THERE are no carts. (Who can drive?)

No water hazards. (Anything over four feet deep would be too hazardous.)

And no bunkers. (A 5-year-old in the sand might never voluntarily emerge.)

Its spartan existence notwithstanding, a five-hole, par-3 kids' course in Idaho Falls, Idaho, is taking an ambitiously open stance on junior golf. The city of 50,000 opened its fourth municipal course June 2, a scaled-down version of regular golf for scaled-down versions of regular players. Anyone over 9 is not allowed -- unless accompanied by a child.

"I've worked at courses in Ohio, California, Arizona and New Mexico," Sand Creek Golf Course assistant pro Alan Pickrell said. "I've never seen a little five-hole course like this."

The course is anything but an afterthought, sitting on the other side of the out-of-bounds markers next to the par-4 10th at regulation-sized Sand Creek.

"It's a training facility," Idaho Falls parks and recreation director Dave Christiansen said. "We'd had a lot of comments about slow play attributed to kids learning on the course."

Kids can now learn at their own pace. It has been 11 years in the making, mostly because Sand Creek superintendent Jim Schwarzenberger was determined to build it without busting the budget.

"The main irrigation lines came from within the city's waste and surplus," said Schwarzenberger, who farmed Sand Creek's land before it opened in 1979. "They'd dig up an old line, and maybe it was cast iron, and we'd get it."

A driven corps of passionate volunteers acted in lieu of formal contractors. Retired Sand Creek superintendent Chuck Deming still works whenever possible to realize a dream he first had sometime around 1984.

"I can remember one day he said, 'I'm gonna give you an idea. You don't have enough to do,'" Schwarzenberger said. "'What are you gonna do with this mess here?' And it was a mess. Chuck puts his money where his mouth is. He's out here planting trees."

The course could literally pay off down the line for the city's golf income, and everyone from the city's three head professionals to anonymous passers-by seems to have taken an interest. Schwarzenberger tells the story of the man who walked down the 10th fairway and hollered, "How do I make a donation?" The man ended up establishing an account for the course at a plumbing store.

Only when pressed for time did Schwarzenberger dip into his operating budget for $660 to get the course finished for this summer's opening.

None of the five holes is over 150 yards, although exact yardages are unknown: Volunteers have been too busy planting trees and working the glitches out of the irrigation system to measure. Their work bears fruit for the next generation. Juniors pay a $20 fee to join the Idaho Falls Junior Golf Association, attend a brief etiquette clinic and play as many as 10 holes (two rounds) Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

"It's the greatest thing since sliced bread," said Earl Lockie, playing with his two grandsons, 7 and 9. "It's a chance for the kids to learn how to play, and they don't hold anybody up. It couldn't be any better."

Even the age limit at the Idaho Falls course may be too exclusive. Of the 488 kids in the IFJGA, 115 are eligible for the short course. There is talk of opening it to all ages, including adults and seniors. Green fees would be applied directly to junior golf.

"We'll have an opportunity to kind of hand-feed these kids, and the junior program has to be praised sky-high for doing that," Schwarzenberger said. "It's a small step for junior golf, but a giant step for golf."

-- C. M. Morfit

HOMETOWN SALUTE

AS A MUSEUM that focuses on the preservation and exhibition of American art, especially pieces related to southwestern Pennsylvania, the Westmoreland Museum of Art in Greensburg, Pa., has decided on an upcoming display that celebrates one of its greatest natural resources -- Arnold Palmer.

Beginning in late September and running for four weeks, trophies and memorabilia from Palmer's legendary career will be the centerpiece of an exhibit, The Art of Winning: The Prizes of Arnold Palmer.

The museum has arranged for the display of more than 70 works for the exhibition, which opens Sept. 24. Items include replicas of the U.S. Amateur and Open trophies Palmer won in 1954 and '60, respectively, as well as a replica of the silver claret jug awarded the British Open champion.

"We feel it is appropriate that we present the achievements by a very influential American figure, one right from our own neighborhood," said Charles Loughran, a member of the museum's board of trustees and chairman of the Palmer exhibition. "His work has been to cultivate the art of winning, and his prizes represent his art."

The museum is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Although admission to the museum is free, a donation of $5 per person will be requested at the door for the Palmer exhibit.

Additional information may be obtained by calling (412) 837-1500.

STORY OF THE CENTURY (PART VI)

THIS INCIDENT occurred in 1930 when I was a caddie at Apawamis Club in Rye, N.Y.

The Apawamis Club and Green Meadow Country Club (as it was known then) were separated by a stone wall and many bushes and trees.

I was caddieing with Joe Yusi for a group consisting of Otis Guernsey (the elevator heir), John Hanes (of hosiery fame), a Mr. Flowers and Marvin Pierce (Barbara Bush's father).

To the right of the Apawamis ninth, a par 3, was the stone wall and greenery, and on the other side was Green Meadow's 11th, a par 3 running parallel to Apawamis's ninth but in the opposite direction.

When the group arrived at the tee, Mr. Guernsey hit a shot high and way right. The other caddie went to look for the ball, and when he returned I asked him why it took so long.

He said the group playing the 11th at Green Meadow found a ball -- Mr. Guernsey's ball -- in the hole when they arrived at the green. Such a shot today isn't possible because of the growth of the trees, and if I hadn't seen the shot myself I wouldn't have believed it. None of the players in Mr. Guernsey's group was told of the incident; at that time caddies kept to themselves and so did members.

A hole-in-one from a tee and green on separate courses is one thing, but what makes this story additionally interesting is that Apawamis Club is in Rye and Green Meadow is in Harrison -- two different towns.

-- Albert J. Riccio

Wilmington, Del.

THE TRADITION CONTINUES

RETIREES constitute a fair percentage of the membership at Island Country Club in Marco Island, Fla., but that is not to insinuate the level of play is at all lackluster or weak.

About a dozen members play to single-digit handicaps, including this year's club champion -- Art Lefelar. That in itself is no surprise -- he won four others before this year -- but Lefelar isn't getting any younger: He is 82.

If the fact that a player that age won seems remarkable, further consider the course measured more than 6,600 yards and his margin of victory in the 54-hole event was a scant eight strokes.

Lefelar, who won titles in New York and New Jersey beginning in the early '70s, has shot his age nearly 900 times. That, more than anything, keeps him going. He not only plays four or five times a week, he does so well that last summer his handicap, now 7, was as low as 4.

His goal: to shoot his age or lower 1,000 times. At his rate, no one should discount his chances.

MIRACLE AT SHINNECOCK

BEFORE he became a member of the USGA's regional affairs staff, Roger Harvie was a firefighter in Rochester, N.Y. In another life he could do well as a detective.

During the second round of this year's U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, Harvie was walking through the player's locker room when he was approached by an attendant who had just gotten off the phone. The attendant had taken a message from a woman in Germantown, Md., who was desperately trying to find her neighbors, Rob and Debbie Gillette, who were there watching the Open.

Earlier that day, the Gillettes' 20-month-old son, Tanner, had been taken to the hospital with a temperature of 105 degrees -- and climbing.

With virtually no additional information to help him, Harvie called the woman back and tried to find out something -- anything -- that might help him locate the parents. The woman didn't know where they'd be; the only thing she remembered was that a month or so earlier the Gillettes were invited to a surprise celebration for a player after he'd won an important tournament -- tall, thin, 40-ish, Ben something.

"Ben Crenshaw?" Harvie asked.

"Yes, that's it," she replied. "Ben Crenshaw."

Harvie figured if they were that close to Crenshaw, he was probably the player they were following. So he set off to find Crenshaw, who was playing the 16th hole. When he got there Harvie approached the walking official with the group, Angus Mackenzie, and together they approached Crenshaw between shots and explained the situation.

Crenshaw didn't spot the Gillettes then, but as he neared the green he did and pointed them out to Harvie, who approached them and explained what he knew.

More than anything, the Gillettes needed to be found to give doctors at Shady Grove Hospital in Rockville, Md., permission to treat Tanner. When they called the hospital they were given little hope; their son, they were informed, probably wouldn't make it the five or six hours or so it would take them to drive home.

But that wasn't the case. Tanner remained hospitalized for four days but turned out to be just fine -- doctors originally thought the problem was meningitis but later said it was a viral blood infection. On the days preceding the Senior Open Tanner and his two older siblings, 5-year-old Jordan and 3-year-old Trevor, were seen giddily romping over the grounds of Congressional Country Club.

"The only way I can describe it is miraculous," Debbie Gillette said weeks later. "There were so many things that just went right -- a neighbor called them fragile connections, and someone counted 17 of them -- that enabled everything to fall into place.

"I'm just amazed at it all," she added. "So many things had to go right and they all did."

A WICKED REBOUND

THE FORT KENT (Maine) Golf Club thought it had everything covered in a Local Rule for play of its first and ninth holes, through which a set of railroad tracks intersects. It found out the hard way -- in court -- that wasn't the case.

Way back in September 1985, Jeannine Pelletier was playing the first hole when one of her shots hit the tracks, then ricocheted back and struck her in the face. Although the club had in effect at the time a more-than-generous Local Rule which allowed a player whose ball landed near the tracks to drop on the other side -- and it's unclear why she didn't take advantage of that option -- she sued and won an award that was upheld in late July by the Maine Supreme Court.

The club argued that it shouldn't be liable for damages because it did not own the tracks or the property on which they ran, but a Superior Court jury rejected that argument. It, in fact, found both the player and the club negligent but determined the club's negligence was greater.

The jury determined damages to be $250,000 but elected to award Mrs. Pelletier $40,000. And while the state Supreme Court upheld her claim to damages, it rejected an argument for additional damages by Mr. Pelletier, who claimed a loss of consortium because of the injury.

OAKLAND HILLS ACROSS THE BOARD

NEVER let it be said California horseplayers don't recognize a too-good-to-be-true hunch bet when they see it. When bettors at the June 16 card at Hollywood Park opened their programs to that day's seventh race, the coincidence could not have been more obvious.

The No. 3 horse in that seven-furlong allowance race was a 3-year-old colt named Shinnecock Hills. The fact that Shinnecock Hills the thoroughbred was running on the same day the second round of the U.S. Open was being played at Shinnecock Hills the golf course should have been enough to attract more than a few hunch bets. And it did; at post time Shinnecock Hills and jockey Gary Stevens were loaded into the gate as the 3-to-2 favorite.

Shinnecock Hills left the gate a step slow and raced fourth in the field of six through the early going, but after a quarter-mile he began to pick it up on the muddy track and sloshed his way past everyone. At the wire he had four lengths on Lightning Ridge, the runner-up, to win for the second time in as many starts.

One additional coincidence: the race Shinnecock Hills won was named for KNBC-TV, the network's Los Angeles affiliate which also happened to be televising the Open that weekend.

The horse is owned by Tom Tatham and his son, Glenn, who own and operate Oak Cliff Stable. For the past few years the barn has selected a yearling and named it after a future Open site, and the training schedule is clearly geared around having the horse ready to race during U.S. Open week.

Their Open connection began with Baltusrol, who broke his maiden on June 20, 1993, only an hour or so after Lee Janzen won the Open at the New Jersey course of the same name. Oakmont didn't win during Open week last year, but you can be certain California horseplayers will be on the lookout next year for Oakland Hills.

PROVISIONALS

WE REPORTED in our U.S. Open coverage ("Precisely Pavin," July) that Corey Pavin defeated Barry Lane in 1993 in a critical Ryder Cup Match pairing during the Americans' 15-13 victory. Although Pavin helped collect three U.S. points in foursomes and four-balls, among them a 4-and-2 defeat of Bernhard Langer and Lane with Lanny Wadkins, Pavin lost in singles to Peter Baker, 2 down.

NECROLOGY

VALERIE COX of San Antonio, Texas, who died in June, was a member of two USGA committees. She joined the Women's Mid-Amateur Committee in January 1992, and two years later she also became a member of the Women's Regional Affairs Committee. In addition, she served as executive director of the Louisiana Open, a Nike Tour event. Her son, Kris, who earned all-America honors at Oklahoma State University, was a semifinalist in the 1994 U.S. Amateur Championship.