They Were Ahead on First Tee Because They Still Had Green

The Stonecreek golf course in Paradise Valley, Ariz., recently let golfers play 18 holes for whatever amount they thought the round was worth. Despite temperatures in the 100s, 138 golfers showed up.

Greens fees paid ranged from nothing to $40. One golfer said he thought it was worth $25, but because it was his 50th birthday he decided to play free as a birthday present to himself.

Add golf fees: An average round in the United States costs $29.83, cart included, according to Runzheimer International of Rochester, N.Y. It’s only $7.06 in Czechoslovakia and $7.20 in Iran, but in Japan a round costs $150.26, on the average.

Trivia time: There are 49 pitchers in baseball’s Hall of Fame, more than any other position. What is the second-highest honored position in Cooperstown?

Basketball footnote: Ever wonder how someone coming out of college, as is the case with basketball player Alonzo Mourning, can afford to sit out for a year instead of signing a $1-million or better pro contract? According to the Orlando Sentinel, the former Georgetown star has a five-year, $16-million endorsement contract with Nike that supposedly will be paid even if he doesn’t play this season.

Hometown boy: Manager Rene Lachemann will be right at home when he brings the Florida Marlins in to play the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium next season. His father, William, 92, was head chef at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles for many years.

“As kids we all worked in the hotel--squeezing orange juice, making up salads, stuff like that,” Marcel Lachemann, Rene’s brother and former Angel pitching coach, told Gordon Edes of the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel.

Different viewpoint: Pat Leahy, former New York Jet kicker, disputes the adage that the legs are the first thing to go for an athlete.

“It’s the hair,” he said.

Different signal: How loud is it in New Orleans’ Super Dome?

Jesse Spolu, the San Francisco 49ers’ center, had this to say: “I couldn’t hear (quarterback) Steve Young at the line of scrimmage. I snapped the ball when he goosed me.”

Workaholic: Two years ago today, linesman Wayne Bonney worked a rare NHL doubleheader. Bonney officiated Chicago’s afternoon game at Philadelphia, then flew to Boston to work the Sabre-Bruin game that night in place of Gerard Gauthier, who skipped the game because of an injury.

Fast family: Scott Grissom, who drove a Nissan to his first national championship in the Sports Car Club of America’s Valvoline Runoffs, is the son of the late astronaut Gus Grissom.

Moving around: Notre Dame’s Lou Holtz is one of three coaches who have taken four schools to bowl games. He had bowl teams at William & Mary, North Carolina State and Arkansas before joining the Fighting Irish, missing only at Minnesota. The others are Earle Bruce, who coached bowl teams at Tampa, Iowa State, Ohio State and Colorado State, and Bill Mallory at Miami of Ohio, Colorado, Northern Illinois and Indiana.

Rich tastes: Among the items listed by Moses Malone’s estranged wife, Alfreda, as child support for her two sons, Moses II, 12, and Michael, 8, are $6,000 worth of Christmas presents. According to Doug Williams of the San Diego Union-Tribune, she said they were accustomed to a certain lifestyle.

Trivia answer: Right field, with 20.

Name of the game: When the $100,000 Merrill Lynch Shoot-Out among PGA players turned into a chipping contest, who do you think was the winner? Chip Beck, naturally.

Quotebook: Pittsburgh Pirate pitcher Bob Walk, on the frustrations of playing golf: “I tell myself that Jack Nicklaus probably has a lousy curveball.”