' At a charity golf outing last summer, the University of Maryland's campus pro was paired with two avid golfers: Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) and first lady Kendel S. Ehrlich.

Their encounter at basketball coach Gary Williams's event would lead to a $1.5 million project tucked into the budget for the university.

Nonetheless, Ehrlich delayed spending for a year on one of the campus's top priorities: replacing a pair of leaky, 50-year-old science buildings where laboratories lack reliable power and temperature control for research.

Campus boosters -- already concerned that the governor's budget shortchanged College Park by giving more to other state universities -- questioned the decision to pay for a golf course repair that university officials hadn't thought to ask for.

"The golf course is a wonderful place, but the priority ought to go to what's important to the economic development of the state," said James C. Rosapepe, a member of the Board of Regents appointed by Ehrlich's Democratic predecessor. "Our recommendation was science, and the decision was made to go with golf." '