In ‘Combat Golf,’ Should the Player Shoot to Kill?

Capt. Bruce Warren Ollstein, a former military intelligence officer, has written “Combat Golf,” which is described as a manual adapting the tactical approach of war to the normally sedate game of golf.

Among other things, the book tells how to use combat reconnaissance techniques to reduce error on the course, and how to think like a soldier while playing a round. You know, bunker mentality.

Ollstein is described as an expert on rules. He can, for example, recite an obscure ruling on what to do if your golf ball is embedded in a rotten orange.

I’ve often wondered what to do about that.

Trivia time: What UCLA quarterback replaced injured Gary Beban and led the the Bruins to a 14-7 upset of USC in 1966?

Warning! Cary Middlecoff, former U.S. Open and Masters champion, on Tiger Woods in Golf Digest:

“He is going to hurt himself physically. He can play, but the way he swings, he is going to tear his back up. A bad back put me out of business. He jerks his hip and everything so quick right at contact.”

Name game: Playboy magazine’s “All-Name” college basketball team for 1996:

Bebop Walker, Arkansas State; Fido Willybiro, Lehigh; God Shammgod, Providence; Scientific Mapp, Florida A&M; Alico Dunk, East Carolina; Ya-Ya Dia, Georgetown; Devionnaire Deas, Florida State; Ricardo Crumble, DePaul; Ansu Sesay, Mississippi, and Damyeon Fishback, Auburn.

True grit: Bruce Keidan in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Alonzo Highsmith’s technical knockout victory over Mark Gastineau in a recent bout in Tokyo:

“ ‘Gastineau didn’t even know how to quit,’ ” an eyewitness reports. “ ‘He finally sat down. You’ve heard of guys taking a knee? He took a buttock.’ ”

Quarterback option: Tom FitzGerald in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Another thought on Steve Young’s engagement: When he proposed to Aimee Baglietto, he probably didn’t have to say anything at all. Just drop to one knee and let the clock run out.”

One guess: In the movie “Space Jam,” Michael Jordan teams with Bugs Bunny and the “Looney Tunes” characters to face a team of space aliens.

When Daffy Duck suggests naming their basketball team the Ducks, Bugs Bunny responds: “What kind of a Mickey Mouse organization would name a team the Ducks?”

Looking back: On this day in 1966, top-ranked Notre Dame settled for a 10-10 tie with No. 2 Michigan State, prompting Times columnist Jim Murray to write: “Tie one for the Gipper.”

Trivia answer: Norm Dow.

And finally: The Sun Bowl would like to pair Northwestern and California on Dec. 31, promoting the game as the “Brain Bowl.”

Comment from Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Sun-Times: “Like anyone with a brain would choose to spend New Year’s Eve in El Paso.”