It began as a brief introduction of golf to St. Petersburg children who might never think of picking up a club. It is growing into a program that will enable the children to keep swinging those clubs for years at little or no cost.

Golf is, if nothing else, expensive. Clubs, balls, shoes, bags, greens fees. It all adds up. Sometimes the bottom line is exclusion, segments of society on the outside looking in (if they're looking at all), entry blocked by economics.

Golf also is hard to learn, hard to play. Ask Tiger Woods about the third round of the British Open. Imagine how intimidating the game can be to youngsters who don't grow up around the game, have never walked a course.

But nearly $50,000 from the U.S. Golf Association, PGA of America and the Tampa Bay Classic is helping to expand a junior program in St. Petersburg. It paves the way to tees and greens (not to mention sand traps) for Academy Prep students who otherwise wouldn't learn to play or get the chance to play often enough to improve.

"We're introducing the game of a lifetime, a game you can play all your life, to children that may normally not have that opportunity," said Jeff Hollis, who heads the program.

He also is the head pro at Mangrove Bay Golf Course and golf courses director for St. Petersburg.

"It's also a game that teaches wonderful life skills such as playing by the rules, honesty, fair play and discipline," Hollis said. "And when they're older, the kids have a game where you can do business while you're playing."

In a typical "starter" class of 16 students ages 6-8, half likely have never touched a golf club. Of those who make it into the ages 9- 12 classes, most will never treat golf as anything more than a game. Very few will make it a career.

Adam Stuck is one. He was 9 when he entered an earlier, more limited version of the junior program.

He is an alumnus of Northeast High, attended Lake City Community College to become a qualified golf course superintendent and for nine years was an assistant golf pro and then taught pro at Mangrove Bay. For 11 months Stuck, 28, has been head pro at Bardmoor Golf and Tennis Club.

During his time at Mangrove Bay, Stuck spent four years teaching the program he had been in.

"It's what kids need, someone in their life away from their parents, another positive role model to help them find a direction in life," he said. "I'm thankful for everybody I've been around away from my parents who helped guide me on a positive track. If that program hadn't been available to me when I was a kid, who knows if I'd have ended up taking golf as seriously as I did."

The new program comprises seven three-week sessions that run throughout the school year. At the end of each session, the par-3 Twin Brooks Golf Course is available twice a month at no charge to the students.

After completing the program, each youngster will have free access to Twin Brooks twice a month for the ensuing year. Beyond that, and until they turn 18, they can play for $2 a round.

The junior golf program has been around for about 20 years. About 900 to 1,000 children come through annually.

"But it wasn't much more than a quick introduction, a few hours," Hollis said. "Then we'd never see them again."

In 1998 Hollis approached Academy Prep, a privately funded school for disadvantaged girls and boys in grades five through eight, with the idea of creating a weeklong summer junior golf program. It, too, was a limited success. There still was no opportunity for children to come back and play, to put to use what they had learned.

A year ago, Hollis and Academy Prep applied to the USGA for a grant to create an expanded program for children, including equipment, instruction from pro golfers, the opportunity to play as part of their instruction and money for future greens fees to keep open that avenue to the course.

A $19,000 grant was approved, one of 83 nationwide worth a combined $1.2-million awarded by the USGA. An additional $11,800 check to pay professional instructors came from a PGA of America Growth of the Game grant.

The USGA also offered an additional $15,000 if the St. Petersburg program could come up with matching funds. It did, thanks to the Tampa Bay Classic (formerly the JCPenney Classic).

All proceeds from its scheduled Sept. 18-22 tournament at the Westin Innsbruck Resort in Palm Harbor go to designated charities, including the junior golf program. The tournament, canceled last year after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, will become the Chrysler Championship of Tampa Bay next year and move to late October.

Access to courses and discounts or waived fees to use the tools of the game is only a start, and at this point it is only for Academy Prep students, Hollis said.

"I hope the golf industry can make allowances for other kids in the same situation," he said, "and give them discounts at public courses to keep them playing."

- For information on the St. Petersburg-Academy Prep junior golf program, call the Twin Brooks Golf Course (727) 893-7445 the Mangrove Bay Golf Course (727) 893-7800.