Suddenly, Old Place Is a Refresher Course

Do you fancy a cup of tea with your round of golf? St. Andrews in Scotland is breaking with its storied tradition and has introduced a food and beverage cart on the Old Course on a trial basis.

The food and drink will be served from an extended golf cart behind the 11th tee. St. Andrews, which traces its golfing history to the 1400s, allows no motorized carts and limits pull carts.

There is precedent for drinks on the links at St. Andrews. In the 1860s, a ginger beer cart was wheeled around the fourth hole, allegedly with a bottle of gin stowed for those playing poorly.

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Trivia time: Who won the first Cy Young Award--given for both leagues--in 1956?

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Proper punishment: Mary Queen of Scots was an avid golfer who traveled with a corps of cadets and had one of them carry her bag.

Somewhere along the way, says Jerry Greene of the Orlando Sentinel, that person started being called a “caddie.” Greene added this postscript about Mary: “She eventually was beheaded for grounding her club in a sand trap.”

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Crude winner: Many pro athletes play chess these days, according to Sports Illustrated, but they don’t all observe the game’s formal customs. Cincinnati Red pitcher Pete Harnisch for example, doesn’t respect his opponent’s fallen pieces.

“When he captures your pieces, he puts them in his nose,” says Joe Ausanio, a former big league reliever who’s now a member of the United States Chess Federation.

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No Terre Haute cuisine: Bob Knight, the new Texas Tech basketball coach, commenting on life in Lubbock:

“I’ve been there 33 or 34 days and I’ve never been in traffic congestion. You really appreciate stuff like that. We’ve got a lot of places to eat too. We’ve got about 400 Mexican restaurants in town. That’s pretty good.”

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Criminal convenience: Comedy writer Alan Ray told the San Francisco Chronicle that the NFL’s decision to realign its divisions “was necessary from a logistical standpoint. This will allow teams to play closer to their probation officers.”

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Pros in name only: Dale Robertson of the Houston Chronicle, on the NFL’s new divisions: “Truthfully, the Cardinals belong in the Pac-10 and the Bengals in Conference USA, but those choices weren’t made available to them.”

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State of Oregon: From the Caught on the Fly column in the Sporting News: “Flamin’ hot off the big press, Fly’s already picked a fave for Heisman ‘01: Beaver RB Ken Simonton. What’s it going to take for the West Coast little guy to come away with the stiff-armin’ statue? ‘It would take me playing like my hair’s on fire,’ Ken tells the Spies. Burn, baby, burn.”

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Trivia answer: Brooklyn Dodger pitcher Don Newcombe.

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And finally: Bernie Lincicome in the Rocky Mountain News: “I see by the ambulances lined up there in Turn 2 of the Old Brickyard, it is time once again for the Indianapolis 500, an American institution, as is, I might add, Forest Lawn.

“It’s too late to do anything about the place. The world’s most famous motorsports track has been around long enough to have been proclaimed a national historical site, like the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and anyone who suggests the race is not worthy angers the living and dishonors the dead.”