June 24, 1999

LIBRARY / GOLF SITES

Virtual Golf, Without the Caddies or Carts

By VERNE G. KOPYTOFF

Of all sports, golf has a reputation for being among the most averse to change. While tennis and basketball players compete with fluorescent clothes and shaved heads, many professional golfers wear the long pants and polo shirts that have been worn since before the turn of the century. As if to emphasize the conservatism, Payne Stewart won the United States Open this month wearing navy blue plus fours.



Allsport
Overview

• Virtual Golf, Without the Caddies or Carts

This Week's Site Reviews

• globalgolfguide.com

• lpga.com

• pgatour.com

• worldgolf.com


But golf has not been so reluctant to throw tradition aside and expand onto the Web. The sport is flourishing there, with hundreds of sites that focus on the best courses, firsthand accounts of holes in one and what to look for in equipment.

Among the sites that generate particular interest are those devoted to topics like the Open, the Masters, the Professional Golfers' Association Championship and the British Open.

On-line magazines, fans sites and sports television sites chronicled each round; the P.G.A. site provided updates every few minutes.

Reading about the competitors may inspire some weekend players.

Dozens of sites offer tips on driving (go for the middle of the green), putting (keep in balance) and practice (do it as much as possible).

But people who are looking for information about equipment and resorts may have a harder time finding it on the Web. There are ample articles about golf courses and new equipment, but they are often so positive that they might as well have been written by a publicity agent.

As George Plimpton once observed about sports writing, the smaller the ball, the better the prose. Though little on the Web approaches the quality of the golf writing found elsewhere, there is plenty on line to keep the enthusiast glued to the computer screen -- at least until the game starts on television.


Here are more sources of golf-related information and entertainment.

UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION: www.usga.com
Features one of the most complete rule books on the Web.

BAD GOLF MONTHLY: www.badgolfmonthly.com
A comforting destination for golfers with a big handicap.

GOLF ONLINE: www.golfonline.com
Offers a comprehensive selection of playing tips, tournament reports and travel articles.

TIGER WOODS OFFICIAL GOLF WEBSITE: www.tigerwoods.com
A fan site for those who believe that Mr. Woods should win every tournament.

MR. GOLF ETIQUETTE: www.mrgolf.com
Includes a primer on how to behave on the course.

CADDYSHACK AND HAPPY GILMORE ARCHIVE: www.bushwood.net
Features pictures, trivia and sound clips from ""Caddyshack,"" perhaps one of the most popular golfing films ever.

AMATEUR GOLF ADVISOR: www.tagagolf.com
Gives tips on a number of topics, including driving and what to look for when buying clubs.

TRIVIA GOLF COUNTRY CLUB: www.triviagolf.com
Tests of knowledge.




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