THIS PROBE IS NOT PAR FOR COURSE

On a warm summer afternoon in 1985, Andrew Sarallo unleashed his tee shot on the ninth hole of the Country Lakes Golf Course in Naperville.

Sarallo, an Oakbrook Terrace Public Works Department employee, was playing in one of the last foursomes to tee off in a charity tournament sponsored by Robert Krilich, one of Oakbrook Terrace`s biggest developers.

The ninth wasn`t just another par 3 that day. Any golfer lucky enough to make a hole in one would win a 1930 Cadillac owned by Krilich that was worth about $40,000.

Sarallo`s ball bounded onto the green and into the cup for a hole in one. Or did it? That`s a question federal officials are asking as a suburban investigation takes an unusual turn.

In a quirky sidelight to a federal inquiry into developers` activities in Oakbrook Terrace, Niles and Lakemoor, investigators are trying to determine whether Sarallo actually sank that ace, according to sources familiar with the probe.

The sources said investigators want to know if there is a connection between the prize awarded by Krilich and Sarallo`s father, Oakbrook Terrace Mayor Richard Sarallo.

The U.S. attorney`s office recently subpoenaed thousands of pages of documents pertaining to zoning and bond issues in the three suburbs. Sources say Krilich`s business records were subpoenaed too.

Andrew Sarallo, 32, did not return repeated phone calls. Dennis Berkson, Krilich`s attorney, said his client would not comment.

”All I know is it happened,” said Richard Sarallo, who was at the tournament but did not witness his son`s winning shot. ”Did he rig it? I don`t know how he could.”

The elder Sarallo declined to say whether federal agents have questioned him about the tournament. He said there was nothing improper in his son`s acceptance of a large prize from Krilich, even though the developer had made frequent appearances before Oakbrook Terrace officials to seek approval for building permits and zoning. He said Krilich never received special treatment. ”I don`t owe Mr. Krilich nothing, and he don`t owe me nothing,” Sarallo said.

With little formal education, Krilich, 61, started as a carpenter on the South Side of Chicago and became a jet-setting developer who has owned a private plane, a yacht and homes in Florida and Colorado.

Oakbrook Terrace was to be the home of one of his most elaborate developments, dubbed Royce Renaissance Center. Krilich envisioned the construction of several soaring office and apartment towers in a development that would double the city`s modest population of 2,300.

Sarallo said that as early as 1972, Krilich had ”come in with a land planner along with 15 or 20 people and made their presentation,” but construction did not begin until 1988. Soon after the building started, however, the project became mired in controversy when Krilich`s employees tried to drain a fishing lake at the York Center Park District without approval.

Ultimately, only one office building and a condominium complex were built.

In 1984, Krilich staged a golf tournament to benefit the City of Hope National Medical Center in Los Angeles, attracting contracting and building executives from all over Chicago, according to two former employees of the developer`s. He offered his antique auto as a prize for any golfer making a hole in one.

”He had a vintage Cadillac,” said William Dolan, who worked for Krilich as an accountant from 1973 to 1985. ”He didn`t use it too much, and he just put it up.” The car was not awarded in 1984, but was offered the next year at the Naperville tournament, which also benefited City of Hope.

According to several people who participated in the 1985 tournament, hundreds played golf that day and later attended a cocktail party and awards dinner at the clubhouse.

On the course, attention focused on the ninth, which had been designated as the hole where a perfect shot would win the Cadillac. The odds were daunting-12,600 to 1, according to the National Hole in One Association in Dallas.

Most golfers trumpet a hole in one, reporting it to the national association or Golf Digest, which publishes an annual listing of holes in one. Sarallo appears to have been more modest. The National Hole in One Association has no record of the shot. Country Lakes employees said they keep no formal records of perfect shots made at the course.

According to Dolan, who played in the 1985 tournament, some of Krilich`s employees and their relatives were witnesses to Sarallo`s winning shot. Dolan said seven people signed affidavits affirming they had seen the shot. But he said he doesn`t know the whereabouts of the affidavits.

Dolan, who played in front of Sarallo`s foursome, said he had finished his round and was standing near the clubhouse when a golf cart bearing Sarallo and two Krilich employees pulled up.

”They were very excited,” Dolan said. ”The guy had just made a hole in one.”

Mayor Sarallo said he was playing another part of the course at the time and did not know the identities of his son`s playing partners or the witnesses stationed around the green.

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He characterized his son as ”a pretty good golfer” and pointed out that with hundreds of people attending the tournament, faking the shot was unlikely.

”If it was done with only four people, I certainly would have some questions,” he said.

Daniel Pappas, a former attorney for Krilich who finished his round of golf earlier in the day, also recalled that Krilich employees acted as spotters at the ninth hole. He said he did not see the Sarallo shot, but remembered hearing later that someone had won the car. Pappas said he never learned the identity of the lucky golfer.

”They didn`t publicize it,” he said. ”I don`t remember any big announcement at the dinner that night.”

Mayor Sarallo said no effort was made to conceal the award. ”There was nothing private about it,” he said. ”There were many people at that dinner.”

Sarallo said that at the dinner that night, his son learned that he had the option of accepting the car or $40,000 in cash.

He said his son initially accepted the car, but returned it because it needed extensive repairs.

”He ended up taking the money,” Sarallo said. ”He (Andrew) paid the taxes (on the winnings), and that was the extent of it.”