WASHINGTON, June 29, 2008
Don't Look Down On Miniature Golf
Bob Schieffer Says The Sport Of Tiny Fairways Has Fared Well
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(CBS/The Early Show)
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Play CBS Video Video A Look Back At Miniature Golf When Bob Schieffer first started at CBS he covered a miniature golf game much to his mother's dismay. Looking back, Schieffer says he may have been on to something.
Back in the '60s when I came to work at CBS News, I got the kind of assignments the new guy usually gets: A tea party at the White House, the birth of tiger cubs at the National Zoo.
Once I was even assigned to cover a miniature golf tournament which brought forth this memorable sign off:
"Bob Schieffer, CBS News at the National Putt Putt Championship in Rockville, Maryland."
My mother was so enraged she called me and said, "I didn't send you to Washington to cover miniature golf. You tell those people to assign you to some real news."
I told her better assignments would come in time (and they did), but maybe covering miniature golf was more prestigious than I thought …
Because today in a two-page spread, the travel section of the Washington Post recommends Myrtle Beach, South Carolina as a vacation destination because … it offers the best miniature golf in America!
It boasts 40 or 50 courses that feature jungle themes, a volcano that erupts in propane-fueled anger, and of course the popular putting through the windmill blades.
The Post spread even includes a little map on how to get there, and reports operators are so serious about it, they hold professional tournaments which draw contestants from as far away as Europe.
They hope to make it an Olympic sport one day.
I'm not so sure about that, and my Mother is long since gone, but somehow I hope she knows that things not only worked out well for me but for miniature golf as well.
(Truth is, I always liked miniature golf.)
E-mail Face the Nation.
By Bob Schieffer
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Add a Comment
- Hi Bob,
I never miss your show. 30 mins of the best TV has to offer. And the final comments are the best ! ! ! - Reply to this comment
- I bet I could beat Tiger Woods in minature golf.
- Reply to this comment
- of course this is not a sport any more than pro football is,
it is merely one more excuse to fool people into
watching 15 minutes of comercials for every 15 minutes of "sport" - Reply to this comment
- Can anyone explains why they call this a sport, or any golf for that matter? These are games, like billiards or bowling.
- Reply to this comment
- look down on niniature golf? Never!
every conservative spends his weekends at it - Reply to this comment
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