Court Stalls New York Courses on Organic Concerns

Suffolk County, the eastern end of New York's Long Island, has become a hotbed for course construction in the 1990s. The county government wants to be part of the boom and has ambitious plans to develop five courses.

But those plans are on hold as it grapples with a State Supreme Court ruling that sided with the Long Island Neighborhood Network, a quality-of-life group with concerns about the county's environmental planning. The group brought suit against the county in 1997, charging it had not seriously considered organic construction and maintenance of two courses it wants to build 20 miles from Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, host of three U.S. Opens.

The central issue is organic golf. "We are not anti-golf," says Neal Lewis, an attorney and executive director of the Long Island Neighborhood Network. "Our goal was to get the county to do a professional analysis from the beginning to give organics a chance."

In the mid-'90s, when the county starting looking seriously into course development, the county legislature issued a resolution that sought high environmental standards for the first three courses. But it designated only one of them an "environmental golf course," to be built with a higher percentage of compost in the fairway substrates and maintained with a minimum of chemicals. "We wanted to know, 'How come only one course and not all of them?' " states Lewis.

This is a legally complicated situation colored by politics. After the lawsuit was initiated in 1997, the county legislature amended its resolution to declare that the county had never built an environmentally safe course and should do so with future construction. But the county never argued in court that this second resolution should satisfy the arguments of the plaintiffs.

State Supreme Court Judge Mary Werner, in her decision, sided with the Long Island Neighborhood Network in part because the county did not bring the amended resolution into the proceedings, and because it had not done the site analysis as required under the State Environmental Quality Review Act. The county argued that its environmental impact statement had been sufficient. The judge says that a new environmental impact statement is required.

Lewis says organic procedures should be given a chance but adds that he also wants to see the courses built. "We believe that there has been great progress in the organic farming industry and that these techniques can be brought into the golf course industry," says Lewis.

Says Robert Garfinkel of the Suffolk County Attorney's office: "The county believes we more than met the requirements of the environmental law. We are working with Mr. Lewis and his group, and we believe his objectives are our objectives."

A developer with whom the county is negotiating to build the first two courses has a plan to build and maintain them organically and is waiting for the lawsuit to be settled. Bob Ehler, president of Meligolf of Long Island, says his firm has organic agronomists on its advisory staff. "We want to build organic courses, and will go to great lengths to do that," says Ehrler.

In fact, a course with lofty organic standards was opened last summer on Long Island by the town of North Hempstead. Harbor Links, designed by Michael Hurzdan, was built with 42,000 cubic yards of compost. The fairways are designed to be water efficient by using a combination of bluegrass and fine fescue. Though not chemical free, the maintenance program calls for spot spraying, rather than blanket spraying, of chemicals. The irrigation system sends out a special bacteria that helps fight diseases.

"I'm an environmentalist and a golfer, and I think you can be both," says Lewis. "I've argued that we shouldn't change the standards of golf courses, but that we should look hard at all the alternative means of maintaining those standards."

— Jeff Williams

The Drive for a Special Success

Even before golf found its way into the life of Special Olympics Summer World Games qualifier Kevin Maples, he could scarcely find time to keep up with his other passions. Maintaining his 1956 Ford Crown Victoria, adding to his collection of more than 350 law enforcement badges, building his world-class display of Coca-Cola memorabilia, and holding down a full-time job at a local department store were limiting his time on the course.

So in early May, Kevin and his father, D.J., sold the Crown Vic. Kevin, 40, and D.J., 79, explained it was becoming too difficult physically to maintain the car. However, they admit it's freed them up to pursue Kevin's competitive golf urges, which will lead them to North Carolina for the 1999 Special Olympics Summer World Games later this month.

It will be the second World Games for the Houston resident, who has participated in Texas Special Olympics events for 26 years. Though his last World Games appearance was in 1983 for softball, it will be a new experience when he tees it up in his first international golf event June 28-July 2 at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary, N.C.

This year's World Games mark the first time golf is offered as an official sport. It became part of the games during the last competition four years ago in New Haven, Conn., as a demonstration sport.

Maples, who is diagnosed with borderline cerebral palsy, will compete in Level 4, the highest level of play in Special Olympics golf. Level 4 players are not restricted by age, but they must be capable of completing 18-hole rounds while carrying their own bag. The 72-hole Level 4 championship features 33 players — including Maples, who qualified at the Texas games in April.

In the World Games, players within each level are divided into sub-competitions of three to eight players. The different sub-competitions are each contested as individual tournaments (the same way other tournaments are flighted), yielding a number of gold medal winners in each level.

Maples picked up the game after telling his father he was getting too old and slow to compete in track and field events. To keep his competitive fires burning, he began to experiment with the game after an uncle encouraged him.

Maples, who's left-handed, instinctively assumed a left-handed stance. "I told him I'd try to help him if he'd turn around and play right-handed, and he did," joked his father.

Maples, who has won two Level 4 Texas titles in three tries, has found golf to be most beneficial to the independence and well-being of both men.

"He's told me it's a sport where you are on your own to play your own game," his father explained. "You're not only competing against the other people, but you're competing against yourself. You've got to score for yourself."

— Matt McKay

A Tree Falls, A Player Felled

The removal of a dead tree was perhaps never so costly — or potentially dangerous.

When a 30-foot pine at the 12th hole of what was formerly the Fort Devens Golf Course in Ayer, Mass., fell in May 1993, player Anthony Horse was nearby. The tree landed on Horse, who was also a worker at the former Army base, injuring his shoulder and requiring medical helicopter transportation to a facility in Worcester.

Horse then sued the U.S. government, the owner of the course, saying that it should have known the tree was a potential danger and therefore should have removed it before it fell. In late April, two days into court proceedings, the parties settled the $1 million lawsuit for $375,000.

Since the incident, the course was closed and a federal prison and hospital have been built on the site. Horse? According to a Boston newspaper, he still plays (using one arm) and shoots in the 90s.

Dawson Succeeding "Captain" Bonallack

When word was released last November that the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews was advertising its position of secretary, the timetable was for Michael Bonallack to step down in 2000.

But in an announcement made early last month, the R&A's schedule was accelerated when it said that Bonallack will step down as secretary after the Walker Cup in September. It packaged that announcement with another that explained the timetable: Bonallack, who became a member of the R&A in 1960 and secretary in 1983, would become the R&A's next captain.

Peter Dawson (right) 50, a chief executive in the engineering industry with considerable commercial experience, has been selected to replace Bonallack as secretary. "The hand-over process from Michael Bonallack to Peter Dawson will be ongoing from June through to the Walker Cup in September," said Ian Webb, chairman of the R&A's General Committee. "I am delighted we have appointed someone of Peter's caliber, experience and golfing background to follow on from the wonderful career Michael has had at the R&A."

A native Scot, Dawson has been a member of the R&A since 1994 and has served on its Rules Committee.

Not Better Late Than Never

Larry Adamson is gaining a pretty good idea of what Internal Revenue Service offices are like every April 16 or 17.

As the USGA's director of championship administration, Adamson is responsible for the more than 30,000 entries that arrive annually for USGA championships.

The number of accepted entries (7,889) for the U.S. Open was hardly a surprise, beating the 7,117 from last year, a record for any of the national championships. But of the 8,293 total entries received before the April 28 deadline, more than one-third (2,771) arrived during the final three days before the deadline.

This year's Thank You Mr. Postmaster Award goes to Todd Binder, the head professional at Hillcrest Country Club in Boise, Idaho, whose entry was postmarked nine days before the deadline, only to have it arrive a day late.

"I was kind of wondering why I haven't heard anything," Binder said upon learning of his fate.

When it comes to Open qualifying, Binder has not been a carrier of good fortune. In 1993, the only time he advanced to the second and final stage, he broke a thumb in a motorbike mishap and withdrew.

Asked whether he'd go to extra lengths in future years to avoid a recurrence, Binder was noncommital. "I don't think I'd go as far as using FedEx," he said, referring to the overnight delivery service, "but then, I'm sure to say to myself, 'Get it done early. Remember what happened in '99?'"

Gift From the Grave

Damon Hieronymous had no wife, no children and no immediate relatives to whom he could pass along a considerable estate. But he was not without family.

Before the long-time director of the Missouri Golf Association passed away in June 1997, at the age of 85, he indicated he wanted to use the estate he'd accumulated as the owner of a men's clothing store in Sedalia, Mo., to benefit the association. Only after his death did the MGA realize the extent of his generosity. Hieronymous, who had served on the association's board of directors for more than 20 years, until 1995, left a whopping donation of $675,000. The bequest, as stipulated by Hieronymous, is to be used for junior golf.

"He was just a tremendous enthusiast for golf," said Clifford Kateman, a member of the MGA board and friend to Hieronymous. "He believed in fair play, the proper way to play the game, and in teaching that to young people. That's probably why he felt the need to start at the grass-roots level, get the program started to teach them properly and provide the money for a proper program."

The bequest is by far the largest the MGA has received. "I wouldn't say it was a shock because I knew of his inclination toward golf," said Kateman. "But, certainly, the golf association was surprised to receive a gift that large."

The MGA has just begun receiving the money, an estimated $40,000 annually from interest generated from a trust fund. The money has allowed the MGA to establish a separate junior program, embellished with scholarships and endowments.

"We've set up regional sites," said Joe Greene, a past president of the MGA and the current association secretary, "where we hope that youngsters, especially those in the city who generally don't have access, can come and learn about the game."

Hieronymous also stipulated that $5,000 of his donation be funneled into the annual tournament formally known as the Missouri Cup. A Ryder Cup-style match-play championship that pits the best amateurs from the east side of the state against the best from the west, the event has been renamed the Hieronymous Cup in honor of the patron.

Kateman knew Hieronymous for 40 years. "He was a very giving person and also demanding in respect to the rules," he noted. "He was quite the gentleman.''

Hieronymous gave a slight indication of his plans. "He hinted before he died that he was going to do something special," explained Greene, "but he never did say what that would be. He was just a fine guy. And he's proved it."

— Dan O'Neill

Spirit of the Game — Mike Schmidt

"Responsibility is key in golf. That's why I like to see so many kids taking up golf nowadays. With the Tiger Woods phenomenon, the inner-city programs and the emphasis at the college level, golf's not so much a sport as it is almost a religion. I'm at the stage where just about everything I do involving my family, our vacations, my spare time, is centered around the game of golf.

"My relaxing thoughts always seem to center around something in golf. I love striking a golf ball, straight down the middle, maybe better than I liked hitting a home run. Seeing the ball fly down the fairway is one of the greatest feelings in sports.

"Golf creates a foundation of responsibility in kids that they may not have gotten. I think it's key in our world today that kids learn that they have to play fair, they have to play by the rules and they have to police themselves. If it means calling something on themselves, when it's really hard for them to do that, I think that creates some good qualities in our kids. In terms of responsibility, golf's a wonderful game."

Nothing Artificial About This Town's Spirit

Like the fairway grass at Sharon Springs (Kan.) Golf Course after a long, hot summer, interest in golf there was dying.

More and more players in the community of 900 located near the Colorado border were choosing to not play the only course in Wallace County. They were using state Route 27 to find a game, driving 35 miles north to Goodland, located on Interstate 70, or 35 miles south to Tribune. People in Sharon Springs were realizing that when a layout without irrigation bakes for a summer and its putting surfaces are sand, conditions are generally not a prime attraction.

"We figured we had to do something," said Everett Lage, a bank president in Sharon Springs and a member of the club's board of directors. "We were losing interest, especially with the ladies, who didn't want to pull rakes over those greens."

A full irrigation system was out of the question. There is no well on course property and, with annual dues of $100, the membership couldn't have afforded one even if it wanted to go that way. The nine-hole club made the imaginative decision to replace its tees and greens with artificial turf.

"We had a meeting back in February or March 1998," Lage explained, "and decided right then and there to do it. We had opening day July 12."

The club spent $86,000 for materials from Nova Grass International in Chattanooga, Tenn., and the expertise of Rick Burke, the company's owner. Under his guidance, Sharon Springs' 110 members volunteered their time and did the work.

"It's proved to be a very wise decision," Lage says. "Now we have something we can look at as a golf course. The reaction has been very good. We've had some low handicappers play it and they all seem to like it. We've had some say we have a little hidden secret here in Sharon Springs."

That is the case in more ways than one. Nine businesses in Sharon Springs donated $4,000 each to help defray the cost of the renovation, and other organizations contributed to a lesser degree. "The whole town has helped make this a dream come true," Lage says with great civic pride.

The transition from sand to artificial turf is like moving from a manual typewriter to a laptop computer; it's taken a while for players to get the feel of the new surfaces. "We had fun with the sand greens," Lage said, "but when we'd go to a real golf course it would take us two hours to figure out what to do."

In addition to the new greens and tees, the club stumbled onto a deal whereby it could construct a minimal irrigation system. A well was dug on property a quarter-mile from the course, and now a 30-gallon-per-minute pump irrigates Kentucky bluegrass collars and green-surrounds from a 5,000-gallon holding tank.

"We used to get very little play from outside the city limits," says Lage, "but we've picked up some new members. We've got 50 players in our men's league, and the course up in Goodland, the dues there are so much higher, now we're getting some of those outsiders."

It would appear the novelty is anything but artificial.

— Rich Skyzinski

Divot repair tools aren't required at Sharon Springs.

Necrology

The Squire, 1902-1999

Anyone who lives for nearly a century can accumulate a wealth of friendships and accomplishments. In the case of Gene Sarazen, it was an embarrassment of riches.

Winner of the U.S. Open at age 20. Innovator of the utilitarian sand wedge. Winner in 1932 of the British and U.S. Opens, the latter by playing the final 28 holes in 100 strokes. Striker of what is considered the greatest shot in history, propelling a nascent club event to the status of major championship. Congenial host in the 1960s of a globe-trotting series of matches that epitomized quality in televised golf. Author, at age 71, of a classic hole-in-one in the British Open. For nearly two decades an honorary starter of the Masters, that nascent club event.

The death on May 13 of Eugenio Saraceni, 97, from complications of pneumonia in a hospital in Naples, Fla., signals the end of a remarkable era. The son of an immigrant Italian carpenter, he hid the tools his father handed down to him after becoming a caddie at age 8 in Bridgeport, Conn. Saraceni, who left school in sixth grade, homogenized his name after seeing it in a newspaper for the first time — at age 14 he had scored an ace. Sarazen soon was promoted to a position in the golf shop, a world dominated by Scots, and later moved to Florida to hone his game. He first played as a professional at age 17.

What characterized his near-century of living, beyond 38 pro titles or the first career Grand Slam, were his style, shotmaking abilities and loyalty. Knickers and neckties did not relegate him to curiosity status but embellish a gentlemanly nature. Bobby Jones marveled at his command of a ball's flight. And Sarazen's allegiance to an equipment manufacturer, Wilson, spanned eight decades and 38 contracts.

He was a member of the inaugural class inducted in 1974 into the World Golf Hall of Fame, along with the three others who won each leg of the Grand Slam: Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player. The Japanese tour incorporated his name into a tournament in 1977 and, after his 90th birthday, Sarazen was honored when the new World Open prefaced its name with his. The bulk of the World Open's field is reigning champions of national open titles, regardless of the stature of the country or the richness of its purse. That is not unlike the outlook Sarazen had of the world: all are welcome to compete, to bond, to grow.

Unlike a few elderly people who tire of life and show it in their disposition, Sarazen's wit and warmth did not waver. A few years ago he was approached at the Sarazen World Open by the son of a man who had, by happenstance, played nine holes with Sarazen in 1965. Shortly after that chance meeting, the father received a postcard from Sarazen, then traveling in Japan. Years later, the son approached and reminded Sarazen of the round and how much the card meant to both generations.

"Please, tell your dad I said hello," Sarazen said. When the son did not reply, Sarazen asked if his father was still around. When told that the man had died 30 years earlier, Sarazen smiled. "Well," he responded, "then I'll tell him hello for you."

— Brett Avery