ONE-MAN SHOW

Ives Hill Country Club teaching professional Peter Beames looks behind the times.

He comes to the course dressed in a long-sleeved, button-up shirt, with ironed gray pants and a traditional golf cap. He tees off with his wooden driver he pulled from his canvas bag.

But the ideas the 61-year-old brings to the Watertown area are far from dated. He focuses most of his teaching efforts on women and children.

"There's not a lot of teachers out there that want to work with juniors and want to work with women," said Hunter Horton, Ives Hill director of golf operations. "I think that it's an avenue that isn't approached on a daily basis."

Beames, who was named by Golf Magazine as one of the top 47 teachers of the 20th century, worked with Gary Player to develop the revolutionary walk-through swing that Player used to win the 1974 British Open and Masters. The two partnered to produce a best-selling video and book, "Walk Thru to Par," explaining the concept.

After spending the last 10 years at the Thousand Islands Club, he was ready to take on a new challenge at Ives Hill.

"There comes a time in your life when you grow up and get into other things," he said. "The thing I like most about the club is that they are really starting to promote women's golf."

Beames, who was raised in England, usually charges $125 for an hour lesson, but hosts free weekly clinics for women Wednesday nights and discounted ones for junior golfers Saturday mornings.

"I think, like a lot of other people, I was a bit of a chauvinist," Beams said. "As you get older you realize what you are leaving."

He is also hoping to release his latest book, "Golf Balls Break Glass Ceilings," within the next year to further the advancement of women.

"It's all about the fact women need to play more golf to get on the same footing as corporate men," Beames said.

He doesn't care about the skill level and simply wants to share his love of the game with others.

"The game doesn't change. It doesn't change from the top on down," he said. "It doesn't matter who it is, they're just human beings."

Beames especially enjoys working with the junior players. He teamed with friend and clothing designer John Ashworth to give shirts and golf clubs to the Jefferson County Children's Home. He also held a free clinic for the home earlier this month.

On top of that, he worked with the local high schools during the spring golf season to prepare for matches and tournaments.

"I think it's just great to have him here for the junior program," Horton said. "We've got a lot of great junior golfers. He worked with all those kids and never asked for a cent from them.

"I think he's blown away with the talent we have in the Watertown area."

Beames enjoys the challenge of working with young children and figuring out how to make them passionate about the game.

"You don't know what's going to touch anybody," he said while telling one of his favorite stories. "We had a whole bunch of kids here and one was a little bit morose. At the end, we had a putting contest and he won. He came into the pro shop and I gave him a prize. He looked at it and went out with his face beaming.

"In life it only takes being successful at something once to give you that positive attitude."

His most popular tool is offering his golf caps to any kid that beats him on a game around the green. If he wins, he gets to have the kid's hat.

You can see the hats he's collected displayed on the wall in the pro shop. Beames doesn't lose.

"It's fascinating to see him come in the attire he wears and with his wooden clubs and go out and shoot 73, 74, 75, if not better," Horton said. "It makes a lot of the other people that show up with today's clubs say, 'Wow, if he can do it with woods from 1940, why can't I do it?'

"That makes them want to learn from him, which is good for everybody."

He will remain with Ives Hill for the rest of this golf season. Horton plans to bring him back in the coming summers as long as Beames is willing, which he seems to be.

"I love being here," he said. "The most important thing is kids. I love ribbing them that they can't beat an old man."

BASEBALL

LEGION TOURNAMENT SCHEDULED

The Watertown Baseball Umpires Association is holding its annual Tom Donihee Memorial American Legion Tournament on Aug. 9 and 10 at Indian River Central School.

Teams from Lowville, Sackets Harbor, Norwood, Ogdensburg, Oneonta, Ottawa, Oneida and Montreal will participate on dual fields beginning at 10 a.m. on Aug. 9.

Donihee was a longtime member of the association as well as a football and basketball referee. Umpires will volunteer their services to make more funds available for scholarships awarded in the name of Sasha Cohen, a student-athlete and graduate of Indian River who lost his life in military service.

For more information, contact Dale DeLong (376-6720).

SOFTBALL

CAN-AM TOURNEY KICKS OFF TODAY

The third annual Can-Am Softball Shootout will boast 53 teams competing in four different age brackets today through Sunday at various north country sites.

The fast-pitch tournament includes numerous area teams, as well as clubs from Buffalo, Rochester, Ottawa, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. Players from ages 12 and under to 18 make up the four divisions. Tournament co-director Mike Lennox, who shares the duties with his wife, Lisa, said approximately 139 games are scheduled for three days.

"It's a competitive tournament," Lennox said. "The concept we wanted everyone to see, particularly those (tourists) in the Thousand Islands who travel down to this area, was to see these teams play."

The games will be held at North Elementary School in Watertown, the Alex T. Duffy Fairgrounds, Adams Center, Brownville, Cape Vincent, Chaumont and Cape Vincent. Round-robin play begins today with matchups at 6 and 7:45 p.m., and continues Saturday at 8 a.m. The championship round is single elimination and is slated for Sunday.

For more information, check out the tournament Web site at www.leaguelineup.com/canamshootout.