In your August issue, a great letter by Timothy E. Heath appeared, captioned "He's the Boss." Mr. Heath asked to hear from others "where they chose to knowingly bend the Rules in order to maintain social harmony."

What a great opportunity you had there to follow up on the USGA's recent television ads urging players to follow the Rules, even when there's no one else looking on. What do you print next? An admonishment that if one is to play "golf," then one is obliged to warn any others in the group who, after all, do not take the game that seriously and are just out there for the fun of it. How disgusting!

Almost invariably, people who ignore the Rules of Golf also ignore rules in the other walks of their lives. They live by their own convenient rules, and most won't admit it. At age 72, I've heard all of their usual cop-outs, and I've heard many a player say he doesn't take the game "that seriously" only to see him later get serious as hell over a $1 bet. What a pity that they can't play the ball as it lies, count all their strokes and know the pure, satisfying joy of calling a penalty on themselves -- whether anyone else is looking or not.

E. L. FLANAGAN JR.

Gastonia, N.C.

The editors view these pages as a forum for our Members and print letters that represent a sampling of correspondence. We do not alter or edit letters that may run contrary to USGA policy, nor do we refuse to run letters critical of this publication (see next letters). We, however, do share Mr. Flanagan's feelings, and hope everyone would abide by the Rules of Golf, no matter the "social harmony" involved.

THE WRONG IMPRESSION

Anyone would think that Rich Skyzinski was under fire in his recent visit to El Salvador ("So You Say You Want A Revolution?," July). The stories that were told to him, which he refers to throughout his article, are now history, in fact happened in or before 1992.

It is amazing how a serious publication could print such a politically motivated article that gives so many wrong impressions of El Salvador. Is Golf Journal or the USGA trying to say something else with this article? Or was the sole initiative of Mr. Skyzinski [political motivation]? The contents denigrate and defame all Salvadoreans, and especially the golf community.

FRANCISCO ANNICCHIARICO

San Salvador, El Salvador

Mr. Skyzinski failed on his assignment. He came with a preconceived idea, probably indoctrinated by his collaborator. There was not a positive word in his whole article. Everything he related was about a past long gone and something we are trying to forget. We were anxiously waiting for some kind words about our country and our golf facilities. He was taken to nice homes, restaurants and clubs that at least have something good in them.

MAURICIO ALVAREZ

San Salvador, El Salvador

Our five-part series, Golf: A Global Game, examined golf's importance to the world's nations, as a prelude to this month's World Amateur Team Championships in the Philippines. Stories ranged from the elite training of the Swedish national team (September) to a Salvadoran program that refused to surrender a spot in international competition despite obstacles that would have sidelined other countries. Our only "preconceived notion" was to acknowledge the Federacion Salvadorena de Golf's pride in taking its place on the WATC stage despite a long-running civil war and the almost-certain guarantee of placing among the last finishers in the field. A retelling of the country's strife to an American public that may be largely unaware of the civil war was necessary to illustrate the Salvadoran spirit and the obstacles to strengthening the nation's golf program. Several American readers, in discussions with the editors, noted they were impressed by the persistence of the Federacion and the promise of players such as 18-year-old Rodrigo Sol. It was never our intention to denigrate Salvadorans, but to celebrate the place they will again share this month with nations, such as the United States, that may take for granted their WATC entry.

COLOR BLIND

I am thrilled to learn that the Black Course at Bethpage has been selected to host the 2002 U.S. Open and will finally be tested on a "national" basis.

It is a common misunderstanding that the 1936 U.S. Amateur Public Links was played on the Black. In fact, this has been listed in error in a previous edition of Golf Journal (May 1974, page 26). Although completed in 1936, the Black was not ready for championship play in late July.

Instead, the qualifying rounds were played on the two other fine Tillinghast courses, the Red and the Blue. All match play was on the Blue, which I have been told approached the Black in difficulty. The Black and Blue were said to be a brutal combination.

The Blue was broken up in the 1950s to create the new Blue and an additional course, the Yellow. The Red remains as it was, adjoining the Black. The fifth course at Bethpage, the Green, is a Tillinghast adaption which adjoins the Black on the opposite side.

Bethpage hosted a number of exhibitions in its early years. One match featuring Gene Sarazen attracted 2,000 spectators in 1937. The next year, Sam Snead set a Black Course record of 70, one below par, in a better-ball foursome.

LOUIS J. CHANIN

New City, N.Y.

Mr. Chanin included photocopies of several articles from The New York Times confirming this long-overlooked fact. The Golf Journal item he notes was a comprehensive study of Tillinghast's work in which a list of Tillinghast courses incorrectly noted the Black as the '36 APL site.

YOUNG ROSSIE

I enjoyed the article on Skee Riegel (A Great Amateur, August), but the author was off when he says, "Skee had to make a solid finish to beat a then-unknown Bob Rosburg of Stanford."

Rosburg was a child prodigy in golf since the age of 21Ú2, and was on stage in San Francisco at the age of 4, pitching balls into a net. At Pebble Beach, where the California Amateur was held every year, Rosburg at age 15 was medalist, at 16 and 17 a finalist. He also won the National Hearst Junior in 1946 and was on the 1948 Stanford team that won the NCAA title.

HANK MAGNARIS

San Francisco, Calif.

A DUAL PURPOSE

Bruce Schoenfeld did a fine job in reporting on San Mateo County's inability to get the job done in developing courses ("The Waiting Game," September). However, taking his research a little further, two major questions are raised: What is a "promise" from government? And what recourse is there when government finds a way to break a "promise?"

When the Mid-Peninsula Regional Open Space District was formed and voted upon (it passed by a very narrow margin), it was "sold" as public open space to be saved from development. That was an implicit "promise," as courses were considered open space at that time, more than 25 years ago.

MROSD has acted like a real-estate entrepreneur in acquiring sites with tax dollars, but has not seen fit to consider using any of its sites for income-generating courses. MROSD's extensive holdings are a tinder box waiting to catch fire. It does not clear out brush and has not considered developing golf courses to act as fire breaks. After a fire, which I pray does not occur, it will be too late to advance the notion that MROSD could have acted more responsibly as a trustee by providing fire break/courses, whose net income could also pay for a higher level of maintenance of its forest-like holdings.

For the next several years, and probably decades, the majority of golfers in San Mateo County will continue to commute long distances to play. There are some unspoken negative impacts in air pollution, traffic accidents and wasted resources. None of these seem to bother the "not my problem" governmental entities debating golf courses in the area.

DAVID L. COLLINS

San Mateo, Calif.

MORE TAMARISKS

I read the article about the Furnace Creek Golf Course in Death Valley, Calif. (My Home Course, August), and wanted to inform you that there is another course, the China Lake Golf Course, that has tamarisk trees located on at least 11 of the 18 holes.

We probably would prefer that there were no tamarisk trees, but once you have them, you can't get rid of them. The course is less than a two-hour drive from Death Valley, but at an elevation of 2,500 feet doesn't experience anywhere near the same temperatures as Death Valley.

CURT BRYAN

Ridgecrest, Calif.

REMEMBERING HORD

Having lived in St. Louis from 1942-61, I was a friend of Hord Hardin's and would heartily endorse the praises of Hord's contributions to golf (Necrology, September). Hord and I were co-directors of the Western Golf Association in the 1950s, and worked together initiating the automatic billing of St. Louis District clubs of their members' annual bag tag contributions for the Evans Scholars Foundation.

GEORGE K. WHYTE

Boynton Beach, Fla.

You wisely, and appropriately, included the comment by Fred Brand, a master in understanding all that makes golf what it really is: "Hord was a tough taskmaster, no question about it."

We look and look within our clubs for an administration which is effective and successful. We look in vain unless we seek as our leader a man like Hord -- dedicated to golf, efficient and eminently successful in imposing autocratic rule with grace. The latter is the crucial characteristic.

Golf owes him remembrance, respect and gratitude.

JOHN A. McNIFF

Peabody, Mass.