No-Playing Directive Is Sure to Tee Them Off

The Associated Press reports that in a bid to improve police efficiency, Thailand’s national police chief has ordered senior officers handling law enforcement duties nationwide to quit playing golf, even when off-duty.

Such an instruction was justified “because police who are assigned to police stations should be ready for unexpected incidents that may happen at any time,” the order said. It also said that officers who cannot obey the order should ask their commanders to transfer them from police duty to other tasks.

Comment: Look for an inordinate number of transfer requests.

*

Trivia time: What is the NFL record for most points by both teams in a game?

*

Easy game: Earl Woods, 69, father of Tiger Woods, says in the November edition of Golf Digest that he started playing golf at 42, adding that the best score he ever shot was a 63 at the Navy course in Cypress.

His health has restricted him from playing in recent years, but he plans to play again. “Once you’ve been a low handicapper and you’ve controlled the ball and know where it’s going, you’re not satisfied with 95. I’ve never shot 100 in my life.”

How about 102? Just kidding Earl, just kidding.

*

Party pooper: Tennis player Mark Philippoussis said he is ready to quit partying and concentrate on his game after missing six months because of a knee injury: “Since the surgery, I have done everything in my power to change myself as a person and my lifestyle. As soon as I had my surgery, I moved out of Miami. I thought that’s the No. 1 thing I had to do.”

*

Fickle franchise: Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star, commenting on the enigmatic Colts: “One week they will inspire you to make reservations for a week on Bourbon Street. The next week, they’ll just send you to the liquor cabinet for a belt of Old Grand Dad.

“Don’t try to figure them out. Just go for the ride.”

*

Please, take them: Comedy writer Argus Hamilton to the San Francisco Chronicle: “Last week, a fan accidentally left two Cowboy tickets sitting on his dashboard in plain view. Somebody broke into the car and left two more.”

*

Looking back: On this day in 1936, USC and Washington State played to a scoreless tie at the Coliseum.

It was the same result the next year in Pullman, Wash. A notation in the USC media guide said the game was played in the fog.

Who knows? One of the teams might have scored.

*

Trivia answer: 113; Washington, 72; New York Giants, 41, on Nov. 27, 1966.

*

And finally: Gary Sanford, general manager of the Moose Run Golf Course near Anchorage, Alaska, told the Chicago Tribune that bull moose celebrate the mating season by charging onto the greens.

“Sometimes they run right over the flag, and other times they stop eight to 10 feet from the pin and just slide,” Sanford said. “Not sure why they do that.”

Comment from Tom FitzGerald of the San Francisco Chronicle: “Maybe they were just trying to avoid the tag.”

*

Quotebook: Terry Bradshaw, on becoming the 2,185th celebrity to have a star planted on Hollywood Blvd.: “My mom and dad always said I’d wind up on a sidewalk.”