THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 31, 1996 TAG: 9603310222
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
The Homestead with an identity crisis?
It's impossible for Virginians to believe, but apparently there are hundreds of thousands of people - golfers - who don't know that the critically acclaimed Cascades course is located at The Homestead in Hot Springs. Folks there decided some education was in order, so in this month's Golf Digest there's a large ad touting the course.
``Golf Digest ranked it 39th out of the top 100 golf courses in the U.S.,'' the ad says. ``They also named it as one of only eight 5-star public courses. And in a recent Golf Digest ranking of 100 courses, only two other resort courses were ranked higher. Strange though. While a lot of people know the Cascades, they don't seem to know where it is.''
The ad goes on to tell about the setting, the resort's Golf Advantage School and the fact that golf packages are available. In case you, too, were wondering how to get there from here, call 1-800-838-1766.
FOR WOMEN: The VSGA'swomen's schedule is out: June 25-27 Stroke Play championship, Fairfax CC, entry deadline June 7; July 16-18 Virginia-Carolinas team match, Dunes Club, Myrtle Beach, S.C. (invitation only); July 22-26 State Amateur, Cascades GC, Hot Springs, entry deadline July 3; Senior Championship, July 22-26, The Homestead, Hot Springs, entry deadline July 3; Aug. 6-7 Junior girls championship, Greenbrier CC, Chesapeake, entry deadline July 19 (36-hole stroke play for girls 12 to 17, two nine-hole rounds for girls 11 and under); Sept. 17-19 State Team Matches, Army Navy CC, Arlington, entry deadline Aug. 23.
One-day tournaments: May 14 or 15 - Four-Ball Stroke Play championship, Stoney Creek GC, Wintergreen; Aug. 20 - Four-person Captain's Choice tournament, Waynesboro CC, Waynesboro; Oct. 15 - Two-best balls of Four Tournament; Nov. 3 - Career Women's tournament, Bryce Resort, Bayse.
Tournaments are open to women who belong to a VSGA member club or course. Those competing in the Junior, Senior and Amateur championships must be Virginia residents. Entry forms are sent to each VSGA member club or association and to players who have entered a VSGA women's division event in the past two years. Check with your club on how to become a VSGA member.
INSIDE THE LEATHER: Former Great Bridge golfer Karla Roberson, a sophomore at Longwood, tied for sixth at the recent William and Mary women's invitational at Ford's Colony. Her team finished eighth out of 13 participants. . . . The National Hole In One Association (yes, there is one) released information the other day that attests to the growing popularity of tournaments devoted to making and rewarding the sport's most glamorous shot. In 1981, when the NHIO was founded, fewer than 1,000 charity-driven golf events existed. Today, there are more than 25,000, which raise $25 million annually for charity. . . . According to the latest PGA statistics, Carl Paulson of Virginia Beach leads the tour in eagles, with one every 72 holes. But last year's Qualifying School medalist doesn't yet appear among the circuit's top 153 (or exempt) money winners. . . . Golden Horseshoe's Gold course, one of two championship facilities at Colonial Williamsburg, will close for one year of restoration beginning June 1, 1997. Among other changes, the restoration will include the re-creation or reconstruction of course architect Robert Trent Jones' famed runway tees. Everything - tees, greens and bunkers - will receive some TLC in what Golden Horseshoe director of golf Del Snyder calls preparation for the 21st century and beyond. It's the first major renovation of the course since Jones opened it in 1963.
THE 19TH HOLE: Stan Calhoun, 78, has become the first Hampton Roads golfer to score a hole-in-one in the Stihl Aces for Kids program that started St. Patrick's Day and runs through Memorial Day. Calhoun, who works at Honey Bee, aced the 160-yard seventh hole the other day using a 4-iron. Because Honey Bee is one of several area courses participating in Stihl's promotion, the Virginia-based power-tool company will pay all expenses for one retarded child to attend Camp Virginia Jaycees in the Blue Ridge Mountains this summer. Stihl's goal is to fill a bus of 40. Other participating courses are Broad Bay, Cavalier G&YC, Cypress Point, Princess Anne, Stumpy Lake and Red Wing. by CNB