No Dogwoods, but Pine Valley Sinks Augusta

What is the best golf course in the United States?

According to Golf Digest’s most recent top-100 ranking, it’s Pine Valley Golf Club in New Jersey.

Pine Valley edged out Augusta National Golf Club, in Augusta, Ga., site of this week’s Masters. Also ranked in the top five: Cypress Point Club and Pebble Beach Golf Links, both in Pebble Beach, and Shinnecock Hills in Southampton, N.Y.

Votes are cast by a nationwide panel of more than 570 golfers.

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Add 100: Seventeen of the top 100 are open to the public, up from 15 last year.

The highest green fees among public courses are at Pebble Beach, which charges $275 for golfers who aren’t guests at the resort.

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Least expensive: The 100th-ranked Black Course at Bethpage State Park in Bethpage, New York, at $20-$25.

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Trivia time: Who holds the major league record for most wins in a career by a Latin-born pitcher?

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Valuable meeting: In the 1993 football season, USC Coach John Robinson and his then-offensive coordinator, Don Lindsey, were frustrated by the indifferent practice effort of senior safety Jason Sehorn.

The two coaches called Sehorn in for a long meeting in Robinson’s office, which Sehorn later described as “two on one.”

They told him that if he didn’t shape up he’d be benched and might not be picked in the NFL draft.

Sehorn shaped up and was drafted by the New York Giants.

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Update: He had three sacks and five interceptions last season and is negotiating for a long-term Giant deal. He will make at least $750,000 next season.

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For what it’s worth: The Chicago Bulls are 150-24 since Michael Jordan returned to the NBA in March 1995.

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Full-court press: Some Fresno State basketball fans are unhappy over the Fresno Bee’s coverage of charges of point-shaving in the school’s basketball program.

Thirteen fans have banded together and are calling themselves the “Fresno Citizens for Responsible Journalism.”

The group asks in radio ads that Bee subscribers put the paper on “Vacation Hold” from April 7-11.

And how many will actually do so?

“Hundreds, easily,” said group founder Jerry Duncan.

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Top threesome: The Atlanta Journal’s Len Pasquarelli predicts the NFL’s first draft pick, by the New York Jets, will come from this group: defensive tackle Darrell Russell of USC, cornerback Shawn Springs of Ohio State or defensive end Peter Boulware of Florida State.

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Trivia answer: Juan Marichal, with 243. (Dennis Martinez of Seattle, who had 240 going into his first start today, may soon catch him.)

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And finally: The Chicago Tribune’s Sam Smith, on the Chicago Bulls’ recent White House visit:

“Dennis Rodman dressed more like the president than the first lady.”