Fore! It’s Celebrity Golf Swing Time

Greg Norman has an odd little mannerism in his putting routine. When he sets over the ball, he moves his arms away from his body in a slow, birdlike flapping motion.

The quirky habit recalls a “Honeymooners” episode in which Ed Norton teaches Ralph Cramden to play golf.

“First, you address the ball,” Norton says, making that elaborate arm motion. Then, doffing his flat hat he says: “Hello, ball,” drawing the words out with an exaggerated politeness. How sweet it was.

Golf lovers are about to get a new dose of cinematic sweetness with the release of “Tin Cup,” starring Kevin Costner and directed by Ron Shelton, who made Costner a star with “Bull Durham.”

In Shelton’s new movie, Costner plays Roy “Tin Cup” McAvoy, a professional golf hustler who wants to win the U.S. Open and the affections of a psychologist played by Rene Russo. Don Johnson plays a PGA star and Costner’s rival, with Cheech Marin along for the ride as McAvoy’s caddie.

While there are precious few moments of golf on TV or in the movies -- “Tin Cup” joins “Pat and Mike” with Tracy and Hepburn, “Follow the Sun” with Glenn Ford, some Three Stooges shorts, “Happy Gilmore” and, of course, “Caddyshack” -- there has never been an absence of celebrities on the golf course.

From the early days of the L.A. Open at Riviera Country Club when Humphrey Bogart would recline next to the 12th green with a thermos of bourbon and watch play, the rich and famous have found rest and relaxation on the links.

Everyone from shock-rocker Alice Cooper to country crooner Willie Nelson, manic madman Bill Murray to gospel singer Amy Grant, President Bill Clinton to New Jersey Gov. Christine Whitman play the game.

Matthew McConaughey, the actor with the chiseled jaw who is trumpeted as the next Paul Newman, tells this month’s Vanity Fair that golf is a metaphor for his craft.

“You’ve got to create your shot,” he says. “There’s a feeling you get when you hit the ball on the screws and you don’t even feel it on the club. It’s so pure. It’s about precision. It’s about the gut. It’s about the head. It’s very internal -- but at the same time you can get aggressive.”

Arnold Schwarzenegger is so taken by golf that he spent three-quarters of a million dollars to get the clubs his wife’s uncle used -- a modest set owned by President John F. Kennedy.

Basketball superstar Michael Jordan is renowned not just for his love of golf but also his love of gambling on the golf course.

Clint Eastwood’s home in Carmel, Calif., is just a few miles from Pebble Beach, Cypress Point, Spyglass Hill and the other magnificent courses on the Monterey Peninsula, where Dirty Harry spends much of his time.

Randy Quaid, who plays the goofy alcoholic and finally heroic crop-duster in “Independence Day,” looks like anything but a golfer, but he’s actually one of the best among the celebrity set.

And Jack Nicholson once found another use for his clubs when he took a 5-iron out of his trunk and used it to alter the car of a motorist who angered him.

In another era, Katharine Hepburn showed remarkable skill and grace when she played a character based on Babe Zaharias in 1952’s “Pat and Mike.” In one scene, she stood over a 20-foot putt and rolled it perfectly into the cup.

“Cut!” yelled director George Cukor. “No good. You’re supposed to miss it.”

These days, professional golf is hoping that 20-year-old Stanford student Tiger Woods -- the most successful black amateur golfer ever -- will make golf hip for a new generation.

Golf’s coolness quotient, however, is getting some help from Darius Rucker of Hootie and the Blowfish. The lead singer of one of the hottest rock bands is hooked on the game.

In some cases, golf has been the focus of power plays by celebrities. Jackie Gleason moved his very successful TV show from New York to Miami Beach in the 1950s so he could play Doral every day.

Others loved the game so much they got their own tournaments. Bing Crosby, Sammy Davis Jr., Glen Campbell, Andy Williams and Dinah Shore are among those who sponsored them.

More than 80 percent of the golfers in the United States play the game on public golf courses. But tucked away in country club exclusion there is still the sheltered game played only in celebrity circles.

And they love it.