Nicklaus Warning: Livelier Ball Means Less Lively Future

Golf is enjoying unprecedented popularity, but Jack Nicklaus warns that growing technology in the development of the golf ball could mean trouble.

“I don’t think you can continue to destroy the wonderful golf courses we have in this country or have to do what you have to do to golf courses today to make them competitive,” he says.

“Golfers are good and equipment has made them better, but the length of the ball is what is causing most of the problems.”

Like hitting 220-yard shots with a five-iron.

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Trivia time: Jabari Jackson is the second junior college All-America running back to transfer to USC from City College of San Francisco. Who was the first?

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Hot stuff: How much has Darren Daulton meant to the Florida Marlins since he was obtained from the Philadelphia Phillies?

“He’s more than a spark, he’s a blowtorch,” third base coach Rich Donnelly said.

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All relative: Onlookers say former Steeler cornerback Rod Woodson has lost a step, but that doesn’t worry San Francisco 49er insiders in assessing their new defender. Said one coach: “He’s replacing Tyronne Drakeford, so 70% of Woodson is better than what we had.”

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Long wait: Phillie pitcher Matt Beech won his first game Aug. 8, 1996, but didn’t get his second victory until this Aug. 12--more than a year later.

“At this pace, I’ll be a 20-game winner in 18 years,” he said.

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Headline of the week: In the Boston Globe, over a story that Greece and Italy are front-runners to play host to the 2004 Olympic Games: A Greco-Roman tussle for IOC.

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Tough audience: After attending Germany’s first camel race, spectator Andreas Schneider wasn’t impressed.

“The camels are too slow,” he said. “Maybe they could liven up things between events with a few cockfights.”

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Life’s lesson: The late Harvey Penick, who taught the game to Ryder Cup captain Tom Kite and Ben Crenshaw, once wrote, “Like chess, golf is a game that is forever challenging but can never be conquered.”

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Difficult to believe: In 1996, San Francisco 49er receiver Jerry Rice had only 11 catches for 20 yards or more and, for the first time in his career, had none of 40 yards or more.

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Easy to understand: Bill Buckner says he knows why he was fired as hitting coach for the Chicago White Sox. “I didn’t get along with the manager [Terry Bevington],” Buckner said. “It was a personality thing.”

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Trivia answer: O.J. Simpson.

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And finally: Many batters, when they’re in the on-deck circle waiting to hit, put pine tar on the bat to make it easier to hold. Not John Wetteland, the Texas Ranger relief pitcher who batted when his club ran out of pinch-hitters and hit an RBI double to help beat the New York Yankees.

“I don’t like pine tar on my hands,” he said. “You end up throwing 30-foot curveballs.”