THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 14, 1996 TAG: 9607140192
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: 82 lines
Golf used to be so simple. Sheep were sheep, goose droppings were goose droppings. Today, they constitute ambiance.
Man played the game with the same trepidation the Soviets had when launching their first satellites. They could get it air-borne, but had absolutely no idea where or when it would come down.
The more obsessed players eventually did the sensible thing and took lessons from trained professionals. You drove to a club, you paid your money, you improved, or you took up jogging.
Then the VCR was invented. It remains to be seen whether the game can survive.
Now, a lesson is as close as the nearest video store. What once cost $10, $15, maybe even 20 bucks, now costs $3. You can watch it 24 hours a day for three days and not even pay a late penalty.
A recent trip to Suncoast Video showed that there were 181 videos devoted to playing better golf. All the big names - Palmer, Nicklaus, Venturi, Trevino, Kite, Lopez, Carner, Snead and Alcott have them. Nicklaus and Palmer have an entire series named for them.
The cynic in me - or maybe it's the realist - makes it impossible to believe that I could do anything in Nicklaus-like fashion, except life's most fundamental functions.
But I don't have to, thanks to the ``Bob'' series of instructional tapes.
There's Bob Jones, Bob Anderson, Bob Mann, Bob Rosburg and Bob Toski. They teach you how to hit it well. Another Bob, Wadkins, has a video on trouble shots, or what to do when you hit it badly.
Those who can't handle a glut of Bob could use the ``Ben'' series. There's only two instructors; someone named Ben Sutton and a Ben with a pretty good history at the Masters, Crenshaw.
Devout Catholic players can view Dale Douglass' video on rhythm.
Fat guys can see how Orville Moody, Craig Stadler and Miller Barber get it around their ever-expanding waistlines.
People who can't remember last names can rent the how-to video made by the self-proclaimed Johnny ``O.'' I don't make 'em up.
No Michelob Championship winner, not even when it was known as the Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic, has ever made a how-to video that appears on the Suncoast list. Ninety-nine percent of those who have instruction videos on the market have never played here. Tom Purtzer could end both of those streaks with a hot round today.
There are videos on how to break 90 in 21 days. Those, apparently, are milestone numbers. Not only did Judy Rankin do one by that title, so did one of the Bobs, Rosburg.
There's a video on the full swing, the short swing and the refined swing. There is no video on Duce's Swing.
You can watch ``keys'' or ``priceless tips'' or ``shots and strategies.'' Or you can get the whole thing done in one cassette with ``The Complete Lesson,'' by the proprietor of Sam Snead's Tavern in Hot Springs.
Wally Armstrong has a video. Or maybe it was Neil Armstrong. I get them confused.
All of these cursed videos has forced a drastic change of strategy among the clubs and their instructional force, including Kingsmill.
They recently completed a national search for a teaching method they could bring back for their members and other interested parties. They settled, or rather, embraced, Peter Croker's ``Natural Golf'' method.
That's not to be confused with Canadian Moe Norman's ``Natural Method,'' which some people think is far-fetched. But both have been featured in national publications within the last year or two.
I wouldn't insult Croker by attempting to detail his theories. But he showed me a tape in which he approached Arnold Palmer on a practice range in Austin, Texas, to offer instruction. Palmer did everything he could to dismiss Croker. But 15 minutes later, he, J.C. Snead and Tom Wargo were paying rapt attention to Croker's hypotheses. When the conversation was through, Palmer promised Croker he'd have a staffer get in touch with him.
The Kingsmill pros went to Croker's school in Hilton Head. Even the extremely cynical came away impressed.
``I was not interested in changing my philosophy when I went down there,'' assistant pro Veronica Karaman said. ``But I have to admit I became sold. I don't think any one method is the ultimate cure-all. But Peter's come up with a systematic way to develop a swing, and for people to finally get an understanding of why.''
I've known Karaman for a long time. I trust her, though by doing so I may be setting myself up for a drastic lifestyle change.
See, I want to play better golf, much better golf. But what do I do with my favorite videos - ``Making Triple Bogey: The Magnificent Seven,'' ``Three Men and A Bogey'' and ``Just Missed - Dammit'' and the sequel ``Missed Again - $%&*((NU)!'' by CNB