The U.S. Kids Golf championships are almost here, and tournament organizers are actively seeking volunteers.

Last year, the U.S. Kids Golf Teen and Kids World Champion-ships attracted 1,800 players from more than 36 countries.

This year, U.S. Kids Golf will host six different events in the area, including the teen championship for youths ages 13 to 18, the kids championship for those ages 6-12, a Ryder Cup-style World Cup for kids and teens, and new regional and world parent-child tournaments.

The tournaments will be played on 12 courses this year.

Peter Stilwell, director of business development and events for Pinehurst Resort, anticipated that between 600 and 700 volunteers would be needed.

"We need as many as we can get, obviously," he said.

U.S. Kids has developed an online registration program for volunteers, making it a lot easier to sign up, Stilwell said. Paper applications are still available for those who do not have computer access.

Richard Lawson has served as the volunteer chairman for the tournaments since they came to Pinehurst five years ago. Volunteers are responsible for a variety of tasks, including player registration, scoring, pace of play, on-course shuttling and supply - making sure there is adequate water for the players on the course.

"We just help the tournaments run smoothly," Lawson said.

He added that volunteer registration has been slow so far, with between 250 and 300 signing up.

"We could still use a lot more," he added.

The kids' world championship will feature about 1,300 kids, while the teen world championship will have about 500 participants.

Stilwell anticipates a total of about 5,000 people will come to the village for the tournament. Last year, the events generated an estimated $5 million in revenue. Each course has a volunteer captain who oversees operations.

This year's opening ceremony will be held at the Pinehurst Harness Track and have a county fair theme.

"That will be a little different approach than what we did in the past," Stilwell said. "We're not going to do the parade this year."

Stilwell said the majority of the other social events will follow what has been done in the past.

The dates for the events are as follows:

n U.S. Kids Golf Regional Parent Child, June 25-27

n U.S. Kids Golf Teen World Championship, July 29-31

n U.S. Kids Golf Teen World Cup, August 1

n U.S. Kids Golf World Parent Child, August 2

n U.S. Kids Golf World Championship, August 5-7

n U.S. Kids Golf World Cup, August 8

"It is such a great opportunity to me to see the kids from all over the world get to meet each other," Lawson said, "I think it's a fantastic event, and I thoroughly enjoy watching the kids from China, Japan, Germany, France, Mexico and all of them interacting."

Contact John Krahnert III by e-mail at jkrahnert@thepilot. com.