HOT CORNER

A consumer’s guide to the best and worst of sports media and merchandise. Ground rules: If it can be read, heard, observed, viewed, dialed or downloaded, it’s in play here. One exception: No products will be endorsed.

What: “My Greatest Shot.”

Authors: Ron Cherney and Michael Arkush.

Publisher: HarperResource.

Price: $19.95.

Golfers love to talk about or, in this case, write about their greatest shots. Ron Cherney, a San Fernando dentist and golf memorabilia collector, discovered just how much.

In the summer of 1999, Cherney sent letters to more than 200 golfers, asking them about their greatest shots. Originally, his idea was to establish a personal collection.

To his amazement, the responses poured in, starting with, appropriately enough, Tom Watson, who described his chip-in on the 17th hole at Pebble Beach in the 1982 U.S. Open. The responses came in many forms -- handwritten notes, typed letters, faxes and e-mails.

A chance meeting -- on a golf course, of course -- with Michael Arkush, a former associate editor of Golf World magazine and the author of five books, led to the creation of this 208-page book. It includes the unaltered responses from 80 of the biggest names in golf, people such as Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson. Accompanying the responses are brief interviews and career highlights.

The book includes great shots of all kinds. For example, Dave Stockton describes the 243-yard approach shot he hit on the 18th hole at Riviera to within 12 feet of the pin in the final round of the 1974 Glen Campbell L.A. Open. It led to a two-shot victory over Sam Snead.

Donna Caponi’s greatest shot was the five-foot putt she made to win the 1969 Women’s U.S. Open. She had read the putt breaking left to right. Then she heard television commentator Byron Nelson telling the viewing audience it would break right to left. But Caponi trusted her instincts and made the putt.

-- Larry Stewart