Overland Golf Course women’s league member Judy Plock has her skort in a wad over a possible plan to turn her beloved 18-hole regulation course into a nine-hole executive track.
Plock, whose league is 70 strong, is leading the charge for a multistroke penalty against Jeff Shoemaker‘s Greenway Foundation, which is including the golf-course conversion as one of many possibilities to increase public access to the publicly owned piece of land.
“When I called Jeff, he was very gracious,” Plock said. “We set a time and place, and he came with someone from Denver Parks and Recreation. He explained it to us as a ‘vision’ for the golf course and surrounding area.”
Shoemaker, who’s quickly becoming the Overland golfers’ version of a bad round, can’t emphasize more the term “vision plan” when talking about what might or might not happen to that land owned by the city and county of Denver.
He calls the nine-hole version of the proposal a “possible potential future option for Overland Golf Course.”
“This plan has not been designed in a vacuum,” Shoemaker said. “When we create a vision plan, everything is on the table to be discussed, included or rejected.”
The future of Overland is part of the River South Greenway Master Plan, a study funded by public and private funds to determine the best future use of that property, considering that the population in that area is estimated to grow by 40,000 new residents in the next 20 years.
The vision plan will be next discussed during an open meeting of the Overland Park Neighborhood Association at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 25 at John Collins United Methodist Church, 2320 S. Bannock.
Foodie fodder.
Happy (formerly Happy Noodle House) in Boulder made it on the prestigious Forbes list as one of 10 America’s Best New Restaurants that opened within the past year.
Master sommelier Richard Betts chose Happy, owned by restaurateur David Query, as an “off-the-radar” pick. For the full list, go to Forbes and click on America’s Best New Restaurants under the ForbesLife category.
• Houston’s, the newish eatery at 303 Josephine St., is doing some remodeling projects a mere 10 months after opening.
“We added sliding glass windows in the dining room for an open area,” said general manager David Biel. “We expanded the patio space by adding cocktail tables outside.”
A couple months ago, Houston’s addressed the most oft-heard complaint I got: the teeny-tiny bar. The restaurant gave up the sushi bar along the west wall in favor of adding another cocktail bar.
• Chefs Pascal Coudouy and Reese Hay of 8100 Mountainside Bar & Grill in the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek have been asked to present a wine dinner at the venerable James Beard House on March 3 in New York City.
“The James Beard Foundation is a bastion of culinary excellence in the United States,” Coudouy said in a statement. “With this recognition, we feel like we’re being honored for achieving our goal of presenting only the freshest most creative cuisine in Beaver Creek.”
EAVESDROPPING
A woman watching the male Olympic speedskaters:
“Look! There’s Yoko Ono.”
Penny Parker’s column appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Listen to her on the Caplis and Silverman radio show between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-630 AM. Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail pparker@denverpost.com.
