And he saves on greens fees:Writer Alex...

And he saves on greens fees:

Writer Alex Shoumatoff, who terms his specialty “investigative golf,” prowled the links of West L.A. to write “The Golf Verdict on O.J.” for the August issue of Golf Digest.

Simpson was an avid golfer before his jailing, carrying a handicap of 12.4, meaning he shot in the mid-80s. One player told Shoumatoff that Simpson’s handicap has actually improved since then, though the ex-football star obviously hasn’t been playing any golf while behind bars.

“Members playing at other clubs,” Shoumatoff explained, have been “submitting scores for O.J. that were being entered on the computer,” causing Simpson’s handicap to fall to an 8.

One friend quipped to Shoumatoff that “when he [O.J.] gets out, it’ll be zero.”

Reminds us of that inspiring golf movie, “The Birdie Man of Alcatraz.”

CALIFORNIA, HERE I STOP: Ah, the indomitable Santa Monica Freeway. Partially closed for nearly three months after the Northridge quake, it still finished in a tie for the honor of busiest freeway in the state in 1994.

An average of 328,000 vehicles crawled past a Caltrans checkpoint near the 10’s Normandie Avenue off-ramp last year. A Caltrans meter near Seal Beach Boulevard caught the same number struggling along the 405.

The state’s Top 10 Busiest (freeway, county, daily average total):

1--Santa Monica (10), L.A., 328,000

1--San Diego (405), Orange, 328,000

3--Ventura (101), L.A., 325,000

4--San Diego (405), L.A., 308,000

5--Santa Ana (5), Orange, 301,000

6--Santa Ana (5), L.A., 291,000

7--Pomona (60), L.A., 287,000

8--MacArthur (580), Alameda, 286,000

9--Lick (101), San Francisco, 285,000

10--Harbor (110), L.A. (282,000)

Eat your heart out, Century Freeway.

miscelLAny “Waterworld” opens with Mariner (Kevin Costner) urinating, then drinking water filtered from the stuff. Peeing scenes have become a trend in the movies. (Who says the magic has gone out of Hollywood?) “Rob Roy,” “Wolf,” “Serial Mom” and “Natural Born Killers” also show characters relieving themselves or marking their territory. Where did we learn this? In August’s Glamour magazine, of all places.