It Takes Golfer 7 Years to Play This Round

In 1979, James Wysocki, 47, a New Orleans attorney, began playing the list of the top 100 golf courses as rated by Golf magazine.

Thursday, he finished the task, shooting a final round of 88 at Yale in New Haven, Conn.

During his journey, Wysocki played on courses in 14 countries, ranging from one in Dublin, Ireland, to another in Dublin, Ohio.

Wysocki estimated that he logged 300,000 miles to complete the list.

Wysocki said his job as a maritime lawyer allowed him to play most courses by only taking short side trips. He said he didn’t decide to play all 100 until after he had played several of them while on business trips.

And how did his wife put up with all this?

“It’s very simple,” he said. “My wife adores her father, and her father loves golf like I do, so I took them both along with me.”

Former Stanford football Coach Jack Christiansen, who died last Sunday at the age of 57, was known, among other things, for his sense of humor.

As the 1976 Stanford season neared its end and Christiansen was about to be fired, he was told that the handwriting was on the wall.

“I’d say so,” he is said to have replied. “Big enough for a USC lineman to read.”

New York Yankees third base coach Don Zimmer was fired by the Chicago Cubs on the same day Jim Frey was fired as the team’s manager. Recalled Zimmer: “When I got home, my wife says: ‘Jimmy just got fired.’ I said: ‘It’s a quinella . We both got fired. Start packing.’ ”

Mel Hall, Cleveland Indians outfielder, on poverty in his family when he was growing up: “We spelled poor with only one ‘o’ because we ate the other one.”

Quotebook

Martina Navratilova, on her tennis critics: “If I believed all the critics, I would have quit playing tennis a long time ago. At the same time, if I believed all the praise, I wouldn’t be talking to you. I’d be too good.”