I THOROUGHLY enjoyed your article on the Mid-Amateur Championship, but the feature on participant Keith Harris ("Mid-Am Miracle," October) is a true description of courage. In today's world we only tend to remember the "winners."

However, Mr. Harris is a much bigger winner as he overcame many odds just to live. He serves as an inspiration to many. In this case, trying is winning. It may not be the lowest score, but it signifies that golf is truly a game of training, practicing and persevering.

As a fellow North Carolina resident, I could be no more proud of someone representing our state.

CHUCK KUEBLER

Wilmington, N.C.

A NOTE OF THANKS

YOUR ARTICLE "Summer of Discontent" (October) was a godsend to golf course superintendents who faced extreme professional challenges during this year's record dry spell. Your coverage let golfers know that there are times when Mother Nature simply makes it impossible to produce the quality playing conditions we've all come to expect.

Golf courses can be fragile ecosystems. Even under the best of circumstances, they require constant professional care and stewardship. This summer was a reminder that, despite our best efforts, these systems can fail when the climate is just too harsh.

This difficult time was also a reminder that the USGA Green Section is one of the game's greatest assets. This team of agronomists and experts, led by Jim Snow, provided help, advice and support to hundreds of superintendents. We feel extremely fortunate to have them as partners in our work. On behalf of all of my colleagues, allow me to publicly say "thank you" for everything these unsung heroes do for us and for the game.

GARY T. GRIGG, President

Golf Course Superintendents

Association of America

Lawrence, Kan.

ELECTRONIC HANDICAPS?

MY QUESTION pertains to the furthering of computer systems so as not to exclude an even greater arena of all golfers, including those worldwide. Would it be possible to use the modem-linked access such as America Online or Prodigy to log and record scores for an official handicap?

The system would allow a new level of access to the handicap system. It may lead to an even further development of Rules discussions or even a specific department. The possibilities are endless.

PATRICK K. CLARKE

Larchmont, N.Y.

Dean Knuth, the USGA's senior director of handicapping, responds: The USGA Handicap System requires "peer review" in that the members of a golf club must know and regularly play golf with fellow members, and the Handicap Committee must be able to review scoring records before USGA Handicap Indexes are revised. Also, a player must be able to personally return his scores for review by fellow members. Because of these requirements, the USGA does not permit the posting of scores over the Internet. Such a process would bypass important requirements of the USGA's "peer review."

COW PASTURE OPEN

WHEN IT COMES TO remembering my play during 1995, few days can possibly match Aug. 26. When the fog lifted that morning from the Big Hole Valley outside Wisdom in southwestern Montana, a golf course emerged from the haystacks. About 300 head of grazing cattle had groomed one of the fields owned by rancher Monte Celmow in preparation for the third Cow Pasture Open.

Montana was once my home and my family still spends summers at a cabin near the Big Hole River. Fly fishing is my favorite recreation, along with golf. When I read the poster announcing the tournament, I couldn't resist the idea of playing a round in a cow pasture with the Bitterroot Range as a backdrop.

The emphasis is on having a good time, we were told as we signed in. Nobody wears spikes, just comfortable walking shoes -- with an eye toward where one steps. Cows had been moved off the pasture, but we were warned we might see gophers or badgers on the course.

The Cow Pasture Open came to life when members of the local tourism association, mostly ranchers and townspeople in Wisdom and nearby Jackson, were looking for ways to promote tourism in an area experiencing a downturn in cattle raising, the major cash crop. One member had heard of a golf tournament played in snow, and even though the Big Hole has lots of it in winter, the idea was rejected. Then someone came up with the Cow Pasture Open. Scheduling it in late August seemed to work since ranchers usually have their hay crops in and the mosquitos are mostly gone.

Tournament rules are quite simple. Two-person best-ball teams play in foursomes, with a cannon fired to signal the start of the round. It took a morning and afternoon wave to accommodate the 70 players who registered. Most were Big Hole folks, but some came from as far away as Maryland and Southern California.

The Cow Pasture Open had many unique features. First, the course had 11 holes. The teeing ground at the first hole sits atop panels (bales) of hay. Playing the "fairways" reminded me of Golf Journal pictures of those early days when golf was played in rough, open fields. Grass on the "greens" was only a little shorter than the fairways. Alongside the flagsticks were "cups" made of sliced pieces of four-inch sewer pipe set in the ground. One hole was a toilet seat, and the cup at the eighth hole was half of a huge tractor tire into which golfers had to chip their "putt."

As if golfing in a cow pasture was not enjoyment enough, the tourist association gave prizes for the most original attire and most unique carts. Players used four-wheel all-terrain vehicles, a Model-T Ford and horses.

A contest will be held this spring, with the winning designs used onposters and T-shirts to promote the fourth Cow Pasture Open this August. The mailing address for the Big Hole Tourism Association is P.O. Box 193, Wisdom, Mont. 59761.

JOHN A. NASSTROM

Oakland, Calif.

A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

I WAS most interested in your story about the Senior Amateur Championship at Prairie Dunes (November/ December 1995).

I grew up on the outskirts of Hutchinson, Kan., and learned to play by caddieing at Prairie Dunes. I caddied for Barbara McIntire when she won the Women's Amateur there.

I also attended Buhler Rural High School, although we never thought of Buhler as being a "suburb of Hutchinson," where I played on the golf team. At that time there were two divisions in high school golf -- the sand-green division and the others. Our home course was Midway. It is called Midway because it is halfway between the two bustling metropolises of Buhler and Inman. The course, as I recall, has five par 3s and four par 4s, with a creek running through the course and coming into play on most holes.

At that time, Hutchinson had one municipal course, Carey Municipal, which didn't have any irrigation, so the fairways were flat hardpan. I still know how to hit hardpan shots better than all my playing competitors. Because of the hard ground, it was not unusual to hit 350-yard drives downwind in July, and we all learned to play in the wind because it was always a factor in Kansas.

I've played on a lot of great courses through the years, but it has always been my ambition to go back to Prairie Dunes. I always marvel at my good fortune to have grown up where I did, and having had the opportunity to caddie and learn to play on such a great course.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane your article gave me.

RICHARD COUCHClarion, Pa.