It’s a Better Prize Than a Dozen Balls

There are closest-to-the-hole contests, and then there is the closest-to-the-hole contest that will be held Oct. 9 on the 145-yard eighth hole at the Bob ‘O Link golf course in Lawrenceburg, Ky.

The winner will win it all--18 holes, swimming pool, kitchen, pro shop. Everything. Amateurs and pros have until Sept. 1 to submit an entry for $2,000 apiece that will earn them a chance to win the 6,430-yard, par-71 course owned by Jack Ridge. The winner also has an option of taking $1 million in cash.

The competition is limited to the first 3,000 entries, which would be worth $6 million to Ridge. The minimum number is 850, which would bring in $1.7 million.

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Trivia time: How many managers have managed their sons in the major leagues?

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Hungry for the ball: For basketball fans with an appetite for offense, it did not get any better than Dec. 13, 1983, when the Detroit Pistons defeated the Denver Nuggets, 186-184, in triple overtime, the highest-scoring game in NBA history.

Kiki Vandeweghe led the Nuggets with 51 points.

“Everybody was worn out,” Vandeweghe told Sport magazine. “I just went home that night and crawled into bed. I didn’t have anything to eat.”

Detroit’s Kelly Tripucka, on the other hand, couldn’t wait to chow down after scoring 35 points in the 3-hour 11-minute game.

“It was strange, but eating was what I thought about most during the game,” Tripucka said. “I was wondering if there was going to be any place open when we were done.”

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Cleared for takeoff: Basketball players aren’t the only athletes who find their minds wandering during competition. Ask Bob Samuelson of the U.S. men’s volleyball team, which had an 18-38 record last season.

“I don’t think, in the middle of a game, we should be worrying about getting a bulkhead seat on the flight home,” Samuelson told Volleyball magazine. “Unfortunately, that was the situation in a lot of our matches.”

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Wheels of fortune: If you failed to qualify to drive in today’s Daytona 500, but still have the urge to put the pedal to the metal, you might want to play a new board game called “Super Speedway Strategies.”

The game is endorsed by none other than the the King himself, seven-time Daytona winner Richard Petty. The player who completes the most laps wins the race. The player who earns the most dollars wins the game.

Actually, they’re not dollars. It’s Petty Cash.

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Where’s the valet? Michael Jordan knows he will have to make some adjustments in his swing if he hopes to make the Chicago White Sox. On Saturday, Jordan discovered he will have to make some changes in his parking habits, as well.

Jordan watched a home run by Glenn DiSarcina sail over his head in right field, then peered through the fence to make sure the ball did not hit his red Corvette.

Jordan could use some horsepower in his swing. He has yet to hit a ball over the fence since his practice sessions began Tuesday.

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Trivia answer: Five. Connie-Earle Mack (Athletics); Yogi-Dale Berra (Astros); Cal Ripken Sr. and Jr. (Orioles); Hal-Brian McRae (Royals) and Felipe-Moises Alou (Expos).

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Quotebook: Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer, on guard Danny Ainge of the Phoenix Suns, who once played for the Toronto Blue Jays: “No matter how long he played, he could never have hit a fastball to the left of the first base coach.”