed?'' Waugh asks. ``Yes. The word is out about us with people who live in Great Bridge. The word isn't out in full throughout Hampton Roads.
``But it's come a long way in a short period of time and in two years, this place is really going to be something.''
INSIDE THE LEATHER: Still not ``officially'' open, Bayville Country Club nonetheless has begun keeping track of course records. From the back tees, the honor belongs to Brian Sullivan, who shot a 2-under-par 70. From the whites, it's Carey Hodsden, at 5-under 67. Peggy Woodard holds the women's course record, at 1-over 73. By the way, designer Tom Fazio, who seemingly can't build a course anywhere in the world the experts don't rave about, will be home from Italy in time to attend the grand opening in July. ... Virginia Wesleyan is holding its annual athletic fund-raiser for the Blue Marlin Athletic Club at Cypress Point on June 4. It's a four-man, Florida best-ball, $75 per person, includes cart and lunch. Call Terry at 455-3347 to sign up. are on sale, but hurry. Galleries are being limited to 25,000 a day. The phone number is 1-800-PGA-TCKT and offices are open 8-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. by CNB