The press given to the cutting of the fairways with walk-behind greens mowers ("Mow, Turn . . . Mow, Turn . . . Mow, Turn . . .," July) is now spreading. I was at the practice rounds for the PGA Championship and the crew there did the same thing.

This is fine if it is limited to a special event where all parties can get the cooperation of the suppliers and fellow superintendents and grounds crew. What is not fine is the expectation members have for their own courses, and the disappointment and dissatisfaction it brings.

Perception and member expectations play a great role in any club. Trying to educate members that tournament conditions are just that, and that they cannot be maintained throughout the year, goes on deaf ears. They see it each week on tour but fail to realize that the tour moves on and the conditions return to member play, sometimes in worse shape, what with repair and reconstruction for damage.

Hand-mowing the fairways is not only capital and labor intensive, but also a bit of overkill. With unlimited budgets and manpower, almost anything can be done, but let's not get unrealistic expectations.

William F. Bogle Jr.

Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

Staking a claim

In the article, "Del Monte's Special 100th," it says that Del Monte boasts of being the oldest continuously operating course west of the Mississippi. I do not believe that claim is accurate. In 1994, the Tacoma (Wash.) Country and Golf Club celebrated its centenary. This club was the dream of an exceptional Scotsman, Alexander Bailey, who brought golf to the Pacific Northwest.

Fran Rushton

Salem, Ore.

Gearhart (Ore.) Golf Course opened in 1892 and has been operating ever since. I admit that it is not as sumptuous as Old Del Monte, but it is a true links. Its bumpy fairways have never been caressed by any sort of earthmoving equipment.

Robert Hansen

Campbell, Calif.

Getting the gate

I read with interest the article on J. Douglas Edgar ("Sudden Death," July), in particular the following paragraph:

"It is in the two or three feet immediately before and after impact where the real business takes place; it is there that the master stroke is made and the duffer's shot marred, and it is to this part of the swing that I am referring when I speak of Ôthe movement.' Once the golfer learned the movement, it has the exhilarating effect of champagne without the after-effects."

Does Edgar's book contain the explanation of precisely what action comprises "the movement?"

Jim Ganzer

Santa Rosa, Calif.

When Edgar wrote The Gate To Golf in the first part of this century, his concept of the inside-out swing made him an instructional revolutionary. "The movement," he wrote, "consists in using the natural throwing muscles and action, instead of attempting to swing by using the lifting muscles." The gate was a wooden form (pictured in the July story) that would force the golfer to swing on an inside-out path. "It is not a natural movement, and it will not come to the ordinary golfer either naturally or easily," Edgar noted in the book's introduction. At least that part of the game has not changed.

Fashion no-no

I must confess a problem with your (table of contents) photo selection of the August issue -- the youngster in the autographed cap. Plainly, no one has informed this young fan as to what is the front of his cap. The only proper place to wear a cap in this fashion, of course, is the dining room.

Arnold Colker

Miami Lakes, Fla.

Ben, again

Your article, and many others, although very complimentary of Ben Hogan, portrays him as a very cold person with no evidence of humor.

Some 25 years ago, I purchased a set of his Tour Woods, the first with the speed slot. They were and still are some of the finest equipment I have ever seen. I wrote Mr. Hogan to compliment him on his clubs. I remarked that it was criminal to hit a bad shot with those clubs. I never dreamed Mr. Hogan would reply.

Enclosed is a copy of the letter from Mr. Hogan. It is short, to the point and, I think, shows a great sense of humor.

Carroll L. Story

Lees Summit, Mo.

Thanks very much for your letter and its complimentary remarks.

If these clubs won't hit a bad shot, for heaven's sake send them back to me.

Sincerely,

Ben Hogan

On the Wednesday before the 1967 Masters, I arrived at the practice tee with my 8mm camera in hand. Mr. Hogan was the only player there. I held out my camera and he nodded his approval. I had the opportunity to take a complete roll of his swing.

He was hitting his 5-iron and eventually worked his way up to the 3-wood. His caddie had the shag bag at his feet and not once did he have to leave that area to catch Mr. Hogan's golf balls. It was the most instructive hour I have experienced in 49 years of playing the game.

On Saturday, I followed Mr. Hogan and witnessed the finest round of golf I will ever see. He was on each green in regulation and shot 36-30. After the round, I met Mr. Hogan and his wife as they were getting ready to leave the grounds. I approached them and told him that I had followed him all day. Mr. Hogan acknowledged my presence and expressed his thanks. He was kind enough to sign my program.

Years later, I sent a print of him, which depicted his second shot at No. 10 from that day in 1967, and asked if he would autograph it. He did, and I have the fun of recalling that day each day.

David A. Abner

Roswell, Ga.

Return to sender

My solution was to drop my glove with the club(s) as I approached the green. Then, if I forget the clubs (and glove), I am reminded as I reach for my glove approaching the next tee.

Most of my golf mates have adopted this, saying that they had not heard of it before seeing me do it.

Clayton Benner

Westlake Village, Calif.

I visited Tampa, Fla., about 10 years ago and played golf a few times. After I got on a plane and returned home to Massachusetts, I played and noticed I had two 8-irons. One had a shaft band with a name and phone number, so I called the number.

Needless to say, the owner was pleased to hear I had his club. The mystery is, we never played together in Florida. He was in Fort Myers and I was in Tampa. He flew out of Tampa the same day I did, and we surmised his club fell out of his bag and a baggage handler put his club in my bag.

I shipped his club to him at no cost to him. Fellow golfers have a bond.

Dick Dyba

Westfield, Mass.

Train talk

Your coverage of golf via railroad facilities ("Token Players," July) was terrific. Woodway Country Club in Darien, Conn., had from its earliest days (1916) been served by a small station stop on the New Canaan spur of the old New Haven Railroad from New York -- an easy transfer from the main line in Stamford.

With Woodway's membership concentrated in Darien, Stamford and New Canaan, use of the commuting line from New York was a natural since the property adjoined the spur with a short walk to the clubhouse.

Peter C. Palmer

Charleston, S.C.

No Woods

There are three impossible tasks in this world: 1) Drain the Atlantic Ocean with a straw; 2) Level the Sahara Desert with a teaspoon, and; 3) Publish an edition of a golf magazine without a mention or a photo of Tiger Woods.

With your August issue, you have narrowed those tasks to two.

Dwaine Dean

Hopedale, Mass.

Spikes: the last word

I find all the articles and responses to the issue of spikeless golf shoes silly and lacking one important point. If spikeless shoes do indeed reduce maintenance and I am required to spend $8 to buy these spikes, which, incidently, need replacing nearly four times as often as the steel version, are the overpriced green fees going to be reduced in accordance with the reduced costs of maintenance? I would venture to guess the answer is no. It's just another way to squeeze another few bucks out of the golfing public.

Lincoln Schwitters

Newark, Del.

The ongoing debate concerning "going spikeless" is of extreme interest, having just experienced a most undesirable result of "going spikeless" earlier this summer.

I was playing in an outing, and we were restricted to carts on the cart paths. Close to the green at a par 5, I got out of the cart, took my clubs and headed down an incline, toward the area where my ball lay. On my way down the incline, my legs went out from under me. I landed on my leg and ended up with a broken leg, a completely torn-up ankle, six weeks in a leg cast and a number of weeks of rehabilitation.

The club had not insisted upon "soft" spikes but had recommended their use, and a number of members have converted.

I must say that if spikeless shoes are to be used, use them on flat surfaces only and be sure they are clean, because I found that even though I slipped and fell on an incline and not a steep one at that, the spikes had filled with dirt and grass and therefore provided no traction whatsoever when it was needed.

Norman P. Wagner

Evansville, Ind.