Deck The New halls

The roof was leaking and the money was lacking. The turnstiles never turned very quickly at golf’s Hall of Fame.

Located for 20 years off the beaten path in the golf mecca of Pinehurst, N.C., it wasn’t even the prime attraction. Fans didn’t make a pilgrimage to Pinehurst to see Nicklaus, Hogan and Jones. They went there to play golf.

So, golf did what any weekend players would do when their first shot strays into the woods: It took a mulligan.

The second shot is a keeper.

The World Golf Hall of Fame, the centerpiece of the $350 million World Golf Village, opens Monday when Nick Faldo and Johnny Miller are inducted. The 71 other members, whose shrine has been nothing more than boxes in storage the past four years, will also be ushered into their new home.

“This is long overdue,” said Karen Bednarski, director of the World Golf Hall of Fame. “We’ve got Cooperstown and Canton (Ohio). Now, we have the World Golf Village.”

Miller, whose 22 victories worldwide in the 1970s included the U.S. Open and the British Open, was elected in 1996. Faldo, a three-time winner of the Masters and the British Open, was elected on the international ballot in 1997.

Also voted in was Seve Ballesteros of Spain, who has deferred his induction until next year because of prior commitments.

“It’s just fantastic that golf has gotten big enough for things like this to happen,” said 86-year-old Byron Nelson, who was among the 13 hall of famers inducted at Pinehurst when it opened in 1974.

“I think it will help the younger players. If someone has the ambition of being a great player, a place like this will encourage him.”

That’s what former PGA commissioner Deane Beman had in mind a decade ago when, aware of the shape of the Pinehurst hall, he suggested a separate shrine for the PGA Tour near its headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach.

Beman also invited former LPGA commissioner Charlie Mechem to come along, the first domino to fall in what would become the World Golf Village.

It wound up near St. Augustine, the oldest city in America that is now home to a monument honoring one of the oldest sports in the world.

The village is about 30 minutes south of Jacksonville off Interstate 95, where pine trees lining the corridor finally yield a glimpse of a 190-foot spire and a sprawling complex that covers 6,300 acres. It also has a golf course that will be the permanent site of a Senior PGA Tour event; a PGA Tour-sanctioned golf academy; and a hotel and convention center.

Still under construction are stores, restaurants, vacation villas and condominiums. Another golf course is being designed by Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.

And linking it all together is the Walk of Champions, a circular, brick path that includes the signature of every hall of famer--except Willie Anderson and Young Tom Morris--on a granite slab.

“It’s great for golf. We needed this,” said two-time U.S. Open champion Ernie Els. “All the other sports have a hall of fame, but I think this is going to be the most spectacular. With a golf course, a hall of fame and museum, everything is right there.”

More importantly, everybody is involved.

What makes this truly a World Golf Hall of Fame is that every major golf organization has come on board, from the Royal & Ancient Golf Club in St. Andrews to Augusta National to the PGA of America, which ran the old hall in Pinehurst.

“St. Andrews is still the home of golf,” said Michael Bonallack, secretary of the Royal & Ancient. “However, these days, especially in Florida, second homes are pretty important, too. And I know that golfers coming here from all over the world will appreciate the second home, which will help preserve history and the records of the game.”

The Hall of Fame blends traditions with technology in an 18-exhibit, hands-on walk through time.

The first nine exhibits, devoted to the history of golf, includes a replica of the Swilcan Burn Bridge at St. Andrews that was made of stone from a quarry in Scotland. Gutta percha balls and wood-shafted putters are not just on display; you can actually use them on an 1880-styled green.

The back nine honors the modern game--how a tournament is televised, what a caddie keeps in a bag, even a computer analysis that allows visitors to compare their swing with the pros.

“It will never be finished,” said Ruffin Beckwith, executive director of the village. “When we open, it’s just the beginning. A lot of these exhibits are going to change, some from minute to minute.”

Between each nine exhibits is “The Sanctuary,” a shrine to the greatest in the game.

Unlike the bronze busts at Cooperstown and Canton, golf hall of famers are commemorated with crystal cones containing their image. A computer monitor displays facts, sounds and pictures of each member’s career.

There are also artifacts from their personal lives -- Sam Snead’s lunch box, the harmonica of Babe Zaharias and the bell that Pat Bradley’s mother used to ring whenever she won a tournament.

At the top of the spire, 73 prisms dangle from the ceiling of a room that offers a spectacular view of the village--and the golf course.

The Slammer and the Squire was designed by Bobby Weed, who was consulted by two legends for whom it was named--Snead and Gene Sarazen.

If each exhibit makes visitors long to grab a club, the view from the top really whets the appetite.

“I don’t know of many halls of fame where you can walk out the front door and go play the sport you just learned about,” Beckwith said.

If the green fee is too steep ($90 to $135, depending on the season, including carts), there is an 18-hole putting course just outside the Hall of Fame, as well as a challenge hole--modeled after the island-green 17th on the Stadium Course.

“In everything we’ve done, we realized our challenge was to take the history of golf and treat it with respect,” Beckwith said. “But at the same time, we wanted an experience that utilizes technology and that is fun.”