From the Course Blog

April 27, 2006 By Joe Wojciechowski PGA TOUR staff

ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- Crash Davis (or Tin Cup, if you prefer) is here. So is The Great One and Mrs. Great One. Cheech, J. Peterman, John Elway and Catherine Bell are here too. It's the BMW Charity Pro-Am at The Cliffs and it's a star-studded event on the Nationwide Tour.

With Kevin Costner, Wayne Gretzky, Cheech Marin, John O'Hurley, Dhani Jones and an assorted cast of stars and athletes, this celeb field is one of the best on any tour. For the next few days, we'll follow some of the stars around as they brave the elements and The Cliffs.

Check back for regular updates, starting with Kevin Costner, but checking in on others playing The Cliffs at Walnut Grove.

3:20 p.m. ET -- So what did we learn today following Kevin Costner and Dhani Jones?

We learned that no matter how elusive Tiki Barber may be, Dhani Jones says "hitting that little white ball is harder."

We learned that if today is a small sample, Kevin Costner must have signed his name about a ka-jillion times over the course of his career and has smiled nearly as often for pictures with random strangers.

We learned that we wouldn't want to do that.

We learned that Dhani Jones, known for his intelligence, style and charm, lived up to every word of his bio. Makes us almost want to root for the University of Michigan and the Philadelphia Eagles. Almost.

We learned that Kevin Costner has some game. It took awhile for him to get warmed up -- it took awhile for everyone to shake off the morning cold -- but once he did, he started firing darts at pins. And it wasn't just one style of shot. He was, as the pros say, shaping shots. A draw here. A little fade there.

We learned Dhani Jones doesn't have the game of Costner, but he plays the game right.

We learned we're real curious about Kevin Costner's unnamed band. Actors singing isn't always a good thing (see Jim Belushi, Don Johnson, John Goodman, Bruce Willis and Eddie Murphy).

We learned we can't wait for Friday to follow a group that includes John O'Hurley (we loved J. Peterman), John Elway and Catherine Bell.

2:25 p.m. ET -- Hey ... he is human. Faced with a putt for net double eagle, Jones got a little case of the yips and missed the 8-footer left and had to settle for net eagle to pull his team to even par.

One other random note on something you would only see here. The tee markers for where the celebs hit are little BMWs of all different models. Very cool.

2 p.m. ET -- OK, this is getting ridiculous. Forget the fact he four-putted No. 16, what's impressive is he putted out when he could have picked up earlier. The guy does nothing wrong. He's done everything but help old ladies across the cart path.

1:52 p.m. ET -- A little more about our Philadelphia Eagles friend ... He's just about what you picture an NFL linebacker to look like. He's 6-foot-3, legs the size of a golfbag, shoulders the width of a postage stamp green, biceps as thick as the trees surrounding the 16th hole.

Add in that he just stuck the green on the 199-yard par 3 and the fact he's polite and nice to everyone and you see the guy is just impossible to be around.

1:36 p.m. ET -- Found Dhani Jones. Hard to miss him as he's the one in white pants with red and blue stripes (and he pulls the look off), riding in a cart (don't tell anyone) and has little kids with Michigan sweatshirts following the former Wolverine.

Like any good hacker, he hit his drive right next to the cart path. Of course, he followed that with a shot that most hackers can't hit by muscling it out of the rough just short of the green.

12:56 p.m. ET -- Um, about that earlier part about not hesitating to press ... we'd be in trouble. It seems Costner has some game, that Tin Cup wasn't all him swinging and trick photography. He's played the last few holes like Roy McAvoy -- the one who stuck approach shots, not the one who hit five balls in the water. His team, after a very slow start, is 1 under at the turn.

But for now, we're going to leave Costner's group and search for Dhani Jones to see if NFL linebackers can play golf.

12:33 p.m. ET -- Costner seems to be warming up as the day goes on. His irons are crisper and he's even putting better. A quick word on his putting style -- he uses a crosshand grip and never takes a practice stroke. He just reads it and hits it.

And just to prove it's warming up -- or to show he's a man's man -- Costner finally stopped putting with his golf glove on and is also no longer wearing his scarf.

12:20 p.m. ET -- From the "who knew" department -- the reason Kevin Costner keeps coming back to The Cliffs is, well, he feels connected to the area. It seems Costner’s ancestors are from the Carolinas and he loves the area. Despite having grown up in the inner city in Compton, Calif., he loves hunting and fishing so he'll come here, hunt a little, fish a little and play a little golf.

And an added activity -- he'll play a little music. Costner and the first band he was ever in recently got back together and will play a show Saturday night. Costner sings, plays guitar and piano and "we play it loud" he says. Costner's unnamed band plays both original rock and popular music.

12:08 p.m. ET -- We were this close to a birdie. Well, Kevin Costner was until he missed a 4-footer. Still he never got upset or if he did, it didn't show.

After watching Costner for six holes now, he is just like any other hacker except for the detail. He has a really cool Scotty Cameron bag. But really, he could be a guy on your health club hoops team or a part of your weekend foursome. Yes, he's obviously athletic (he's bigger than you expect ... about 6-1) but while he's good and has that Fred Couples cool walk that very few can pull off, you wouldn’t hesitate to press your bets with him.

11:15 a.m. ET -- Think its easy being Kevin Costner? This is what you have to deal with -- after escaping to the restroom, he's walking back to the tee when a woman walks up and asks him to sign a course guide. That's the harmless part. She then began to detail how she wanted to bring in a bra from him to sign but they wouldn't let her.

11 a.m. ET -- Waiting for the tee box to open up makes for some interesting small talk when Kevin Costner is in the group. Let's see ... They asked about Waterworld which was followed by a pause for awkward silence. There were discussions about his stunts in The Guardian. Strangely no one asked about Tin Cup or Bull Durham or any of his good movies.

Maybe the small talk worked. Costner, with pretty much the swing you saw in Tin Cup (three-quarter back swing and the Arnie follow through) laced on down the middle. The crowd was so stunned Costner’s caddie had to remind them to clap.

10:54 a.m. ET -- Whoo hoo, the sun came out. It teased everyone on the second hole for a second, but now it is out for good. This prompts Costner to tell the crowd "I'm going to play better, I swear to god. I'm going to warm up soon." He takes the jacket off but it still doesn't help. He's yet to make par on his own and so he just keeps giving the balls away. "Maybe that's the trick. Maybe I'll run out of balls and have to go home."

The crowd doesn't care and if it's bothering Costner, it doesn't show. He signs autographs on everything from DVD cases to flags to balls to a baby picture (really) that gets a laugh from Costner "I feel like I'm running for office."

10:40 a.m. ET -- Not sure if this means anything but there are 51 people following Costner which is the exact temperature when he teed off (not including wind chill).

But back to golf, things don't get much better on the second hole, a par 3 where he finds the sand and has a hard time getting out. Not a good start for Tin Cup.

10:30 a.m. ET -- First of all, this is hardly the first impression you expect to get of Kevin Costner on a golf course.The man is bundled up in long sleeves with a jacket zipped up to his neck and a cap pulled low. Can't blame him though. It's cold. Not Waterworld review cold, but this is Pebble Beach weather.

But one benefit of being the Am in the Pro-Am is you don't have to play from the tips. Costner gets the next tee box up but it doesn't help. He pushes it right in the wet rough and needs 3 to get on the green before three-putting.

Maybe he just wasn't warmed up.