Newsday from New York, New York • 166

IK4 vtK11 A Home on Randalls Island fits city to a tee By David Lennon STAFF WRITER With the Triborough Bridge throwing shadows from the right side and a pair of Upper East Side towers leering from the left it your typical fairway Then gm when a driving range is situated on Randalls Island it help but have a distinct metropolitan flavor Just minutes from Manhattan about a par-6 trek across the East River lies the recently-completed Randalls UnH Golf Center It has a clubhouse a pro shop and plenty of practice tees And yes real green grass A true haven for that urban golfer yearning to hone his or her skills with that stubborn 3-iron during the lunch hour A handful of people were teeing up on the range during lunchtime hours sneaking in a bucket of balls before heading back to the office Some want to reveal their identities fearing their boss approve of their time management Frank a budget director for the Parks Department was one of the few who mind revealing his habit A regular and two of his co-workers usually drive over from their Central Park offices about two or three times a week come here because so close to the said a good place to get out your frustrations You can usually get about (me bucket in and reasonably priced ($650 each) You buy lunch for Dnr ofhin nsnorintes who preferred admits trying to kick his two-bucket-a-day liaKit often stopping by before work at 7 am and at hinah- and lus co-workers knew about the facility before most considering that the American Golf Corporation had to secure a bid for its 15-year lease from the Parks Department Despite some ag-grPMHve advertising the golf center still remains large-fy a secret and is rarely crowded during its open hours from 7 am to midnight (The facility includes batting cages and two 16-hole miniature golf courses) are part of the problem The MSS bus which can be picked up at 125th Street is the only mode of public transportation that services Randalls Island easy enough to take a taxi to the center but almost impossible to flag one down for the way back Neeadsr John Farukevas Randalls Island Golf Center pro Bill Castner hopes all city golfers will feel at home on his new range SPORTS NY NEW YORK NEWSDAY SUNDAY JUNE 6 1903 addition the Randalls Island Golf Center is the home of the fledgling Minority Golf instructional program which brings golf to inner-city kids It would be accurate to say that the center is more representative of New York City than just its location want to make golf accessible to everybody in-stead of it being only a white collar said Ket-chum Certainly it will be that white-collar crowd showing up on their lunch hours or after work that will ultimately keep the Randalls Island Golf Center afloat And by its existence the facility is a perfect outpost to spread the game of golf to the next generation In a most unlikely place For more information concerning the Randalls Island Golf Center please call (212) 427-5689 Car owners have their unique problem to deal with ernes that have cars want to lose their spot for alternate side of the street assistant winwagwrTnl gafa-hnm hare is definitely an They hope to solve the problem by setting up a shuttle that will the trip from Manhattan about twice every hour That service could fill up the 106 tees in a hurry the last piece of the said teaching pro Billy Castner make it very Castner a native of Brooklyn who has taught at many courses throughout the five boroughs averages 28 private lessons a week at the range He is also instrumental in the Metropolitan golf clinics that teach the sport in schools around the city In No Excuse Is Needed to Go Fishing with that especially the ethics part The only problem is that many fishers already introduced to the sport might not like more competition at the old fishing hole and are unlikely to support National Fishing Week Those who must be unabashed supporters of the are those who make fishing equipment or support fishing activities Nothing wrong with that either More than 60 million Americans one out of four fiah at least once every year In doing so they spend $277 billion on fishing-related equipment Nearly $20 billion is earned in salaries and wages by 1-2 million people whose jobs cater to fishers Fishing also supports the federal government because on all these monies it collects $9638 million in income taxes The 1993 theme for NFW Across America" is alan the title of a song performed by country singer and Honorary Chairman Lee Greenwood according to the Steering Committee based in Falls Chiimh Va retch how reel sic life was nt to sings Greenwood transcends all boundaries all he aaid is a sport that offers individual challenge and as well as wholesome solitude and Sounds like he has never fished Montauk Point during an October full moon or marching in ethnic parades There was a fishing parade of sorts under the Ver-razano Bridge on Thursday but the politicians missed it Actually it was a flotilla of some 50 party-boats from New York and New Jersey that were protesting the Army Corps of Engineers The Corps issued a permit that allows the Port Authority of New York to remove dioxin-laden sludge from Newark Bay channels and dump it between three favorite near-offshore fishing grounds: 17 Fathoms Subway Rocks and Sea Gulls four miles south of the Ambrose Light Tower What National Fishing Week does is allow you to fish if you are 16 years or older without a state license (if you already have one) I believe that someone interested in fishing either in New Jersey Connecticut or New York would not fish because of the cost of a license But the free fishing is good only for one two or three days depending upon your state Only in the District of Columbia may you fish free for the foil week In Connecticut only one free day Saturday in New Jersey free days are Saturday and Sunday in New York free days were delayed so they would coincide with the start of school vacations June 26 and 27 The goal of National Fishing Week is introduce more people to the joys of recreational fishing and promote good outdoor ethics argue never fully understood the rationale for National Fishing Week not as if people needed an excuse to get out of their houses or apartments togo fishing Quite to the contrary is usually true especially when there are things that need to be done around the house One would think women would be the last to support such an excuse but this true when you realize that every third angler is a woman Tomorrow begins National Fishing Week in the United States While President Clinton endorses fishing he proclaim it as National Fishing Week Though not as avid an ungler as the previous White House occupant he surely must know that he get into any trouble by endorsing an activity hat ranks in popularity among Americans behind only mother-hood the flag and apple pie Even New governor Mario Cuomo boarded the proclamation bandwagon with 42 other state governors Supporting recreational fishermen must be a wise thing for politicians to do kind of like kissing babies fflWfjiKr Calendar Notices Page 33HWW I.