OVER THE COURSE of a year, the USGA tests tens of thousands of golf balls. Most are hit only a few times, and while they're not cosmetically perfect -- they're adorned with markings that assist technicians with the testing procedures -- the balls are perfectly usable for players who aren't picky and who can't afford to plunk down $22.95 every time they need another dozen.

For the longest time the USGA has donated the balls to several veterans hospitals that have golf facilities. Last year the USGA made its usual shipments but then discovered there were still some 8,000 balls left over. Those were sent to another needy group of players -- juniors.

In October, the USGA worked out an arrangement to divvy up the balls among 14 junior golf programs and the Special Olympics.

"The USGA has been supportive of our program from day one," said Michael Cooper, president of the Urban Junior Golf Program of Tampa, Fla. "We've received two grants from them, they sent us Rules books one year as the new ones were being printed, and now we've received 1,200 balls."

Cooper's program is one of those grass-roots efforts that has indeed made a difference. A former head professional at Rogers Park Golf Course, one of three city-owned facilities in Tampa, he distributed fliers at local driving ranges, seeking anyone interested in learning about the game.

That was back in February 1991, when 30 kids showed up. He put clubs in their hands, gave them a few proper fundamentals and let them have fun. The next year he started a weekly tournament program, where the participants could dabble in competition, and the year after that he worked with Palma Ceia Golf & Country Club, a private club not too far away, to start a caddie program. It not only enabled more kids to learn about the game, but provided jobs and put a little spending money in the pockets of another dozen or so kids.

"It's all been a great introduction to the game," says Cooper, who now has 214 kids enrolled as members of the program. "One of the things I'm proud of is the diversity. We have whites, blacks, Hispanics, Indians -- you name it."

Cooper's next dream is to build a junior golf academy there on the grounds at Rogers Park, and if he can come up with a little more funding -- he's about $10,000 short -- he can envision attracting kids from far beyond central Tampa.

"I've been working on it for three years," he says. "I've got the plans and I'm ready to go. We're so close, and I believe it's going to be done."

When the academy is completed, at least practice balls won't be a problem.

PRIME-TIME PLAYERS

YOU KNOW how it is when you get on an airplane. You strike up a conversation with the person sitting next to you and discover they've paid half -- or twice -- what you did. If it seems as though airlines have a different fare for every passenger, golf at Langdon Farms Golf Club in the Portland, Ore., suburb of Aurora is much the same.

What the club started over the summer was a formula of setting green fees according to starting times. In "prime time," Monday through Thursday from 9:36 a.m. to 12:56 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:56 p.m., fees were $45 and $50, respectively.

Be one of the first players off on a weekday morning, however, and the cost fell to $30. Better yet, starting in late afternoon cut the price to even less, all the way down to $15 when darkness is likely to cut the round short.

"It served its purpose," said Julius Aquino, the course's director of golf. "There was a price there for everyone. Anyone who said, 'Your price is too high,' we responded with, 'How much do you want to pay? We have a tee time for you.'"

The course distributed cards with the escalating and declining rates noted, and it was obvious they were well circulated. "Everyone's price-conscious," Aquino explained. "When people called and asked for certain times, we knew they had a card and they were going out a few minutes earlier or later to save a few bucks.

"We called them stadium rates," he continued, "because it's just like going to see a football game. You can sit on the 50 or you can sit in the end zone, and even though we're watching the same game, we pay more for better seats."

The program will be around in '96, although the day will be divided into fewer blocks delineating peak and off-peak periods.

A GOOD NEIGHBOR

THE YMCA that serves the Metuchen/Edison area in north-central New Jersey is the largest and leading provider of child care, aquatic and fitness programming in Middlesex County. To improve its service to the community, the facility recently unveiled plans to renovate and expand its physical structure.

Officials hoped to raise $2.5 million, an ambitious goal that in very short order became eminently reachable.

In what YMCA officials understatedly termed "an unprecedented display of generosity and civic responsibility," one of its neighbors, Metuchen Golf & Country Club, committed to raise and donate $500,000 -- a full 20 percent of the funds.

"It's the right thing to do," said George Keelty, president of the club's board of trustees. "The members can offer the community both symbolic and financial leadership."

The club vowed to raise the money over a five-year period through member donations, group activities and a variety of social events.

Couldn't we all use neighbors like that?

GROUP SUPPORT

OAK HILL Country Club in Pittsford, N.Y., was the first, but since it enrolled its membership in the USGA Members Program a few years back, a handful of clubs and courses have followed suit. The latest to do so are Evergreen Golf Club in Taegu, South Korea, and its 147 U.S. military personnel members, and Lake Merced Golf & Country Club, located in the San Francisco suburb of Daly City, with 402 members.

By anyone's count, 549 Members is a great addition.

Any other clubs interested in enrolling their members can do so by calling Chris Law, manager of the Members Program, at (908) 234-2300.

ANOTHER SHOT

A. DOWNING GRAY didn't get a victory for the U.S. Walker Cup team he captained last fall, but he has received the next best thing -- another chance.

Less than two months after Great Britain and Ireland's victory in September, the USGA's International Team Selection Committee elected Gray captain of the '97 U.S. team, which will try to wrest back the Cup when the 36th Match is played at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y.

Gray, of Pensacola, Fla., was runner-up in the 1962 U.S. Amateur and a member of the '63, '65 and '67 Walker Cup teams.

SIX DECADES LATER, HE'S STILL AT IT

YOU'D have a hard time convincing the golf community of Oskaloosa, Iowa, John Campbell doesn't play as well as he used to.

Now 71, Campbell won his seventh Oskaloosa City Championship last year, a feat made all the more incredible by the fact they've been won in six different decades.

After his first in 1947, he repeated in '54, '69, '70, '73, '80 and '95. He's won at match play and stroke play -- he doesn't recall exactly when the format changed -- and in addition to his dominance of the city tournament he's added an even dozen club championships, a state senior match-play title, finished as runner-up in the state amateur and qualified for six USGA Senior Amateurs.

"When I won the one before this one, in 1980," he explained, "I wasn't convinced I could win one in the '90s. The kids just play better, and at my age I just can't hit the ball as far. For me to have a chance, they have to have an off day and I have to play very well, but that seems to happen, I guess."

By "kids" we weren't sure he was talking about kid kids or guys in their 50s, but he's beaten them all. Campbell had a few good chances at stretching his streak in the '90s before he finally pulled it off. He was second in '94 and also earlier in this decade, and he may not have won this time had it not been for a fantastic finish at the last of the 36-hole event.

He and a fellow competitor, 55-year-old Jim Wake, were tied as they played the long par 5. Campbell half-topped his second shot, but he stuck his third, a 5-iron, 18 inches away from the hole for a birdie that matched Wake's and forced extra holes. Campbell got his title at the first extra hole with a par, winning after a 15-year dry spell for the second time in his career. "You need to be a little fortunate at times," he says, "and I've had a few things go my way."

Today he still tries to hit balls four or five times a week and play at least twice. "This isn't a huge city," he explains, "but there are a lot of good golfers here, and it could get chilly here real soon, so you have to play while you can.

"I've made a lot of friends playing golf," he adds, "and I've had a fun career."

That's more than he can say of the two years in the early 1960s he spent as a state senator. He left that arena, he says, because of a brief illness. "Yes," he admits, "my constituents got sick of me."

FOR THE BIRDS AND THE GOLFERS

In the seemingly never-ending battle of geese vs. golfers, it appears a breakthrough may finally be at hand.

Golfers are happy they don't have to hit soiled balls and tiptoe up the fairway, superintendents are able to concentrate on more serious matters, and even the animal-rights organizations don't appear to have a problem with the solution as manufactured and distributed by a Cincinnati company.

The product is aptly named ReJeX-iT, a spray developed with assistance from the United States Department of Agriculture's Animal Damage Control and the Denver Wildlife Research Center. Harmless to all living creatures, the product is registered with the Environmental Protection Agency and has been approved for use in 48 states and Canada.

Peter Gordon, the golf course superintendent at Grandfather Golf & Country Club in Linville, N.C., has for the longest time been fighting a losing battle with the birds at his 18th hole, which borders a large lake and provides birds with a perfect alternative to migration.

He tried most of the tricks, among them swans and fishing line strung around the edges of the hazard, and they all failed. Last year he noticed a ReJeX-iT ad in a trade magazine; lamenting his track record on previous attempts, he figured he had nothing to lose and placed an order.

"You can't help but notice the difference," he commented. "We had 40 or 45 (geese) who were residents, and once they get on the green they make a tremendous mess."

Once Gordon discovered one of the secrets of application -- put down too close to irrigation or rainfall, the active ingredient was often washed away and rendered less effective -- he was pleased with the results. So were the golfers.

"Once it was able to dry on the plant," he explained, "the results were noticeably better. It would be hard for me to say this is the solution for everyone, but if another superintendent came to me and said he had the problem, I'd recommend it. There was nothing else that worked other than killing them, and you can't kill them."

Concerned about its effect on the environment? The product is also non-phytotoxic -- non-poisonous to plants -- and biodegradable.

TO THE RESCUE

RULES OFFICIALS are generally the helpful type. They're there to help a player save strokes, but often they get carried away with their responsibilities, as we discovered in a recent report from Ron Read, the USGA's manager of Regional Affairs out west.

And we quote:

"The Idaho Golf Association Tournament of Champions is unique. The IGA invites all club champions, women and men. There are probably club champions that have 18 (handicap) indexes and there are scratch players among the men. There is no question that combining this event with the annual meeting increases attendance; 98 golfers competed.

"Genger Fahleson and I officiated, and there was one interesting occurrence. I observed a player dropping improperly from a lateral water hazard. Being nearby, I stopped him and had him proceed properly. His cart mates were obviously perturbed at the time this took, but I felt good about saving him a penalty stroke. Then he shanked his next shot back into the same hazard.

"This time I didn't intrude, even though he dropped from waist high. He angrily asked if his drop was okay, and I said, 'Well, let your conscience be your guide.' I departed the area quickly, asking myself why I'd spent another weekend away from home, only to be hassled while trying to help someone.

"Then a thought struck me. Could it be they were not part of the IGA event?

"Later, it was indeed confirmed by others that the players were part of a wedding party. Needless to say, we all had a good laugh."

SORRY, DEAR

WE DON'T PROFESS to claim golf as the universal tool that solidifies marriages, or serves as the wedge that drives couples apart. So we'll just let your imagination wander about the day Larry and Lynn Pekoe of Oak Creek, Wis., recently shared.

At Devil's Head my wife and I

went out to play a round,

With flailing arms we swung our clubs

at balls upon the ground.

As time went by I heard Lynn sigh,

"I cannot hit it far,

If I can't hit my fairway woods

I'll never get a par."

So in my nicest caring way

I offered some advice,

Hoping that a word or two

could make things turn out nice.

I gave her every tip I knew

to help her with her game,

But somehow all my good intentions

turned into the blame.

Yet Lynn assured me love is strong

and we would never part,

Then she made a hard left turn

and threw me from the cart.

OCEAN FOREST, TWO OTHERS PICKED FOR FUTURE SITES

THE USGA has announced the sites of three events -- the 2001 Walker Cup Match, the 1998 Curtis Cup and the 1998 Women's Amateur Public Links.

The 37th Walker Cup will be played at the newly opened Ocean Forest Golf Club at Sea Island, Ga., while the 1998 WAPL will be held at Kapalua Golf Club on the Hawaiian island of Maui, and the 30th Curtis Cup Match will be played at Minikahda Club in Minneapolis, Minn.

The Walker Cup has been played in Georgia once previously. That was in 1989 at Peachtree Golf Club in Atlanta, where the U.S. lost for the first time on American soil. The U.S. fell in last year's match, 14-10, but still leads in the series, 30-4-1.

Designed by Rees Jones, Ocean Forest was opened for play just last year. Preceding Ocean Forest as sites of the Walker Cup are Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y., in 1997, and Nairn (Scotland) Golf Club in '99.

The tentative dates of the 2001 Match are Aug. 11-12.

The Curtis Cup at Minikahda will serve as the centerpiece of the club's 100th anniversary.

Four USGA championships have been played there, including the 1916 U.S. Open, won by amateur Charles (Chick) Evans Jr., and the 1927 U.S. Amateur, a title won for the third time by Bob Jones. The U.S. won the 15th Walker Cup Match there in 1957, and Pearl Sinn became the first woman to win two USGA championships in the same year when she took the 1988 U.S. Women's Amateur at Minikahda, just two months after winning the WAPL.

The dates of the 30th Curtis Cup are Aug. 1-2. The series, begun in 1932, resumes in June at Killarney Golf and Fishing Club in Killarney, Ireland.

The '98 Women's Amateur Public Links will mark the first USGA championship played on the island of Maui. Scheduled for the Arnold Palmer-designed Bay Course, the event will be contested June 24-28.

The championship will be particularly special to Lori (Castillo) Planos, who won three USGA championships, among them successive WAPLs in 1979 and '80. Planos is now a teaching professional at Kapalua.

"I'm excited about having Kapalua host this prestigious championship," she said. "It is one of the most special and unique U.S. amateur events I have participated in, due to the diverse backgrounds of all the players."

In addition to being the site of the Kapalua International, an unofficial event on the PGA Tour, the course was the first in the U.S. to be dedicated as a member of the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program.

GOING . . . GOING . . . GONE?

IMAGINE you have an antique, an original tarnished by years of neglect. You'd love to restore it, of course, and every time you look at it you can envision what an expert hand might do to it -- making it handsome, lustrous, pristine and a source of great pride. But it never happens.

That, in a nutshell, is the situation regarding Beaver Tail Golf Club ("The Lost Course of Narragansett Bay," January/February, 1995).

Robert Munro Clarke, a distant relative of the course's original owner, had hoped to restore the nine remaining holes of the A. W. Tillinghast-designed links that sat on a windswept bluff in Jamestown, R.I., overlooking Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound. Another nine holes were to be designed by Steve Smyers. (Land encompassing nine holes from the original course was sold for housing several years ago.)

Since the course was abandoned half a century ago, however, the landscape has changed dramatically, and the amount of wetlands on the site has, unfortunately, virtually eliminated the prospect that an 18-hole course can be built. Clarke gave up on his dream months ago, and though an agreement was reached with Senior Tour Players Development Co. to see the project through, it arrived at the same dead end.

"We went pretty far with it," explained Stan Abrams, president of Senior Tour Players Development. "We basically concluded that with the expanding wetlands that had been created over the years, there was room for 14 or 15 holes. And there's not much of a demand for a 14- or 15-hole golf course."

"It just didn't make sense for us to pursue the plan any further, unless we could obtain additional land, which we were unable to do. That's unfortunate because it's such an attractive site. We had very strong support from the town and the landowners, but the course had been closed for 50 years, and a lot happens in 50 years."

FREE BOOKLET FOR GOLFERS WITH DISABILITIES

THE DIFFICULTIES golfers with disabilities have faced on the course are dwindling in number.

In conjunction with the national tournament for the Association of Disabled American Golfers last summer, the National Center on Accessibility and ADAG sponsored an etiquette and instructional clinic. From that effort, a booklet of special interest to golfers with disabilities was created. It provides helpful tips on preparing to play, as well as suggestions for course operators and golfers with disabilities to make the game more enjoyable for all.

Published by the National Center on Accessibility at Indiana University, which has been actively involved in working with the golf industry and with golfers with disabilities to make the game more accessible, the booklet is available at no charge -- while supplies last. It is available by writing to: Department of Recreation and Park Administration, Bradford Woods Outdoor Center, 5040 State Road 67 North, Martinsville, Ind. 46151.

NECROLOGY

FREDRIC (FRITZ) CORRIGAN, 80, of Minneapolis, Minn., served on various USGA committees over a period of 35 years. He became a USGA committeeman in 1957 and served until 1970, then was a member of the Senior Amateur Committee from 1983 to '92. A vice president of the Western Golf Association, he was instrumental in establishing the Evans Scholarship program for caddies. He also served as a director of the Minnesota Golf Association.

* * *

DR. RALPH E. ENGEL, 80, of Milltown, N.J., who died Dec. 7, received the 1993 Green Section Award for his nearly 40 years of wide-ranging work. A faculty member at Rutgers University, his research contributed many of the basic principles on which turfgrass management practices are based -- among them the development of misting as an aid in turfgrass survival during high temperatures, and the revelation that applying smaller amounts of nitrogen fertilizer on a more frequent basis was the best way to manage bentgrass. In addition, at the time he received the Award, more than 125 course superintendents in the New York metropolitan area had received their basic turfgrass science training from him.

* * *

MARY MASON FOEHL, 86, of Boca Grande, Fla., was a member of the USGA Women's Committee from 1963 to 1975. She was a former president of the U.S. Senior Women's Golf Association and a club champion at Hyannisport (Mass.) Golf Club, Taconic Golf Club in Williamstown, Mass., and Essex County Club in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass. Among her survivors is a son, Stephen, executive director of the New Jersey State Golf Association.

* * *

JAMES G. HARRISON, 95, of Monroeville, Pa., served two terms as president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects. His career began with Donald Ross, and among the courses he designed were Warwick Hills Country Club in Flint, Mich., and the White Course at Penn State University.

* * *

WILLIAM F. (BILL) JONES, 40, of Pinehurst, N.C., who died Dec. 5 of cancer, was unique among Golf Writers Association of America members. He would often see his story subjects twice in a day: in the interview room after a tournament round, then at night while he tended bar at the Pine Crest Inn. Jones' weekly column for The Pilot in Southern Pines, N.C., reflected his love and knowledge of the game; his "night" job, as assistant manager at the Pine Crest, where he tended bar since the late 1970s, reflected his understanding of the human condition. At his death he was president of Talamore Golf Club in Southern Pines and organizer of several charity events in the Sandhills area.

* * *

AL RADKO, 78, of Piscataway, N.J., served as the USGA Green Section's national director and was the 1983 recipient of the Green Section Award. He also served as the National Research Director, heading the administration of the USGA's turfgrass research funds, and was editor of the Green Section Record.

In the early 1950s he oversaw the construction and maintenance of a putting green at the White House, a gift from the USGA to President Eisenhower, an avid golfer.

"He always had the very best interest of the USGA, the Green Section and the golf course superintendent at heart," said Jim Snow, the USGA Green Section's national director. "He loved the game of golf, and he lived by the highest principles the game has to offer."

He joined the Green Section staff as an agronomist in 1947, then served as national director from 1974 until his retirement in 1983.