The first thing Shane McMenamy noticed was the smell. It was potent -- the kind of scent that hits you so hard it knocks you backward. The kind usually reserved for the city dump. Yet this was a city. Or what was left of it. Waterlogged houses and cars. Garbage washed up in yards. Bags of it, waiting for trucks that haven't been able to get through the community.

"You drive around and it looks like a bomb hit the city," said McMenamy, the 1996 U.S. Junior Amateur champion.

It's been more than a month since the Red River crested at 54.6 feet -- flood stage is 28 -- and Grand Forks, N.D., was engulfed in water and 95 percent of the city's residents were forced to evacuate. It was weeks before some residents could return to assess the damage. Some may never return.

"Every time I start to think about it," said Tom Gabrielson, McMenamy's golf coach at Red River High School, "I want to cry." Gabrielson's home is more than a mile from the river. He never thought the water would get that far, but it did. He and his wife had to scoop up what possessions they could and head for higher ground -- first Devil's Lake, some 60 miles to the west, then Fargo, 50 miles to the south, then Grand Rapids, Minn. They returned to find the basement room where McMenamy lives filled with seven feet of water. There was no electricity or clean drinking water until the week of

May 12.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime deal," McMenamy said. "You see hurricanes and floods, but you never imagine going through one. That nobody died here . . . that's amazing."

But the destruction is everywhere, and the state's golf courses were not spared. In the third week of May, North Dakota Golf Association executive director Steve Bain had just returned from another tour of several courses and saw too many holes still under water -- some under six feet of it. His group set up a $5,000 disaster fund, but it will take several months to tabulate the damage.

"Right now, there's a lot of labor to do," Bain said. "Courses have to wash the fairways down and get the silt off so the grass will grow. They're going out right now with high-pressure hoses and sprayers and trying to clear it off."

Grand Forks Country Club, for example, will be lucky to have eight holes to play for the rest of the year. Portions, if not all, of Edgewood C.C., Fargo C.C., Oxbow C.C., Rose Creek G.C. and Bois De Sioux G.C. are still under water. Once the river recedes, some areas will be able to open dikes -- or dynamite them open -- and drain the water from the courses. In most cases, the clubhouses also sustained damage, at least on the lower floors, even when there were permanent dikes near the courses.

But Lincoln Golf Course has an even more unusual problem. In addition to water damage, the course lost several fairways when graders ripped them up and used the sod to build dikes around the city. "But it didn't help," Bain said. "People still lost everything."

Bain estimates that about one-third of the NDGA tournaments will have to be rescheduled. Fortunately, there are 105 courses in North Dakota and those in the western part of the state were not affected and can still hold tournaments.

Even the high school championship is being affected. Red River will be going for its fourth straight state title, McMenamy for his third individual title. Yet Gabrielson faced some unusual challenges. For starters, school had been called off and his team was residing in various parts of the state. The only one in Grand Forks was McMenamy, who had just returned from a few weeks in Arizona with his parents.

"We haven't been able to practice," Gabrielson said. "But we have played a few matches. It really has been enjoyable for the kids to get together and play. It's put some joy in their lives."

Grand Forks Air Force Base has offered to let Gabrielson use its course, which was not flooded, but it's tough for the players to focus. "It's been hectic," McMenamy said. "There's more to do than play. Golf's a second priority."

As a result, McMenamy has cut back his normal summer schedule and admits it will be hard to defend his Junior Amateur title in July. But he also realizes the Junior's proper place on his list of priorities. -- Melanie Hauser

It Certainly Was the oHIo

One of the enchantments offered at Shawnee Golf Club is the constant view of the Ohio River, which flows alongside the flat old course in western Louisville, Ky.

Spring rains swell the Ohio almost annually until the river deposits casual water over parts of the course. But this spring, when Louisville was hit by its biggest flood in decades, Shawnee was left under several feet of water and play was curtailed for weeks while volunteers and city workers gave new meaning to "lift and clean."

"We had anywhere from two to five inches of mud on the greens, but we got it off," said Moe Demling, head pro at Shawnee, the home course of Jodie Mudd.

Volunteers were abundant at Shawnee and River Road Country Club, a nine-hole course where river water reached within a foot of the clubhouse's second story. Members of the Kentucky Golf Course Superintendents Association volunteered their services in cleaning up River Road, which was covered with dozens of dead carp.

Valhalla G.C., site of last year's PGA Championship, sustained $50,000 in damage although it is several miles from the river. A tributary of the Ohio, Floyds Fork, backed up and covered large sections of Valhalla, half of which is built on a flood plain. Across the highway, Midland Trail Golf Club had 12 greens under water. -- Stan Sutton

Yippee For Putting Courses

In most cases, reaching the putting green provides a respite from the evils that lurk on a golf course -- unless you have the yips. No longer does a player need to navigate his way between bunkers, through forests, over water and around the various other hazards presented in a round. The smooth velvet of the putting surface offers a chance for closure. A simple stroke or two and it is done. The heartache of shots gone awry can be forgotten. A few curves and breaks stand in the way, but at least there is no water and woods. Unless you are on a putting course.

A '90s trend, putting courses bring back into play all the elements you thought you had survived upon reaching the green. Putting courses are popping up all over the country. Perhaps to please golfers who enjoy using the flat stick, or maybe to take advantage of the desire to play a game in a short amount of time, they are becoming more popular.

Many layouts feature 18 greens built to regular specifications. Holes can be as brief as 30 feet or extend as long as 200 feet, traversing bunkers, water and boulders.

"We have bentgrass greens and Bermuda rough," said Tom Vold, the director of golf at Angel Park Golf Club in Las Vegas, where a stand-alone putting course is part of an operation. "We have lakes and creeks and sand bunkers and trees and plants and everything.

"During the summer, we have groups that play past midnight. We average 20,000 to 30,000 rounds a year on the course and it is lighted. The majority of action happens shortly after nightfall."

The Angel Park putting course plays to par 49, with par 2s and par 3s. The shortest hole is 30 feet, the longest 190. The green fee is $8 for adults and $4 for juniors and seniors.

Some holes offer extreme undulations and banks, including one hole that makes a hard bank like a race track. It is also cornered by bunkers.

At the Chattooga Putting Club in Cashiers, N.C., designer Mike Riley wanted a putting course that "played like a real golf course." The course has a par of 46, including par 2s, par 3s and par 4s. Each hole is named after a famous putter. It is a private club, and initially, members paid $5,000 to join.

There are others. Robert Cupp designed the 18-hole putting course (along with an executive course) at Mariners Point Golf Links and Practice Center in San Francisco, and the Desert Springs course at the Desert Springs Marriott in Palm Desert, Calif., is believed to be one of the first of its kind.

The putting course at Desert Canyon Golf Resort in Wenatchee, Wash., is an all-grass, par-70 course on 31Ú2 acres with water hazards, bunkers, rocks and a starter's house. It measures 2,571 feet and cost $200,000 to build.

What these courses most certainly are not are "miniature" layouts with indoor-outdoor carpet, windmills and other foreign obstacles. They are scaled-down courses that have the look and feel of a regular course. And they are excellent for children and beginners.

"It's not like anything you've ever seen," said Jeff Salito, assistant golf professional at Palm Beach Polo & Country Club, where there is a new nine-hole putting course designed by P.B. Dye. "It's not gimmicky looking and it's not like a glorified miniature golf course. This is a serious putting course.

"It's beautiful. There is a man-made lake, flowers, a ton of trees. It looks much better than I ever thought it could possibly look."

-- Bob Harig

Golf's Summer Vacation in D.C.

As every man knows who has played the game, it rejuvenates and stretches the span of life," or so said President William Howard Taft when pressed about his constant presence on the links.

Taft was our nation's first first golfer, and he enjoyed the game as much as any president since, which is saying something. Consider that Dwight Eisenhower carded nearly 800 rounds during his eight-year tenure, and Woodrow Wilson played even more. Virtually all White House residents since Taft have chosen golf as a form of recreation, stress reduction, or as a business tool.

With the '97 U.S. Open virtually around the corner from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the USGA Museum and Library thought it only logical to avail its collection of presidential memorabilia, artwork, ephemera and equipment to the public. Enter the White House Visitor Center at President's Park (please).

This downtown landmark serves as an information and ticket center for White House tours. Located adjacent to the Ellipse in the Commerce Building, the Visitor Center is complete with a grand, soaring ceiling, marble decor and historic displays.

The exhibit, one of nine special displays in the USGA Traveling Exhibition Program, will remain at WHVC through Aug. 11. During this time, an estimated 300,000 persons are expected to view the display. Information about the Visitor Center display may be obtained by the Tour Golf House option on the USGA website, located at http://www.usga.org.

Does it Come In White-Walls?

Researchers at Michigan State University have devised a solution to deal with the millions of worn tires discarded in the U.S. every year: grind them into crumbs and spread the substance on golf courses.

In late April, MSU was granted a patent to use crumb rubber as a turf topdressing on grass and athletic fields. On logical area for use on golf courses would be the well-worn areas leading from cart paths to tees and putting greens.

"It can work on football fields, parks, college campuses," said John (Trey) Rogers, an MSU associate professor of turfgrass science who also oversaw the installation of grass for indoor use at the Pontiac Silverdome during soccer's World Cup in 1994. "It cushions virtually any area of the grass that gets a lot of traffic."

More than 2 million pounds of crumb rubber from recycled tires have been produced by JaiTires Industries of Denver, which markets the product under the trade name Crown III. This alone has consumed more than 1 percent of the 1996 national tire production. By the end of this year, it is expected that figure could rise to 10 percent.

Golf -- In Any Language

Your opponent believes his golf ball is unfit for play. In lifting it to examine for damage, he wonders whether the ball may be cleaned. According to Rule 21, the answer is no. But the opponent, a Parisian vacationer who joined you for a friendly game, does not speak much English. The solution? Find a computer and access the Royal and Ancient Golf Club's new Internet site.

With the unveiling of http://www.RandA.org/, the Rules of Golf are available in the game's seven principal languages: English, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish. Whether it's Nettoyer la balle in Les Règles de Golf or Rengöring av bollen in the Regler för Golfspel, players of various languages can learn the intricacies of the Rules.

The R&A site links to the USGA's home page (http://www.usga.org/) in its shared areas on the Rules. But the R&A site's own pages offer some interesting reading: future venues for its championships (the Mid-Amateur's at Ganton next year), sections for organizers and sponsors of amateur events (including recommendations regarding hole positions) and an architecture and greenkeeping section. Plus, for those States-bound fans who have come to enjoy real-time scoring for the U.S. Open on the USGA's site, the R&A promises similar treatment for the British Open this summer from Royal Troon.

Eight Would be More than Enough

The prospect of golf being a lifelong pleasure hasn't been lost on Liz Lieberman. Thanks to a victory in the Oak Ridge Women's Golf Association Championship a few years back, the nearing-75ish resident of Oak Ridge, Tenn., has now won at least one club, local or regional title in each of the last seven decades.

The mechanical engineering graduate of Swarthmore College (Class of '45) nearly missed the 1930s, but in '39 she won the women's championship at Pine Grove Country Club in Iron Mountain, Ga., a title she repeated in the '40s, along with claiming the Upper Peninsula Women's crown in Escanaba, Mich.

In the 1950s, '60s, '70s and '90s she collected an even dozen Oak Ridge Country Club titles, and there were also Knox (for Knoxville, Tenn.) Area Women's Golf Association crowns and the 1980 South Hills Ladies Golf Association championship at South Hills G.C. in Oak Ridge as well.

There's probably no debate as to who's the better player in the family; she calls her husband "a most reluctant" golfer.

The Patriotic Open of 1917: Did he or Didn't He?

Eighty years ago, a Scottish pro in a jaunty cap and sweater stood atop the American golf world -- or did he? Jock Hutchison's near-perfect performance across Whitemarsh Country Club in suburban Philadelphia netted him neither the customary check for the U.S. Open nor the official title of Open champion.

In late April 1917, Harry L. Ayer, chairman of Brae Burn Country Club in Newton, Mass., that year's Open site, read a disheartening letter from the USGA, which had canceled the event in the spirit of patriotism because of President Woodrow Wilson's declaration of war against Germany.

As with people across America, most of golf's luminaries wanted to do their part for the war effort. Although the USGA had nixed the Open, The New York Times reported an announcement from USGA President Howard W. Perrin, who said that the "National Open Event [was] to be held at the Quaker City as a patriotic event from June 20-22."

If any New Englanders wanted to cry foul, the USGA's blueprint for the Patriotic Open took the proverbial wind from their sails. Perrin required that professionals play not for payment, but out of pride and patriotism. The Red Cross would receive all the prize money and tournament officials would charge admission fees projected to raise up to $5,000 for the Army's field hospital service.

In the wake of the USGA's announcement, cynical reporters doubted that many pros would play for free. Noted The Times, "Among the professionals . . . interest in the substitute tournament seemed to be at a low ebb."

The press utterly miscalculated the game's stalwarts. Nearly 100 players showed, among them Hutchison, a native of St. Andrews but a naturalized American citizen who had lobbied hard on behalf of the Patriotic Open.

Gusts swept the course in the first round, when only 17 pros and one amateur were able to card scores in the 70s. Alex Cunningham led with 74, two strokes better than the three players tied for second and a whopping 10 shots better than crowd favorite Jim Barnes. Two hours after Barnes finished, he informed the tournament committee that the official scorer had mistakenly tagged him with an extra shot on the fifth hole. His fellow competitor, George Low, concurred, and although Barnes threatened to walk out unless the stroke was erased, the committee refused. Barnes chose to stay and continue playing.

Many of Barnes' fellow pros contended that since the officials had taken a hard line against Long Jim, they should take a similar stance on the late-arriving Walter Hagen, who intended to catch up with two rounds the second day. The committee barred his entry.

Hutchison proceeded to conquer the field, finishing a comfortable seven strokes ahead of runner-up Tom McNamara, but many would contend that he had not won an official U.S. Open, merely a lively substitute. What no one can argue is that he and the rest of the Patriotic Open field had done themselves and the USGA proud. They had pitched onto the greens of Whitemarsh and had pitched in for the Doughboys. -- Peter F. Stevens

Necrology

We've all heard the cliché coined by playwright Baron Lytton: The pen is mightier than the sword. I never put much credence in his contention until joining the USGA and meeting GEORGE EBERL, 65, then managing editor of Golf Journal. This gentle, soft-spoken man validated Lytton's viewpoint through possession of a lively wit, a honed intellect and a capacity to use words in a deft, persuasive manner.

Forced to retire from the USGA because of ill health more than five years ago, Eberl died in early May.

Born in Oakland, Calif., on Aug. 25, 1931, Eberl was an only child who was educated at local public schools. He attended the University of Redlands in California, where he earned a B.A. in history. He started his career in journalism in 1956 at the Redlands Daily Facts as a general assignment reporter, moved to the Hayward (Calif.) Daily Review in a similar capacity and in 1964 joined Stars & Stripes for two stints. In 1979, as he would later write, George "gave up gainful employment to become a golf writer" for Golf Journal.

Intelligent and curious, he blended these qualities with a healthy skepticism, an appreciation for the truth and an absolute intolerance for pomposity or pretension. He received several honors during the 1970s: an Overseas Press Club Award for business reporting; a Freedoms Foundation Award; and a Herbert Bayard Swope award for newswriting.

One of his best articles for Golf Journal was a two-part story in 1984, "The Savage Pacific." It represented a lucid, comprehensive discussion about the threat posed by coastal erosion to celebrated courses throughout the world. The article served as a harbinger for many of the articles published since that analyze the importance of golf's relationship with its surrounding environment.

He had been working on a book-length manuscript when ill health struck him in the summer of 1991. A rare affliction known as Guillane-Barre Syndrome left him in a coma for months in a New Jersey hospital. One of the biggest reasons for his miraculous recovery, I long suspected, remained a concealed desire to witness his debut as an author with the 1992 publication of his book, Golf Is A Good Walk Spoiled, a title he borrowed from Mark Twain. It is a compendium of stories about bizarre and fascinating incidents involving Decisions on the Rules of Golf.

Writing and golf, as important as they were to George, represented only two of his interests. His knowledge of music, for example, bordered on the encyclopedic. He fancied classical compositions by Mozart and others, yet could impress younger audiences with his identification of rock tunes by Jethro Tull, the Moody Blues, Cat Stevens or Allman Brothers.

The art of letter writing may be dismissed in a world of instantaneous communication, but not by George. His letters were prodigious in number and immensely entertaining. Fortunately, he did not limit his correspondence to lighter topics. When I became the USGA's director of communications last year, he wrote a beautiful, succinct letter of congratulations. I read it with satisfaction and squirreled it in the top drawer of my desk. The day after George's death, I stumbled across it. It said: "Never allow your role to be anything but a pleasure. Contrary to occasional appearances, golf is a game and likely to remain a game."

-- Marty Parkes

A leader in the turfgrass industury for more than half a century, THOMAS C. MASCARO, 81, of Pompano Beach, Fla., was the 1971 recipient of the USGA Green Section Award for outstanding service to golf through work with turfgrass. He had also been honored with the Distinguished Service Award by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America in 1976. He was a member of the USGA Green Section Committee since 1985, and the Green Section Award Committee since 1990.

HENRY PICARD, 89, who died in Charleston, S.C., won a Masters and a PGA Championship as part of his 34 victories as a professional. In 1939 he won six times and led the PGA Tour in earnings with $10,303. He was unquestionably one of the premier players of the era; in one stretch of 54 tournaments he broke or matched par 50 times.

His best showing in the U.S. Open came in 1938 at Cherry Hills Country Club, where he tied for seventh place after shooting 70-70 to take the 36-hole lead.

MICHAEL WILLIAMS, 63, who died two days after returning from covering The Masters, was the golf correspondent of The Daily Telegraph in London since 1971. From 1987-92 he was chairman of the Association of Golf Writers, whose title he won three times. He also edited the Royal & Ancient's massive Golfers Handbook, a tome of nearly 1,000 pages filled with biographies, results of championships worldwide, clubs and courses and even a complete section on handicapping and the Rules.