HISTORICAL perspective. It's a theme that will run constantly throughout the United States Golf Association during this centennial year. When reflecting upon the organization today -- more than 8,000 member clubs and courses, more than 500,000 individual members, more than a dozen annual championships with tens of thousands of entrants annually -- it's easy to forget the organization's earlier and sometimes humbler days. Jim Latham, however, vividly recalls the USGA of yesteryear.

Latham, who recently retired as director of the Green Section's Great Lakes Region, actually has served two distinct stints with the organization. The first began back in the summer of 1956 when he joined the Green Section's Northeastern Region while pursuing a doctorate at Rutgers University. This initiation to the "real world" (Jim's term) of agronomy convinced him that the academic life and research activities weren't really suitable for him. Instead, he decided to move to the southeast and assume responsibility of a seven-state area that ranged from North Carolina to Miami to Memphis.

"Things were a little different around the USGA in those days," Latham recalls. "The organization didn't have much money back then. We had to drive everywhere with no super highways. Airplane travel was completely out of the question. . . . I'd often be away from home for weeks at a time."

Jim's wife, Lois, probably was a bit more sympathetic to his plight than many spouses for one reason: she served as Jim's secretary and helped operate the regional office. Latham recalls that decent office space for the Green Section was hard to come by; often it was borrowed from a federal agricultural building somewhere. Used furniture and typewriters were the norm rather than the exception.

"I loved the work back then, though, just as I loved it more recently," Latham adds. "I have always felt, and still feel strongly, that golf courses are some of the best open land in this nation and are a great benefit to the environment."

Latham remained with the Green Section until 1960, when he moved to Milwaukee, Wis., and joined that city's sewage commission. He stayed for more than a quarter century, helping start one of the nation's first quasi-businesses designed to recycle waste products into fertilizer. When he retired, guess where Jim ended up? That's right, back with the USGA Green Section, although he remained in the Great Lakes Region this time.

"Stan Zontek and Bill Bengeyfield of the Green Section were very instrumental in bringing me back to the USGA," Jim says. "When I rejoined in the 1980s, I couldn't believe how things had changed. Money wasn't so tight anymore, working conditions were better, and I could actually fly to some destinations to consult with superintendents."

Ask Jim what portion of his Green Section duties he enjoyed best and it is hard to receive an answer because he obviously relished them all. He confesses, however, to a special fondness for turf advisory service visits to golf courses.

"I loved the one-to-one interaction of the TAS visits," Latham states. "The personal contact with superintendents, helping them plan for their courses, and writing reports to provide them with background information. It's gratifying to help someone else."

The Lathams have sold their Wisconsin residence and moved back to their native Texas, where they've built a new home in Whitney, north of Waco. Jim's association with the USGA, however, endures. Jim has accepted an appointment to the Green Section Research Committee and will help compile a historical record of the Green Section, which celebrates its 75th anniversary in 1995. He feels that the USGA's funding of turfgrass and environmental research today is an endeavor that has far-reaching benefits for both the game and society.

One retirement diversion that stands at the top of Jim's list remains playing golf himself. "All those years of visit-ing golf courses, yet I've never had a chance to play much. We're part of a golf community here, and I've signed up for lessons. When I retired, the Wisconsin Golf Course Superintendents presented me with a beautiful set of clubs."

Now he's got the chance to put them to constant and good use.

-- Marty Parkes