The $260 greens fees are the fees paid if the golf team plays on a public course. This rarely happens during the regular season, however, the playoffs are on public courses. The team will play on the course to acclimate themselves to the course. For the record, $260 pays for two rounds of golf for the golf team at Bethpage's prestigious Black course. I found this information by asking "Why are there fees paid?" of the golf coach, Mr. Collyer.

In the case of providing equipment to a needy player, based upon my 31 years as a coach, no one has ever been denied the chance to participate because they cannot afford equipment. If a golfer came along who wanted to try out for the team, then equipment would be provided in the form of renting equipment, asking for a donation from the Booster Club or by purchasing equipment. If the player made the team, then he would return any borrowed equipment to the school for use by future participants after the season is over. This is what most teams do with uniforms, football padding, helmets, bats, sticks and all the other things needed to run a successful athletic program.

Mr. Collyer actively coaches the 12 member golf team for about a 10-week season not including possible playoffs and with matches and practice time the total seasonal time is about 150 hours. In addition, Mr. Collyer would attend coaches meetings, must take a CPR course every year and there is paperwork involved so let us conservatively add on another 20 hours of work to the 150 hours for a total of 170 hours that Mr. Collyer devotes to the golf team. Divide his compensation of $5,166 by the 170 hours and you get $30.38 an hour. Let us put this in perspective and compare this with what people charge in Manhasset for various services. A local garage gets $85 an hour to fix a car, a local attorney charges $250 per hour and the going rate for a tutor is about $100 an hour. How much did you pay an electrician or plumber the last time they did some work for you? This is the real way to determine how much it really costs to have a highly trained professional working with our students. All in all I think Manhasset residents get a pretty good deal with the coaching staff.

Robert J. Rule