According to USGA statistics, 28 percent of all scores manually entered at tournaments are wrong. Golf professional Don Adamson has an answer with the software program LeaderBoard, which is now licensed in nine North American cities. ...

Thirty-two members who attended the fourth annual Sunriver Resort Women's Golf Forum identified the lack of time to play 18 holes as one reason why women aren't engaged in the game of golf. Golf rounds up to nine holes need to be viewed as acceptable in the eyes of the golf industry. ...

The second edition of "Golf Etiquette" has been released by St. Martin's Press. The original edition was hailed by, among others, commentator Paul Harvey as "the first and last word on how properly to behave on and off the golf course." ...

Retief Goosen, winner of last week's Chrysler Championship, is playing in The Tour Championship this week with a whimsical new goose headcover nicknamed "Goose Jr". on his bag. Winning Edge has designed the headcover at Goosen's request. ...

The eighth-ranked Augusta State Jaguars close out their fall schedule this weekend when they defend their title in the Hooters Collegiate Match Play Championship at Barefoot Resort in North Myrtle Beach, S.C. The tournament is hosted by the Golf Coaches Association of America. ...

The Wake Forest men's golf team also heads to Myrtle Beach, S.C., for the Collegiate Match Play Championship. Sixteen of the top teams in the country are competing in the event. ...

Donna Andrews, a former member of the Carolina women's golf team and current star on the LPGA Tour, will be inducted into the Carolina Order of Merit this evening at the annaul A.E. Finley Executive Cup Golf Tournament banquet. ...

After celebrating its centennial by junking its 1960s-style clubhouse for a more fitting Colonial revival-style model, venerable Midlothian Country Club in Illinois has set about reviving something else: its 105-year-old golf course, via a major bunker renovation authored by Lohmann Golf Designs. ...

Ireland's Padraig Harrington, Englishman Nick Faldo and Michael Campbell from New Zealand will p;ayin this year's Omega Hong Kong Open, which will be played at the Hong Kong Golf Club, Fanling, from December 4-7.

Editor's Note: The following piece was written for The Wire by Jim Shepherd.

Golfers are always in search of the next hot destination. Over the years, we've seen sandpits, swamps, and even landfills transformed into must-play golf destinations. Most usually, those destinations are specifically designed for golfers and feature very few amenities for anyone not looking for golf from sunup to sundown.

Recently, we were invited to visit the island nation of Aruba, a Caribbean destination with all the amenities you'd expect from an island destination: beautiful beaches, warm Caribbean waters, snorkeling, diving, fishing, windsurfing, gourmet dining, spas, casinos, and a lively nightlife. When you factor in a decidedly pro-American attitude, low crime, and a nearly constant tradewind that eliminates mosquitoes and other flying pests, it looks almost too-good. The only facility that's really lacking on Aruba, however, is golf.

There is but a single 18-hole course on the entire island. Tierra del Sol is a good golf by any standard. It offers some amazing scenery and some challenging holes. It features near constant wind conditions that can make a short par 3 play more like a short par 4. Concurrently, there are some drivable par-4s when the wind's at your back. In short, if you want to work on your wind game, this is your course of choice.

There is another links-style course being completed on Aruba and Divi Links is expected to open in the spring of 2004. That 9-hole course will feature different teeing grounds for golfers wishing to play 18 holes. But 27 holes is a long way from being a golf destination. It's the remaining 9 hole golf course that makes the trip to Aruba worthwhile.

The Aruba Golf Club is without a doubt the most unique 9-hole course in this hemisphere. Parched and lacking even basic grass, this course features rubber teeing mats and each golfer is issued a piece of driving range turf to hit off each "fairway." In short, it's desert golf au naturale. The only living vegetation is the divi-divi tree and an impressive collection of native cacti from several inches to more than twenty feet in height. The course is also populated by a large number of iguanas, and the relatively rare Caribbean burrowing owl. These aforementioned owls can be a bit disconcerting as they pop up from the sand traps where they've dug their nests (relief is granted under the local rules).

But the surface of the moon isn't why you'd want to play this course. It's the greens - they're sand. Once, great courses like Pinehurst had sand greens, but today you're hard-pressed to find them anywhere. They turn the "Gobi Desert Open" into a glimpse into golf's distant past. They're certainly from a time before the Stimpmeter. Putts are slow and it takes a while to become accustomed to taking swings sufficient to get the ball to the hole. But these gray-black surfaces share a common feature with all great golf greens: they're amazingly true. If you mis-read your line, you can see the visible trail left in the sand. It's a cross between an early morning green and a Dave Pelz putting lesson. The tracks don't lie. And pulling a drag behind you to smooth the green for the next group gives you the feeling of owning your own personal Zamboni.

By now, you probably think I'm lampooning Aruba. I'm not. In the early 1950s, people laughed at the idea of Myrtle Beach becoming a golf capital. Today, you'd be hard pressed to toss a golf ball and not hit a course. And Myrtle Beach had a lot less tourist appeal - not to mention occasionally lousy weather.

Today, Aruba is an island with 27 golf holes - and everything else you would possibly want in a Caribbean vacation. Tomorrow, I predict some far-sighted group will figure out the local government and get permission to build real links courses along the island's magnificent windward coast. It's reminiscent of Scotland and the Monterey Peninsula with booming surf, windswept beaches and vistas that are mind boggling. When they do, we'll find Aruba atop the must-play list for some time to come.