The Meadow Brook Club golf course, site of the Lightpath Long Island Classic for the 13th straight year, has always been considered a good challenge for the Senior professionals. This year, because of the hot, drought-like conditions on Long Island, the course has also been a formidable challenge to the club's superintendent, John Carlone.

"There's a really good saying in our business, and it says that God can grow grass up until July 4," said Carlone, who's worked at Meadow Brook Club for the past three years. "In the month of July and August it takes a professionally trained golf course superintendent to provide the conditions. That's never been more true than this year."

"I've been in this business 18 years, and I've never experienced a year that has been this difficult with heat, humidity and lack of rainfall for this long a stretch," he continued. "Since June 2, we've had 90 degree temperatures, very little rainfall and very high humidity."

Fortunately, with irrigation and treatment, the course's fairways are healthy and the greens are living up to their name. The fringe grass and rough, however, are a dry brown contrast. The golfers, explained Carlone, will understand. "If I were watering enough to keep every single spot perfectly green, the fairways would be like mush," he said. "You don't want that. That's not how a golf course should play."

Weather is about the only element out of the superintendent's control. Last Monday, July 26, Carlone was ensuring that the course was in tip-top shape for a Senior PGA Tour inspection on Tuesday. There was last-minute resodding, tree-trimming and weed-clearing to do, and the grass will continue to be mowed several times a day until the tournament concludes - all to make sure this serene, 268.5-acre course is at its pinnacle of beauty.

After all, the tranquil, well-manicured environment is one of the most alluring attractions to the seniors who faithfully return to the Meadow Brook every August. It has gained a reputation for being one of the finest courses on the tour.

Tournament Director Jack Russell once said, "One of the reasons our field is quite strong is that players love this golf course. Our trick is luring someone to play the course, and once they play on it, they come back."

Carlone believes that the pros love the size and the seclusion. "It's like a walk in the country," he said. "Even during the tournament, with thousands of spectators, you can find a quiet spot to yourself." Conversely, some senior tournaments take place on cramped courses belonging to resorts or housing developments, allowing for the intrusion of buildings and civilization to taint the otherwise natural surroundings. The only building visible on the Meadow Brook's course is the clubhouse.

Carlone said that many pros return because they like the design and challenge of the course. The par-72 layout, which plays over 6,800 yards, is a prototypical Dick Wilson design.

Wilson designed the course shortly after the Meadow Brook Club was forced to move from its original property.

The Meadow Brook Club was once located where the Roosevelt Field Mall stands today. When Robert Moses modernized Long Island's network of parkways in the 1950s, the country club unfortunately stood directly in the unstoppable path of the future Meadowbrook Parkway.

The country club moved to Jericho in 1953, and Wilson built its new golf course, which opened by 1955. Joe Lee, an apprentice of Wilson, was later asked to make several changes in the likeness of the original.

"This is a very good example of a Dick Wilson-designed golf course," said Carlone. "He had a special style - very big greens, big bunkers, lots of doglegs." That combination of elements is exactly what makes the course so challenging.

"The number one challenge at this golf course is the big greens. Just hitting the green is not a bargain here," said Carlone. "Many golf courses that you play, you hit the green in regulation, you're very happy, and you're pretty much guaranteed a par if you're a professional player. At this golf course, the greens are so big that you can hit the green and have a 90-foot putt, which is not a gimme by any sense of the word."

Therefore, at the Meadow Brook many pros really try to pinpoint their iron shot , instead of just aiming near the pin. Otherwise, they may underestimate their shot, land too far from the hole, and wind up with a dreaded three-putt.

The course can also be tricky because it has an unusual number of doglegs. Out of the 18 holes, 13 are legitimate doglegs. Eleven of them are dogleg left. "So probably this golf course should favor an individual who can draw the ball from right to left with some accuracy," Carlone concluded.

Obviously, when someone elects to cut the corner on a dogleg, there is a risk of hitting the trees, but those who play it too safe will find that this course can play long.

Another aspect golfers quickly notice about the course is the dramatic change of environment going from the front nine to the back nine. "This particular golf course has almost two golf courses in one," explained Carlone. The front nine of the tournament is more of a parks design, with trees lining just about every fairway. The back nine, stated Carlone, is "reminiscent of a links design...where it's very open, there's less trees and more native grass areas."

The Metropolitan Golf Association recently rated the Meadow Brook number 22 overall in a field somewhere between 400 and 500 area golf courses. Beginning Monday, the fans and pros will rediscover why.

Carlone recalled the words of Senior Pro Hubert Green, when the tournament director asked him if he was playing in the Lightpath this year. Green said, "That course in bad shape is better than most of the courses we play in good shape."

"It just shows you how much they want to come here," said Carlone.

And by the way, Carlone added, the Meadow Brook is never in bad shape.