Maryland's land acquisition program has been accelerated and, dur-
ing 1964, 1, 125 acres, representing 46 tracts of land, were purchased
for state park purposes. Approximately 110 additional tracts of land
are in various states of acquisition. Land acquisition has been pro-
ceeding at Assateague Island, Tuckahoe, Point Lookout, Patapsco,
Gunpowder, Susquehanna, Seneca, South Mountain, Patuxent, Rocky
Gap, Dan's Mountain and Deep Creek Lake and the State has been
cooperating with the counties in the purchase of Patuxent River water-
shed lands. Shad Landing State Park, near Snow Hill, in Worcester
County, was opened in June, George Martinak State Park, near Denton,
was opened July 1, 1964, and a dam creating a 42-acre lake is nearing
completion at Greenbrier State Park in Washington County.

I mention these developments, ladies and gentlemen, simply because
I want to impress upon you the fact that the State is aware of its
obligations in providing outdoor recreational facilities. It is my hope
that future activities at all levels of government can be dovetailed
with the plans and programs of private groups for the benefit of all
our citizens.

In your work in supervising the operations of the many fine golf
courses through the Mid-Atlantic region, you provide a substantial
percentage of our people with a wonderful opportunity to enjoy out-
door recreation. But, you also do more than that. The wonderfully
landscaped golf courses that dot the countryside are the most attractive
features that many of our communities have to offer. They are, in
a very real sense, a virtual guarantee that present and future genera-
tions will have the opportunity to enjoy the open green spaces despite
the rush of time and progress. The beauty of bent grass not only
lures the golfer but inspires the poet and even offers some satisfaction
to the duffer. For, in my opinion, on the golf courses that you here to-
day have helped to provide and maintain, no one really labors under
a handicap.

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