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Point of View

"Fondness for golf? But, of course"
By Don Freeman

Now, as Tom Cushman has written in this newspaper, they have invented an extraordinary golf club – it is a driver designed to preclude the dire possibility of hitting a slice.

Never, with this magically constructed club, will the ball take a detour to the starboard. That's progress for you. Where was this boon to humankind when I needed it?

Years have passed since I last struck a golf ball in anger. But my fondness for golf has never wavered. As a collegian, I was assigned to write golf for the Dial Northwestern. Seeking wise counsel in how to do this, I wrote to Herb Graffis, editor of Golf magazine. Graffis wrote back: "Remember one thing – golf is played between the ears."

As the sportswriters say, golf writes well. I like writing about golf. I like reading about golf. I like the beauty of a golf course. I like the atmosphere of a golf tournament. I like strolling down the fairway. I even like to watch golf on the tube. I also like the notion that golf is a sport where, by the rules, you call a penalty on yourself.

"Golf is a game of honor," Ann Liguori was saying the other day. Liguori, who plays to a 16 handicap, brings her special touch to "Golf 2000 with Peter Jacobsen," a syndicated, multisegment series seen Sunday afternoons at 3:30 on KFMB/Channel 8. She also hosts her own series, "Sports Innerviews with Ann Liguori," now in its 10th year, making it the longest-running sports show with a woman at the helm.

In New York, on WFAN, she hosts a sports call-in broadcast called "Hey, Liguori, What's the Story?" She has written a book titled "A Passion for Golf, Celebrity Musings About the Game." That is one of her specialties, interviewing celebrities on the golf course. And she does her job with style.

The ultimate challenge

"A golf course is a tranquil place for interviews," Liguori says. "But as beautiful as the setting is, golf is still the ultimate challenge when you're staring down at a stationary ball. In golf you're really playing against yourself. The celebrities are successful in their careers, but they are, so many of them, humbled by golf, which is a metaphor for life."

It's par for "Titanic" singer Celine Dion if she's booked in a concert that is close to the links.

Recently she interviewed the singer Celine Dion, who scored a major hit with "My Heart Will Go On," the Oscar-winning song from "Titanic." Liguori says that the singer is clearly obsessed by golf. She chooses to perform at golf resorts where her afternoons may be spent on the links, Tee times are not problem in Montreal, where her husband has bought for her the prefect present – a golf course.

"Celine Dion is planning a world tour that's centered entirely on golf," Liguori says. "She will go nowhere to sing unless there's a golf course handy."

Liguori recalls her interview with Sylvester Stallone: "Sly has learned about golf's frustrations. Here's what he told me, 'I thought marriage is tough – that's just a walk in the park. Golf is like going over Niagara Falls in a barrel.'"

Alice cooper, the rock star known as a pretty fair golfer, is listed among her any golf-course celebrity interviews, along with Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre and the "Peanuts" cartoonist Charles Schulz and such actors as Samuel L. Jackson, Joe Pesci, Leslie Nielsen, and Kevin Sorbo, who plays the title role in the syndicated "Hercules" series.

Captain of the team

And there was Dan Quayle, the former vice president, possessor of a 5 handicap and onetime captain of the golf team at DePauw3 University in Greencastle, Ind.

"Quayle demonstrated a very light touch in our interview," Liguori says. "He was very tongue-in-check. He said that Republicans don't play golf nearly as well as Democrats. He said, 'Look at Bill Clinton – he's out playing golf at least once a week. I think that's a minimum standard for all presidents.'"

"I asked Quayle: 'If you played Clinton, who would win? What's his handicap?' And Dan Quayle just grinned and said, 'Lord only knows.'"

Don Freeman's critic-at-large column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached by e-mail at don.freeman@uniontrib.com