LINKS TO TIGER: TOUGH COURSES THAT KIDS ENJOY.

Byline: Bill Schlotter Daily News Staff Writer

You've got to be patient when you're on the golf course playing behind Niraj Lal.

Under 5-feet tall - way under - and dragging a pull-cart that weighs almost as much as he does, Lal moves slowly from 100-yard drive, to 75-yard iron, to 50-yard chip.

And when Lal is touring the course with a foursome of fellow 7-year-olds, play tends to drag just a bit.

Get used to it, Mr. Golfman-in-a-hurry with your electric cart, graphite driver and lunch appointment at noon. Lal and his little buddies in their swoosh hats, sneakers and ``I'm Tiger Woods'' T-shirts are the wave of the future.

Junior golf is expanding.

``Expanding?'' said Griffith Park Golf Course pro Jeff Barber. ``It's not expanding. It's booming.''

Though membership in the Southern California PGA Junior Golf Association is up by only a modest 100 members over the 1,500 of a year ago, many area pros say those figures don't accurately depict the surge in junior play over the past 12 months.

And many say responsibility for the big numbers can be laid at the feet of the amazing Mr. Eldrick ``Tiger'' Woods.

``When I was a kid, golf was a sissy sport,'' said Barber, 30. ``Now you've got a 20-year-old Masters champion and golf is pretty cool.''

Southern California has long been a stronghold of junior golf, according to Kevin Ostroske, director of the Southern California PGA Junior Golf Association.

``We will provide approximately 70 tournaments this year,'' Ostroske said. Top pros like Corey Pavin, Craig Stadler and Emilee Klein are alumni of the program.

Barber said the staff at Griffith Park will run about 125 kids through their lessons program this summer, a huge increase over years gone by.

The city's Department of Recreation and Parks plans to turn the park's long-abandoned Coolidge golf course into a golf academy to help meet increased demand for instruction.

While some see golf as an elitist sport requiring a substantial investment to play, those involved say that's not necessarily true for kids.

``When you start, you don't have to have the best,'' said Colleen Shearer of Northridge, whose 15-year-old daughter, Krystal, is one of the area's best junior players.

The Southern California PGA sponsors a program called Clubs for Kids that puts donated equipment in the hands of disadvantaged youngsters. Pros at most local clubs have further information.

For middle-class families, a lower line of new clubs runs about $100 at chain sporting-goods stores. Used ones cost even less.

With many courses allowing kids to play in sneakers, spiked shoes aren't a necessity. All that remains is the minimal expense of a few balls and tees, and a child is prepared to play.

Many courses offer reduced greens fees to juniors, particularly those registered in a recognized junior golf program.

The Ventura County Junior Golf Association charges kids a $40 membership fee, which buys each member a collared golf shirt, a set of soft-spike shoes and the right to play in VCJGA tournaments for $6 a tournament.

And according to Gary Norton of Ventura's Buenaventura Golf Course, even those fees might be waived for truly needy kids.

Similar programs are available in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

``The emphasis is on participation,'' Norton said. ``The idea is to get as many kids to participate as possible.''

That is the aim, too, of the LPGA's Urban Youth Program.

John Morrison, the program's director, said his job is to overcome the barriers that have traditionally kept disadvantaged city kids from playing the sport, namely the lack of equipment, instruction and the money to get on the courses.

The group seeks donations of equipment and funding that allow it to outfit the young golfers and put them on courses for minimal fees of from $1 to $5 per round.

The object of the program is moral as well as athletic, Morrison said.

``It's not just about putting the ball in the hole,'' said Morrison, who works with 13 different courses, including Griffith Park. ``At the center are the rules of the game. It's about honor and integrity and these are values these kids really pick up on.

``I've had kids come in here in white T-shirts and baggy pants and a year later you can't get them out of a polo shirt and slacks.''

Morrison said the pace of his job has become more frantic since Tiger-mania.

``Last year we had about 600 kids in the program,'' he said. ``This year we've got 700, and 250 on a waiting list.''

Krystal Shearer said she sees the mania, too.

``I've noticed a lot more 11-and-under kids starting to play,'' said the Alemany High School sophomore. ``Sometimes you'll be out on the driving range or the putting green and you'll hear them saying: `I'm Tiger Woods. This is for the 2001 Masters. Then they're going for the Open.

``Everybody does it. I even do it.''

And the numbers grow and grow.

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

PHOTO (1--color) Kosti Mylo, 10, left, and Nate Wiley, 9, wait to tee up at Griffith Park.

(2--color) Niraj Lal, 7, has been playing golf about seven months. Youth golf is booming.

(3--color) Many golf-course officials allow youngsters like Sam Wiley, 10, to play at a reduced cost.

Bob Halvorsen / Daily News