Now, Putting for a 29 on This Hole . . .

One complaint of people who watch golf on television is that the pros are playing a different game. “I’d like to see them hit some of the shots I have to play,” they say.

Well, they’ll get their wish. A national golf magazine is sponsoring a tournament to determine the “worst golfer in the world.” The magazine will choose two finalists from more than 500 nominations, and will stage a championship 18-hole match June 19 at Sawgrass. Among the nominees:

--Michael Bush, Belle Chasse, La.: “In an amateur tournament, failed to drive as far as the ladies’ tee on 14 of 18 holes.”

--Jerry Ryan, Bohemia, N.Y.: “Claims a working handicap of 76.”

--The Rev. David Willoghby, Meridian, Miss.: “Has played in the Preachers’ Golf Assn. championship twice a year for six years and has failed to come in last only once.”

--Nick Telezyn, Terre Haute, Ind.: “Once shot 100 over par without losing a ball.”

--Ray Walker, Lake City, Fla.: “On the 17th at Sawgrass, a par-three with an island green, he emptied his bag of balls, emptied the bags of the three men he was playing with and emptied a shag bag. He put 327 consecutive balls in the water and was hitting his 655th shot when he gave up and took an X.”

The last team to win back-to-back NCAA titles was called the Walton Gang. In the 1972-73 final against Gene Bartow’s Memphis State Tigers, Bill Walton hit 21 of 22 shots and scored 44 points to lead UCLA to an 87-66 victory.

Other regulars included Jamaal Wilkes and Larry Farmer at forwards and Greg Lee, Tommy Curtis and Larry Hollyfield at guards.

The win climaxed a second-straight 30-0 season, and when John Wooden was asked if it was his best team, the UCLA coach, who usually dodged such questions, said: “Yes, I’d have to say this one is.”

Note: UCLA wasn’t the only team to be unbeaten that season. North Carolina State was 27-0, but it was barred from postseason play because of violations in the recruitment of David Thompson. The next year, led by Thompson, 7-4 Tom Burleson and 5-6 Monte Towe, N.C. State beat UCLA, 80-77, in double overtime in the NCAA semifinals.

St. John’s Coach Lou Carnesecca, on Georgetown: “I never saw a team with so many different defenses that they perform so well. Bobby Knight’s Indiana teams pick you up at the top of the key. UCLA’s great teams gave you fullcourt pressure. John Thompson gives you six or seven defenses, and they all complement each other.”

New York native Ed Pinckney of Villanova grew up in the Bronx but played in all the boroughs to give him a well-rounded game.

“Brooklyn is the flamboyancy of Dwayne (Pearl) Washington,” he said. “Manhattan is the combination of power and finesse of Walter Berry. Queens is finesse, and the Bronx is the combination of them all.”

Quotebook

St. John’s center Bill Wennington, maintaining that the Redmen can play with the best: “Unfortunately, we did.”