How badly does Gregory N. Van Bemden II, an 11th-grader at Genesis Preparatory School in New Port Richey, Fla., want to play high school golf? "Oh, more than life itself,'' says his father, Greg Van Bemden.

The only problem is that Genesis Prep, a small private school, does not have a golf program. Van Bemden, however, does not see that as an unplayable lie. He has brought a lawsuit against the Florida High School Activities Association, which determines sports eligibility for students, for the right to compete for River Ridge, a nearby public high school.

"What we are saying is there is a statute that made a finding where the (Florida) legislature says extracurricular activities are beneficial to students and should be available to all students,'' said attorney Daniel Rock, who is representing Van Bemden. "It should not discriminate between public, non-public and home-school students.''

Bob Hughes, commissioner of the Florida High School Activities Association, said the guidelines were developed to prevent schools from recruiting players who live outside their attendance areas or from private schools.

The Van Bemdens, father and son, took up the game four years ago. The youngest quickly excelled, already possessing an 8 handicap index, and goes to a nearby practice range every day to hit balls. But with the exception of local junior association events, he is starved for tournament competition. "The junior and senior classes combined at my school have 19 students,'' Van Bemden said. "Out of that, there are nine boys and I'm the only one who plays golf. You have to have at least seven players to have a team.''

The younger Van Bemden was lamenting that situation during a recent round with his father and a player who was paired up with their group at the first tee. "I had shown up at the golf course and had been assigned to play with a twosome,'' Rock recalled. "But they didn't look particularly golf oriented. There was another group just going off in front of them, so I asked if I could play with them. In that casual meeting, we talked about Greg's situation. It sounded like discrimination to me. And I don't think schools should discriminate.''

With Florida's high school golf season changing this academic year from spring to fall competition, Rock went to work quickly. Van Bemden went to River Ridge and signed up for the golf team Aug. 16, only to be told he was ineligible. A week later Rock filed the suit and requested an emergency order that would have permitted Van Bemden to begin play. Judge W. Lowell Bray declined to grant the emergency order in a session held Sept. 10, however, meaning this year's fall season will likely be completed before Van Bemden gets his day in court.

Van Bemden has heard suggestions that if he wants to play for River Ridge, he should attend that school; the honor student points out that home-study students are allowed to compete for public schools they do not attend and promises to continue to pursue his request through the court process. The Van Bemdens hope the case will be heard early in 2000.

"He's just a junior this year, so maybe he can look forward to playing next year,'' Rock said. "He's a pretty good player. The day I played with him, he shot in the low 80s and I know he's capable of doing better because he had some bad holes.

"What I especially liked was he and his dad recently took up the game together. They play together as often as possible. And his dad encourages him to play. But most of all, he seemed to have a genuine love for the game of golf.''

— Mick Elliott

According to the Scoreboard, He Was +1 for the Day

For weeks, Kevin Giancola related to what Phil Mickelson had gone through during the U.S. Open, when he said he would withdraw and fly home if his pregnant wife, Amy, went into labor. On Aug. 3, it was Giancola who got to the first tee and the hospital on time — and, as with Mickelson, only the latter mattered.

Giancola had hit a few putts in preparation for the second round of the Connecticut Open, and was in the locker room preparing to go to the driving range at Wee Burn Country Club in Darien, Conn., when his beeper sounded. It was his wife, Christine, calling to say she had gone into labor with the couple's first child.

Giancola, 36, the first-year club pro at The Shattuck club in Jaffrey, N.H., had shot 75 the previous day and returned home. He remained with Christina all night until 5:45 a.m., then left for the 36-hole windup. But instead of shooting for a fourth Connecticut Open title in a dozen years, Giancola found himself challenging the speed limit on the Merritt Parkway as he drove nearly across the state and reached Hartford Hospital in plenty of time to see the 6:15 p.m. birth of daughter Grace Christine (8 pounds, 20 inches).

"When I got the call from Christine, the first thing I thought of was Phil," Giancola said, alluding to Mickelson, who placed second in the U.S. Open and attended the birth of his daughter less than 48 hours later. "I told the [Connecticut State Golf Association] officials to find a [scoring] marker because I had to go. There was no decision to make, though if I was winning the U.S. Open I don't know if Christine would have called."

His wife hadn't wanted Giancola "sitting around watching me," so she sent him to the course "because I know how much the tournament meant to him. But no sooner had he left than the doctor said to get him back. I felt bad calling him, but thank God he was here. He was a good coach."

And how's Grace?

"She's healthy and beautiful, has big feet and good hands," said Kevin. "I think I'll have a club in her hands real soon."

Although he had to withdraw, Giancola celebrated in a suitable manner. He bought a box of cigars and a present for Christine, then played a round at Wampanoag Country Club in West Hartford.

— Bruce Berlet

Hurricane Rains Flood Carolina Courses ...

Talk about a double whammy. In a two-week span last month a pair of hurricanes, Dennis and Floyd, turned the eastern part of North Carolina into one giant swimming pool.

"It's stuff you see in Third World countries," Jack Nance, executive director of the Carolinas Golf Association, said of the storms' damage. "And the trickle-down effect is just enormous. I heard the guy from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Association) say it's the worst flooding that he's ever seen."

Farmville Country Club, a semi-private course about 11 miles west of Greenville, N.C., was drenched with 30 1Ú2 inches of rain. Water rose two feet higher than the projected 500-year flood plain, leaving the maintenance shed in 3 1Ú2 feet of water that damaged 60 golf carts and several mowers.

Tommy Braswell, the course manager and superintendent, said 50 trees were uprooted, five of which were oaks at least 150 years old. Two nearby rivers, the Neuse and Tar, rose 15 feet above their flood stages. "It's the worst (damage) anyone has ever seen," said Braswell, who reopened nine holes on Sept. 23 and expected the rest to open in another week. "We've lost at least 700 to 800 rounds (per week). But we won't recoup any revenues from this year."

At Ironwood Golf and Country Club in Greenville, the last six holes remained under water more than a week after Floyd. "It's about five to 10 feet above the green," said pro John Lamonica. "You can take a Jetski on it. It looks like the Florida Everglades."

The club lost most of its maintenance equipment, including irrigation pumps, and 75 trees were knocked down. Lamonica doesn't expect normal operations to resume for three months. "Before the storms, our course was in great shape. This just kills us."

At nearby Bradford Creek Golf Course, the layout and maintenance shed were flooded. And Scott Crocker, head pro at Kinston (N.C.) Country Club, said the course had 100 downed trees and inoperative irrigation pumps due to a power outage.

But in Wilmington, where the brunt of Floyd's winds were felt the hardest, many courses were back in operation scant days after the storm. The sandy base in the area allowed for quick drainage. Wilmington Municipal Golf Course had to push back its city championship one week so workers could clean up the debris from fallen trees and drain puddles, some as deep as four feet.

Most coastal courses in Georgia and South Carolina were spared. Although many lost revenue, virtually all opened with few clues that two hurricanes had harassed the states.

— David Shefter

... And Lessen Drought's Damage up North

A month ago superintendents in states along the Atlantic Ocean who had seen their courses ravaged this summer by drought (Through the Green, September) were practically begging for a hurricane. Such a storm, they said, would help replenish dwindling reserves in reservoirs and ponds. Of course, when torrential rain arrived as Hurricane Floyd punished the East Coast, another headache arose — instant flooding.

"We can't cry," said Sam Snyder, the superintendent at Hercules Country Club in Wilmington, Del. "We've been asking for this rain for a long time. We have some trees down and a few side issues to deal with, but given the choice between what we had this summer and [flooding], I'll take the rain. Fortunately, we whistled past the graveyard on this one."

Well, not everyone. Trent Inman, superintendent at Royce Brook Golf Club in Somerville, N.J., decided to overseed during the first week of September. Then Floyd dumped seven inches of rain, creating streams in the fairways. "We're going to have to aerate and overseed again and that's going to cost us a lot of money," Inman said.

While the storms may not have resulted in the lifting of drought emergencies in all areas, they certainly reduced the rainfall required to eliminate restrictions. By and large, the farther north a course, the less serious damage it suffered and the greater drought-related benefit it received.

"We didn't get hurt by the flooding that other courses did," explained superintendent Bill Morton of Misquamicut Club in Watch Hill, R.I. "The winds did create a lot of salt spray, so some of our leaves are coming down a little early. But our fairways have come back a lot. Our soil moisture is real good right now."

— D.S.

They Were Fast. Faster Than Fast.

The threat of Hurricane Floyd had an unexpected impact on the USGA Senior Amateur qualifier in Jacksonville, Fla.

About a third of the field did not show at Timuquana Country Club because of the inclement weather, some because they were observing mandatory evacuations from their homes. But officials decided to continue with play since the storm had yet to arrive and competitors had driven from as far away as Pensacola and Atlanta, Ga., to participate.

According to Lester Varn Jr., the official in charge, the promise of deteriorating weather prompted players to speed up, so that the last group finished play in three hours and 30 minutes, about 45 minutes ahead of schedule.

"I know they weren't wasting any time," said Varn, who never had to resort to timing a slow group. "We had good weather until about 2:30 p.m. when the playoff started (for the final spots)."

Spirit of the Game

"I'd much rather watch golf than play it, first and foremost. If you said I could play Pinehurst or I could watch the British Open from start to finish, I would watch the British Open. I think the appreciation I have for the game now stems from knowing these players, and watching these players, and fully understanding what they're doing. Unless you've been in that situation, or you're able to understand it and comprehend the pressures of working for your paycheck each week, I don't know if you can have a true appreciation of the game. You can love it, you can be addicted to it, but I don't know if you appreciate how difficult it is and how you can go from the top of the mountain to flat on your face. To be around it, to play a practice round with some of these guys, I've been fully able to comprehend the game, the spirit of the game and what it's all about.

"I think it took a long time for me to fully appreciate what the game could mean to me because when you're young, you tend to do other sports, and so if I wasn't playing baseball or basketball or football, I would go play golf. Now it's the only thing that I do. My father didn't instill in me an appreciation for the game as much as how difficult the game was.

"I have four little ones under the age of 8, and I've had a hard time convincing my wife that, yes, it does take four hours to play a round of golf. But there are guys who've convinced their wives it takes seven hours."

— Dan Patrick