Fore!

Plenty of people say that the best way to take a quick nap is to put some televised golf on as background noise. Before they know it, they are in dreamland.

So what does that make radio golf?

We put that to the test the other day while driving home from a vacation stop. The PGA championship was played on Sunday. Since it was a major title, I had some interest in the finish even though there weren't many big names in the hunt. And since I was driving, it was my call as to what came up on the radio. So I turned to the PGA's channel on XM for the finish. My wife started yawning immediately.

I can almost understand the attraction of radio golf Thursday through Sunday. There's a tournament to discuss, unlike the other days of the week. By the sounds of it, spectators at a particular event can buy radios that allow them to listen through headphones while watching the tournament. It's a great way to keep up without sprinting around the course.

Still, it's difficult to convey golf's appeals to a radio audience that uses it for little but soothing background music. You can't even see the green grass and the nice flowers. And play-by-play is really odd.

The channel had an on-course reporter describe the playoff between Martin Kaymer and Bubba Watson. When Watson hit a good drive to start the action, the announcer went through the shot moment by moment and then added, "Take that, Martin Kaymer!" Nothing like talking smack on a golf course.

My wife wasn't too thrilled with listening to a three-hole playoff, but she did get to hear the Mets/Phillies game right after the PGA title was decided.

And I did buy her some coffee ice cream the next day. So all is forgiven.