I AM BECOMING increasingly concerned over the direction of golf etiquette and maintenance. It seems like each week I play, ball marks on greens become worse. I was taught at an early age to always repair ball or cleat marks of my own, and even others. However, I'm getting tired of having to repair all these ball marks being left by players who either don't care or don't know any better.

I don't want to point the finger at anybody, but it's obvious new players don't know how to repair ball marks. I think it's great that golf's popularity is increasing, but the USGA and club professionals have to become more responsible in educating new players on proper golf etiquette and maintenance.

So let's get with the program and realize that we have a new generation of golfers out there. It is our responsibility to educate them on how to enjoy golf the way it was meant to be played; that includes playing by the Rules, being courteous to other players, allowing faster players to play through, and repairing ball marks and divots. I really love the game. Let's do all we can to preserve its special qualities and character.

JOE Y. JAMES

Lafayette, Ind.

THERE ARE many things the game promotes, honesty being one of them. If golf is to be played, then the Rules must be regarded as almost sacred.

I have competed in some local tournaments, and the scores that are being posted must be false, just by the way the group in front of us had played. How many others are making their own Rules as they go along?

Though I am a very new member of the USGA, I have noticed that Golf Journal makes the Rules a prominent feature in every issue. How can we get the golfing public to know and adhere to the Rules? If there are no Rules, there is chaos!

CARL E. GELATT

Akron, Pa.

50 YEARS LATER

ON NOV. 27, 1945, at 9 a.m., my wife and I said, "I do." On Nov. 27, 1995, at 9:08 a.m., we teed it up at the Magnolia Course at Walt Disney World in Orlando. While discussing the Rules of Golf that evening, we both agreed that there are more Rules in a round of golf than there are in a 50-year marriage.

MARGUERITE & FRANK BORDEN

Silver Spring, Md.

You're right. And we applaud you for not taking a mulligan.

ONLY SO MUCH

THANKS for offering me the opportunity to receive the USGA Walking Member bagtag. I do enjoy walking while playing and I do walk some of the time. During our recent senior club championship at Desert Forest I walked 36 holes (two days) and won my age division (over 70). However, I get tired of chasing three guys riding every day. At age 77 it is too much for me.

RALPH HALE

Carefree, Ariz.

MORE ON SHEPARD

THE RECENT ARTICLE of Alan Shepard's "moon shot" was a winner, both in terms of journalism and also of a great person. Publishing it at the time of the AT&T tournament at Pebble Beach made it more enjoyable, knowing he lives there and participates in the Pro-Am. What made it even more meaningful was that, with friends, I visited Golf House and viewed the display of that momentous event. The photos I have of Golf House and some of the exhibits will be enjoyed and shared with our golfing friends here at home.

ELAINE SMITH

Rathdrum, Idaho

THOUGHTS OF AUGUSTA

YOUR STORY in the March/April issue on Augusta Country Club brought back some memories.

In January 1950, I was assigned to act as liaison between the sales force of our company in the south and a sales training organization. We met for two weeks in Augusta at the Bon-Air Hotel.

I knew the principal of the organization and he was a golfer. We had afternoons free, so we played several times at the Augusta Country Club.

Naturally, being in Augusta, we would have liked to play the National. A couple of nights before we were to leave, the lady proprietor of a great restaurant we had discovered told us that Ed Dudley, who was the pro at the National, came to her establishment regularly and she would speak to him on our behalf. The next night she said we could play there the following day but that Dudley would call us first.

He didn't call, so we went back to the country club. That night I had a call from the woman, who said Dudley could not make it as he had a VIP coming in and he had to meet and play with him. We later found out it was General Eisenhower.

Dudley said we should go over the next day and he would play the course with us. I never made it as the next day was the wind-up of our meeting and I had to stay around. To this day I regret not going over anyhow.

HOWARD J. GILLESPIE

Mountainside, N.J.

WELL DESERVED

ENID WILSON deserved the eulogistic obituary (March/April) you so well presented. In my teens I caddied in the U.S. Women's Amateur at Salem Country Club. She was in it, having been a winner in the British Women's Amateur. I was not old enough to be her caddie, but I paid particular attention to her. She left a lasting impression of high personal quality some people call "class."

As for a frivolous comment, the article "Goof, or Golf" is so self-explanatory it convicts itself.

Inherent in the reading of these cited contents is your own unwitting answer to your question, Does golf have values? Indeed it does. The values are very personal -- of personal character. An old saying goes, "If you want a quick reading of someone's character, play golf with him."

JOHN A. McNIFF

Salem, Mass.

PAR 3 KILLER

READING some of the letters to the Journal reminded me of an experience I had in Hartwell, Ga., back in the 1960s. There, the 11th hole is a par 3 measuring approximately 150 yards. I played this hole three consecutive years in a total of four strokes -- ace, ace and birdie.

I believe this surely must be some kind of a record. What do you think?

DENNIS W. HOPKINS

Washington, Ga.

We don't want to be giving you strokes at that hole.

WHAT'S THE DEAL?

WHAT'S involved in participating in your USGA Course Rating program?

JOHN STULL

Rockville, Md.

USGA Course and Slope Ratings are issued by authorized state and local golf associations. A rating team consists of at least three trained and experienced persons. These raters are trained in USGA Course Rating procedures by the state and local golf associations authorized by the USGA to do so, and the team leader must have attended a USGA Course Rating Seminar. To become involved with the USGA Course Rating program, contact your state golf association.

THINK AGAIN

WHAT happened at Pebble Beach ("When All the Options Are Gone," March/April) will go down in golf history as sheer idiocy which led to a change in the Rules.

Rules are essential, but they cannot cover every possible situation. Therefore, there should be a general Rule that allows the Committee to use common sense and make a decision appropriate to the particular circumstances.

I'll bet the folks at St. Andrews viewed this cancellation with whatever words the Scots use for bewilderment -- maybe daft.

JAMES I. SCOTT

Cameron Park, Calif.