Some may wonder why the Conservancy holds an easement on a golf course driving range. The reason for accepting the easement was simple. This particular driving range possesses significant scenic and open-space values. Moreover, in the Ford’s Colony master plan the land was zoned R-4 commercial use. The idea of developing the land for resort units (commercial rentals, condo hotel units) that would not be sold but owned by the country club, was being considered. The yield on the land could have been 144 units.

In 2006, Dick Ford, owner of the Ford’s Colony Country Club, chose to permanently protect the land that remains as a driving range today, and place his development in another location in accordance with the community’s master plan.

Ford’s Colony has a history of being a conservation-minded community and long before the Chesapeake Bay Act requirements were law, buffers, open space and protection of sensitive lands were all part of the master plan.

Protection of the driving range will keep it green and out of any future potential development.