Golf Course Would Be Out of This World

Now here’s a news item that is really far out. GolfWorld magazine reports that officials at Scotland’s Earlston Golf Club recently purchased land on the moon to build a new club course someday.

Club secretary Brian Hunter told the BBC that the purchase of the land through an Internet company called Moon Estates for about 110 pounds was a little tongue in cheese, er, cheek. But the club already has a scorecard.

The Earlston Club’s Moon Course will open with a 978-yard par three, and will include back-to-back par fives that together measure more than 6,000 yards.

“You say we will never play there,” Hunter told the BBC. “Well, never is a long time. You just don’t know.”

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Trivia time: What is the NCAA Division I basketball record for points scored by a losing team?

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Sweet guy: In a TV commercial for Minute Maid, Bob Knight’s infamous temper isn’t evident after taking a few swallows of orange juice.

Knight, posing as a coach, puts his arm around a referee and bends to tie a player’s shoes to keep him from tripping. And he doesn’t throw a chair.

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No argument: Lyle Spencer of the Riverside Press-Enterprise in an interview with Stanford’s basketball twins, Jarron and Jason Collins, who stand 6 feet 11 and 7 feet, respectively:

“People call Tim Duncan and David Robinson the Twin Towers,” Jarron said. “I enjoy watching those guys play. You can call us whatever you want, but if you’re talking about the real twin towers, it has to be us, right?”

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West is best: Steve Aschburner in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: “Milwaukee Coach George Karl predicts that 45-50 victories will win the Central Division.

“Funny, but 45 victories might not even qualify a team for the playoffs in the Western Conference.”

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His destiny: Charles Barkley, 38, inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame last weekend, said a political career is on hold.

“I’m not going to consider running for governor until I’m 45,” he said. “I am very serious. I think my job in life is to help kids. I was sent here not just to be rich and famous. I’m supposed to make a difference in the world.”

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Writer’s cramp: Scott Ostler in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Jeff Van Gundy called Pat Riley ‘the best coach in team sports history.’ Van Gundy has already mailed engraved apologies to John Wooden, Red Auerbach, Vince Lombardi, Casey Stengel, Don Shula, Bill Walsh . . .”

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More Ostler: “I just hope Frank Thomas doesn’t object to my referring to him, from here on out, as ‘the Big Hangnail.’ ”

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Clip and save: Buffalo Bill Coach Gregg Williams, on the decision to cut quarterback Doug Flutie and keep Rob Johnson: “There is no more controversy. The locker room is unified.”

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Trivia answer: 150, by U.S. International in losing to Loyola Marymount, 181, on Jan. 31, 1989.

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And finally: Australian golf sensation Aaron Baddeley eats energy bars as a staple of his diet. They’re made of corella, a type of alga. He insists they taste great.

“They don’t look good,” he admitted, but added, “Never let your eyes be your palate.”