By Russ Pate

A dozen avid golfers hopscotched across a vast section of middle America in a single day and then set their sights on doing better next year.

At roughly the same moment the first of 156 of the world's best players began competing in the 99th U.S. Open, 12 intrepid golfers began making a memory of their own halfway across the country. Rather than the crowned greens and shaved fringes at famed Pinehurst No. 2, however, their pressing concerns were rush-hour traffic, headwinds and whether state troopers would have radar guns pointed their way.

The group, the core of which hails from the southern Iowa town of Mount Ayr (pop. 1,700), was attempting to play six nine-hole rounds in six separate states. All twixt dawn and dusk.

Jay Watson and Lynn Rinehart, who bill their Midwest golf escapades as Jay-Lynn-O Tours and covet recognition from both their celebrity namesake and the folks at Guinness (the record-keepers, not the brewers), put together the ambitious, whirlwind agenda after completing similar gigs the last two years: four rounds in four states in 1997 and five in a day last summer.

This year's marathon began at 5 a.m. at Tregaron Golf Course in Bellevue, Neb., with a devotional conducted by Reverend Glenn Harless. Harless cited the inspirational book, "In His Grip," and stressed positive thinking in golf and life. He then sent three groups of four, each of which would play a two-man scramble format, racing to the first tee.

A mist rose off the fairways and hovered in the valleys, creating a surrealistic setting as Rinehart, in semi-darkness and attention-getting temperatures in the mid-40s, launched the day's first shot at 5:27 — a full hour-plus before Jumbo Ozaki would officially open the Open. In his haste, Rinehart, clad in plus-fours in homage to Payne Stewart, teed off from the nearest set of markers (gold) instead of those (white) the group had selected.

After 90 minutes at Tregaron (or about the time Ozaki was on the third tee), the group sped toward Shoreline Golf Course in Carter Lake, Iowa. What could have proved problematic — Omaha's morning rush-hour traffic — turned out to be a breeze. Within 35 minutes, the groups had teed off on the back nine at Shoreline and not even a cart malfunction, which forced one twosome to double-time their sticks down the 17th fairway, threw off the schedule.

Pace of play for the Lynn-O-ites was 180 degrees from those at Pinehurst. Their style of play embodied the "miss 'em quick" spirit. Preshot routines were abridged or abandoned and searches for wayward shots were unthinkable. Putts were read with a cursory look, if that, and any approach left inside the leather was deemed "good."

Next came a flight from Eppley Airfield in Omaha to Joplin (Mo.) Regional Airport. A Beechcraft Super King Air 200 and Baron 58 were pressed into service, but while the 10-passenger Beechcraft cruised above the clouds at 23,000 feet and enjoyed a tailwind, the six-seat Baron had to work its way around and through clouds at 8,000 feet and encountered a pesky headwind.

Changes were made on the fly, and the first two groups that reached Joplin went ahead to Baxter Springs, Kan. Four riders in one van collectively failed Map Reading 101, and headed east instead of west, thereby losing at least 30 minutes doubling back. Despite the confusion, the group did not panic. Play proceeded apace at Baxter Springs, where Hale Irwin lived in his youth, and Watson, Rinehart and Mount Ayr banker Gene Poppe even found time to give interviews to a local television crew between shots.

Soon they weren't in Kansas anymore. They roared into Patricia Island Golf Club in Grove, Okla. It was apparent the group had a lucky charm, Mother Nature, and despite months of preparation — green fees had been prepaid and carts waited at each site — problems with navigation cropped up. Leaving Grove and heading east to Elk River Golf Course in Noel, Mo., for round five, one car missed a cutoff and traveled south to Jay, Okla., (home of Bruce Lietzke, he of no Open wins) before looping back.

"I think we're going to be all right," said a relieved Rinehart as Tom Kelly pulled his custom van away from Elk River, where cattle grazed in pastures adjacent to the fairways. "We couldn't have store-bought a better day than this one."

Shadows were lengthening, but two hours of daylight remained at 7 p.m. when the group reached the 10th tee at Berksdale Golf Course in Bella Vista, Ark. The adrenaline-driven dozen played their final nine in a leisurely 1:50, gathering behind the 18th green at sundown for a champagne toast.

Even without the sanction of Guinness, which considers such mad-dash events too perilous for authentication, the group took pride in the accomplishment. "We're going to raise the bar in 2000," vowed Rinehart. "It's feasible to do seven next year."

Given their geographic liabilities, do you think they know there are 50 states?