DATE: Sunday, April 13, 1997                TAG: 9704110517

SECTION: CAROLINA COAST          PAGE: 5    EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: Fun in the Sun 

SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: KITTY HAWK                        LENGTH:   60 lines

HAVE A BALL AT THE PROMENADE DRIVING RANGE

To most folks, a driving range is viewed as some backwater place, like the one in ``Tin Cup,'' the movie starring Kevin Costner about a down-and-out golf pro who runs a low-rent range in west Texas.

The balls are beat up. There's no grass. The staff is snoozing inside.

All you need for a range, the stereotype goes, is a goat pasture, a Coke machine and a high school kid to collect the practice balls.

But that image quickly fades when players reach The Promenade, an outdoor fun-park at the eastern foot of the Wright Memorial Bridge in Kitty Hawk.

As far as golf ranges go, this is definately a scenic one. Currituck Sound can be spied through the tree-lined hitting area. And little swamp-ponds with cedar trees and moss dot the wide fairway.

The ponds are fun for a couple of reasons. Not only are they rare features themselves. But a practicing golfer can aim at them, trying to deliver just the right distance and line for a big, targeted splash.

Or you can try to avoid them, as you'd do on a regular golf course - as if they were watery graves.

It was enjoyable to pretend, during a recent trip to The Promenade, if only for a few minutes, that I was Tiger Woods, attempting to fly my ball beyond the last pond on my way to another tournament victory.

I didn't quite make it.

But to be honest, The Promenade is not for everyone. Seasoned pros and serious players are apt to go elsewhere. Mostly because there is no grass here.

You hit off hard green mats and rubber tees, things players never encounter on a real course. So the idea of this being a ``practicing area'' for the big game should be re-thought.

For the real experience of turf and wooden tees, look to a range at a local golf club or try one of the grassy fields west of Wright Memorial Bridge off Route 158.

The Promenade aims at a less serious bunch anyway. This is, after all, a family fun center. Amid its 30 acres of shaded waterfront forest stand an arcade, putting greens, a beer and coffee house, and even a train ride.

The Promenade's practice balls are solid and relatively new. But bring some bucks. A small bucket (52 balls) is $5, a large (104 balls) costs $10.

Rental clubs, mostly big-headed drivers, are available for the spontaneous who might have left their bag at home - or for youngsters just learning the game.

An Outer Banks escape, The Promenade is a place to get away for a while - to hit a bucket in a tranquil setting, to take out your frustrations on some unsuspecting balls, or to teach your kids the fine art of golf.

It is a nice outing, with food and drinks and a little nature thrown into the mix. The Promenade certainly is no stop on the professional golfers' tour. But it's fun for a family of four. ILLUSTRATION: Staff color photo by DREW C. WILSON\ The Promenade

driving range, a family-fun center, is the place to teach your kids

the fine art of golf.

Graphic

[For a complete listing of OUTER BANKS DRIVING RANGES, please see

microfilm.]

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