THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 29, 1996 TAG: 9606280052
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Maddry
LENGTH: 72 lines
I DIDN'T ASK Jeff MacNelly if he intends to play golf when he arrives in Virginia Beach to accept the Virginian of the Year Award from the Virginia Press Association tonight. He plays only once a year.
The three-time Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist from Flint Hill, Va., will be speaking to the summer meeting of the association tonight at the Cavalier Hotel.
Despite MacNelly's success - his popular cartoon strips ``Shoe'' and ``Pluggers'' appear in 1,000 newspapers, and his biting editorial cartoons are published around the world - he had no idea why he was selected as Virginian of the Year.
Or why a publisher would want him to write a book about golf.
``I really don't know why they are making me Virginian of the Year,'' he said. ``I think they just wanted me to speak free. My wife said the other choices would have been Ollie North or Gordon Liddy.''
Although MacNelly plays only once a year, he is, nevertheless, the author of a hot-selling book on the subject: ``A Golf Handbook. . . All I Ever Learned I forgot by the Third Fairway,'' published by Triumph Books, with a foreword by Dave Barry.
You know it's a serious book when Barry does the foreword. Barry advises: ``Let Jeff MacNelly turn you into a better golfer, or at least a different one. And then get out there on the links and show what you can do. . . Jeff and I will be waiting in the bar.''
When we talked by phone, the cartoonist said Barry's foreword might plant the impression he drinks and golfs. Not true, he said.
``On those occasions when I feel I must drink and enjoy a round of golf, I use designated golfers and watch it all on television in the safety of my room,'' he said.
Naturally, the book is loaded with MacNelly's incomparable cartoons.
Equipment is everything or nothing, depending on your point of view, Jeff says. And in his book he offers advice on every aspect of the game while tracing the development of golfing equipment.
On the bag: ``The golf bag has evolved from the simple canvas quiver to today's massive chrome and leather contraptions that look like body bags designed by Harley Davidson.''
On shoes: ``Somewhere between Scotland and the New World they put a bunch of metal spikes on the old clunky pair of brogans and started selling them as sports equipment. They do a great job of gripping the turf well enough prevent the rotation of the earth from throwing off your putting, but I use mine mostly to get around after one of our ice storms.''
Although a lot of people don't know it, MacNelly's uncle is Ken Fox of California - the author of the golfing book ``Putting in the Zone.''
MacNelly, who plays the game in shirt and jeans, wearing sneakers or combat boots, has been helped by his uncle.
``I always play golf while smoking a cigar,'' MacNelly said. ``This pleases none and annoys some of my golf companions. But I find it helps with the wind direction. Uncle Ken sent me a cigar tee. It's a cradle-shaped gizmo that fits over a regular golf tee. Now smoke doesn't get in my eyes when I tee off. It has taken some getting used to. I find that the better I can see the worse my game gets.''
A lousy golfer himself, MacNelly speaks to the lousy golfer in words he can understand. For instance, in a section devoted to ``trees'' his approach is direct. ``Rather than trying to shoot over or around the tree, aim right for it,'' he advises. ``The truly lousy golfer will always miss it by a foot or two.''
The book is pretty sure to hit the Christmas tree of lousy golfers and good ones this Christmas. By then Jeff will have made so much money with it he can follow the advice Sam Snead once gave to a frustrated hacker who asked what he should do about his game.
``I'd lay off it for a few weeks,'' Sam advised. After a long pause, he added: ``Then I'd give it up altogether.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo of book cover, "A Golf Handbook" by CNB