If you've never been chased off the fairway by a crop duster, you probably haven't played the eighth hole at Laurens (Iowa) Golf and Country Club.

One of the few combination golf course-airstrip properties in the country, the days of its frequent use by small aircraft are over. Yet maybe once or twice a week mostly small, single-engine planes land on the grass runway of the 200-member rural course, parting golfers as they approach.

The course was constructed in 1965 on 68 acres owned by Skyways, a group of area aviators and former World War II pilots. The golf course leases the Skyways land.

Bill Grice, a country club member and president of the Skyways Board of Directors representing 242 current stockholders, says there have been several odd, mostly humorous incidents involving airplanes and golfers. No serious accidents have ever occurred.

"We had one airplane nosedive into one of the greens," he said, "which is clearly outside the markers. But mostly we have golfers sometimes not paying attention and wind up scurrying to get out of the way."

Dick Hawes, now a school counselor, is a long-time member and a former superintendent at the course. "It's an unwritten rule that planes buzz us once, by circling, and that's the signal to get out of the way," he explains. "You've got to get everything off the runway, but you can leave your ball out there.

"One time we had a plane coming in from out of state and apparently the pilot was having trouble believing he was supposed to land on the golf course and instead tried to come down on a gravel road that runs parallel to the course. No one was hurt, but the plane was damaged enough that it couldn't take off again."

There was a time, perhaps, when members weren't particularly proud of the fact their course served a dual purpose, but now the novelty is a marketing tool, adorning hats and shirts. "Our logo now shows an aircraft coming in for a landing, with a green in the background," Hawes notes.

The landing strip comes into play on several holes of the par-35 course, but planes taking off and landing most affect play at the 470-yard, par-5 eighth. As you might expect, it has played a part in the landscaping of the course. Says Hawes, "We're a little restricted to where we can plant trees or dig holes."

The airstrip is about 700 yards long and 120 feet wide, and Grice believes there to be only a few others like it anywhere. "We have as many planes landing there now out of curiosity as anything else," he says. "It used to be used more by crop sprayers."

Still, to the Laurens club members, the sound of low-flying aircraft means only one thing: get out of the way, 'cause someone's playing through. -- Bill McIntyre

Business Golf 101: The Art Of the Deal

Out are two-martini lunches. In are starting times. Today's business deals are made as often on the green as in the office.

Recognizing the important link between the golf course and the business world, Mill Creek Golf Academy in Geneva, Ill., set out to create a level playing field by offering Business Golf 101, a class tailored to the business golfer. The class doesn't concentrate on making students into a single-digit handicap player as much as it walks golfers through the Rules, swing fundamentals, golf terminology and etiquette.

"The fact is that if you don't know how to play golf, you're going to be left out of business opportunities," says Greg Dorfler, Mill Creek's director of instruction. "Playing a round of golf has become a great way to entertain clients."

Now in its second year, the one-day course, held monthly from May through August, is a key offering at the Academy. "The class is really for anyone who is in business and realizes the importance of combining business and golf," says Dorfler. "A lot of business is now conducted on the golf course, so people have to know what they're doing so they don't embarrass themselves or offend clients."

Led by Dorfler and other PGA Class A professionals, classes range in size from four to six students, small enough for each golfer to receive personal attention. That's important, Dorfler maintains, because each student has unique skills and strengths. "When we find out where they want to go, we tailor the class to their interest," he maintains.

A typical class starts with putting lessons. "People think putting is going to be easy, and they're surprised when it's not," he says. "It can be the most difficult part of the game to master because there are so many variables." The class also features chipping, bunker play and other short-game work. The final segment is devoted to etiquette. It is this part that most distinguishes it from other lessons at Mill Creek, and one that is critical to the business golfer.

"I find that most of the questions I get during a class are about etiquette and manners," Dorfler says. "A bad game can lead to bad business. There are basic rules every golfer should follow." Among the most common mistakes Dorfler warns against: stepping on another player's line of putt, neglecting to mark their ball on the green and failing to repair obvious ball marks.

Though the class was originally designed with the individual businessperson in mind, it has developed a corporate following. Explains Dorfler, "Businesses give the class as a reward for meeting quotas or as a bonus for a job well done."

Lynne Terry, an account executive with the Chronicle newspaper chain in the Chicago area, is one of those sent by her company. "Golf is one of the things the company expects you to participate in," she notes. "It's become a very important part of the job. When we're out there, we have to know what we're doing because we aren't just representing ourselves, but also the company."

Terry says that in recent years, she's found golf to be an increasingly important element in maintaining business relationships. "Today the people who hold the purse strings are as likely to invite you to a golf outing as they are to lunch," she says. "Knowing the basics of the game and understanding the etiquette is critical."

Mill Creek makes but one claim about Business Golf 101: that it will provide students with a solid foundation. "After the class, they'll know their strong and weak points," Dorfler says. "Ideally, they'll come back to work on their game. Many of them do." -- Andrea C. Poe

Del Monte's Special 100th

In the crisp, cool air of the Monterey Peninsula, the flags of four nations waved majestically at Del Monte Golf Course. The banners were placed to welcome teams from England, Scotland and Canada to America for a special week of festivities -- one that will not be repeated for 100 years.

This year marks the centennial of golf at Del Monte, which boasts of being the oldest continuously operating course west of the Mississippi. To commemorate the anniversary, head professional Mark Brenneman sought to bring together members of the 28 foreign and 37 American golf clubs also celebrating their centenary in 1997.

"We started to put this event together last October," Brenneman explained. "Del Monte is part of Pebble Beach Company and our other golf courses, Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and Spanish Bay, are known worldwide. But what is special, and what we wanted to honor, is that Del Monte Golf Course has had golfers playing these links every day for a century. Del Monte in many ways has played a significant part in the growth of golf in America and in the creation of some of the greatest courses in the world. We invited every course in the world that has reached the special age of 100 to come and celebrate with us."

In all, 41 golfers came to Del Monte, happy to share not only in the pride of representing a club that had reached this special age, but also to be in some small way a part of the continuation of the game's rich history and traditions. The clubs represented included Douglas Park Golf Club in Glasgow, Scotland; Filey Golf Club, north of Yorkshire on the Filey Bay; Theydon Bois Golf Club of Essex; Chorley Golf Club of North Chorley, England; Peterborough Golf Club of Ontario, Canada; and Yahnundasis Golf Club, a classic Walter Travis design in New Hartford, N.Y.

"When the notice was posted on our announcement board, I never hesitated about coming to be a part of this," said Frank Slane, a member for 37 years at Douglas Park. "We found it to be fantastic that another club in another country wanted to share their celebration."

Also in attendance was 90-year-old Pete Enea, who was a caddie at Del Monte at age 11 and carried bags at Pebble Beach until 1983. He reminisced about the days when he hooked bags for 75 cents and afterward would sneak out on the course to play.

"The entire week has been fantastic," said Martin Dixon, a member of Filey. "It was marvelous meeting the players from America and Scotland."

As the week's activities proved, the same was true for the 60 members of Del Monte who met and competed with their visitors.

-- Doug Saunders

Border War? Not in Bristol

When the founders of The Virginian set out to build a championship layout, little could they have expected their plans to materialize this quickly and in this fashion: In consecutive months, The Virginian will serve as host this summer to the Virginia State Amateur and the Tennessee State Amateur -- the first time in anyone's memory that two states have chosen the same club.

"We wanted to host a state event," said Steve Johnson, managing director of The Virginian, "and we thought, ÔWhat better way to create some excitement than to host both events?' It was a bit of a novelty, no question, but it came to fruition very quickly."

It was not a tough sell to either state association, though in Tennessee's case its players would be traveling outside the state's borders. The Virginian is located between Bristol and Abingdon, Va., some 10 miles from the state line.

"Bristol is a unique city in that it is split down the middle, half in Tennessee and half in Virginia," said Dick Horton, executive director of the Tennessee G.A., of which The Virginian is a member. "This is a border club and rather than fight over it, we felt, 'Let's make it work for both associations.' "

It is almost a 10-hour drive from Memphis to Bristol; indeed, it is almost quicker to drive to Chicago, but Horton said that was a minor consideration.

"The positive thing is that, when we played our four-ball championship at The Virginian, we had record entries," Horton said. "If there were any questions about whether this might be a gimmick, they never came up because this is such a fabulous course. The word is out."

And it got out quickly. Construction on The Virginian, a Tom Fazio design, did not start until 1991. Nobody played the course until May 1993, two months before the grand opening.

"It's a classic layout, [from] the visual aspect," said David Norman, executive director of the Virginia State G.A. "I'd say 80 percent of the holes are downhill. And, it's got possibly the best greens in the state."

The Virginian has practice facilities that are second to none. That includes a double-ended practice range, practice greens and bunkers and three full-sized practice holes that members use before rounds or when they are pressed for time.

"We would not want to have a PGA Tour stop because we are so private in nature," Johnson said, "but we want to continue to escalate the level of event we may host. We'd be interested in a U.S. Mid-Amateur and we've been in contact with the site selection people for the PGA. Maybe the odds of getting a tournament like that are slim and none, but somebody's got to host those tournaments. It may as well be us."

Officials at The Virginian would have been happy to land just one state amateur, but the timing of the tournaments was perfect.

Virginia's State Amateur, a match-play event once the field is cut to 32, was played June 30-July 5. The Tennessee State Amateur, a 72-hole stroke-play tournament, will begin Aug. 5.

"Since it's in Virginia, it's wonderful as far as we're concerned," said Norman. "It's tough to say whether we would have crossed the state line, but we felt we needed to turn our focus to that [western] part of the state. It's flattering to us that both tournaments are being held on one of our courses, and I don't think people in Tennessee will look at it as being in Virginia. This is nothing new to Bristol, so it's only natural it turned out like this."

-- Doug Doughty

Aztecs Get Shoed Away

It was unquestionably the best 90 Mike Samoles ever shot. Actually, the hole-by-hole scores on his score card totaled 72, but when the San Diego State Aztec walked off Carlton Oaks Golf Club following the first round of the men's NCAA Championship's Division I West Regional, an additional 18 penalty strokes doused whatever hopes he and his team had of playing in the NCAA Championships.

Samoles, along with teammates Brad Weesner and Matt Murray, were tagged with first-round penalties of 18, 14 and 12 strokes, respectively, for failing to comply with regulations concerning non-metal spikes. Penalized two strokes for each hole on which the illegal spikes were worn, the Aztecs, to no one's surprise, finished last among the 18 entries.

The penalties actually cost the Aztecs 31 strokes -- the difference in the scores used in the play-five, count-four format. Weesner, who actually shot 73, counted an 87, and Murray's apparent 74 turned into 86.

After he'd played nine holes and been informed of the breach, Samoles finished his round in street shoes.

What was most ironic? The Regional was hosted by San Diego State and played on its home course.

The Longest One

Bill Morse didn't make a 6,411-yard hole-in-one, but it was the next-best thing to it.

Playing a round in early May to celebrate his 51st birthday, Morse hit his first shot at the Country Club of Farmington (Conn.) into a large spruce tree only 50 yards off the first tee. When the ball fell it ricocheted off some rocks near a cart path, landed on the front of the 18th green and, like a perfectly stroked putt, rolled right into the heart of the hole.

"It was a once-in-a-century shot and the funniest thing I've ever seen on a golf course," Morse told The Hartford Courant. "When the ball started rolling, it looked like a perfect pitch shot. Everyone began chanting, 'Go in. Go in. Go in.' "

Morse, a 7 handicap, dropped next to the 18th green and made a double-bogey 6.

In case you're wondering, Morse has made a conventional hole-in-one -- at Farmington's 205-yard 18th.

Master of the Old Course

Every golfer believes his first round over the Old Course at St. Andrews is special -- we've got a six-inch stack of manuscripts to prove it -- but the story that arrived a while back proved too good to pass up. Herewith are selected excerpts:

When we arrived at the Old Course's first tee and saw the people watching from nearby hotel windows and from the street, each of us knew the other's thoughts. The previous summer a friend began to take a mulligan on the first hole, and the starter commanded loudly, "No mulligans on St. Andrews, please!"

We ladies hit awkward but acceptable drives, but Dud and Chuck, both 9 handicappers, made their usual rhythmic passes and drew polite applause. Between those two, Chuck's ball was nearest the hole following their second shots, and then he made a cautious, perhaps even shaky, birdie.

At the second, Chuck told us that Alister Mackenzie's instructions for the "Dyke" hole called for a drive to the right of Cheape's Bunker. Chuck teed off with a masterful drive, then hit a 6-iron that left a 10-foot putt, which circled the hole before dropping in for another birdie.

Chuck also birdied the third hole. Up to that point Chuck's caddie, a black-browed man with a limp, had been noncommittal. But on the fourth he showed his respect for Chuck by saying, "Over the bunkers to the right, sir," and handed the player his driver.

Chuck birdied "Ginger Beer," the fourth, with a straight-forward, no-frills, 10-foot putt. Four holes and four birdies by a 9 handicapper on the Old Course. As Chuck's putt on the fourth found the hole, it brought cries of "Good grief!" from others in the group.

The fifth, Hole O'Cross, played shorter than its advertised 567 yards that day. After Chuck's excellent drive, his caddie said, "Your second shot will hit downhill," and Chuck wavered between a 2-iron and a 5-wood, finally choosing the wood. Our third shots, played from close range, were visible on the green, but there was no sign of Chuck's 5-wood -- not until the caddie neared the flagstick and pulled it from the hole. There, only inches behind the hole, lay Chuck's ball -- on in two for a tap-in 3. Five holes, six under par!

Chuck found Nick's Bunker at the sixth and needed three to get out, finally coming back to earth with an 8. He finished with a 76, not a course record but certainly one for the scrapbook. As was the letter Chuck received a while later from Royal and Ancient Secretary Michael Bonallack, which read, in part:

"I have never heard of anyone being six under par after the first five holes but, obviously, whilst we have records of championship scores we do not know what scores are achieved by the many thousands of players who play every year on the Old Course. I am quite sure, however, that no one would have beaten your score."

-- Hazel Mohler

A Yard is All You'll Need

With the surfeit of golf-related websites out there, one that perhaps you've yet to discover among the chat rooms, tournament results, instruction pieces and notes columns is the one located at http://www.access. digex.net/~bga/ and maintained by the Backyard Golfer's Association. (No, we are not making this up.)

Yes, if you have a lawn, or maybe a patio and a chunk of artificial turf, you can belong to the group that, according to its materials, is "dedicated to the safe practice of golf off the course and the quest for the perfect golf swing through the use of backyard practice and instructional equipment."

BGA members do their best to keep their activities fun, and to that extent they've devised games where players work their way around and/or over driveways, fences, roads, houses, trees, bushes and cars.

Which makes us ask: With some of the people we get paired with on the first tee, do I want them using my car as an obstacle?

One-armed 1

You can't blame George Johnson for getting excited over the recent hole-in-one he made at Fernwood (Miss.) Country Club. It was the first ace for the 72-year-old, and what makes the shot so unique is that Johnson lost his left arm to a World War II injury more than 50 years ago.

Since he took up golf again in 1975, he's played using only his right arm. Competing in a Mississippi Seniors G.A. tournament, Johnson holed a 3-wood at Fernwood's 150-yard 11th. The feat was such a shock that Johnson didn't even think of retiring the ball. He promptly teed it up at the 12th, hit it into a patch of dense foliage and lost it -- at least temporarily. After the round he returned to the hole and found it, and now he does have the proper keepsake from his ace, which also helped him win his flight that day.

Necrology

JAY HEBERT, 74, of Houston, Texas, the 1960 PGA Championship winner, played on two U.S. Ryder Cup teams (1959 and '61) and captained a third (1971). In 1960, at the third PGA contested over 72 holes, Hebert won at Firestone Country Club with a 1-over-par 281, one stroke better than Jim Ferrier. He played in 12 U.S. Opens and finished in the top 25 six times, including his best effort, a tie for seventh, in 1958.

CHARLES C. HILLYER, 83, of Ortega, Fla., was a member of three USGA committees over four decades. In 1954 he became the first president of the Jacksonville (Fla.) Area Golf Association, and he was a member of the USGA Green Section Committee from 1956-'59, the Sectional Affairs Committee from 1956-81, and the Senior Amateur Committee from 1982-85.

JEFF (SQUEEKY) MEDLEN, 43, was more than one of the best-known caddies of the modern era; he was one of the game's most colorful characters.

Nicknamed for his high-pitched voice, Medlen, who carried the winner's bag in one British Open and three PGA Championships, died June 16, not quite a year after being diagnosed with chronic myelogenus leukemia. Throughout his illness, players, fellow caddies, officials and even spectators demonstrated their support by wearing green ribbons.

Medlen was best known as Nick Price's caddie, but his first rise to fame came in 1991 when Price withdrew from the PGA for the birth of his first child. Medlen caddied for John Daly, a long-shot alternate who won despite never having seen the golf course. Medlen caddied for the winner again the next year when Price won the first of his two PGAs, and was on the bag when Price captured the 1994 British Open en route to being named the PGA Tour's player of the year.