Heroes of the Game, 3 vols

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), July, 1995

Warner Home Video / three cassettes $24.95 each

Golf can be a humbling game. Just ask anyone who plays it. The pros who strut across perfectly manicured courses make for engrossing viewing on television, especially when they show their human side by flubbing a shot as badly as any rank hacker. Therein lies the one quibble with this three-part tribute to the game's superstars. Watching almost five hours of perfect or near-perfect shots will make even the most avid aficionado of the sport jaded.

Vol. 1, "Golf's Modern Heroes," highlights the exploits of Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Lee Trevino, who are largely responsible for the game's golden era. Vol. 2, "Golf's Greatest Legends," showcases the men who first made the sport a spectator attraction, especially Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones, and Sammy Snead. Vol. 3, "Golf's Greatest Women," demonstrates that such stars as Babe Didrickson Zaharias, Patty Berg, and Nancy Lopez have proven that golf is not strictly man's province.

In each of these videos, the human element turns out to be the most interesting, with interviews, home movies of future greats first learning the game, and clips from tournament triumphs. It is best to watch these in short bursts, rather than the 90 minutes or more each cassette runs. Otherwise, the plethora of amazing shots and deadly putting begins to seem almost routine. Anyone who has plunked a half-dozen bails into a water hazard or frozen over a "gimme" putt knows better.